The Illuminati’s that shadowy cabal that
controls the entire world and ensures free
will is an illusion.
They’ve got a big Facebook page,
Celebrities like Jay-Z are accused of being members,
and there are weird YouTubers like this guy.
"They had weirdos standing up everywhere, and then Beyonce--show a document of this if you can. She does the Illuminati symbol."
But what about the real history of the Illuminati
and how it became what it is today?
This is Bavaria, and in 1776
Adam Weishaupt, a law professor,
founded the Illuminati. It’s real.
He wanted to spread enlightenment ideals around
the world.
The goal was to infiltrate the monarchy and
make them more enlightened by entering their ranks.
Even though they were so high-minded, they had weird rituals.
See these owls? The Illuminati really loved them.
And they had invented hierarchies like Novice,
Minerval, and Illuminated.
Even though they were weird, they did have
some success around the world.
Anywhere from 650 to 2800 members infiltrated
Freemason chapters,
may have had influential members like the
writer Goethe,
and even might have influenced the Jacobins,
the political club that spurred the French
revolution to its most radical heights.
But they were destroyed in 1785.
This is Karl Theodor — the Duke of Bavaria
— and that year he banned secret societies.
That included the Illuminati.
Most historians think that it worked
and the Illuminati disappeared.
But if that’s true, then why do we still
think that Drake’s Illuminati today just
because he wears owl sweaters?
Since the beginning, conspiracy theories have
been part of the Illuminati.
This guy, Xavier von Zwack, actually did have
plans to take over the world that were found
after the Illuminati was banned.
American historians and preachers thought
the Illuminati planted some seeds for the
French Revolution and
George Washington even wrote a letter
that claimed the Illuminati had once been
a threat.
But the Illuminati lost the limelight thanks
to the Freemasons.
This is George Washington as a Freemason,
and a lot of founding fathers really were
Freemasons. That inspired the anti-Masonic
party.
It was a legitimate movement with big names
like John Quincy Adams,
and the Illuminati paranoia faded around the world.
So how did the myth stay alive?
There were always random books, like this
one from 1918, or book reviews
that mentioned the Illuminati.
But most people think the Illuminatus book
trilogy of the 1970s
deserves credit for bringing the Illuminati
back. It might also be why weird secret symbols
like these pyramids and triangles are associated
with the Illuminati.
It was a funny series and gave new life to
the conspiracy for an ironic, connected age.
They were an evil organization bent on ruling
the world, sure, but they were also kind of
funny.
The Illuminati was vague enough to be refit
to any purpose, from
the new world order
to religious paranoia,
to pop culture curio like Angels & Demons.
It became a joke.
But you might believe that's what the Illuminati
wants you to think
if you noticed the 14 evil yellow triangles
of power hidden inside this video.
The Illuminati only really endures because
it’s disappeared and can look like anything.
There’s nothing to worry about.
Nothing at all.
Illuminati, Illuminati, Illuminati.
So this is my humble little crazy wall and
one of the disadvantages of a crazy wall is
that things aren’t as legible as you’d
like them to be. That includes this letter
by George Washington. However, the Library
of Congress does tell us what it says, and
it says, “It was not my intention to doubt
that the doctrines of the Illuminati and principles
of Jacobinism had not spread in the United
States.” So he thought the Illuminati didn’t
make it in the United States, so you can rest
assured, but, they were a threat.
