Who are the Illuminati and what do they control?

Faith in a secret society known as the Illuminati is one of the longest-running and most widespread conspiracy theories of our time.

It has become a "byword for a corrupt elite" influencing the world, said indy100, and supposedly boasts Beyoncé, Madonna, Jay-Z and Donald Trump among its members. The name is "so powerful that it has begun to rule TikTok," becoming last year's "most talked-about counter-mainstream idea".

It can be "pretty compelling" to believe the story that the "establishment is ruled by a corrupt elite and that we are but innocent pawns in their sinister game". But "that's all it is, a story". And it is one that the "stars themselves have shrugged off or even mischievously fuelled".

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While most of the rumours surrounding the Illuminati and its members are fiction, the group was at one time real – though its influence was not nearly as vast and enduring as modern conspiracists claim.

How did the Illuminati start?

The idea of an "illuminati", meaning "enlightened" or "illuminated", has been around since the 15th century, said author and academic Chris Fleming. Early groups included the Spanish Alumbrados (the "illuminated"), who believed people could "attain direct communion with God" and so could gain spiritual enlightenment without the need for traditional worship or the sacrament. Alleged sympathisers were said to include St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, who was questioned by the Inquisition in 1527 over possible links.

It was more than two centuries later that the illuminati as people understand it today began. In 1776, Adam Weishaupt, a professor of natural and canon law at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and a former Jesuit, founded a secret society that came to be called the Orden der Illuminati – the "Order of the Illuminati".

To the outside world, Weishaupt appeared a "respectable professor", said National Geographic, but he had always had a "restless" mind. He was educated at Jesuit school and was an "avid" reader at home, "consuming" the latest books by French Enlightenment philosophers.

Like many at the time, Weishaupt came to believe "the monarchy and the church were repressing freedom of thought", and that religious ideas were "no longer an adequate belief system to govern modern societies". He wanted to find "another form of 'illumination', a set of ideas and practices that could be applied to radically change the way European states were run".

At first, he thought about joining the Freemasons, which was expanding across Europe, but became disillusioned. Instead, he decided to found his own society, "handpicking" five of his "most talented" students to become members, said the BBC. The original name was Bund der Perfektibilisten, or the "Covenant of Perfectibility", before he changed it to the Order of the Illuminati (literally the "Illuminated Ones"), to reflect the enlightened ideals of its educated members.

The group's first meeting was in a forest in Ingolstodt, where they established the rules of the order. Rituals included the use of aliases for anonymity and the adoption of symbols, including their insignia: the Owl of Minerva, symbolising wisdom, sitting on top of a book. They also had three levels for members: novices, minervals and illuminated minervals, in reference to the Roman goddess of wisdom Minerva, "reflecting the order's aim to spread true knowledge, or illumination, about how society, and the state, might be reshaped", said National Geographic.

From just a handful of members in 1776, the order quickly grew, numbering between 2,000 and 3,000 members by 1784, with lodges in Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland. Members included doctors, lawyers and intellectuals, with notable names said to include the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, although this is disputed.

But the society didn't last long. In 1785, Karl Theodor, Duke of Bavaria, outlawed secret groups, including the Illuminati. Two years later, the Duke declared an edict with harsher punishments for members, including the death penalty.

From 1785 onwards, the "historical record contains no further activities of Weishaupt's Illuminati", said Britannica. Yet, the order has continued to figure "prominently in conspiracy theories for centuries".

How did the conspiracy develop?

Conspiracy theories about the Illuminati began almost from the moment they were forced to disband, with its enemies claiming the group wanted to overthrow monarchs and priests and transform society.

In what was "perhaps the world's first conspiracy theory", said the BBC, in 1797 Jesuit priest Abbé Augustin Barruel wrote a four-part history of the French Revolution, which he attributed to the secret work of the Illuminati and Freemasons. Because of this Barruel is "generally regarded as one of history's most famous conspiracy theorists", according to The Conversation.

Across the Atlantic, the order was the "bogeyman" of the fledgling US republic, said The Associated Press. George Washington himself wrote a letter saying that "no one" was more "truly satisfied" than him that the threat of the Illuminati had been avoided. Third president Thomas Jefferson was also accused of being a member.

While the conspiracy theory has partly survived due to its links to the mythology of the founding fathers in America, it was events in Russia that led to the Illuminati being the 'monster' theory it became, illuminati expert Michael Taylor told the BBC.

The Russian empire and monarchy were replaced by their "polar opposite" and like the French Revolution, it was an "equally traumatic, dramatic event". And so, "when people like Nesta Webster, a columnist for British newspapers in London in the late 1910s and 20s, tries to explain this new revolution, she melds together the Illuminati conspiracy theory with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And this is where we get the birth of the antisemitic Illuminati conspiracy theory."

Since then, the idea of a "world-dominating" secret society has "never really left people's minds", said History Extra. However, today's idea of the Illuminati is far removed from its Bavarian origins, author and broadcaster David Bramwell told BBC Future. The "totally unsubstantiated" modern image of the group mostly comes from the "era of counter-culture mania, LSD and interest in Eastern philosophy" that dominated the mid-1960s.

"It all began somewhere amid the Summer of Love and the hippie phenomenon, when a small, printed text emerged: 'Principia Discordia'."

"Principia Discordia" preached a form of anarchism and promoted civil disobedience ranging from practical jokes to hoaxes. It was, said the BBC, a "parody text for a parody faith" called "Discordianism".

Some of the main proponents of this new ideology were writers Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley, who wanted to bring chaos back into society by spreading "misinformation through all portals – through counter-culture, through the mainstream media", Bramwell said.

Wilson and Thornley then turned their theories into a book, "The Illuminatus! Trilogy", which became a "surprise cult success". It was even transformed into a play, "launching the careers of British actors Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent".

But it was the arrival of the internet that truly turned the idea of a global elite conspiring to rule the world from a niche belief to a global conspiracy theory – making it "the least secret secret society in the universe", wrote philosopher Julian Baggini in The Guardian.

Why do people believe in the Illuminati?

If there is "one thing social media likes even more than conspiracy theories, it's Easter egg hunts: searching for hidden clues", said indy100. "The Illuminati has those in abundance, most notably the so-called 'Eye of Providence' – an eye set within a triangle, which happens to feature on the reverse of the American one-dollar bill".

Other associated symbols include pentagrams, goats and the number 666. Conspiracy theorists often analyse public events for "evidence" of Illuminati influence.

This has given birth to an entire cottage industry. The number of books available on the Illuminati is "staggering" said V13, running to the thousands. Some of them "assert the Illuminati are the progeny of lizard-like aliens; others maintain the Illuminati are part and parcel of a vast Jewish conspiracy; a few say the Illuminati no longer exist; and still others present their group as the true Illuminati and provide written manifestos and instructions on how to join."

It is "basic human nature" to believe in secret groups such as the Illuminati, said Baggini in The Guardian. "We are constantly on the lookout for both patterns and agency", as both are essential for our survival.

Politicians are not immune, either. In 2018, Canada's former defence chief Paul Hellyer told the Lazarus Effect podcast there was a "secret cabal that's actually running the world".

Four years later, then US president Joe Biden unwittingly fanned the conspiracy theory flames when he referred to a coming "new world order" during a speech. "He was referring to the shifting sands of geopolitical relations in response to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine", said The Independent. However, for conspiracy theorists, such comments are seen as further evidence that there is a "puppet-master overlord, hell-bent on global domination and busy manipulating international events to achieve his villainous ends".

Who is supposedly a member?

Numerous pop-culture icons have been accused of having links to the Illuminati over the years, including Madonna, Kim Kardashian and LeBron James.

Beyoncé was accused of being a member after making a diamond shape – a so-called Illuminati sign – with her hands during her performance at the 2013 Super Bowl. Her husband Jay-Z is also said to be part of the order and allegedly hides its symbols in his videos. Even Taylor Swift's love for the number 13 is seen as proof that she is a member.

Some musicians seem to enjoy deliberately playing with symbols connected to secret societies. For instance, Rihanna has incorporated Illuminati images into her music videos and even jokes about the theories in the video for "S&M". It featured a montage of fake newspaper headlines, with one declaring her "Princess of the Illuminati".

David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Jacob Rothschild and Queen Elizabeth II were all rumoured to be members. Katy Perry once told Rolling Stone the theory was the preserve of "weird people on the internet", but said she was flattered to be named among supposed members: "I guess you've kind of made it when they think you're in the Illuminati!"