by Jean-Jacques COURTEY, Doctor in Economic Geography, Ph. D
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This article is trying to clarify things about the famous "Illuminati of Bavaria", simply called "The Illuminati" by most people worldwide nowadays in a confused way. In the mind of people at least, they would have survived. The thrilling "Angels and demons" of Dan Brown (born in 1964 in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA), published in 2000, and the movie of 2009 are certainly for something in this renewed fame !
Our angle of presentation is different. It is based upon the own defense of Adam Weishaupt, founder of "the Circle of Perfectibilists" on May 1st, 1776 (renamed "Illuminati of Bavaria" afterwards), in front of the authorities of Bavaria, in Munich (now Germany) from 1784. Those Illuminati became clearly a movement of "Awakening" and "Enlightenment", as suggested in their name. And they were initially famous for their fight against any form of Despotism, and that's certainly why they were feared !
Nowadays, the "Illuminati" have become a generic and globalizing name. And they are considered by many as the most powerful Secret Society of our planet, ranking even above the legendary "Committee of 300". Thus a certain confusion is reigning with this word, which covers presently a concept or a pattern more than an Order. Between fantasy and reality, it's not so simple to have a realistic and objective opinion about the original model. Hence, we have to study the way the "Illuminati of Bavaria" were created in Ingolstadt (nicknamed "Eleusis") in the XVIII th century - the century of "Enlightenment"-, and which was specific to them in their own right !
Johann Adam Weishaupt was born on February 6th, 1748 in Ingolstadt (Bavaria), and he died peacefully in Gotha (Thuringia, presently Germany too) on November 18th, 1830. He was known at the beginning as a theologian and a professor of Canonical Law in the University of Ingolstadt (1775 - 1785). And actually he started his Secret Society with only four of his pupils the year after, with teachings based upon Zarathustra, the Egyptian culture, the Greek-Roman wisdom, the Kabbalah, and Saint John the Evangelist...but not the Templar teachings !
The stupefying counter-decision we are going to talk about was taken in the summer 1782, six years later after the success had come. It is concerning the promotion of revolutions and regicide, a bit too quickly attributed to the Secret Society he had created in 1776 : it is involving the planned French Revolution and King Louis XVI, as well as his wife Queen Marie-Antoinette !
After the preventive condemnation to death of King Louis XVI during the summer 1782, in the Convent of Wilhelmsbad (near Hanau in Hesse), Weishaupt who totally disagreed with the decision of the Count of Saint Germain (1691 or 1710 - 1784) decided to counter-attack : that's why we are talking about his counter-decision, which was stupefying !
As a lawyer himself, Adam Weishaupt always considered that the rights of the defence should have been respected : to him, the French King didn't do anything wrong. And he thought that the "despotic" judgement of a dark adventurer, seeming to come from nowhere and pretending to be an "immortal Rose-Cross", had strictly no value. Weishaupt who had also studied Alchemy, had both big doubts about the concepts of Time and Space of Saint Germain, and no doubt about his duplicity towards King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette !
Curiously, the Saint Germain glimpsed by Weishaupt was quite close to the tyrannical and megalomaniac being recently described in the "Trilogy of gems" written in 2009 and 2010 by Kerstin Gier (born in Bergish Gladbach, Germany, in 1966). Three fantastic romantic stories about him, Gwendolyn, Gideon, and other characters have been adapted to the cinema by the Directors Felix Fuchssteiner (born in Paderborn, Germany, in 1975) and Katharina Schöde (born in Cologne, Germany, in 1974) : "Ruby red" (2013), "Sapphire blue" (2014) and "Emerald Green"(2016) !
Your reading of this new article of Uchronic history may shake a lot of preconceived ideas you had about the Illuminati of Bavaria, who were often accused of what they didn't really do. So sit down, take a breathe, and get ready to rediscover them, through their past history and their quite paradoxical role in the French Revolution of 1789. Of course, you can make a pause after each part, and continue to read after. Anyhow, enjoy your reading !
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Johann Adam Weishaupt has certainly created one of the most famous Secret Societies on Earth. In 1784, he was badly criticized and even slandered by the Rose-Cross of Innsbrück, presenting itself as the real heiress of the Templars, near the Prince Elector of Bavaria. The fact Weishaupt had opposed the defunct Count of Saint Germain was more determining than the beliefs, which were not so different in reality. But the result was not good for it either : all societies not previously approved were prohibited on his territory, by an Edict of June 22nd, 1784 ! So the "the Order of The Illuminati of Bavaria" ("Der Illuminatenorden von Bayern" in German) was not the only one to be touched, in this fear of any potentially revolutionary movement. Surprisingly, a second Edict was necessary to dissolve the latter officially, on March 2nd, 1785. Yet, his Order still survived in Bavaria till mid-1787, and elsewhere without precision of dates. So it's entirely true that the Order didn't disappear at all in 1785 ! That's why Charles Theodore of Bavaria (1724 - 1799) had to take a third Edict in August 1787, to confirm the prohibition of the Order of Illuminati in Bavaria and sentence to death all his members, who had already fled away. Johann Joachim Bode (1731 - 1793), called "Aemilius" who had represented Weishaupt in Wilhelmsbad, then replaced him in appearance, as second Grand Master. Bode was the editor of Goethe ("Abaris", 1749 - 1832) and Herder ("Damasus pontifex", 1744 -1803), equally members. He was thereafter sent to France in 1787 to meet the "Philalethes" in Strasbourg and Paris, and establish links with them. And he never encouraged any Revolution in France against the King. It is important to notice Weishaupt ruled under the form of "Areopagus" (the Council of Nine), so then in case of necessity or emergency, a member chosen in advance could replace him easily. Just at the end of the troubled period of the French Revolution, the Jesuit Abbot Augustin de Barruel (1741 - 1820) thought that Weishaupt (a previous Jesuit theologian himself) had been able to maintain his leadership, by infiltrating the blue grades of Free Masonry if not the red ones, and other initiation Orders [cf. "Memoirs illustrating the history of Jacobinism", 1797-1799]. And nowadays, his famous Order seems to be surviving in the mind of people at least, like a "ghost organization", through the world reputation it has acquired. Weirdly, even it is said to be extinct, it could well be that the Owl (its symbol) holding an open book between its wings or its legs, is taking off at certain nights !
The Order of Illuminati is part of the philosophy of lights ("Aufklärung"), and aims at promoting the improvement and social progress of humanity. There are two versions concerning this replacement name. In the first version, the change of name of the "Circle of Perfectibilists" for the "Order of Illuminati of Bavaria", came after Weishaupt had listened a speech of Hans Heinrich von Ecker und Eckhoffen (1750 - 1790), founder of "the Order of the knights and brothers of Saint John the Evangelist of Asia in Europe", in 1778. And in the second version, he did it in 1780, with the arrival of a new important member who helped him to reorganize the rituals, the Baron Adolph von Knigge (1752 - 1796). Anyhow, the Illuminati seemed to run faster than time. As a matter of fact, they have quickly been associated with the success of the American Revolution, which started on July 4th, 1776 (only two months after the creation of the first "Circle" in Bavaria, so before it had changed its name). But according to Weishaupt, the Anglo-Saxons in America rapidly came back to their old habits. So you can see the influence of the Order went further than the Rhineland countries, Austria and Switzerland. And about the spread of Revolution everywhere else supposedly sought by his Order to conquer the world, he has always denied such an accusation. To him, his influence worldwide has been completely exaggerated or at least misinterpreted : others, who had denounced or abandoned him, were clearly more revolutionary than him. Above that it was wrong, as it wasn't true he wanted to unsettle the whole world with sudden Revolutions, but just to improve his adepts morally, and to elevate them in a better world and environment. As a first precision, Adolph von Knigge left him in 1784, because him was a real revolutionary ; and he was discontent that Weishaupt was too peaceful and not wanting to spread Revolutions !
1784 was definitively a bad year for Weishaupt, but less than for the defunct Count of Saint Germain. As a matter of fact, the Illuminati had also been accused by a member who was feeling rejected (the public auditor Joseph von Utzschneider renamed "Hellenicus Lesbius" - 1763 - 1840), to be secretly in favor of the Empire of Austria, to admit suicide, to prefer passion to reason, to consider religion as an absurdity...and to eliminate their opponents (except him strangely). The accusation was taken seriously only concerning Austria, because in 1779 the Emperor Joseph II (1741 - 1790), brother of Queen Marie-Antoinette of France had already annexed a part of Bavaria. No wonder Weishaupt had problems with the Prince Elector of Bavaria and the authorities of Munich, and had to leave Ingolstadt in 1785 and to exile to Gotha ! In Gotha justly, he was welcome by the Prince Elector Ernst II von Saxe-Gotha-Altenbourg (1745 - 1804), a new member of his Order since 1783 (under the Order name of "Walter Fürst"). So the Illuminati survived at least in Saxony for an undetermined period. Some say they even expanded to Italy and Russia, which is incredible for an organization presumed to be dead since 1785. And nowadays paradoxally, his Order is presented as definitely materialistic, deist and "republicanist". About Materialism, it is certainly associated with the cult of reason, and then down-to-earth. Concerning "Deism", it doesn't mean at all atheism in reality, but the opposite : the Owl is clearly recalling the Greek Goddess of Wiseness, Athena (Minerva for the Romans). Again, the supreme secret grade of the Illuminati was not "Man-President" but "Man-King" (the personal rank of Weishaupt, with Grand Master). And oddly enough, in the "Exercitia Spiritualia" ("Spiritual Exercises") of Saint Ignatius Lopez of Loyola (1491 - 1556) - founder of the Company of Jesus -, published in Roma in 1548, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ was presented in parallel with the one of a King of Earth, chosen by the Lord, that everybody, Princes and Peoples should follow !
Weishaupt was taught the teachings of the Templar Strict Observance Order, when he became a member in 1777, as free mason. He wanted to complete his learning. But he was disappointed in his expectations. That's why he finally decided not to be influenced by it, but on the contrary to influence it. And at the same time he chose to rename the "Circle of the Perfectibilists" initially created, the "Order of the Illuminati of Bavaria" : he wanted to show his offensive reorientation. About the expansion of the Order and the rituals, he was also influenced from 1780 by a new member, the baron Adolph von Knigge already mentioned, who was a free mason : the latter became rapidly a prominent member and the right arm of Weishaupt under the name of "Philo". Simultaneously, he continued to oppose what he called the "Rosicrucian fever", which had been the very reason of his creation in 1776. As a matter of fact, Weishaupt was not a supporter of Alchemy, that he didn't consider as a real science. Unexpectedly the Grand Master of the Templar Strict Observance Order, the Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick (1721 - 1792) became a member of the Illuminati of Bavaria in 1783, under the name of Aaron. And this was showing the power they had acquired in Prussia too. Don't forget Weishaupt was originally formed by the Jesuits, and had created his Order by inspiring himself from the structures and the philosophy of the Jesuit Order ! The fact he criticized it after, just a few years after the Company of Jesus had been dissolved by the Vatican, couldn't erase wholly this strong influence on his thinking and on his choices. Above that, von Knigge who had entered his Order in 1780, left it in April 1784, by accusing Weishaupt of "Jesuitism" justly, and to be in reality "a Jesuit in disguise". So, for him Weishaupt was in truth too Catholic, which was an height for a an Order supposed to be of radical rationalism !
Weishaupt had chosen the Order name of "Spartacus" by humility, and to show his personal fight against despotic organizations falsely presenting themselves as in favor of the People. And on the "republican" question, he wanted to clear things in 1787 in his "Introduction to my apology". He very strongly denied to be pro-regicide, by reminding the followers of his powerful Order had to respect the social order of the time. And it's true Bavaria was led by a Prince Elector, not by a President. And he was also echoing to the condemnation to death of Louis XVI decided in advance in 1782 by the controversial Count of Saint Germain, in the Convent of Wilhelmsbad. Weishaupt was certainly happy to see the entry of his followers in the masonic lodges ratified at the end of this Convent, but he hadn't yet subdued completely the Templar Strict Observance Order. Then, he couldn't feel fully satisfied. Above that, as previously said he totally disagreed with the planned regicide of the Count of Saint Germain : he was seeing it as a very unfair decision, totally contradictory with the fact the Lodges were abandoning the Templar reference at the same time. Moreover, he was shocked by his attitude towards the French Crown, him who had served Louis XV (1710 - 1774). That's why he took the counter-decision to make it aborted. The famous Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725 - 1798), who was himself free-mason, disliked totally Saint Germain that he was finally holding for a conjurer and a skilled impostor. And even Cagliostro (1743 - 1795), Saint Germain's disciple was often doubting of him : he was finding him too authoritarian, manipulative, and theatrical. But it's true that Cagliostro about him, dreamed to be able to reconcile the Rose-Cross with the Catholic Church !
Again in his "Introduction to my apology", Adam Weishaupt is showing he doesn't accept that the documents of his order found after a great storm, as well as other documents in the hands of Bavarian authorities could be used by some people to create an harmful confusion. He even rebels strongly. All what was attributed in bad to the Illuminati thereafter, was malevolently used against him and his creation, by causing even problems to his wife and his children. So the bad things attributed to his famous Order, were in fact the ones of liars and manipulators including the encouragement to "regicide". And from Gotha where he had taken refuge till his death, under the protection of his Prince - not a President then -, he did the impossible as "Man-King" to disarm them ! On the point of the symbolic "beheading of the King and Queen" in the "Chymical Marriage" dear to the Count of Saint Germain, the Alchemist, he might have prevented it in extremis with the conjunction of the quite questionable executions of Louis XVI (1754 - 1793 ?) and Marie-Antoinette (1755 - 1793 or 1834 ?)...and the two utterly stunning rescue operations of the Baron Jean de Batz (1754- 1822) with Doubles. And it is not a great secret that Jean de Batz had connections with the Jesuits, hiding the way they could after their dissolution by the Pope in 1773. The latters were notably welcome in Mohilev - presently in Belarus -, by the Great Catherine (1729 - 1796)...before their quite surprising Resurrection in 1814 !
In his writing of 1787, Weishaupt shows he is fighting so that the work of his life, the Order of Illuminati of Bavaria is not stripped of its essence, nor misguided by manipulators or provocative agents. To prevent such infiltration, there was the filter of a long list of questions to ask the candidates, throughout their initiatory journey. And the Illuminati struggles against ignorance and prejudice were traits common with most initiatory movements. "In our case, it is not the condition, the reputation, etc. that decides. It is the wisest and the best who is reigning, but without anybody knowing he is reigning", did he write !
And in 1788, Johann Heinrich Faber (1742 - 1791), jurist, writer and translator, completed the apology of Weishaupt to himself, with the publication of "The true primitive Iluminati rituals" : Novice, Minerval (after the name of Minerva), Illuminatus minor and Illuminatus major. He wrote that he was neither member of this Order, nor of any initiatory movement. He just did it to give an honest description of the Illuminati philosophy, out of a desire for transparency and fair play. Concerning the nine following grades divided into two other classes, he didn't give any detail. Then, there were 13 grades in total !
"P.M.C.V." was the Order's motto, written on the book kept open by the Owl : "Per Me Caeci Vident (Through me the blind see)" : this was reminiscent of the Chapter 9 of the Gospel according to Saint John, and showed the Order was respecting Religion...so not only the Olympian religion of Minerva (Goddess Athena, also called Pallas in the rituals). And 5 was the sacred number of Weishaupt, perhaps because he had started his "Circle of Perfectibilists" ("Bund der Perfektibilisten" in German) with only four of his pupils ?
About the Count of Saint Germain, he wasn't so immortal as he died gnawed by rheumatism officially, on February 27th, 1784 in Eckernförde (Schleswig-Holstein, presently Germany) : had he misplaced his drinking gold ? In this respect, it has to be noticed that Queen Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI had realized, that he was using a lot of theatrical makeup. And when he was removing a part of his makeup, his face was appearing far younger : that was the secret of his "Immortality", and it explains why the year 1710 was more likely his year of birth, after a serious inquiry. Above that, the theory of metempsychosis which was dear to him could make anyone an immortal. Hence, Saint Germain hated Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI for those reasons : them too, like Weishaupt, had pierced his secret, and this must be known !
In a way, the Revolution of 1789 could break out because of the decisive role of the famous Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (1757 - 1834), the Man of another Grand Master, Philippe d'Orléans (1747 - 1793), Head of the Great Orient of France. Nicknamed "the Eldest Son of the American Revolution", it seems La Fayette also wanted to be "the Eldest Son of the French Revolution" ! About the Duke of Orleans, he sought to use his obedience for his personal interests. As a matter of fact, he was the own cousin of the King and he absolutely wanted his throne. And he was ready to use any mean to succeed in his plan, even he had to vote the death of his relative, Louis XVI, on January 17th, 1793...by failing against all odds in getting the throne of France !
It has to be quoted that the Duke of Orleans wasn't followed by all the Free Masons of the Great Orient, far from it. The disorders France knew from the Assembly of Notables (1787-1788) were due to the insistance of La Fayette for "the convocation of a National Assembly". This was finally accomplished on June 20th, 1789, after the beginning of the Estates General which had started on May 5th, 1789 in Versailles ! And on July 15th, 1789, the day after the Storming of La Bastille, he became Commander of the newly created National Guard. And this allowed him to behave like an unofficial "Prime Minister". During the events of 5 and 6 October 1789, it's him who took the fateful decision to bring back the King and his family from Versailles to Paris. Did he really propose the Royal Family to escape from Paris to Compiègne with him on June 28th, 1792 ? And is it true that Marie-Antoinette refused ? The fact is that on August 20th 1792, one day after having been declared "traitor" to the Nation, La Fayette emigrated from France with a squad of fifteen of his men !
In 1804, in "The lamp of Diogene", Weishaupt wrote : "I considered the supreme power and religion as essential needs of man, but at a time the game and abuses of secret societies didn't know any limit, I wanted those human weaknesses to become profitable for noble purposes". As much he had liked the American Revolution of 1776, as much he had been annoyed with the French Revolution of 1789, with its roars and its greedy "Grand Master" and Prince, "Philip Equality". The latter chose to be called this way in 1792. He seemed weirdly to distance himself from the Great Orient of France in a curious letter of January, 5th, 1793, and was finally guillotined for betrayal of the Revolution on November 6th, 1793... with the best memories of Maximilien de Robespierre (1758 - 1794), the opportunist Dictator !
But it's true that now, as we live in a society without tail or head, these historical flashbacks may seem distant and superfluous. Oddly, many young people in France (46% of the 16-24 years old, according to a recent poll of January 2024) don't know when the French Revolution broke out. It's puzzling, especially for the level in history. Is there a pedagogical problem, a difficulty to remember dates, a disinterest for this yet breathtaking period, or a certain confusion towards an epoch which could appear complicated and contradictory sometimes ?
