I supposed that most people have heard about the Illuminati; this secret organization who is the puppet master pulling the strings of the very fabric of society. True_George thinks that is an understatement. True_George also thinks that most people doesn’t know anything about the Illuminati; when was it founded, who founded it and what were the ideas they were promoting. Is True_George wrong? Whether True_george is wrong or right at least people should have some basic knowledge of the this organization that it called the Illuminati.

The idea of the Illumanti began with Adam Weishaupt; what is known about Weishaupt was that he was born in the city of Ingolstadt, a city in the Electorate of Bavaria which is now part of modern day Germany. He was orphaned when he was a young child, and his Uncle took over his upbringing and education by enrolling him in a Jesuit school. After his studies were completed he became a Professor teaching natural and cannon law at the University of Ingolstadat. He married and started a family.

By all accounts Weishaupt’s life was conventional enough. However, Weishaupt’s mind was restless since he was a child and grew up reading stuff by the French enlightenment philosophers; Weisphaupt also believed that the Monarchy and the church were repressing the freedom of thought. He came to the realization that religious ideals were inadequate to govern the modern day society.

Weishaupt wasn’t against religion, he had issues about the way religion was practiced. In his mind his ideas offered freedom from all religious prejudices, cultivates social virtues and animates them by a great and feasible speedy prospect of universal happiness which can be done by creating a state of liberty and moral equality and doing away with the monarchy, and other titles. It was the kind of talk that would get a person in trouble with authorities. During that point in time the German state was conservation and Catholic and not open to ideas that opposes their way of life.

Having ideas of illumination that could radically transform the way Europe would be governed Weishaupt looked to join a Free Mason lodge. In part because Free Masonry was expanding throughout Europe during the 18th century. It wasn’t long before Weishaupt became disillusioned with the Free Mason ideals. Inspired by esoteric themed books as well as mysteries such as the Seven Sagas of Memphis and the Kabbala he decided to form his own secret society called the Order of The Illuminati.

The first meeting of the Illuminati took place in a forest near Ingolstadat in May 1776. There were only five people in attendance. In this first meeting the rules of the order was established and that all future members must be approved by the present membership. The new recruit must have a strong repetition, a solid family legacy, social connections and wealth. At first membership was restricted to students of Weishaupt but the membership soon expanded to include important people such as noblemen, politicians, Doctors, Lawyers, Jurists as well as leading writers and intellectuals. The Banker Mayer Amschel Rothschild provided funding to the group.

At first the order had three levels. The first level was known as novices, the second level was minerval and the third level was called illuminated minervals. The term minerval is used as a reference to the Roman goddess of wisdom. This supposed to reflect the Illuminati’s intention of spreading knowledge or illumination of the reshaping of the State and society. Baron Von Knigge was instrumental in the group’s organization and expansion and as a former Mason Von Knigge adopted similar rites as the Masons. The members were given a symbolic secret name. For example Weishaupt was called Spartacus, Knigge was called Philo. As the membership expanded so did the hierarchy and membership levels. There was 13 degrees of initiation which was divided into three classes. The first was called illuminatus minor, the second was the second illuminatus dirigens, and the third, that of king.

The Illuminati started to experience internal conflict. Even though Knigge was instrumental in expanding the organization he and Weishaupt increasingly fought over the goals and procedures of the organization. This didn’t end well for Knigge as he was forced to leave. Around the same time that Knigge was forced out of the Illuminati another disgruntled former member Joseph Utzschneider sent a letter to the Grand Duchess of Bavaria that spilled the beans and took the lid off this secret of secret organizations. What was revealed to the Duchess was a combination and distortion of the truth and lies. The letter also suggested that the Illuminati was conspiring against Bavaria on the behalf of Austria. This led to the Duke issuing an edit banning the creation of any type of society if it isn’t authorized by law in 1784. The Illuminati thought that the edit would not directly affect them; but in 1785 a second edit was issued which expressly banned the organization. The police was sent to arrest members of the Illuminati and while carrying out arrests the Police found documents which included a defense for committing suicide and atheism, a plan to create a female branch of the organization, making invisible ink and medical instructions on how to do abortions.
Evidence that was gathered was used to put together conspiracy case and accuse the Illuminati of being involved in a conspiracy against religion and state. In 1787 a third edit was issued which outlawed the group and that any one who joined would get the death penalty. Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and was banished. He spent the rest of his life living in exile in Gotha in Saxony where he taught philosophy at the University of Göttingen. The Bavarian state considered the Order of the Illuminati dismantled.

Now there were rumors that Thomas Jefferson was a member of the Illuminati well if you read this and hung onto every word then an educated guess can be derived. It seemed that Weishaupt and Jefferson read some of the same philosophy material that was going around during the 18th century. Some of the ideals that the Illuminati was promoting was what Jefferson championed. The ideas were liberty, the pursuit of happiness, abolishing the monarchy and noble titles, freedom of thought and the separation of church and state.

All of those ideals were some of the basis of the American Constitution which was written by Jefferson. Some people feel that Jefferson was a genesis but those ideas were floating around and the Americans were the first to base their revolt on it which still endures today. The ideas also sowed the seeds for the French revolution. So my educated guess is that Thomas Jefferson was not a member of the Illuminati because the first meeting of the Illuminati took place in May 1776 and the American declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in July 1776. Now think about it! How can the ideals of a newly formed secret society be spread wide and far within a two month span? True_George say it is not possible. So now a myth has been debunked and you can say you heard it from True_George.

So there you have it the authorities forced the original Illuminati to disband in 1787 so the question is does the Illuminati really exist today?