And even at its largest, it only consisted of somewhere between and 2, members. The group grew to that size by becoming a sort of sleeper cell within other groups — Illuminati members joined Freemason lodges to recruit members for their own competing secret society.
There were two sides to the historical Illuminati: their odd rituals and their ideals. The Illuminati did plenty of unusual things. They used symbols like the owl , adopted pseudonyms to avoid identification, and had complicated hierarchies like Novice, Minerval, and Illuminated Minerval that divided the ranks.
In the beginning, Hodapp says, Illuminati members didn't trust anyone over 30, because they were too set in their ways. Other reports of rituals are harder to confirm, but we know that members were very paranoid and used spy-like protocol to keep one another's identities secret. But while they were following these bizarre rituals, they also promoted a worldview that reflected Enlightenment ideals like rational thought and self-rule. Anti-clerical and anti-royal, the Illuminati were closer to revolutionaries than world rulers, since they sought to infiltrate and upset powerful institutions like the monarchy.
Historians tend to think the Illuminati were only mildly successful — at best — in becoming influential. Though, of course, there are also those who believe the Illuminati successfully took over the world — and still control it today.
If an all-powerful group does dominate the world, we probably wouldn't know about it. It's also difficult to untangle the success of the Illuminati from that of the Freemasons, which they infiltrated and commingled with. It's just as tough to tell what influence the Illuminati actually had as opposed to the influence people think they had. We do know the Illuminati had some influential members — along with many dukes and other leaders who were powerful but are forgotten today, some sources think writer Johann Goethe was a member of the group though other sources dispute the claim.
In a way, Illuminati influence depends on what you believe about them. If you think their revolutionary ideals spread to other groups, like the French Revolution's Jacobins , then they were successful. If you think those ideas would have prospered regardless, then they were mainly a historical curiosity. In , Duke of Bavaria Karl Theodor banned secret societies, including the Illuminati, and instituted serious punishments for anyone who joined them.
Most of the group's secrets were disclosed or published, and, if you believe most historians, the Illuminati disappeared. From the moment of the disbanding, however, the myth expanded. As described in Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia , documents found in the homes of high-ranking Illuminati members like Xavier von Zwack confirmed some of the spookiest Illuminati theories, like their dreams of world domination and cultish behavior even though those documents may exaggerate the truth about the group.
Almost immediately after the Illuminati were disbanded, conspiracy theories about the group sprang up. The most famous conspiracy theories were authored by physicist John Robison in , who accused the Illuminati of infiltrating the Freemasons, and Abbe Augustin Barruel , whose history of the Jacobins promoted the theory that secret societies, including the Illuminati, were behind the French Revolution. They were told to pay attention to the conduct of other men around them and report back weekly about public or private occurrences.
Neither sisterhood was to know about the other. The Barvarian Illuminati insinuated themselves into public offices and courts of justice. Documents found in the homes of Illuminati like diplomat Franx Xavier von Zwack confirmed their dreams of world domination.
The Duke of Bavaria, Karl Theodor, banned secret societies in In and instituted punishments for anyone who joined them. But did the Illuminati really dissolve? They point out that Weishaupt was banished but not imprisoned, so he carried on writing and working. Barruel even promoted a theory that secret societies, including the Illuminati, were behind the French Revolution.
The Illuminati then seems to have disappeared, with some people believing that it continued underground. Adam Weishaupt was eventually stripped of his post at the University of Ingolstadt. After being exiled from Bavaria, he spent the remainder of his life in Gotha, Thuringia, dying in From the moment they disbanded, conspiracy theories about the Illuminati began to take hold. First president of the US, George Washington , then wrote a letter the following year in which he stated that he believed the threat of the Illuminati had been avoided, adding further fuel to the idea that the order still existed.
Books and sermons condemning the group later sprung up, and third US president, Thomas Jefferson, was falsely accused of being a member. Calling for anarchism and civil disobedience by perpetrating hoaxes, its adherents included writer Robert Anton Wilson. Some followers of Discordianism sent fake letters into magazines claiming that events such as the assassination of US president John F Kennedy were all the work of the Illuminati. Wilson later published a book with Robert Shea, The Illuminatus!
Michael, a man in his late forties who has been a member for six years, says, like Anna, he joined on the recommendation of somebody close to him. That's what it is all about. Unsurprisingly, many Freemasons are vague when discussing the fraternity's purpose, but two things crop up repeatedly when you ask why they enjoy being members. Anna, too, lists the charitable side of membership as something she enjoys. Admirable though charity may be, people donate all the time without joining secretive societies.
What else, then, compels people to not only join but remain committed members? You will come across people you've met in the past, certainly if you've lived in the area for a number of years.
But what is a network for if it does not operate for the benefit of those involved? It is not to be used for your own personal benefit. It really is for others. Anna adds: "I don't know a single other woman who's worked in [my industry].
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