Perfectibilists is released!
… and some of the secrets contained therein can be read/viewed here.
The book can be purchased in most major retailers, and pre-orders have already been shipped.
It’s 500+ pages, profusely illustrated, and represents the first monograph on the Bavarian Illuminati (in the English language) in two hundred years. A lot of ground is covered and most of it will be new to the reader.
Thanks for everyone’s patience, and I hope it has been worth the wait.
Perfectibilists.info should be up and running soon (not sure what it will contain). Right now it re-directs to the Trine Day page for the book.
Tags: Bavarian Illuminati, Owl of Wisdom, Perfectibilists, Perfectibilists book
PERFECTIBILISTS: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati
The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship
Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism
Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith
America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones
March 8th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Excellent news, Terry.
Thanks!
March 8th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Excellent news. Can’t wait.
March 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Congratulations Terry!
This is soooo exciting! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!
Just the cover art has me foaming at the mouth
March 8th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
AWESOME! The DEFINITIVE book on the Illuminati!
March 8th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Terry, mine arrived Thursday from Amazon—just so you know deliveries are actually happening at last.
March 8th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Got mine two days ago! Love the many pictures of relevant figures and the copious foot notes of legitimate historical texts. I’m not done yet but if the first few chapters are any indication its the best book I’ve ever read on the subject! Finally a focused examination of the real Illuminati that’s not enslaved by either ill informed fantasy or militant skepticism! This is right up there with Billington… and he’s an internationally celebrated historian! Way to go Terry! Hope this is the first of many!
March 9th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Great! Glad to see that the book is finally out. I just have to wait a little bit longer for Amazon U.K. to get it in stock. Shouldn’t be too long.
I’ll get my local library to order a copy too, get the work out there.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:40 am
“Just the cover art has me foaming at the mouth”
The designer did a good job. I gave him a rough psd with the main outline (owl, opened book, Per Me Caeci Vident, etc.) and he took it to another level. It is a stylized version of the insignia of the Order.
“DEFINITIVE book on the Illuminati!”
Ya, basically anglophone historians have dropped ball - big time! It may be the definitive book on it in the English language, but that is because it is the only one! I welcome all critique though, especially from historians who are familiar with the sources that I’ve utilized.
“Terry, mine arrived Thursday from Amazon”
Glad to hear! It would be interesting to know what a Mason has to say about the book as well. As far as I can recall, there’s nothing in it that is anti-masonic per se. In fact, there’s not much of an anti-Illuminati atmosphere about the book either. I tried to be objective and leave the opinions to the reader. Just telling the story from authentic sources was enough; polemics in an historical work are bad form anyway.
One of your Brothers, Arturo de Hoyos, recently summed up nicely the historical method:
—
—
I can especially relate to the part about digging for months, weeks, and days for a single fact - which in the end only amounts to a few words in the text. You’ll see that methodology applied throughout the biographies of the Illuminati members in particular. The omission of data too, is a big no-no. There’s a few facts that I uncovered, for instance, that will surely make the “Jesuits rule the world” theorists have a field day, and I could envision their big smiling faces as I was putting it into the book! So be it.
“Got mine two days ago! … right up there with Billington”
Thanks!
I would never compare myself to the great Billington….In fact, I demand you retract such blasphemy!
As I recall it took him 20 years to complete the book Fire in the Minds - from the 60s to the 80s, when he published. And you can tell by the quantity and quality of sources he utilized. His notes are a treasure trove - a spectacle to behold! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the sources he cites in his book, could keep an historian busy for an entire lifetime.
“I’ll get my local library to order a copy too”
Good idea. Thanks.
April 13th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Mythos Illuminaten: Was steckt hinter dem Phänomen?…
Gerade rechtzeitig zum Kinostart von Dan Browns “Illuminati - Angels & Demons” hat unser Kollege Terry Melanson von conspiracyarchive.com sein Werk “Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Order of the Illuminati” veröffentlich…
June 1st, 2009 at 11:27 am
The “Bavarian” Illuminati Myth
Vernon Stauffer who wrote New England and the Bavarian Illuminati and Robert Anton Wilson who wrote The Illuminati Papers, Illuminatus! etc. liked to plunk the word “Bavarian” in front of the word Illuminati. This practice might be motivated by a desire to distinguish the Illuminati of Prof. Weishaupt from other Secret Societies associated with “Illumination” of one sort or another. However, I suspect another motivation which comports with the rest of their writing: MINIMIZATION.
Currently, I am reading Terry Melanson’s The Perfectibilists which is a very serious review of all that is known of Weishaupt’s Illuminati based on the best possible evidence. First off, Terry’s research has, in effect, reminded me that the Illuminati were in NO WAY “Bavarian!” Weishaupt was a Professor at Ingolstadt in Bavaria. Thus, he was a subject of the CATHOLIC Elector of Bavaria, an absolute Monarch, but there was no element of “Bavarian” nationalism, culture or collectivism of any sort in his “Illuminati” ideology. To the contrary, Weishaupt was Internationalist, nay, an opponent of all existing government, who like, Marx to come after him, believed that a “perfected” humanity would be naturally co-operative in the collectivist-communist framework, and, at that point in the future, there would be no further need by “perfected humanity” for government.
The Illuminati spread widely throughout Europe (and even to America), especially in the Northern Protestant, anti-Catholic Principalities. Nobles and Royalty in these circles were often members and/or protectors of the Illuminati. When the Elector of Bavaria banned and persecuted the order, the Illuminati found refuge in non-Catholic countries. Weishaupt himself was shielded by the Prince of Saxe-Gotha.
My theory is that the nominally “Protestant” Northern Princes of Europe were locked in a geopolitical conflict with the Pope and his Catholic Kings. They found the ultra-”liberal”, anti-Catholic Illuminati a useful tool against the Pope and the Catholic religion as a whole, especially in Catholic Bavaria. Thus, the Illuminati was a 5th Column of the Northern Princes in Bavaria, but also in other Catholic Countries such as France and Italy. In France, the Illuminati influenced (Terry’s evidence says connected) Jacobin Clubs were instrumental on overthrowing the Catholic Monarchy! The secret societies of Italy, many also influenced by the Illuminati, succeeded in drastically reducing the power of the Pope in the eventual unification of Italy.
An alternate theory would be that these Northern Princes were “Enlightened Liberals” who liked “Illuminati” ideas such as eliminating all forms of Monarchy! Somehow, this is not credible to me. The Northern Princes certainly had an “Enlightenment” style about them, but they did not want to lose their power!
June 1st, 2009 at 11:29 am
Ok, now I recall an old post of mine illustrating that the “Bavarian” “prefix” to “Illuminati” is a long-standing rule of official MASONIC sources, not just Stauffer and Robert Anton Wilson and other debunkers. It is the archtypical debunking prefix issued by the Masonic “deniers”. Here is a FAQ I distributed on the internet long ago:
Provided courtesy of A-albionic Research, PO Box 20273, Ferndale, MI 48220
fax (313) 557-1690 e-mail: jhdaugh@comcast.net
——————————————————————————
“Bavarian Illuminati” FAQ.
Ver 1.2
Peter Trei
Jan 1994
—————————————————————————
A lot of references appear in some newsgroups to the “Illuminati”.
I’m trying to gather together some source material on the subject, to
produce some sort of FAQ file.
—————————————————————————
Here’s three articles from the “Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia”,
1961, by Henry Wilson Coil, 33rd degree. This is an excellent, albeit
slightly idiosyncratic reference work. Coil had a low opinion the
Catholicism, and it shows.
Of course, this being a *Masonic* encyclopedia, the articles are
written from that viewpoint.
——————–
Rites:
- Illuminati of Bavaria.
This order was first called the Order of Perfectibilists, and was
a fairly shortlived, meteoric, controversial society formed May 1,
1776, in Bavaria, by Adam Weishaupt, aided by Baron von Knigge and
others, suppressed in 1784, and entirely disappeared by the close of
the century. It was not primarily Masonic, and evidently not founded by
any Masonic authority, though it pirated or prarphrased Masonic rituals
and at one time or another had a number of prominent Freemasons in the
group. Freemasonry has received a great many denunciations from several
sources by reason of the aberrations of the Illuminati, and the enemies
of Freemasonry encouraged the idea that Illuminism and Freemasonry were
the same. For details of the lives of Weishaupt and Knigge, reference
must be made to those titles in the general text but, since Illuminism
was their creation and developed as they directed, their acts are
material and discussed here.
Adam Weishaupt, Professor of Canon Law at the University of
Ingolstadt, conceived the idea of founding an order which, by mutual
helpfulness, counsel, and philosophic discussions, would increase
morality and virtue, lay the foundation for the reformation of the
world, and oppose the progress of evil, all of which objectives were
expressed in the name, “Order of Perfectibilists” or “Perfectionists”,
which was soon changed to “Illuminati”, which is best translated as
“intellectually inspired”. Modesty and humility seems to have been no
trait of Weishaupt, for he was one of the first to attempt to fly with
little knowledge of human aerodynamics. His ambition outweighed his
judgement; his ideals were too refined for a rude world. Like many
other promoters, Weishaupt sought the aid of Freemasonry to give his
machine both propulsion and ballast. But it dragged Freemasonry down
without helping Illuminism very much. He was too shrewd and subtle for
his own good, though such qualities gave him headway for a time.
Although he formerly belonged to the Jesuits, he secured admission to a
lodge of Freemasons in 1777. Ironically, that was named “Lodge of
Caution.”
We are not informed as to just how Weishaupt became associated
with Adolph Franz Friedrich Ludwid Baron Von Knigge, for the latter
lived in North Germany, was of the nobility, and, after his initiation
in 1773, showed little interest in Freemasonry. But noblemen were found
in abundance in the most fraudulent orders in Germany claiming some
Masonic connections. Weishaupt, in 1780, dispatched the Marquis de
Costanzo to propagate Illuminism in the north and Knigge probably then
first showed interest in the society. He became more and more
enthusiastic as the plan was revealed to him, and, in 1781, accepted
the invitation to visit Bavaria and receive full access to all of
Weishaupt’s materials. Knigge not only completed the scale of degrees
but became a proponent of them, bringing to his aid the assistance of
Johann J. C. Bode, a prominent German Mason. The order was at first
very popular and attracted, it is said, some of the best men in Germany
and some of the worst. It had 2000 names on its rolls and spread to
France, Belgium, Holland, Denamrk, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, and Italy.
Knigge, especially, was a highly religious and intellectual man and
would have had nothing to do with that or any other order which was
anti-Christian, yet, the vicious attacks and accusations by Baruel and
Robison had great influence, and it was even charged that the
Illuminati were themselves agents of the Jesuits, though the latter
were opposing it in their usual secret manner. The Illuminati were
extremely secretive, even identifying themselves and their chapters by
assumed classical names; for examples, Weishaupt was Spartacus, Knigge
was Philo, Ingolstadt, the headquarters, was Eleusis, Austria was
Egypt, etc. Dates were given in a sort of cryptography.
The ceremonies were divided into three principal classes and those
into degrees as follows: I-The Nursery: 1. Preparatory Literary Essay;
2. Novitiate; 3. Minerval; 4. Minor Illuminatus; 5. Magistratus.
II-Symbolic Freemasonry: 1. Apprentice; 2. Fellow Craft; 3. Master; 4.
(a) Scots Major Illuminatus, (b) Scots Illuminatus Dirigens
(Directory). III-Mysteries; 1. Lesser: (a) Presbyter, Priest, or Epopt,
(b) Prince or Regent; Greater: (a) Magus; (b) Rex or King (some of
these latter degrees were never completed).
The Illuminati were finally beset by both internal and external
disorders, for Weishaupt found fault with some of Knigge’s ritualistic
work and peremptorily ordered it changed, whereupon, Knigge became
disgusted and resigned in 1784. The Jesuits had fought it from the
first and eventually all priests became its active enemies and raised
so much opposition that the Elector of Bavaria supressed the Order by
edict, June 22, 1784, many Illuminati being imprisoned and some,
including Weishaupt, being forced to flee the country. Though the first
edict had been obeyed, it was repeated in March and August, 1785. Not
only Illuminism, but Freemasonry was exterminated in Bavaria and
neither ever recovered its former position. The Illuminati seem to have
completely disappeared everywhere by the end of the 18th century.
——————–
Weishaupt, Adam
Founder of the Illuminati of Bavaria, born at Inglstadt, 1748,
died 1811. He was educated in law and attained the rank of Professor in
1772 at the University of Ingolstadt. He had been educated by the
Jesuits but acquired a dislike for them, and in his professional life,
he was soon in conflict with the whole clergy, partly because he held
the chair of Canon Law, which had always been held by an ecclesiastic.
In conferences with his students in whom he planted liberal ideas on
religion and philosophy, and he soon conceived of a close association
of enlightened or intellectual persons who might advance the moral and
intellectual qualities of themselves as well as others. This idea
materialized as the Illuminates or Illuminati, who at first had no
connection with Freemasonry. In 1777, he was admitted to Lodge Theodore
of Good Counsel (translated by some as Lodge Theodore of Caution) at
Munich, and from that time, he sought to interrelate the affairs of his
Illuminati with Freemasonry.
He soon formed an association with Baron von Knigge, an able and
upright man from north Germany, and the two might have accomplished
their objectives and some good had it not been for the opposition of
the Jesuits (who were still powerful though banished from Bavaria) and
the Roman Catholic clergy. Moreover Weishaupt and Knigge could not
agree upon some of the latters’ ritualistic interpretations. From the
literature on the subject of Illuminism and from the caustic remarks of
Masonic writers, we might suppose that this order or movement lasted a
long time, but the whole drama opened with the organization of the
Perfectionists in 1766 and, 18 years later in 1784, the Bavarian
government banned all secret associations. The next year, Weishaupt was
discharged from his position at the University and banished from the
country. He fled to Gotha and found asylum with Duke Ernest of that
little city, remaining there until his death in 1811. In Gotha, he
published a number of works, those on Illuminism being: “A Picture of
Illuminism”, 1786; “A Complete History of the Persecutions of the
Illuminati in Bavaria”, 1785 (only the first of two planned volumes
published); “An Apology for the Illuminati”, 1786; “An Improved System
of Illuminism”, 1787, and others.
The most objective writers on the subject give Weishaupt credit
for being of high moral character and a profound thinker, and it is
worth noting that his associate, Knigge, spoke with great respect of
his intellectual powers. It appears, however, that he was the victim of
at least two powerful forces, first, the vindictive hate of the Church
of Rome and the Bavarian government and, secondly, his own inadequate
judgement of how to launch a revolutionary and more or less secret
movement such as Illuminism. He was really employing methods of the
Jesuits, for his whole order seems to have been composed of spies and
counter spies, and only those most adept at scheming and trickery were
advanced. The candidates all had pseudonyms, that of Weishaupt being
Spartacus, and those who became too inquisitive about matters as to
which their suspicions were aroused were turned out. If the purpose had
been philosophic, ethical, or for the improvement of the mind or
salvation of the soul, it need never to have been quite so secretive,
and from the Masonic standpoint, Weishaupt was not justified in using
the Fraternity as the vehicle for his scheme, good or bad, though he
had ample precedents on all sides.
——————–
Knigge, Baron von (Adolph F. R. L.)
German Freemason and, in part, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati.
He was born near Hanover in 1752, and died at Bremen in 1796. He was
initiated in a lodge of the Strict Observance at Cassel in 1772, but,
for a time, seemed uninterested in the Society, thogh later becoming
one of the foremost German writers on the subject. He published “On
the Jesuits, Freemasons, and Rosicrucians, 1781, anon.; “Essay on
Freemasonry”, 1784; “Contribution towards the latest history of the
Order of Freemasons”, 1786; and “Philo’s final Declaration”, 1788. He
also wrote many non-Masonic works, one being “On Conversation with
Men”, towards the end of his career and after a sad experience with the
Illuminati and disappointment with the Strict Observance, causing him
therein to devote much space to secret societies and denunciation of
Freemasonry. The most interesting and significant part of Knigge’s
career was his participation with Weishaupt in the promotion of the
Bavarian Illuminati, he being almost an equal party.
—————————————————————————
A look at the Harvard University Library Catalog shows that there
was an Illuminati panic in New England in the late 1790’s.
After that, very few people seem to have had Illuminism on their
minds. In the 1950s and 60’s, about the only people who seem to mention
it were the John Birch Society.
In the mid-70’s, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson restarted
popular speculation with their fictional “Illuminatus!” trilogy. This
mixes actual history with conspiracy theory and pure invention, and
very deliberately produces doubts in the reader’s mind as to the
nature of reality - a technique which the authors refer to as “guerilla
ontology”, in pursuit of “Operation Mindf*ck.” They were apparently
turned on to Illuminism by some of the correspondance they received
while working as letters column editors at Playboy magazine.
At the core of Illuminatus! is an aeons-old conflict between the
conspiracies representing the forces of order, bureaucracy, and
repression, represented by the Illuminati, and the conspiracies
representing the forces of chaos, spontaneity and freedom,
representing by the Erisians (followers of Eris, the Greek goddess of
discord). The plot involves every conspiracy you’ve ever heard of,
many you havent, monomaniacal midgets, golden submarines, giant squid,
ancient Atlantis, zombie Nazi stormtroopers, and a good deal of sex.
Wilson and Shea drew heavily on Akron Darual’s “History of Secret
Societies”, the ‘Principia Discordia’ of the Erisians, many kinds of
fringe conspiracy theory, and their own imaginations. One of their
conceits is that Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati,
secretly murdered George Washington and took his place.
Illuminatus! became an underground bestseller, and while Shea seems
to have been content to sit back and enjoy the royalties, Wilson has
worked the interest it developed into a minor industry. He has brought
out a steady stream of fiction and “non-fiction” concerning the
Illuminati and related topics, noteably the “Schrodinger’s Cat”
trilogy, “The Illuminati Papers”, “Cosmic Trigger - The Final Secret of
the Illuminati”, and most recently the “Historical Illuminatus Series”,
which is up to four books.
[The following paragraph is a personal opinion.]
I’ve met Wilson, and my impression is that he lacks sincerity. I
don’t think he actually believes in the continuing existence of the
Illuminati, but knows he’s stumbled onto a goldmine. He does seem
serious about some of the psychological theories he promotes.
A couple other works of interest are the above-mentioned “History
of Secret Societies” by Akron Daraul, and Neil Wilgus’ “The
Illuminoids”. HoSS tries to link together a number of groups, claiming
that the Illuminati, the Masons, the Italian Carbonari, and the
Spanish Alumburados (sp?) are all linked and can be traced back to the
Hashashins of the ancient Middle East. “The Illuminoids” is
post-Illuminatus! and basically catalogs the conspiracy theories
connected to it.
So there you have it - a short-lived, failed, 18th century secret
society, which after being forgotten for nearly 200 years, has seized
the popular imagination through the work of two men. Despite the
paranoia of some of the people on the net, there is not the slightest
shred of evidence that the Illuminati persisted past 1800.
Of course, you may think you are free to doubt me on this.
W .’. Peter Trei
ptrei@mitre.org
Wilder Lodge AF&AM
Leominster MA
——————————————————————————
After I put this out on the net, I received a few responses. The most
interesting gives some German sources on the Illuminati. I’ve touched
up the English a little:
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 17:33:17 MEZ
From: “Roald A. Zellweger”
Subject: Illuminati
There is, of course, lots of material in German available on the
Bavarian Illuminati, esp from the beginning of the century, but also
from the research on the later Enlightenment in Germany, that had it’s
height in the 70’s.
Goethe and Herder were at times members of the Bavarian
Illuminati, and not only the Duke of Gotha, but also the Dukes of
Weimar and Brunswick, of course since it was Jesuitic in form and
heavily anti-Jesuitic in everything else…
At the end of 19th century the Illuminati-phobia was promoted and
used by the “Protokolle der Weisen von Zion” ["Protocols of the Elders
of Zion"] rsp. the literary Vorlage, a French anti-Napoleonic fiction,
and later by Ludendorff. So the Illuminati-phobia became closely
connected with Fascism’s conspiracy theories.
The Illuminati no longer exist, but they influenced methods of
political conspiracy in 19th century and put the fear of a conspiracy
of masons, Jews, etc. in the views of the extreme right.
Informative is the Article Illuminaten in the Theologische
Realenzyclopedie (TRE), the large forthcoming protestant encyclopedia,
Bd.16,p.81-84, providing with the newest (serious!) literature.
Broader, but older, the article Illuminaten in Realenzyclopaedie
fuer protestantische Theologie und Kirche, Bd.9, Leipzig 1901,
p.61-68, mentioning the Spanish Alumbrados as using the same name and
existing later in France. The Realenzyclopaedie 3rd Edition is a very
serious work of late 19th century Historical Research and of course
from the viewpoint of German Kulturprotestantism.
Sources could be found sub Knigge and Weishaupt in Wolfsohns
Freimaurerbibliographie, Vienna (20’s or early 30’s). Useful is the
Internationales Freimaurerlexikon (Vienna 1932). Both Works are from
a (low-degree) masonic viewpoint and esp the latter apologetic against
Ludendorff’s conspiracy theory.
Edited sources are: Jan Reichold (ed.): Die Illuminaten. Quellen
und Texte zur Aufklaerungsideologie des Illuminatenordens, Berlin
((former) DDR) 1984, commentary part of course influenced by Marxism
and GDR-ideology, but solid text edition.
Richard van Duelman: Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten, Stuttgart
1975.
If you haven’t access to the lexica and could send me a Fax or
snail-mail address, I could send you copies from the articles in
question.
======-*****-=====-*****-=====-*-=**=-*-=====-*****-=====-*****-======
Roald A. Zellweger
Institut fuer Spezialforschungen
Platz der Goettinger Sieben 2
D-3400 Goettingen
phone : ?551-39 7127
fax : ?551-9 75 88
bitnet: RZELLWE@ibm.gwdg.de
——————————————————————————
Minor bits & bobs:
Steve Jackson Games has a rather nifty conspiracy table top game
called Illuminati, based on the books.
There is a live-action version called GURPS Illuminati, played at
finer SF and gaming conventions.
The “Puzzling Evidence” segment of the film “True Stories”,
without mentioning the Illuminati explicitly, gives an entertaining
insight into the mind of a conspiracy theorist.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
The Bavarian prefix, imo, is an apt one, especially in the context of the entire 18th Century secret society milieu. You had the Illuminati of Avignon, the Swedenborgian Illuminati, Martinist Illuminati, the Rosicrucians sometimes called themselves Illuminati and even the top initiates in the Strict Observance were known as Illuminati. Since research into the 18th Century will turn up all kinds of references in the contemporary record to Illuminati this and Illumines that (all throughout Europe), calling Weishaupt’s Order the Bavarian Illuminati is a distinguishing moniker - and a necessary one to avoid confusion. And then there is the fact that they were born in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and the headquarters of the Areopagites moved to Munich in 1779/80; thus, all orders from on high originated from Bavaria.
After 1785 though, Bode took the reigns. The seat of power switched from Munich to the Gotha Lodge ‘Zum Kompass’ of Duke Ernst II and that of the Weimar Lodge Amalia. Bode kept both colonies apprised of his activities on behalf of the Order, but he ultimately had the final say on how to proceed with recruitment and expansion.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Ok, I admitted that up front: the need to distinguist the “Bavarian” Illuminati from other “Illuminati”.
A better, less biasing way to distinguish would be to refer to it as Weishaup’s Illuminati.
For instance, that the Illuminati was persecuted and banned in Bavaria has no bearing as to whether Weishaupts Illuminati survived elsewhere. Weishaupts plans for the Order’s infiltrations were by no means restricted to Bavaria. . . he just happened to reside there.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:17 am
By the way, I have vague memories of a movie I saw about an “Illuminatus-type” in Italy. He traveled all around Italy forming a revolutionary conspiracy.
Do you recall this movie? I must have seen it around 1980, maybe earlier.
Of course, the BROTHERHOOD of the BELL with Glen Ford TAKES THE CAKE! Has everyone seen it? Last time I checked, I couldn’t find it on CD yet in the normal channels.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Terry, have you probed the motives of the Royalty and Nobility you mention who were members or protectors of Weishaupts Illuminati?
My hypothesis, of course, is that they found the Illuminati and other secret societies useful their geopolitical struggle with the Pope, Jesuits, and Catholic Church.
On the surface, the Illuminati ideology would seem to undermine their power.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:56 am
By the way, Robert Anton Wilson was EXTREMELY hostile to real research about the Illuminati or ANY conspiracy, for that matter.
To him, “conspiracy theory/theorist” was a “foil” by which he could promote his own “nominalist” ideology and obsession with psychedellic drugs.
One of his favorite says was “convictions” makes “convicts”. . . I’d reply that a decent society needs some convicts. Not everyone deserves liberty, most certainly not after they have abused it in a serious way.
Even the murder of his daughter by a credit card cruncher weilding thug in the course of a robbery didn’t serve to sway him from his more absurd idea. . . most liberals only need be mugged to come back to reality. Instead, Wilson had his daughter’s brain frozen.
I found my personal correspondence with Wilson via Samuel Konkin’s NEW LIBERTARIAN NOTES, CONSPIRACY DIGEST, and Wilson’s TRAJECTORIES quite unpleasant.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I will say, however, that he was very quick to answer any and all letters, but often in a dismissive, abusive way.
Apparently, he developed his correspondence habit during his tenure at PLAYBOY, handling he “letters” department for Mr. Hefner.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I am sorry to have to say all this since Wilson in some of his books was quite complementary to some aspects of my writing published at A-albionic Research.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Weishaupt’s Illuminati might be a good way to identify them.
I don’t recall the movie about the revolutionary that you speak of, but it sounds pretty interesting. Maybe it was a production of one of the works of either George Sand or Alexandre Dumas. Like this, perhaps. As far as Brotherhood of the Bell, there’s a place on the net that you can buy a dvd copy of it, probably just converted from a VHS taping on the movie.
I’m not sure about the motives of all of the nobility who were initiated into the Illuminati. I know that Landgrave Karl von Hessen-Kassel had joined in order to keep them in check. J.J.C. Bode wanted to initiate him but Karl stipulated that he would only join if he had say over the subsequent recruits and oversight of the going-ons in Northern Germany and Denmark. Karl was a mystic occultist and an obscurantist in politics and religion and he was right to suspect that the Illuminati had liberal revolutionary tendencies. Also, on p. 24 of my book, I recount how Prince Frederick William, the Rosicrucian, had inquired of Karl if he was aware of the machinations of the Illuminati. This was in April 1783 and Karl was initiated into the Illuminati 2 months prior (so his fears were warranted). Ernst II of Gotha, and his brother prince August, were privy to the entire scheme, and seem to have approved of even the most radical views of the Illuminati. Even after the French Revolution, Ernst and his wife almost worshiped what was happening in France. Duke Karl of Wiemar, though, seems to have joined under the pretext of keeping an eye on them. Also, there were a lot of Free Imperial Knights who became initiates. If you look at their history and what they were about, there might be a clue as why they would want to join.
I suspect that, in general, the same reason they joined Freemasonry and its high-degree variants, would have been the same reason to join the Illuminati. And, no doubt, the same reason the elite join the CFR et al. is the same reason the aristocrats had joined secret societies during the 18th century.
A more concrete reason why some of the nobility had joined was the Illuminati’s aim of reorganizing the entire educational system - and wrestling its control from the Church and the Jesuits. The Illuminati were believers in Enlightened Despotism and they had members in all of the top pedagogic institutions of the day, in large part due to the nobility allowing this to happen. The Illuminati were experts in the pedagogic theories of Rousseau, Basedow and Pestalozzi. These theories were attractive to the elite because it still promised top-down control of the masses. There’s a telling quote about the enthusiasm of Illuminatus Pestalozzi’s methods in my book, on p. 179: Pestalozzi … proposed a practical way of educating the masses to love God and country and to become more effective workers, without threatening the elite class of wealth and power…. [Pestalozzi] argued for a practical education for the new proletariat and was looked upon with favor by the power elite for suggesting that “‘the poor must be educated for poverty’ for in order ‘to enjoy the best possible state, both of soul and body … it is necessary to desire and be content with still less.’” … Here was an education which could meet the needs of the masses and the nation without threatening the class structure.
I was once a fan of RAW in the nineties, but looking back on it now it seems that most of his stuff was just conspira-tainment for the counterculture. He did engage in serious reporting from time to time; his info on P2 in Cosmic Trigger II stands out.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
It would seem to me that what Barruel called the “Northern Princes” would have a geopolitical desire to bring down the Pope and his “Catholic Kings” starting with France. . . exactly what happened, but then Napoleon to the opportunity to make France stronger than ever, putting most of the “Northern Princes” to route, but not exactly for the Catholic Church, though, if I recall, the Pope did have a concordant with the Napoleon. . . yeah, he’d better with Napoleon’s armies ranning roughshod over most of Italy.
My approach is to look for the relationship of Secret Society agitation to geopolitical or at least geo-continental happenings.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Yikes! Too bad there is no “edit” function. My typos were a real “trip” above. . . as RAW would say!
June 5th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Pestalozzi … proposed a practical way of educating the masses to love God and country and to become more effective workers, without threatening the elite class of wealth and power…. [Pestalozzi] argued for a practical education for the new proletariat and was looked upon with favor by the power elite for suggesting that “‘the poor must be educated for poverty’ for in order ‘to enjoy the best possible state, both of soul and body … it is necessary to desire and be content with still less.’” … Here was an education which could meet the needs of the masses and the nation without threatening the class structure. >>>>>>>>>>
Interesting, but this contradicts the “explicit” Weishaupt Illuminati ideology. Can you clarify?
June 5th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Ernst II of Gotha, and his brother prince August, were privy to the entire scheme, and seem to have approved of even the most radical views of the Illuminati. Even after the French Revolution, Ernst and his wife almost worshiped what was happening in France. Duke Karl of Wiemar, though, seems to have joined under the pretext of keeping an eye on them. Also, there were a lot of Free Imperial Knights who became initiates. If you look at their history and what they were about, there might be a clue as why they would want to join. >>>>>>>>>
Their real motive could be anti-Papal, anti-Catholic Church geopolitics, though in public they would no doubt cite “idealistic” reasons. . . is there private correspondence of which you are aware?
June 5th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Weishaupt’s Illuminati might be a good way to identify them.>>>>>>
Admittedly, it is for “propagandistic” reasons I make this suggestion!
However, the propaganda would be in the direction of objective reality.
The current appelation leads to dismissiveness: “Oh, yeah, they were suppressed in Bavaria and that was the end of them.” That’s almost like saying Communism was crushed in Spain by Franco and that was the end of it (except Communism was not ‘founded’ in Spain).
I’d have a hard time pinning down ‘where’ Communism was founded as it is actually an instictual tendency, a hold-over from tribalism, a system of propaganda appealing to innate archetypes instead of reason. Ditto, the Illuminati.
As baboons have an instinct to form a heirarchical tribe, so do humans. However, unlike baboons, humans, based on reason, can modify their innate archetypes and modify their tribalism in the direction of a society of individualism and the rule of law.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
What were “Free Imperial Knights?” Did they have a special legal status? Under the direct protection of the Holy Roman Emperor, perhaps?
June 5th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Re: Pestalozzi
There’s no contradiction as far as technocratic rule. In the Minerval Academies they would watch the students closely and promote those with utopian socio-political tendencies and this translated in the public schools as well. But for the most part the masses were educated to love their servitude. The Illuminati likened themselves as the embodiment of philosopher kings.
No private correspondences of Ernst Gotha as far as I know. He was extremely secretive about what he left for posterity. (See p. 300 of my book, for instance: an account of the so-called Swedish Crate.)
Free Imperial Knights:
Nobles and Nation in Central Europe: Free Imperial Knights in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1850
http://books.google.com/books?id=fkBUgPQwEQoC
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521836182
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Knight
I used the above book a couple times in certain parts of my book - mostly in the bio sections. But I didn’t actually buy it and have never read it entirely. In any case, these are the (Illuminati) Free Imperial Knights that have bios in my book: Karl Theodor von Dalberg; Dürckheim; Metternich; Ow; Pappenheim; Pergen; Preysing; Seinsheim; Spaur (4 Counts were Illuminati); Count Emerich Stadion-Thannhausen; Thurn und Taxis; Törring-Seefeld (2 Counts); Waldenfels; Friedrich Lothar Joseph Baron von Stadion-Warthausen; Count Johann Philipp Karl Joseph von Stadion-Warthausen.
June 6th, 2009 at 10:06 am
There’s no contradiction as far as technocratic rule. In the Minerval Academies they would watch the students closely and promote those with utopian socio-political tendencies and this translated in the public schools as well. But for the most part the masses were educated to love their servitude. The Illuminati likened themselves as the embodiment of philosopher kings.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This still doesn’t compute with me. I don’t recall Weishaupt admitting such educational dichotomy in his discourses.
Like Rousseau he postulated the whole of humanity returning to the liberty of the “noble savage” in “one big family.” Sure, humanity had to be lead, by the Illuminati toward that ideal, but the ideal was still postulated. That’s what “Perfectibility” was all about.
Of course, Rousseau gets into the popular will concept and so Democracy and the inevitable return of rule by an elite through the State. . . so much for the liberty of the Noble Savage.
So, in that sense the Illuminati was hypocritical, but I wouldn’t think Weishaupt would explicitly advocate an education of the masses for “servitude” to “betters.” That would directly contradict the basic tenant of the Order.
Of course, it is natural for Monarchists to have an “education for poverty and servitude” for the masses and classical education for the loyal upper classes. I’d think it more likely the the infiltrated Illuminati educator was pretending to do the will of the Nobles who were then in charge, but actually pushing an Illuminati or what we would today call a “PROGRESSIVE” education.
Of course, there is a little complication: “Progressive” education acheives the opposite of what it claims as can be garnered from looking at the American public school system. Instead of “Noble” savage living in liberty and moving toward perfected co-operation with the collective we get, well, JUST SAVAGES!
June 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am
You are right, the “love of God and country” shtick seems contradictory, but Pestalozzi was specifically concerned with the education of the poor. He used these people somewhat like guinea pigs and tried all manner of unorthodox teachings on them. Fitche promoted him in Prussian circles and the “Pestalozzian Method” became the most influential form pedagogy throughout the 19th century. It was applied by socialists, communists, Prussians, Americans, and even Leninists and Stalinists - one size fits them all!
Pestalozzi was his own man for sure and more of a pioneer, but he was a prominent Illuminatus for Switzerland and right after his initiation in 1782 his pedagogic techniques changed and he started using tangible manipulative techniques of a distinctly Illuminist nature (see the Pestalozzi bio on pp. 376-81). Both Weishaupt and Pestalozzi were die-hard Rousseauists however the former was equally a fan of Basedow and the Philanthropin school popular in Greater Germany, whereas Pestalozzi evolved into whole school unto himself.
June 7th, 2009 at 9:27 am
>>>>Pestalozzi … proposed a practical way of educating the masses to love God and country and to become more effective workers, without threatening the elite class of wealth and power…. [Pestalozzi] argued for a practical education for the new proletariat and was looked upon with favor by the power elite for suggesting that “‘the poor must be educated for poverty’ for in order ‘to enjoy the best possible state, both of soul and body … it is necessary to desire and be content with still less.’” … Here was an education which could meet the needs of the masses and the nation without threatening the class structure. >>>>>>>>>>
Interesting, but this contradicts the “explicit” Weishaupt Illuminati ideology. Can you clarify?>>>>>>>>>>>>
AH!Ha! After googling around a bit on Pestalozzi, I think I get what Pestalozzi was up to. . . all based on Rousseau’s novel EMILE in which an upper class person is given an education that includes “vocational or manual training” instead of just the traditional intellectual curriculum. “Throne and Altar” France was outraged and had Rousseau expelled. “The THOUGHT of the Nobility working with their hands!” (and benefitting? HORRORS!) I’ve never read EMILE, but that is the impression I get from googling around.
Pestalozzi just found an Illuminati-Rousseauian deceptive career path in which the authoritarian “throne and altar” society in which he live allowed him to experiment with his egalitarian, Illuminati inspired educational methods which he secretly dreamed would lead to the Illuminati’s sought after world revolution. He expected the poor, with the help of Pestalozzi methods to vault to Olympian heights and revolutionize the world. The elite was blithely unaware of his motives since he seemed to be training for manual tasks which the elite despised as “beneath” them. . . Actually, the Elite was probably correct. Since the whole Rousseauian “Noble Savage” mind set was a chimera.
This is similar to how in the modern day, Bill Ayres was given a ton of money by conservative foundations to design educational programs for the poor. Somehow the conservative sponsors were lead to think the poor and deprived would be educated and become more functional and less dangerous. . . instead, of course, Ayres was systematically molding them into Revolutionary Shock troops.
June 7th, 2009 at 10:06 am
<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I see the “obscurantist” label coming up in your work and your sources. I’m not sure, but suspect this refers to the mystic “memes” surrounding the Holy Roman Empire. Francis Yates has mentioned this in her books.
Apparently, the Holy Roman Emperors sponsored art and literature that glorified the Empire as being the direct continuation of ancient Rome, thus enlisting the grandeur of the world conquering Caesars.
Frankly, I don’t see this as “obscure”, but the feeling is common amongst historians that the “HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE was neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire.” In my view, this is NOT HISTORY, but little more than Papal, anti-Emperor propaganda. Using “obscure” in this context is, I believe, quite misleading and purposely so.
Frederic II, most powerful “Emperor” was often accused of heresy because of his “mystic” inteests. His Court was supposedly populated by legions of occultists, alchemists, secret orders, etc. one would hardly expect of a Catholic King. . . but as an enemy of the Pope it made sense. Perhaps the German Princes were attracted to occultism of all kinds and the Illuminati were following in the footsteps of Frederic II.
This also brings to mind the rivalry between the Pope’s Church and the German Emperors for control of Christian Europe. German armies even sacked Rome and held the Pope captive at one point if I recall correctly. This conflict has also been referred to as the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Ghibellines supporting the Emperor and the Guelphs, the Pope.
June 7th, 2009 at 10:13 am
By the way, the ELITE in Throne and Altar society was very physical in that they trained rigorously for the “athletics” of war and personal combat, BUT NOT, heaven forbid, MANUAL LABOR.
Even the most effete French Nobleman could stick a sword through a lumbering manual laborer armed with a club before he knew what happened. Raising a club against a swordsman meant certain death.
German Noblemen could dispatch legions of the poor with their sabres and had the scars to prove their training.
June 7th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Need I mention that firearms changed everything?
Carroll Quigley claimed that, ultimately, weapons availabilit determines political forms for an era. Expensive weapons that require skill engender authoritarianism and easy to use cheap weapons encourage “democracy” or decentralized authority.
Firearms came into their own when? Certainly, they were in flower in America at the same time of the Illuminati and the French Revolution.
June 7th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Re: obscurantism
Here’s a good explanation of its commonly-held meaning during the enlightenment. Klaus Epstein uses the term a lot in his German Conservatism book, and if you read enough books on this period in history you come across the word at every turn, describing those intent on obscuring and censoring knowledge which they deemed dangerous to traditional ways.
June 8th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Ah! Ok then, the obscurantism label is only indirectly related to the Holy Roman Empire memes promoted by the aristocracy.
Clearly, people who promote memes of Imperial Grandeur they know to be false are creating a “Noble Lie.” Not an explicit LIE, but a series of images and visions that cloud or obscure the truth.
June 8th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
In my view, anyone who believes in “democracy” or even representative governmnet as an “ideal” is an obsurantist.
The reality is the such forms are the inherently the means of an elite to gain the consent of the ruled.
Better perhaps than naked rule by force, but hardly the misty-eyed ideal often posited.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Left a review on Amazon U.K. and Amazon U.S. for the book.
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Thanks.
The million pictures and captions are bit overkill. I agree. If the design was left to me I would have used a minimalist approach.