Illuminati in popular culture

Illuminati in popular culture covers how the secret society of the Illuminati founded by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in 1776 has been manifested in popular culture, in books and comics, television and movies, games, and music.

A number of novelists, playwrights, and composers are alleged to have been Illuminati members and to have reflected this in their work. Also, early conspiracy theories surrounding the Illuminati inspired a number of creative works, and continue to do so.

Contents
1 Books and comics
2 Television and film
3 Games
4 Music and audio
5 See also
6 References
[edit]Books and comics

Gothic literature had a particular interest in the theme of the Illuminati. The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction wrote that readers had a "scandalous vogue for German tales of the Illuminati."[1] The role of the Illuminati in Horrid Mysteries, as in Montague Summers' introduction to a later reprint of it. The Illuminati also turn up in two spoofs of the gothic genre, which both also reference Horrid Mysteries, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock.[2] A number of writers have indicated the familiarity of Mary Shelley with the early anti-Illuminati text Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism due to Percy Bysshe Shelley's enthusiasm for it and see its influence in Frankenstein, Zastrozzi and The Assassins particularly, reading the Monster itself as an amalgam of Shelley's Illuminati-influenced ideas and of the Illuminati itself, with the monster being created in Ingolstadt, where the Illuminati had been formed.[3][4][5]

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is a three-book science fiction series published in the 1970s, which is regarded as a cult classic particularly in the hacker community. An incomplete comic book version of the Illuminatus! was produced and published by Eye-n-Apple Productions and Rip Off Press between 1987 and 1991. Robert Anton Wilson also wrote The Historical Illuminati Chronicles in the early 1980s, and several other books and stories making use of it. Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is a labyrinthine 1988 novel about all sorts of secret societies, including the Illuminati and the Rosicrucians.[6]

Angels & Demons (German title: Illuminati), Dan Brown's 2000 precursor to 2003's The Da Vinci Code, is about an apparent Illuminati order plot to destroy its enemy the Catholic Church by using antimatter to blow up the Vatican while Papal elections are being held. In this novel the Illuminati movement was founded by Galileo Galilei, and others, as an enlightened reaction to persecution by the Catholic Church. They were initially based in Italy, but fled after four key members were executed by the Vatican. Apparently there are four churches to them in Rome, each representing one of the four elements.[7] This is also the plot of the movie by the same name.

In Michael Romkey's vampire novels, the Illuminati are an order of benevolent vampires, consisting of many famous figures throughout history (Beethoven, Mozart, etc.). The main character, David Parker, joins the order, but later leaves.[8] Author Larry Burkett wrote a book called The Illuminati, where "The Society" seeks world power.[9]

In Marvel Comics, the Illumnati is a group of superheroes who joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes in Marvel's main shared universe.

[edit]Television and film

In Simon West's 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a group of high-society villains call themselves Illuminati, developing a plan to rule the world. They and Lara Croft's father claim that the Illuminati have existed four millennia for this purpose.[10][11]
In several episodes of the Walt Disney animated series Gargoyles, one of the major antagonists of the series, David Xanatos, was revealed to be a member of the Illuminati.[7][12] Other individuals revealed to be Illuminati members in the Gargoyles series were former FBI agent Martin Hacker, NYPD detective Matt Bluestone, and Quarrymen founder John Castaway.[13]
The History Channel series Decoded featured Illuminati author Mark Dice, who met with the show's investigators to discuss the Illuminati and their operations today.[14]
In one episode of Justice League Unlimited, The Question, a conspiracy theorist, exclaims several theories under torture, one of them being that Illuminati mystics forged the Magic Bullet to 'stop us from learning the truth'.
In several episodes of the modern television show "Bones", the cannibalistic serial killer referred to as "the Gormogon" is revealed to act and behave under the doctrines of the Illuminati.[15]
The Illuminati are parodied in an episode of American Dad called Black Mystery Month, the "Illuminuti" is a secret organization revolving around peanut butter.
[edit]Games

In Street Fighter III the final boss Gill is the leader of Illuminati

Several games from Steve Jackson Games are based on the mythos : the card game Illuminati and its trading card game reincarnation Illuminati: New World Order, and the role-playing game GURPS Illuminati.[16] By appearing in video games like Deus Ex, in which the player is a United Nations agent pitted against conspirators that include the Illuminati, Illuminati conspiracy theories are kept alive partly by "the fertile imaginations of computer game creators and their players."[17]

In the role-playing game Paranoia the Illuminati is a secret society so secret that all its members are undercover, pretending to be members of one of the other, less secret, secret societies and presumably attempting to influence their activities for some greater purpose.

The 'Oro' in the Condemned video game series is highly reminiscent of the Illuminati, as it is a secretive organization consisting of members in lofty political positions (including the President of the United States) seeking to influence society.

In the first person shooter series Call of Duty the Illuminati is mentioned several times in the zombies mode, which is playable in Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops. One of the four main playable characters, Edward Richtofen, is suspected to be a member of the illuminati, due to how many times he refers to them.

In the beginning cutscene of L.A. Noire, the Illuminati symbol is seen on the roof of a building.

Also, in Assassins Creed, the Illuminati is a theme of the many symbols revealed at the end of the game.

[edit]Music and audio

Some composers had been members of the Illuminati itself, like Brindl, Benedikt Hacker,[18] Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann,[11] and Christian Gottlob Neefe.[19] One member, Karl von Eckartshausen included masonic references in his libretto "Fernando und Yariko."[11] Some writers detect references to the Illuminati and its concerns in the music of Ludwig van Beethoven[20] and in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, particularly his opera "The Magic Flute"[21]

Rolling Stone noted in 1998 that there were at that time "dozens of songs" making use of conspiracy theories about the Illuminati, such as Dr. Dre's "Been There, Done That".[22] Hip-hop music has continually returned to the theme of the Illuminati in songs and albums, like Tupac Shakur's final album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which was thick with references to the subject,[23] Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt,[24] and Mr. Dibbs' album Outer Perimeter..[25]

The music video for the song Justice by Rev Theory shows an organization that is bent on changing the world similar to the Illuminati.

[edit]

The Illuminati

The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both historical and modern, and both real and fictitious. Historically, the name refers specifically to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776.

In modern times it is also used to refer to a purported conspiratorial organization which acts as a shadowy "power behind the throne", allegedly controlling world affairs through present day governments and corporations, usually as a modern incarnation or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati. In this context, the Illuminati are believed to be the masterminds behind events that will lead to the establishment of a New World Order.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Barruel and Robison
3 New England Illuminati scare
4 Modern Illuminati
5 Popular culture
6 Illuminati in conspiracy theory
7 References
8 Other Reading
9 External links
History

The movement was founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria) as the Order of the Illuminati, with an initial membership of five,[1] by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830),[2] who was the first lay professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt.[3] The movement was made up of freethinkers as an offshoot of the Enlightenment, and seems to have been modeled on the Freemasons.[4]

Originally Weishaupt had planned the order to be named the "Perfectibilists".[1] The group has also been called the Bavarian Illuminati and the movement itself has been referred to as Illuminism. In 1777, Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria. He was a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and, in 1784, his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati.

Many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members, including Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack, who was number two in the operation and was found with much of the group's literature when his home was searched.[5] The Illuminati's members took a vow of secrecy and pledged obedience to their superiors. Members were divided into three main classes, each with several degrees.

The order had its branches in most countries of the European continent; it reportedly had around 2,000 members over the span of ten years.[3] The organization had its attraction for literary men, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder, and even for the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar. Weishaupt modeled his group to some extent on Freemasonry, and many Illuminati chapters drew membership from existing Masonic lodges. Internal rupture and panic over succession preceded its downfall, which was effected by the Secular Edict made by the Bavarian government in 1785.[3]

According to J.M. Roberts, the March 2, 1785 edict "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria." Meanwhile, Weishaupt had fled, and documents and internal correspondences, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the government in 1787.[6]

Barruel and Robison

Between 1797 and 1798 Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy both publicized the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy, including the claim that it was behind the French Revolution. Both books proved to be very popular, spurring reprints and paraphrases by others[7] (a prime example is Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism by Reverend Seth Payson, published in 1802).[8] Some response was critical, such as Jean-Joseph Mounier's On the Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France.[citation needed]

New England Illuminati scare

Robison and Barruel's works made their way to the United States. Across New England, Reverend Jedidiah Morse and others sermonized against the Illuminati, their sermons printed, and the matter followed in newspapers. The concern died down in the first decade of the 1800s, though had some revival during the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1820s and 30s.[1]

Modern Illuminati

Main article: New World Order (conspiracy theory)
Writers such as Mark Dice,[9] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Ryan Burke, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati survived, possibly to this day. Many of these theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.[10][11] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.[12][13]

In addition to the shadowy and secret organization, several modern fraternal groups claim to be the "heirs" of the Bavarian Illuminati and have openly used the name "Illuminati" in founding their own rites. Some, such as the multiple groups that call themselves some variation on "The Illuminati Order,"[14][15] use the name directly in the name of their organization, while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, use the name as a grade of initiation within their organization.

Popular culture

Main article: Illuminati in popular culture
The Illuminati are a recurring theme in popular culture. References to such an organization appear in many fictional works across many genres, appearing in novels like The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, The Fallen Angels by Susannah Kells & Bernard Cornwell, and The Illuminati by Larry Burkett; in films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, on television as in the Disney animated television show Gargoyles; in video games such as Deus Ex; in comic book series like New Avengers: Illuminati; as well as in both trading card and roleplaying games like Götterdämmerung.[16]

Illuminati in conspiracy theory

A key figure in the conspiracy theory movement, Myron Fagan, devoted his latter years to finding evidence that a variety of historical events from Waterloo, The French Revolution, President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry, were all orchestrated by the Illuminati.[17] [18]

It is to be noted that the main groundswell of interest in the Illuminati and the assertions that it exists today began after the publication of The Illuminatus trilogy, written in the 1970s by two then Playboy associate editors, Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson[19].[20] A post-modern science fiction work, the trilogy looked at the Illuminati's plot to rule the world, whilst fighting opposition.

Modern theorists have incorporated these fictional ideas, with ever more bizarre twists. One Dr. John Coleman in "Targets of the Illuminati and the Committee of 300[21]" asserts that the Illuminati's intentions include: [22] [23]

The establishment of a One World Government with a unified church and monetary system.
Further advancement of ideas through mind control.
Legalization & encouragement of the use of drugs and pornography.
Suppression of all scientific advancement unless they considered it acceptable to their aims.
To cause a total collapse of the world's economies and engender total political chaos.
To take control of all Foreign and domestic policies of the United States.
To keep people everywhere from deciding their own destinies by means of one created crisis after another and then managing such crises.
To weaken the (moral fiber) of the nation and to demoralize workers in the (labor class) by creating mass unemployment.
The utter destruction of all national identity and national pride.
Fracturing of the nuclear family by encouraging teenagers to rebel.
Use and promotion of rock music to facilitate this rebellion which include rock gangsters such as the Rolling Stones.
The destruction of religions.
An end to all industrialization and the production of nuclear generated electric power in what they call "The Post-Industrial Zero-Growth Society".
Penetrate and subvert all governments, and work from within them to destroy the sovereign integrity of nations represented by them.
Organize a world-wide terrorist apparatus and negoti- ate with terrorists whenever terrorist activities take place.
Take control of education in America with the intent and purpose of utterly and completely destroying it.
To press for the spread of religious cults such as the Moslem Brotherhood, Moslem fundamentalism, the Sikhs, and to carry out experiments of the Jim Jones and Son of Sam type of murders.
To export "religious liberation" ideas around the world so as to undermine all existing religions but more especially the Christian religion.
Depopulation of large cities according to the trial run carried out by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Pol Pot's (genocidal plans)were drawn up in the United States by one of the Club of Rome's research foundations.
To give the fullest support to supranational institutions such as the United Nations(UN), The International Monetary Fund(IMF), The Bank of International Settlements(BIS), The World Court and, as far as possible, make local institutions of lesser effect by gradually phasing them out or bringing them under the mantle of the United Nations.
Cause by means of limited wars in the advanced countries, and by means of starvation and diseases in Third World countries, the death of 3 billion people by the year 2000 & the population of the United States is to be reduced by 100 million by the year 2050. The Committee of 300 commissioned Cyrus Vance to write a paper on this subject of how best to bring about such genocide. The paper was produced under the title the "Global 2000 Report" and was accepted and approved for action by President Carter, for and on behalf of the U.S. Government, and accepted by Edwin Muskie, then Secretary of State, Under the terms of the (Global 2000 Report).