Illuminati
Bavarian secret society
The Illuminati was a secret society founded in 18th-century Bavaria, dedicated to Enlightenment ideals and opposition to religious influence in public life.
The group was suppressed within a decade, but the name lives on in conspiracy theories about a shadowy elite manipulating world events: The Illuminati control the banks, Illuminati symbolism in pop music.
References range from sincere paranoia to ironic humor about any perceived hidden influence.
Oldest secular fraternal order
- FreemasonryFraternal order with lodges
- MasonicOf the ancient brotherhood
- RosicrucianMember of occult fraternity
- TemplarsCrusading monastic knights
ritual · rite · brotherhood · initiation · degrees · lodge · oath · secrecy
Covert fraternal organization
- puppet mastersControllers of others' actions
- cover-upHiding wrongdoing from public
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- hidden agendaUndisclosed true purpose
deep state · world domination · all-seeing eye · pyramid · lizard people · truther · whistleblower · disinformation
Of a German state
- 1776American founding year
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
- secret orderConcealed command or society
- disbandedFormally broken up
infiltration · banned · subversion · anti-clerical · rationalism · freethinkers · lodges · initiation
Freemasons
Oldest secular fraternal order
- FreemasonryFraternal order with lodges
- MasonicOf the ancient brotherhood
- RosicrucianMember of occult fraternity
Templars · ritual · rite · brotherhood · initiation · degrees · lodge · oath · secrecy · symbolism
secret society
Covert fraternal organization
- puppet mastersControllers of others' actions
- cover-upHiding wrongdoing from public
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
hidden agenda · deep state · world domination · all-seeing eye · pyramid · lizard people · truther · whistleblower · disinformation · Alex Jones
Bavarian
Of a German state
- 1776American founding year
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
- secret orderConcealed command or society
disbanded · infiltration · banned · subversion · anti-clerical · rationalism · freethinkers · lodges · initiation · clandestine
- Occult Traditionsoccultism, esotericism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism
- Fictional Groupsguild, brotherhood, order, legion, league
- 18th Century GroupsFounding Fathers, Continental Congress, Sons of Liberty, Jacobins, Freemasons
- Conspiraciesconspiracy, deep state, new world order, chemtrails, flat earth
- secret networkssecret societies, cabals, cells, hidden networks, criminal networks
- secret societiesFreemasons, secret society, secret societies, Masons, Freemasonry
Illuminatithe public
People in general
open society · public figures · grassroots movements · civic organizations · public officials
Illuminatithe masses
Common populace collectively
the common people · outsiders · ordinary citizens · hoi polloi · the proletariat
- spiritual illuminationAwakening to transcendent truth