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The Alumbrados (‘enlightened’ or ‘illuminated’) was a mysterious movement in Spain
during the 16th and 17th centuries that believed that when a person achieved a certain degree of
perfection, they experienced a vision of God, and then entered into direct communication with
the Holy Spirit. At this point the soul would enter a state of limbo– not advancing or going back.
Once this level was achieved, a person didn’t have to perform any good works or get involved in
any religious activity, because they had received the ‘light.’ Once they had received the ‘light,’
they would possess superior human intelligence.
Their members mainly came from reformed Franciscans, and the Jesuits. Their unusual
claims caused them to be criticized and harassed, and the Inquisition issued Edicts against them
in 1568, 1574, and 1623. Ignatius de Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was put in jail for being a
member. This condemnation forced the movement into France, where in 1654 they surfaced as
the Illuminated Guerinets.
The ‘Illuminati’ was the name of an occultic German sect that existed in the 15th century that
professed to possess the ‘light’ received from Satan. It was also the name of an organization that
was influenced by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which was established in 1760 at
Avignon. This Swedenborgian philosophy also produced the Illuminated Theosophists in 1766 at
Paris, then later in London, but was short lived.
Although it would certainly make for a more interesting story, there is no documentation to
suggest that Weishaupt’s Order of the Illuminati is a continuation of any of these groups.
However, whether their teachings and philosophy had an influence on him is another question.
Most assuredly, there is a spiritual lineage that ties them all together.
Starting with only five members (Weishaupt, and his inner circle– his friend Kollmer,
Francis Dashwood of the Satanic Hellfire Club, Alphonse Donatien DeSade from whose name
we get the word “sadism,” and Meyer Amschel Rothschild), the Illuminati wasn’t fully
operational until 1778.
Weishaupt wrote: “The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment, let it never appear,
in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation.
None is fitter than the three lower degrees of Freemasonry; the public is accustomed to it,
expects little from it, and therefore takes little notice of it.” He also wrote: “For the Order wishes
to be secret, and to work in silence, for thus it is better secured from the oppression of the ruling
powers, and because this secrecy gives a greater zest to the whole.”
The Order was made up of three degrees: Novice, Minerval, and Illuminated Minerval. It was
organized in a manner similar to Freemasonry and the Jesuits. Even though he admired the
structure of the Jesuit hierarchy, he wrote that no ex-Jesuits were to be admitted, except by
special permission. He wrote that they “must be avoided as the plague.” Their rites and
ceremonies were similar to that of the Masons. Their aim, he said, was to have a one-world
government, to allow the elite to govern the world, thus preventing future wars. One of their
early programs was to distribute anti-religious material to criticize clerical leaders, who they saw
as obstacles to social progress, and to oppose the “enemies of the human race and of society.”
Weishaupt wrote: “How can the weak obtain protection? Only by union, but this is rare.
Nothing can bring this about but hidden societies. Hidden schools of wisdom are the means
which we will one day free men from their bonds...”
All members were required to adopt classical names. Weishaupt was called ‘Spartacus’ (who
had been the leader of the slave insurrection in ancient Rome). His right-hand man, Xavier von
Zwack, a lawyer to Prince von Salm, was known as ‘Cato’; Nicolai, the bookseller, was
‘Lucian’; Professor Westenreider was ‘Pythagoras’; Canon Hertel was ‘Marius’; Marquis di