Clue #5: "Illuminati ... Perfectabilists"

The 5th Twitter clue, sent at 1:45 p.m. PDT on Wed., June 24th:

Before they were Illuminati, they were Perfectabilists.

A great number of issues are bound together in this simple tweet--issues of fact, issues of fiction, and a great deal of dispute about which is which.

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At present, I am working on a book, The Illuminati: The True History and Strange Afterlife of the Most Feared Secret Society in History. I have found the issues surrounding the Illuminati to be fascinating, as a mixture of real history and the psychology of conspiracy--a mixture that has influenced American national politics for over 200 years, down to our own day. Here, I'll mention just a few things that are most relevant to The Lost Symbol.

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The Real History of the Illuminati

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The Illuminati really existed; you may also read about them here. The organization was founded in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt (pictured above, and featured in Clue #33) on May 1, 1776. (What a date! The pagan holiday of Walpurgisnacht, or Mayday, in the year of the American Declaration of Independence!) The group was revolutionary in origin, seeking to overthrow the power of aristocracy and monarchy in favor of a form of government resembling democracy. The group also sought to overthrow the political and social power of the Catholic Church, in favor of instituting reason and logic as principles by which to govern the world and educate humankind.

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The tweet is technically correct. The Illuminati were originally known as Perfectabilists, reflecting their belief that people could achieve a sort of perfection through rigorous devotion to reason and logic, rather than through supernatural means (such as the atonement of Christ).

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The Illuminati was a truly "secret society," in that it tried to keep its very existence secret. The Illuminati infiltrated dozens of Masonic lodges in central Europe, where they sought to recruit members whom they hoped to lead, through a system of ritual degree ceremonies resembling Masonry, from a position of belief in God to a position of atheism, devoted to the overthrow of monarchy and church. The leadership of the group believed that, to further this endeavor, any means were justified, including political assassination.

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To understand the Bavarian Illuminati, it is important to understand the political context of their times. American-style democracy had not been invented, and people throughout central Europe in particular were ruled by absolute monarchs who essentially held power of life and death over the people they governed. Dissent was crushed. In addition, the major church of the period held a significant degree of political power; in religious matters as well as political ones, dissent was not tolerated. The emphasis that the Illuminati placed on freedom of thought and expression was very appealing to some people, including even members of the aristocracy, and German literary figures such as Goethe and Herder; reportedly, the Illuminati reached a membership of about 2,000 during the decade or so of its existence.

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The Illuminati were strong on rhetoric, weak on action. They assassinated no one, despite their "ends justify the means" ethics. However, when their aims became known to the governing authorities, they were crushed by the rulers of several countries, beginning in 1784. By the early 1790s, for all practical purposes the Illuminati had ceased to exist.

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And it was then, after the group known as the Illuminati died, that it really got to work.

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The Strange Afterlife of the Illuminati

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The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of monumental social change -- which meant, not only positive changes like the rise of democracy, but also social disruption that was experienced as very negative by a number of people. In the mid-18th century, before the Revolutionary War, many American colonists considered themselves loyal to the British crown; after the war, thousands of these people left their homes and businesses and moved, to Canada, England, and elsewhere, leaving behind thousands of relatives and friends who were quite ambivalent about losing their connections. Right after the Revolutionary War, several American states had "established churches" -- that is, churches that had special privileges under state law, perhaps including support by tax dollars; over the course of the ensuing years, this support was withdrawn (given that the Constitution of the United States, which became operative in 1789, provided for a separation of church and state).

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Political changes, social changes, religious changes -- a lot of people had problems fully accepting this; for a lot of people, some of this was actually bad. And, when bad things happen, someone must be blamed; at the very least, a scapegoat must be found.

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That's where the Illuminati came in.

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The Illuminati have been the scapegoat of American politics (and, to some extent, European politics) for the last 200 years. In the early 19th century, clergy across the land, especially in the Northeast, preached about the dangers to society posed by the Illuminati. The horrific excesses of the French Revolution were blamed on the Illuminati. The suppression of American Freemasonry in the first half of the 19th century was, in part, based on fear of the Illuminati. In our day, particularly since the middle of the 20th century, the Illuminati have been blamed for everything from AIDS and the current Great Recession to the flouridation of public drinking water. (Google "Illuminati" and you'll see what I mean.)

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At the moment, the Illuminati are mentioned primarily by the more wild-eyed-fringey portions of the conspiracy theory community, but these people have a greater following than you might think. (Consider the popularity in some circles of the writings of Jim Marrs, Texe Marrs, and David Icke.)

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And it's all a pile of hooey. The Illuminati died out in the late 18th century. They are kept 'alive' in the minds of ignorant people today because we, as a society, have done such a poor job of teaching critical thinking skills. That, however, is a rant for another venue and time.

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The Illuminati in Dan Brown's Fiction

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Fans of Dan Brown will remember that fear of the Illuminati plays an important role in Angels and Demons. After touching upon the conflict between Renaissance-era science and religion, Robert Langdon and the scientist Kohler have a conversation, Langdon stating this:

"But in the 1500s, a group of men in Rome fought back against the church. Some of Italy's most enlightened men -- physicists, mathematicians, astronomers -- began meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church's inaccurate teachings. They feared that the church's monopoly on 'truth' threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world's first scientific think tank, calling themselves 'the enlightened ones.'"
"The Illuminati."
"Yes," Langdon said. "Europe's most learned minds ... dedicated to the quest for scientific truth."

(See Chapter 9 of Angels and Demons for Dan Brown's account of the Illuminati's backstory.)

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So, in Dan Brown's universe, the Illuminati were founded in 16th century Rome, not late 18th century Bavaria (now part of Germany) -- a difference of about 200 years and 480 miles. Brown's Illuminati were primarily scientists, rather than political and literary figures. And, as his novel relates, they were ruthlessly suppressed by the church, rather than by the governments of central Europe. Hey -- literary license covers a lot of ground!

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The tweet suggests that the Illuminati make some sort of appearance in The Lost Symbol. My guess is that Brown will portray the Illuminati infiltration of the Masonic lodges as having gone on in the New World, rather than (as actually happened) being confined to continental Europe. Brown's Illuminati would have no problem influencing the Founding Fathers, because Brown's Illuminati were founded over two centuries before the American Declaration of Independence -- rather than just over two months before July 4, 1776, as happened in reality.

[The image above of Adam Weishaupt was obtained from the Wikimedia Commons through Wikipedia. Its source is unknown, but the image is in the public domain.]

(Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.)

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