P. Bailey © 2005

The Illuminati was a secret society in late 18th Century Bavaria. Founded by one Adam Weishaupt at the University of Ingolstadt in 1776, the society’s aims were closely linked to ideas from the Enlightenment; to combat religious thinking and promote and encourage rationalism. The subterfuge deployed by Weishaupt, and extrapolated beyond credibility by conspiracy theorists, was necessitated out of the fact that Weishaupt was a secularist (and anti-monarchist) in a previously ecclesiastical university post. The Illuminati attempted to disseminate ideas by infiltrating other organisations; however, the society lost momentum and died out within fifteen years of its conception.

The society is believed by conspiracy theorists to have secret signs on the United States dollar. These signs are from the reverse of the Great Seal, which is used on official legislation. Both the obverse and reverse designs were incorporated into the dollar bill in the nineteen thirties. The Latin phrase “Novus Ordo Seclorum” has been quoted as meaning “New World Order”, and despite actually meaning “New Order of the Ages” is still cited as “evidence” that a master plan has been in operation for some two hundred plus years. The pyramid and eye symbol, which can also be seen, has been linked by some sources to the Freemasons, who have been accused of having an Illuminati cabal. The actual chronology of how the seal was initially developed is quite straightforward:

The eye, which theorists tend to see as a metaphor for an Orwellian Big Brother, is in fact a symbol of “divine providence” and can be seen in both Renaissance and biblical sources. Even if the theorists’ assertions were true, it is difficult to see the relevance of putting a secret symbol on a nationally circulated dollar bill.

Conspiracy theorists believe that the Illuminati exist today, either directly linked to the original group, or based on that original model. To look into all the individual assertions of the theorists would be, as Robert Carroll, author of Skeptic’s dictionary suggests, to “enter Bedlam”. From both extreme religious fundamentalists through to extra-terrestrial enthusiasts, a unifying idea is that the Illuminati want to subjugate the masses through mind control and mass identification techniques. The end of the world is apparently nigh.

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, JFK’s assassination and the communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry, were all orchestrated by the Illuminati.

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. A post-modern science fiction work, the trilogy looked at the Illuminati’s plot to rule the world, whilst fighting opposition, one of the chief protagonists being the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.

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″ asserts that the Illuminati’s intentions include:

• The establishment of a One World Government with a unified church and monetary system
• Further advancement of their ideas through mind control
• Encouragement of the use of drugs and pornography
• Suppression of all scientific advancement unless they considered it acceptable to their aims
• Causing the death of 3 billion people by 2050, through wars and starvation
• Creation of mass unemployment
• 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 (a gangster group much favored by European Black Nobility)”

The shadowy world of secret signs and societies; a world where every major political event, high-profile disease, celebrity assassination and international agreement are woven together into one mass blanket of “truth” is one that has found a natural home on the Internet. Bolstered by their peers in what has been sometimes termed “communal reinforcement”, the theorists continue to fantasise that there is a grand plan at work and that they are part of the righteous fight against it. Considering that the Illuminati is apparently such a secret society, it is difficult to ascertain how the theorists have so many notions about their aims and objectives. Supposition abounds on Internet forums and conspiracy websites, with ever more interwoven fantasies proliferating. One of the major “authorities” on this and other conspiracy related matters is the one-time sports presenter, David Icke. Icke has addressed the Oxford Union on how the students are being treated like sheep by the Illuminati controlled education system, which begs the question: why did the said Illuminati system allow him a platform to disclose their existence? Icke draws upon quite diverse sources in his claim that the Illuminati exist, including H.G.Wells’ early science fiction and political quotes from the 19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

Skeptics who are aware of the aggressive power of international governments yet refuse to believe that every world event has been controlled by a bloodline, be it largely Jewish or extraterrestrial, have been apparently brainwashed into such microcosmic thinking.

The Illuminati’s supposed omniscience and omnipresence is not dissimilar to the notion of the all-seeing God that the religious fundamental conspiracy theorists perceive as being under attack from this immoral New World Order. The conspiracy theorists tendency to concentrate on eschatological (the end of the world) matters is a theme which can be linked to their close references to the Book of Revelations and fear of prophecies becoming reality.

Despite the proliferation of theories, drawn from a build-up of supposition and published works of fiction, there is absolutely no empirical evidence to suggest that the Illuminati exist. In the mind of the conspiracy theorist, every internationally drawn up piece of legislation, every UN deployment of troops, every economic trade agreement, is evidence that the world is moving towards a single global governance. Every major event from the death of Princess Diana to the attack on the World Trade Centre is now routinely traced back to the Illuminati. With the Internet-using conspiracy theorist in operation, no future atrocity, accident or event will happen that will not be attributed to the Illuminati.

As The New England Skeptical Society’s research into the Illuminati and conspiracy theorists concludes:

P. Bailey © 2005

The seismic shift in Icke’s career occurred, bizarrely enough, on the Wogan Show in 1991. Wearing a turquoise tracksuit and appearing distracted, Icke announced to Terry Wogan and the viewing population that he believed he was the Son of God.

The announcement coincided with a turbulent time in Icke’s private life. He has since retracted the contention, referring now to being the son of a godhead. His beliefs, however, have become increasingly extraordinary, and have found a receptive audience, both on his publicity tours and through his website. His on-line biography cites his occupation as being “…since 1990 a full time investigator into who and what is really controlling the world.”

This “who and what”, Icke believes, is The Illuminati, a supposed powerful elite, composed of Fourth Dimension reptilian extra-terrestrial humanoids. In “Children of the Matrix” Icke says that 13 bloodline families have this hybrid DNA, and their agenda is described on his website thus:

He believes these people to be able to shape-shift and to have infiltrated the Masons, The Tri-Lateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and The Council on Foreign Relations. He further believes them to be guilty of Satanic worship, including blood-drinking and child-sacrifice and claims their number includes, amongst others, George Bush, the Clintons, The Royal Family, the actor Kris Kristofferson and the singer Boxcar Willie.

Icke believes that the Illuminati agenda is to subjugate the masses through a system of mind control. Juxtaposed with this is the claim that the Illuminati want to create a world of fear so the reptilian Illuminati can feed off the “resultant negative energies”. It appears from his website, that this fear is regarded as a food source, and not a metaphor for the pleasure of power. It is difficult to find evidence of any such food chain in existence. Children’s fiction, however, contains many such examples. Pixar’s “Monsters’ Inc” and the dementors in the Harry Potter novels use the imagery of emotions-as-sustainance to good effect.

It is not known whether or not Icke has drawn upon these cultural influences in formulating his hypotheses. He has, however, drawn upon the Hollywood blockbuster “The Matrix”: Writing in 2004, he believes that the microchip agenda is an imminent danger…

Presumably the fact that The Matrix’s inside information was seen by millions was an oversight on the part of the Hollywood Illuminati cabal.

Icke has written on his website that the film industry is a rich source of material for the Illuminati, as celebrity worship and distracting charity events can provide the public with a smokescreen from what is really happening in the world. Some celebrities have apparently been zombified by the Illuminati to fulfil this agenda of mass distraction A “channelled source” has told him that the mind–controlled celebrities do not have cosmetic surgery out of vanity:

In addition to using “channelled” sources, Icke embraces many of the New Age pastimes. He has worked with healers and psychics and has spoken at length about his own spiritual awakening when he heard voices and was physically directed by an unseen force to stop and look at the New Age book section whilst on holiday. This awakening was further developed whilst on a visit to Peru, when Icke’s arms were held aloft at a historical site, by the same unseen force, accompanied by the reassurances of a disembodied voice speaking to him.

Whilst in Australia, Icke visited and was treated by a healer who helped his arthritis. Whilst there, Icke claims to have seen many instances of incredible healing, including cured lung cancer and mended spinal cords:

Icke has set much store by the work of such New Age gurus, and has extrapolated anecdotal evidence from them to fit his own agenda. In meeting Princess Diana’s one-time faith healer, Christine Fitzgerald, he has taken literally the claims that Diana said the Windsors were not human, and that her nickname for them was “The lizards” to tie in with his notion of a reptilian plot.

There is a further, more insidiously damaging instance of where metaphor has been seen to be used inappropriately. Icke’s repeated use of reptilian and alien symbolism was at one stage a cause for concern for ethnic minority groups, particularly Jewish, who believed that Icke was hiding his true anti-Semitic agenda. No action has since been taken when they realised that Icke did really mean reptiles. However, although Icke strongly denies any anti-Semitic inclinations, one should be aware of the company he keeps and the claims he has made. Canadian contacts and tour organisers, including Joseph Duggan, owner of Strong Eagles Productions, and Tom J. Kennedy of “The Preferred Network” have right-wing, anti-Semitic leanings. In his self-published second book, “And the truth shall set you free”, Icke repeated his belief, both in the Tsarist-forged “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and that a Jewish clique was behind the Two World Wars and the Russian Revolution. In the same book he also denounced the Nuremberg Trials as “a calculated exercise in revenge and manipulation”.

This flirtation with revisionism can still be seen today, with Icke’s support for the Canadian Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel. Icke’s support centres around Zundel’s freedom of expression. One would imagine however that a more worthy symbol could be found than a pro-Nazi propagandist who has appeared at a trial in a concentration camp uniform and who has disseminated stickers such as “Holocaust teaching is Child Abuse”.

Icke’s spiritual enlightenment and revelations have carried on apace, and as luck would have it, provided material for many further books. In 2002 whilst on a visit to Brazil, Icke tried a local psychoactive substance called ayahuasca. The resulting 5 hour drug trip led to him hearing a voice that told him “Infinite love is the only truth, everything else is illusion”.

Like David Irving and Holocaust revisionism, Icke has seen a change in how the public perceive him. Much more high–profile than Irving, he has been openly ridiculed by many. Also, like Irving, Icke has entered into the murky world of Holocaust denial. Both self-taught, they have become embroiled in a need for continuing revealment of cover-ups to sell more books, organise tours and finance their cause.

Icke has no empirical evidence that any of his reptilian agenda or global governance is actual fact. He admits that at school he was bored rigid by mainstream teaching : “He rejected it all with a sort of inner knowing that it was not relevant to him.” He has continued to eschew reality and has set great store by information and prophecies gathered from psychics.

His website is packed with sensationalist claims about censorship, cover-ups and health scares. Icke, and other contributors have looked at such diverse issues as; did the Bush administration commit the World Trade Centre atrocity (and photographic “evidence” of Satan in the billows of smoke) – through to; is the Queen’s black-over-white hat a sign that she is evil?

His style has gained many admirers, who perhaps have confused articulacy with cognitive reasoning, and belligerence towards detractors as a sign that he is thus empowered by having the truth on his side. Icke has gone one step further than most Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists and his “conspiracy of everything” theory has proved to be wildly exciting for those so-inclined.

His website is currently being revamped, with a request to help fight for truth with a paypal donation. Despite knowing many superb healers, he has decided to cut back on touring for health reasons; preferring instead to play the big stadia.

His latest tour has been postponed due to lack of investment money.