Table of ContentsSection I: The Current Existence ControversyPart I: The Historians: Ended in HistoryPart II: The Theorists: Survived and ThrivedSection II: The Rebirth of the ConspiracyConclusionThese In recent years, some people have blamed an ancient Bavarian corporation, the Illuminati, for many controversial cases around the world: the Kennedy assignment (Galer), Thomas Jefferson being an Illuminati agent (Shea and Wilson 49), and many others. 'others. So, what was the real Illuminati? By definition, it is an ephemeral movement of republican free thought founded on May 1, 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law in Ingolstadt and former Jesuit (Appendix F) (The editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica)Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Yet mysteries remain about whether or not such a society, deeply enmeshed in the new world order, still exists. What intrigues people the most is how such a secret organization became such a viral sensation among conspiracy theorists when before the 1960s the term "Illuminati" was nothing more than a term history relating to this society which developed from the Freemasons and ended some decades after its creation. In this article, by exploring the current existence of the Illuminati and how they became popular, it will give a person a deeper understanding of conspiracy theories. Section I: The Present Existence Controversy Part I: Historians: Completed in History The Present Existence of the Illuminati The Illuminati has been controversial among historians and everyone has their own opinion on the subject. Currently, the most common argument one can find is that the Bavarian Illuminati ended in 1776 and the entire movement died out. (Roberts 128-129) There were many stages throughout the decline and fall of the Illuminati. According to Isabel Hernández, one of the founding members left the society, and then the secret society was exposed by an insider who had been a member of the Illuminati and took the organization public. The critical blow was finally delivered when the Archduke of Bavaria exiled the founder and called for an end to the order. (Hernández)In the book “Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati,” Terry Melanson described the entire process of the order's decline and ultimately the end of the Illuminati. First it was the departure of the Freiherr Knigge. As described in Terry's book, on April 20, Baron von Knigge resigned from the Illuminati after his feuds with Weishaupt over the leadership and management of the Order reached a boiling point. He thought some jealousy was apparent on both sides, although Weishaupt was certainly a Machiavellian in every way. Knigge, complaining to Zwack, decried more than anything the "Jesuitism" of Weishaupt: "the intrigues, the despotism, even the dictatorship, of the latter (especially towards his subordinates), in the minds of these sons of Loyola so decried”. “Spartacus (another name of Weishaupt),” writes Knigge, “is even a latent Jesuit, and I myself am dejected! My God, what a man! Where does his unbridled passion lead? Had I ever believed this man capable of such base and ungrateful behavior? And it is under his banner that I had to work for humanity! That is to say under the yoke of such a stubborn man! Never again!?' (Melanson 40) During Knigge's time with the order, the Illuminati grew from a dozen students to over 2,000 followers. And when Knigge left the order, many of the men he recruited feltrural resentment towards Weishaupt. One of these men was Joseph Utzschneider who wrote a letter to the Grand Duchess of Bavaria, exposing to her all the details and secrets of the Illuminati order. (Hernández) In this article, Joseph wrote a list of accusations tarnishing the order's reputation, in which he claimed that "having such vicious moral and religious sentiments that life should be controlled by passion rather than by reason, that suicide is justifiable, that one can poison one's enemies and that religion must be considered nonsense and patriotism as childishness. Finally, and much more seriously from the Duchess's particular point of view, the Bavarian Illuminati were accused of being in the service of the Austrian government, whose efforts at the time to extend its hegemony over Bavaria had created considerable tensions in that country. last. country." (Melanson 39) Although the claims did not contain all the facts about the Illuminati, their purpose was to incriminate the Illuminati order and create panic within the ruling class, leading to decisive action and the end of the secret society Shortly after, a German Masonry Lodge (Appendix E), Aux Trois Globes, openly went to war against the order, claiming that it was against the Christian religion and leading Freemasonry. in politics As the Illuminati relied on the Freemasons in Bavaria, the direct attack of the National Lodge of the Great Mother proved to be a fatal blow to the order (Melanson 39). The final result which caused the collapse of the order came from three edicts decreed personally by the Grand Duke of Bavaria. Among which the first blow prohibited the existence of any secret society within the Kingdom of Bavaria (Appendix A), the second. and third decrees called directly for the Illuminati order (Appendix B and Appendix C), and shortly after the decree, the files stored in the order were confiscated by the Bavarian government, and they were either hidden or burned. Two weeks before the decree, the order's founder, Weishaupt, fled Bavaria and was soon officially exiled. (Stauffer 156) This marked the end of the Bavarian Illuminati and the order we all know, after Weishaupt escaped from Bavaria. He went to teach at another college and wrote three books on the history of the Illuminati, but he never participated in any sort of political society thereafter as most historians believe. The Illuminati order was dead. (Whistler and Logan 13:44-14:54)Part II: The Theorists: Survived and ThrivedHowever, for many people, the Illuminati is not dead. Although the original Bavarian society may have ended, many people believe the legacy was inherited. And many other secret societies in the name of the Illuminati have survived through the centuries. Some even thought that the order had not disappeared at all. Among these people, the most famous were Barruel and Robison. According to Augustin Barruel, the Illuminati continued to influence the French Enlightenment, and as many of their members were the high elites of their time, he was convinced that the Illuminati and many other orders influenced the Jacobins and, in an effort additional, triggered the French Revolution. then brought down the throne of France. He then believed that the Jacobins were in fact the legacy of the deceased Illuminati. The reason for his statement was that members of the Illuminati and members of the Jacobins were against the Church. And although the Illuminati did not try to fight against the Church, the Jacobins, on the other hand, did, and thus constitute the successful legacy of the Illuminati. He then compared the writings of Voltaire andRousseau to those of the original Illuminati documents. He concluded that the Enlightenment could not be a populist uprising and the spontaneous thoughts of wise men. He believed it was coordinated planning carried out by secret societies made up of elites and that all matched the descriptions of the Illuminati orders. He believed then that the revolutionaries who led the start of the French Revolution were not attracted by themselves or by starvation and starvation, but rather were trained members of the order, brainwashed by Voltaire himself. (Barruel and Jaki)Another notable mention is John Robison FRSE, whose ideas coincide with that of Barruel. Robinson wrote a book called "Proof of a Conspiracy" in which he offers similar explanations for the origins of the French Revolution, according to which it came from the influence of the Illuminati and the Freemasons. His book was the most influential because it had a direct impact on the development of the United States. For in 1798, the Reverend GW Snyder sent Robison's book to George Washington, and the founding father replied: "I did not intend to doubt that the doctrines of the Illuminati and the principles of Jacobinism had not spread to the UNITED STATES. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied with this fact than me. The idea I wanted to convey was that I did not believe that the lodges of Freemasons in this country had endeavored, as societies, to propagate the diabolical principles of the former, or the pernicious principles of the latter (if they are subject to separation). That some of them may have done so, or that the founder, or the instrument used to found democratic societies in the United States, may have had these objectives; and in fact, if one were to contemplate a separation of the people and their government, this is too obvious to be questioned. (Washington) In the case of Robinson, this proves once again that the Freemason, which includes the Illuminati, had a profound influence in the founding of the United States. And it was this letter that proved to many people that George Washington recognized the existence of the Illuminati at that time, despite the fact that the activities in Bavaria had long ended. Section II: The revival of the conspiracy After the French Revolution, with the passage of Robinson and Barruel, the heat of the Illuminati and the Freemasons calmed down for a long period. But since the 1960s, the Illuminati order has once again become the subject of debate. Much of this can be attributed to Robert Anton Wilson. According to David Bramwell, Robert believed that "the world was becoming too authoritarian, too tight, too closed, too controlled." And they wanted to change society “the way to do that was to spread misinformation. Spreading misinformation through all portals – through counterculture, through mainstream media, through all means. And they decided they would do it first by telling stories about the Illuminati. (Bramwell) In Wilson's obituary, Michael Carson wrote that while Wilson was an editor at Playboy, he led a new and liberated lifestyle and wrote several books such as The Illuminati Papers (1980), Masks of The Illuminati (1981) while he was in the meantime “a prodigious marijuana smoker”. (Carlson) While Wilson was working at Playboy, he and Thornley began sending fake letters from readers talking about this elite secret organization called the Illuminati. Then he would send more letters, ones that contradicted the ideas he had just written in the previous ones, so that Miao would let the magazine company generate interest in the order. And then, to make thingsEven bigger, they planted stories about the Illuminati in the underground press and placed mysterious classified ads in the Libertarian Journal Innovator and the New Left Roger SPARK newspaper. (Walker)Another major source of inspiration about the Illuminati came from Robert Shea and his book “The Illuminatus!” Trilogy". In his book, he wrote many conspiracies about the Illuminati, such as that the Illuminati still existed, they enlisted many fake readers' letters written by Wilson to Playboy magazine, and one of his conspiracies most famous was that Washington was replaced by Weishaupt: "No historian knows what happened to Adam Weishaupt after his exile from Bavaria in 1785, and "Washington's" diary entries after that date frequently refer to the culture. of hemp at Mount Vernon. The possibility that Adam Weishaupt killed George Washington and took his place, as our first two-term president, is now confirmed….The two main colors of the American flag are, with the exception of a small blue spot in one corner, red and white: these are also the official colors of the Hashishim. The Illuminati flag and pyramid both have thirteen horizontal divisions: thirteen is, of course, the traditional code for marijuana. ...and is still used in this sense, among others, by the Hell's Angels. » (Shea and Wilson 49) After the publication of these books, more and more people heard about the Illuminati order. And as it became popular, more people wrote more books and stories about the order, like Dan Brown with his "Angels and Demons," his second book in the "Da Vinci Code" trilogy. , as this book exploded in popularity. , this secret society is now a hot topic for people and for people to make economic gains. Music groups such as The KLF have also called themselves The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, named after the group of Discordians who infiltrate the Illuminati in Wilson's trilogy, as they draw inspiration from the religion's anarchic ideology. And to attract more media attention, "even celebrities like Jay-Z (Fig.1) and Beyoncé have adopted the group's symbolism themselves, raising their hands to the Illuminati triangle at concerts." (Galer)Thus, in the eyes of recent historians, the Illuminati order, which is now linked to all conspiracies and is now also a pseudo name for secret societies, is not a real existing society aiming to control the world, but just a historical term. used by those seeking attention and fame.ConclusionFor now, the current existence of the Illuminati order is still a myth. Debates still exist as to whether the order survived the exile of its leader and the extermination of all rights and documents of its members. While most historians believe that the Illuminati left and never returned, some people still find hints of their existence throughout history. However, despite all this, the current popularity of the Illuminati order has nothing to do with the original Bavarian society. Current conspiracies were created as a result of the hipster movement of the late 20th century, with the aim of seeking less government control. Subsequently, it was popularized and then used by others to increase personal gain. At first it was for media coverage and economic gain, and now, in recent years, for their own political motivations. In short, most of the current conspiracies surrounding the modern-day Illuminati have been fabricated for purposes of various kinds. Over the past decade, conspiracy theories have?