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3/01/2012

Swannanoa Mansion Part 2 - Meeting Place of the Illuminati?

Mysterious mansion in Nelson County, Virginia with a reputation for being haunted, and linked to international and ancient secrets.
Swannanoa, the beautiful Italian mansion that sits atop Afton Mountain near Waynesboro, Virginia was and is a place of both ancient and current mystery. It was home for many years to Walter Russell, a great native genius and Renaissance man. He used the spiral, a key factor in nature to predict previously unknown elements. He was a contemporary of Albert Einstein. He and Albert Einstein wrote letters between them many times discussing the dangers that could come out of nuclear fission.

Walter Russell Has Last Name Associated With Illuminati Bloodline Families

His last name Russell, by coincidence, is one of the surnames that conspiracy researchers have designated to be a family tied to the Illuminati, one of the so-called Bloodlines of the Illuminati. Walter Russell also fit the Illuminati ideal man profile in that he was an accomplished musician, an accomplished artist with a national and international reputation. He was an ice skater at the Olympic level. He was an accomplished horseman, and in all ways a man capable of doing anything he desired. This is to the mind of many supposed to be a bad thing. It is somewhat strange to think that some people equate being brilliant and accomplished with some sort of overall evil. (The message always seems to be smart = bad, and dumb = good, or the more prevailing concept of rich = evil and poor = virtue). Is this more than mere class envy? Does becoming rich mean you are suddenly invited into the evil old guys club?

Walter Russell Was a Multi-talented Genius - An Embodiment of Stated Illuminati Ideals

When I first went to the Swannanoa Mansion to investigate what I thought might be some Illuminati backed UFO Cult called Star Bourne, I was ready to find all manner of evil. I and my fellow investigators were primed for it. Ready to fight off evil robed villains wishing to seduce us with 1950s style mind control ray beams or some such. The reality at least on the surface was of a beautiful mansion that I would not mind owning and living in myself. The artwork on display there that was created by the man who once lived there, Walter Russell, was superb. Everything he sculpted or painted was or should have been a museum piece. He was clearly a master of fine art. A man like that with talent like that is to be admired, not hated. An organization he founded along with his wife Lao, The University of Science and Philosophy, was about bringing out the best in people, nothing wrong there.

He was also against the development of nuclear weapons; this made him a man of peace, not a monster. I suspect that those who would profit from nuclear arms might have a reason to demonize such a man and his wife. I suspect that such shadowy forces as those linked to international arms and drugs would be the real villains here and they would not likely be Illuminati but those who might infiltrate such a group and use them. This is similar to the case of the Freemasons, who also get a bad rap. Certain high profile people get caught up in vast historic events and if they are in something like the Freemason's, suddenly whatever it is they were involved in is an evil Freemason plot.

Strange Things Were Observed Swannanoa by the Edwards Family

Well something evil was going on at Swannanoa, or at least seemed to be, and it is my hope to get to the bottom of it once and for all. But let's review the evidence of what seemed on the surface to be evil things going on at Swannanoa. Some of the prime evidence of what might have been going on there came out of the observations and research by Bill and Virginia Edwards who owned the property next to Swannanoa. They had reason to believe that Lao Russell was being controlled and manipulated by outside forces and was even kidnapped in 1972. They felt she was afraid of something or someone.
A partial list of what Virginia Edwards told me as we sat and talked in her living room, and that she also partly published in her book "Conspiracy of 30" is listed below:
When they first moved into their home by Swannanoa they were asked by a real estate agent for that location when they intended to leave.

They ran a gun shop and often their customers letters to them were stamped "Not at this address, or "Out of Business" and returned to them.
Their water supply was cut off in connection with Swannanoa.
Two major industries in the area warned their employees not to do business with them.
The road bordering the western edge of their property was bulldozed away.
An attempt was made to dynamite a rock just beyond their property line which would have sent debris from the huge rock onto their roof.
The Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce rejected their application for membership without cause.
Their car brakes were tampered with, their tires were repeatedly punctured, and once someone poured gravel into their transmission.
Loud music was repeatedly blared at them from the nearby Waynesboro-Afton Holiday Inn, which was also bordering their property. (One thing my team and I found when we had investigated the grounds of Swannanoa the day we had participated in the 11:11 event were old filing cabinets in the aisles of the horse stables, and looking inside the files we had seen they were full of records from the Afton Mountain Holiday Inn, they were largely old applications for employment and other personnel records. This was highly suggestible of some sort of tie between Swannanoa and the Holiday Inn. Later research would in part confirm this. I think I mentioned this fact to the Edwards the day my group and I visited them.)
U. S. Treasury Agents visited the factories in Europe from which the Edwards imported the sporting and antique replica guns, which they sold in their business. Their suppliers told them that these agents dropped negative gossip, stating that the Edwards gun business would be "bankrupt" within a year.
The production at one of their supplier's factory was "sabotaged." Licenses to ship from their supply sources were interfered with in a variety of ways. Their bank line of credit was cut off as soon as they paid off a $16,000.00 note on what Virginia says was originally a "turnover letter of credit" arrangement with their bank.
It got back to the Edwards that in the Dooley mansion, Maymont, in Richmond (Dooley had been the builder of Swannanoa) a museum curator said that in the Afton Mountain area the Edwards were referred to as "the people against progress."
Due to all this harassment their entire stock of guns was confiscated by then Nelson County Sheriff William Harris. During the raid on the Edwards gun supply, some deputies searched their attic without a search warrant or permission and when Virginia Edwards complained to William Harris he threatened to handcuff Virginia if she did not "be quiet." Virginia told me they took more than $100,000 worth of guns to satisfy a paltry 7,000 debt. This debt had accrued because their European supplier had shipped them defective merchandise and the sale was in dispute.
When a desperate Bill Davis drove to his lawyer's office he was told that his lawyer had "suddenly been called out."
One of the sheriff's deputy slyly admitted to Virginia Davis that "they don't want you, they want your house."
Real estate agents would frequently drive up saying to the Edwards that they had heard their home was for sale.

There were also many mystery deaths associated with people connected to Afton Mountain

  • Virginia Hinton who had been OSS during WWII and was also stepdaughter of Oil Millionaire Ross Hinton of Afton Mountain. She died of a mysterious fall from the balcony of her apartment in Charlottesville.
  • A US Treasury agent loudly demanding money from the Edwards in their home upset Virginia Davis's father Dr. Leslie Davis so much that he died within 24 hours of the ugly and likely highly illegal incident.
  • Sen. Barry Goldwater had been seen by the Edwards going up to Swannanoa when he was supposed to be, according to news reports, at a fundraiser at nearby Staunton Military Academy. Seems that on this same day Don Bolles, a Phoenix, AZ newspaper reporter was seen at Swannanoa. According to Virginia Edwards that date was January 24, 1976. Don Bolles was later murdered in a car explosion on June 2, 1976. Virginia Edwards says that Don Bolles had walked his dog on her lawn that day in January and had spoken with her and while she had been speaking with him she had seen then Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz drive up to Swannanoa.
  • Coincidentally William E. Thoresen III, was shot and killed by his wife Louise in 1970 shortly after visiting Bill Edwards in his Afton Mountain home next door to the fabled Swannanoa.

Swannanoa is a Place of Bizarre Occurences and Strange Coincidences

These are an awful lot of bizarre coincidences to happen at and around this one location and to this one very nice elderly couple who just wanted to live in peace and enjoy their mountain home. They clearly needed a lawyer who was not tied into that community. But the dirt tends to run deep in that area regarding some things and the power to mess up targeted people's lives is vast. When I first tried to reach the Edwards by phone after reading about their story they gave to the Washington Post, I kept getting recordings, that there was no such number listed when I had a Waynesboro phone directory before me. The only way I finally was able to phone them for an interview was to drive to Afton Mountain and call them from the pay phone on the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. They forgot to tap that phone or felt it unnecessary. But it was clearly obvious that this couple was systematically being cut off and isolated from outside contact.
At the time this rather angered me and it still does. These were nice people: Virginia Edwards is or was a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). I was not a member at that time but I have since joined the DAR and some of the finest people in America are members of that National Society.
Someone really needed to investigate Nelson County then and maybe even now for all levels of corruption and criminal activity at the highest levels. I know one of my team got a little scared after digging into county records regarding Swannanoa in Waynesboro. Some say it was just because there was a moonshining operation going on in the area. Maybe it was something that mundane and maybe not. It is also in close proximity to a secret underground cold war bunker called Mt. Storm. It would seem that Nelson County, VA is teeming with secrets. They were also not far from another interesting place known as The Monroe Institute that did paranormal research.

Swannanoa Mansion Part I - Meeting Place of the Illuminati?

Mysterious mansion in Nelson County, Virginia with a reputation for being haunted, and linked to international and ancient secrets.
In the foothills of Virginia a beautiful mansion sits atop Afton Mountain. It is of Italian design, made of marble, and is one of the most mysterious and beautiful places in Virginia. Millionaire James H. Dooley built it originally as a summer home for his wife. It is closest to Waynesboro, Virginia. The more standard information about it may be found here. Swannanoa.

Swannanoa - aka "The Palace"

I am going to tell you some of the non-standard things about Swannanoa. It first came to my attention when a reader of a newsletter I once published told me that some group called Star Bourne was holding an 11:11 Doorway Opening ritual at the mansion called Swannanoa not far from her home in Waynesboro, Va. She gave me some of their literature and I found some of what they said more than a little scary. I detected what I felt at the time was something like a cult, with mind-control overtones going on.

Investigating the Star Bourne and the 11:11 Ritual

A paranormal investigation team I had assembled at that time agreed we should attend this ritual and check out this UFO connected cult and see what we could find out. We arrived at the mansion the day of the ritual and were astonished at the large number of very expensive cars with personalized license plates parked there for the event. Mercedes, Lincoln Continentals, Cadillacs, and all manner of makes and models of expensive new cars were there, with names like Angel, Angelic, Angel Wings, Seraphim and so on as their personal license plate names. If they were kooks, they were extremely wealthy kooks.

At the same time the group at Swannanoa was enacting their ritual, their group's leader, a woman named Solara was leading a second group at the base of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. This was all freaky stuff at the time, and I was sure I had found an Illuminati related group, or at least an Illuminati financed group.

The 11:11 Ritual

The ritual consisted of our joining hands and circling in the garden of Swannanoa to the beat of this chiming tone, broadcast from a speaker from the top floor of the Swannanoa mansion. People called "Anchors" who seemed to act more like security details watched us intently from the walls of the garden. We finished the main ritual and were free somewhat to walk the grounds of the mansion. My team wanted to go way out back; one member, Annette, had strong Native American blood which seemed to give her strong natural sensitivity, and said she felt something was drawing her in that direction, so we all went with her. We walked quite a ways up the hills behind the mansion. We found old ruins of what may have been an 18th century tavern, one that was frequented a lot by Thomas Jefferson who had a home in the area. This fact was told to me by a local historian. Beyond that we found these winding paths to nowhere in the woods and they were about the size of sidewalks and perfectly geometrically squared but no lawnmower could be gotten up there and what would be the point of making such paths? It puzzled my entire group. These winding paths that went everywhere and nowhere made no sense. And they were too perfect to be natural in any way. Furthermore we found places where tons of PVC pipes were dumped in huge piles, places where there were no roads to drive so large and so many pipes up there; the only way to have gotten them to those locations as far as we could tell would have been to have dropped them from a helicopter.

Afton Mountain and Swannanoa may be Above a SAC Airbase

One of the members of my group later did some research and did find that back in the 1960s there was talk of building a SAC Airbase under that area known as Afton Mountain. Maybe the building of a SAC underground airbase would explain all the leftover PVC pipes, and maybe not. The trees up there in that area of the odd winding rectangular paths all seemed to be distorted and mutated in some way which made us fear for our own health, not knowing what we were getting in to.

Walter and Lao Russell

Among other things on the grounds were a 2-story horse stable with the upstairs stalls having some sort of flushing system. Very expensive stables even for the times this place was built.
We returned to the mansion to check out the gift shop and the museum dedicated to Walter and Lao Russell, the couple who had rented the mansion for many years and died there. They were fascinating people. I had never heard of them before. I have since learned that Walter Cronkite had said of Walter Russell upon his death that Walter was this generation's Leonardo da Vinci. He was clearly a genius. Students of conspiracy theories though will note the name Russell is one associated with so-called Illuminati Bloodline families.
(Note: I am not fully in agreement with most of the extremist anti-illuminati websites and groups at this time but this is typical of what is out there on this subject for now.)
However this man, Walter Russell, if an Illuminati makes my case for them not being such bad guys but rather people we should all aspire to be like. He was an accomplished painter and sculptor, an accomplished horseman and ice skater and thinker ahead of his time. He predicted the existence of plutonium and two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium. I personally saw a slew of letters laid out in a large glass covered display case that had been written between Walter Russell and Albert Einstein. He was an accomplished scientist without a doubt: he wrote his letters to Einstein in fluent German.
Walter Russell was a man way ahead of his time and so very accomplished. If he is an example of the typical Illuminati then we need more of them. He and his wife seemed to have enemies, so there is likely some other group out there that may well be somewhat evil. It would be nice to have a score card on these various competing groups.

Dark Things Do Happen at and Near Swannanoa

But the usual darkness one thinks of in association with the Illuminati surfaced at this mansion. However it was long after Walter Russell's death and seemed to be of a far darker nature than anything linked to this brilliant and talented man and his sweet wife. Their neighbors the Edwards spoke of it to me and Virginia Edwards wrote a book on all that went on there. Her book was titled "The Conspiracy of 30" and subtitled The Misuse of Music from Aristotle to Onassis. It is hard to find copies and is somewhat of a rare book.
The property sitting right next door to Swannanoa belonged to a delightful couple named Edwards, William Bennett Edwards and wife Virginia Davis Edwards. They knew Lao Russell quite well. They invited me and some of my team into their home in 1992 to discuss some of what they had seen going on around Swannanoa. They had even gone to the Washington Post trying to go public with what they knew. They were sure a conspiracy of international reach was being hatched at Swannanoa. In my investigations since that time I would be inclined to agree with them. They reported seeing the Queen of England visit the mansions also called The Palace, quite often. A symbol with a quote inside The Palace links it with The Knights of the Garter and therefore the Queen of England. The Edwards told me they often saw military and government people going up the driveway to the mansion, citing Henry Kissinger as one of the more frequent visitors. They recognized many world leaders among the throng of regular visitors and were harassed and terrorized by alleged security personnel guarding these motorcades of powerful people in their limousines.
There is far more to this place than meets the eye. It is tied to possibly a mystery pertaining to the star system Cygnus. It may have links to another castle named for Swans in Europe, Neuschwanstein which means "New Swan Stone" and overlooks the Rhine River in Bavaria. Meanwhile take the video tour of Swannanoa. And a video tribute to Walter and Lao Russell by actor Eddie Albert.

Part 2

Hunting the Illuminati-Ruling Elites: Facts, Falsehoods and Mystery

STARTING ON THE TRAIL

"I'm here to see the Abbot," The tall, thin Australian stared meaningfully into thin air, "the Dalai Lama wants to know how the Dharma Year is going." This man was an internationally recognised oraclist from birth, he would know that kind of thing. He's told me he can speak oracles in a dozen languages, and is in contact with a deity that is composed of the collective mind of the human species. I'd heard of that: N'atonus, they call it. I said the name and he looked at me, eyes glowing in an unsettling manner; he laughed, a little like Dracula, but friendly.
It was a response to an ordinary question: What are you doing here, at Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery? But it quickly turned complicated, merging into a confession that he was a member of a high-grade occult society called the Illuminati. Allegedly, they're the secret rulers of the world, The Invisible Hand pulling humanity like puppets through the manipulation of media and economy to serve their own dubious agenda. Founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria, they successfully infiltrated the Freemasons, becoming thus a secret society within a secret society. But they were officially disbanded a short time later, they're attempt at seizing power and de-monarchising the Bavarian state thwarted. However, rumours of their existence persist to this day, fuelled by links with American presidents, the French and Russian revolutions, and more recently strange encounters with Alien agendas. Many claim the Illuminati never died, that they meet in secret to this day, conspiring to control the world.
Up to the point he said he was a member of the Illuminati, the mysterious man at the monestary was tenuously plausible: he was Valor Kand, lead singer of Christian Death, going incognito in the UK to escape his adoring fans and the hordes of Christians who wanted to kill him (he'd put a picture of Jesus injecting heroin on one of his album covers and ran a long campaign of anti-Christian polemic). But when someone says they're a member of the Illuminati, one can get suspicious of everything else they've told you. The reader may wonder, so you believed him when he said he was an oraclist from birth? Well, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. What do I know? Maybe he can speak oracles in a dozen languages. And if anyone is a member of the Illuminati, he fits the bill: mysterious origin, a millionaire, renaissance man, established heretic and cultural engineer. When we were doing yoga later that day, he confessed to having half a woman's body, finding the postures quiet tough as a consequence despite his long history as a dancer. On close inspection in his tight trousers I'd never seen a man with hips and legs like those. But I found it difficult to believe he was a member of the Illuminati, and I began to find it difficult to believe that he was Valor Kand from Christian Death: later web searches revealed information that didn't quiet add up to the stranger at the monastery. But then, who was he, and why such an elaborate network of lies? It neatly sums up every problem of investigating the Illuminati. They exist in a realm where you forgo the conclusion that black is black and white is white, and where truth is never simple. The equal territory of the paranoid delusionist and the hopeless romantic, Valor personifies the Illuminati problem because if somebody tells you they're a member, you wouldn't believe them.

But none of this put me off trying to verify their existence, even if there's something of the unicorn about them. A mythic beast that from behind looks like a legitimate animal, but rears its head and defies our sense of the known world if we choose to believe in them. And, until proof presents itself, The Illuminati remain a belief, like aliens, God and the efficacy of crystals to cure cancer: they don't appear on the news, nor are they discussed in open conversation outside the context of conspiracy, untold histories or a catalogue of bullshit. If they were real, surely more people would have heard of them, or even come close to discovering something about them? John Sergeant had been a political correspondent with the BBC for a long time, and he produced Jon Ronson's documentaries about the Bilderberg group and weird Us Military Experiments. Ronson says in the book to his TV series, “John Sergeant's research can be found on every page." So surely Mr. Sergeant must know a thing or two about shadowy elites? He was coming to my area to promote his new book, so I thought I'd ask him. But when I asked, tongue firmly in my cheek, whether he'd ever heard whispers about the Illuminati in Westminster, he said: "What? Who are they. No. Never heard of them." He was busy signing a pile of books the lady from Waterstone’s had given him. He didn't make eye contact. I wanted to know whether he'd seen any evidence during his time in politics of the workings of a shadow government. He gave me a cautionary few words about conspiracies, and said that people don't have time for allegiances to secret societies. I thought that was curious. I hadn't mentioned anything about secret societies. But I suppose his journalistic instinct knew what I was getting at.

I prompted him for a final word: "So, John. It's a dead end?"
"Yes." He said. "And I should be careful."
This is another problem with investigating something like the Illuminati. When you ask people like John Sergeant about them, there's something in their answer and tone that betrays a loyalty to their reputation before the possible truth of such things. He knows enough to advise me to be careful. But that could mean any number of things, not necessarily that I'd be treading on peoples toes. If the legends are true, the Illuminati are buried deep, puzzles within puzzles. Hence their pseudonym, The Invisible Hand. Even if they were in broad daylight, nobody would see them. If they do exist, the complexity of the supporting evidence renders yes and no answers insufficient, and if they came out on the news, who'd believe them? Which is where another secret society, the Knights Templar, come in.

THE TEMPLAR CONNECTION

In Hertford here in England, The Knights Templar have demanded an apology from the Vatican for years of persecution they underwent during and after the Christian Crusades. They were a knights order founded during the crusades, and became the richest religious order around in the middle ages, outdoing even the Vatican: they invented a prototype of modern banking, and possessed a secret that reputedly threatened the existence of the Catholic Church, their original masters, who soon allowed the Templars to exist as an independent body. Once they came back from Jerusalem, what was originally a very poor order of knights suddenly had two horses each and immense power and influence. Depending upon who you listen to, the Knights Templar found either the holy grail, the Turin shroud, or secret sex magic rituals gleaned from an obscure sect of Islamic Sufis. One thing is known, members were charged with heresy and their leader, Jacques De Molay was burned at the stake in 1314, on Friday the 13th, hence the unlucky nature of that day, some claim. Then the order disappeared, either going underground, or simply ceasing to exist. But as with the Illuminati, their legend persisted, as did rumours of their existence.

The modern day claimants to the title of Knights Templar have hinted that they know the whereabouts of the Holy Grail, and that the time is soon coming when they will reveal truths to the world which will shatter our conception of history and send us soaring into a new age. They also say that there are secret tunnels under Hertford, where members of the Knights Templar and the Illuminati meet-up and have done for centuries. How are they linked? The Freemasons had always taken lineage from the Knight Templar, and The Illuminati were a secret society within the Freemasons. And all three have associations with occultism.423:28

Late last year in Hertford, when all of these stories began to appear, a Templar insider brought Danny Wallace to the brink of meeting an Illuminatus, but the figure copped out at the last minute. At the centre of all of the Hertford Templar news stories seemed to be one man. One man, that is, and his identical twin. The Acheson's. Ben and Tim the Templar Twins. It was them who spoke to the Guardian, and they who allegedly were behind the request for a papal apology. But more specifically it was Timothy Acheson who brought Danny Wallace to meet an Illuminatus, and also Timothy who spoke to the Hertfordshire Mercury, the spring of these stories. A website called The Insider is copyrighted to the Acheson Intelligence Group, and Tim has been referred to as a 'reporter for The Insider'. It's a conspiracy theory forum, where besides international stories of highly political significance sourced from many newspapers, we find the Hertford Templar stories neatly juxtaposed. It seems on the face of it, that without Timothy Acheson there would be no story. I felt that, if he had knowledge about the real Illuminati, I had to see him. If the Hertfordshire Mercury was the spring of these stories, Timothy Acheson, the Templar Twin, was the underground river that birthed it. And a possible link to a perennially important question: are the Illuminati real? And if they are, should we leave them to it?

Discussing these things upsets some people. On the Masonicinfo website, run by masons, there are many scathing remarks about people who believe in the Illuminati, as well as people who believe in sinister goings on within the Freemasons. They seem equally guilty of the naming, blaming and shaming tactics of so-called 'Anti-masons', and the tone of the website reminded me of a wild, wounded animal lashing out defending itself. When people research these things, they read books. But I began thinking surely the best way is to find a member of a secret society and ask them?

But getting hold of a member of a secret society isn't that easy, even if you do have his e-mail address. It had been hinted that Timothy Acheson was a member of the Knights Templar, so if true he would surely be a good source. But a week passed with no response. I posted an enquiry on the feedback section of the Insider, and even found an email address that strongly suggested it was his: two tries and still no reply. Perhaps I was spam to Mr. Acheson. But eventually I got a response from Oliver Burkeman, the writer of the original Guardian report where I'd heard the Hertford Templar story, during the media pique of interest in the work of Dan Brown. He assured me that the Insider was the best way to contact Tim, and suggested I just try again. He added; "He's a very personable bloke, quite willing to admit, with a grin, that he's got no way of proving to you that it's not all a joke." From the very beginning, then, it seems this is all a question of faith.

After persevering and risking making an enemy of a total stranger, I recieved an email subjected The Illuminati, and sent from The Insider. I tentatively opened it, only to read the following: "Unfortunately this is a topic that I cannot discuss. Please accept my apologies." Snubbed. Of course. What was I expecting? But he suggested I look at a documentary the people at the insider had put together about the Freemasonic conspiracy. And, when I thought about it, he didn't say he wouldn't meet me, just that he can't discuss The Illuminati. I thought I should give over my six quid and watch the documentary, hopeful I'd still get a meeting with my elusive Templar Twin. By no means had I been put off. The Insider documentary was my next step on the Illuminati Trail. Made by conspiracy theorists for conspiracy theorists. Banned in the US and the UK, shunned by the mainstream media. The hype was tasty, and I wanted to gain insight into the strange world of Templar Tim and finally discover the truth about the Illuminati. Perhaps it was time to have a deeper look at the Freemasons and their links to a conspiracy of global control.

MASONIC MIND-GAMES

To some, Freemasonry's secrecy and weird rituals implement them in a sinister gambit for world domination. My father was a mason, with Bob Monkhouse, and he'd always assured me nothing sinister was going on. And when I thought about it, there never was anything particularly sinister about Bob Monkhouse. But my father did say he had left because he began to feel like people were merely joining to improve their position in society. And this is one of the popular conceptions of freemasonry: that it bestows privilege and shortcuts, that within its corridors are portals where one can stroll into power, through the back-door without the hard slog the great unwashed might find themselves going through. Wink, nudge, shake your leg and you're the president.

The documentary from the Insider focused upon the views of four individuals. A Masonic press officer, an investigative journalist, the mysterious "Tim" and an academic. The journo was saying: "The masons are sinister." The press officer was saying: "the masons aren't sinister." Everything the academic was saying contradicted the press officer. And Mystery Tim was throwing in titbits of clarity as an insider that formed a strong case for masonry being slightly sinister.

One popular "proof" of a Masonic conspiracy is the appearance of an eye in a pyramid on the dollar bill. Asides from being a symbol associated with the Illumianti, the eye on the pyramid is a well known Masonic symbol, and just to complicate or clarify the issue, beneath the pyramid is written the Latin phrase: Novus Ordo Seclorum. This can be translated in a variety of ways. New Secular Order, New Order of the Ages, or New World Order. With the latter translation the conspiracy theorists hits pay dirt with proof of a Masonic conspiracy to create a New World Order.

In the documentary, the Masonic press officer clearly stated that the eye in the pyramid is not a Masonic symbol. In one sense that's true, it pre-dates masonry and is merely a symbol that they adopted. But he goes on to say that masonry isn't a secret society and that it doesn't use occult symbols. That was bullshit. The pentagram, the hexagram, the set square and compass are all occult symbols: symbols whose meaning is hidden, occult or occluded, from the uninitiated. I wasn't a mason and I seemed to know more than him. Unless he was lying. But the one dollar bill thing doesn't necessarily point to a 'conspiracy' either. What becomes troublesome about masonry is the behaviour patterns of some of its members. Many American presidents have been high ranking masons. The first capital city of America was Philadelphia, the city of 'brotherly love', a key theme in masonry, and the constitution itself contains many Masonic ideas, the founding fathers themselves being largely masons. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a 32nd degree mason, and he approved the idea of the Eye in the Pyramid being printed upon the one dollar bill. The symbol indicates the Great Architect of the Universe, Freemasonry's idea of the Supreme Being or Deity. And he liked the motto because to him it meant 'New Deal of the Ages', and harked back to the ideas of the Illuminati, who wanted to create a new order to 'improve' world ills. The possibility is then that rather than a Masonic conspiracy, freemasonry is merely the carrier of influential, progressive ideas. It was formed during the enlightenment, encourages secularism and the equality of men. Maybe even, in our politically correct society, they encourage the idea of the equality of men and women. But the Illuminati had come back again. Weishaupt's order, though it may have led a very short life in the eighteenth century, lived on as an idea, but particularly as a popular idea of governance. It seems that a pattern emerges if you look for the influence of those ideas; a pattern that weaves a narrative through the lives of royalty, bureaucrats, aristocracy, bankers, frat societies like the Order of Skull of Bones at Yale, and some of our most powerful politicians - who else would be inspired by Weishaupt's ideas and simultaneously have the money and influence to set them into action?

Once the Illuminati were forced underground, Weishaupt, it is said, took refuge in Gotha with a gentlemen called Duke Ernst: the date indicates that this was one Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later Saxe -Coburg-Gotha) in 1785, where he remained until he died in 1811. That was interesting in itself, seeing that our very own royal family were the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's, changing their names to Windsor during the first world war to avoid a PR fiasco. The duke that Weishaupt found refuge with was the father of Ernst II, who was the brother of Prince Albert, husband of our own Queen Victoria. Whether the continuing form of the Illuminati is a monarchist plot to regain sovereignty, a republican capitalist organisation, a Jewish Banking elite or a group of Alien mind-controllers is a view dependent upon the conspiracy theorist. Another royal was to be instrumental in one of the central organisations that give some solid credence to the existence of a clandestine form of world governance, but who couldn't be the Illuminati because of their visibility. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was a founder member of the Bilderberg group. The Bilderbergers are one of three traceable organisations, the influence of whom provides solid evidence of a conspiracy of sorts. I'd initially heard of them through reading Jon Ronson's book, Them: Adventures with Extremists. What you can find out about the Bilderberg group, and whether you believe it or not, can make the notion that we live in a democratic society laughable.

CLOSER YET FURTHER AWAY

When I looked up the Bilderbergers on the web, I found a website called Bilderberger.org, run by a journalist and eco-pro opposer of clandestine governance: his name was Tony Gossling. The name rang a bell, and sure enough, he was the investigative journalist on the Masonic Conspiracy DVD. He had an address and number in plane view on his homepage, so I thought he might be somebody worth talking to.
Along with groups like the council on foreign relations and the trilateral commission, the Bilderberg group are accused of involvement in the implementation of the New World Order. They have private, strictly no-press meetings once a year at different locations, where they study and discuss matters of global import. According to some researchers things like the European union were born and pushed through with the Bilderberg meetings, and they were responsible for the misplacement of Margaret Thatcher from the British Prime Ministerial position. It's this level of control, manipulation or subtle influence that is often accredited to the Illuminati.
Tony Gossling's office in Bristol was like some war bunker. He wore combats, furthering my image of him as involved in some hidden conflict against a shadowy enemy. His walls were covered with slogans like 'comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable', and anti-NWO material.

While he made some phone calls to sort some bug on his three networked and dusty PCs, I had a look through his books. Noam Chomsky, Anthony Sutton, books with titles mentioning the Illuminati and the Freemasons, and the memoirs of one Lord Rothschild. Along with what seemed every episode of Rocko's Modern Life on video tape. When we got to talking, he was quick to distance himself from the aplomb of a conspiracy theorist: "I'm a trained journalist who's very careful about whether he reports known facts or speculation." He stresses the importance of the distinction, and holds the view that much conspiracy writing is speculation posing as fact. From what I'd been reading, I couldn't argue with that; references are appalling, and if references are used, they're questionable, often second hand, and in the case of one book, nearly entirely composed from the work of other conspiracy writers like Icke and Webster, who's credibility isn't obvious. He advised that scepticism was important. He also stressed that what conspiracy theorists and writers do is pretty much what all journalists do: misrepresent, use careless language and "lie", whether intentionally or not. It's a slack style that effects all but the most conscientious writers. But if this is what all journalists do, what makes some subjects worth reporting and not others? This was one of Tony's areas of expertise. He'd just come from a trade union meeting about the closing of the Bristol Observer. When I asked him why it had folded, who was behind it, he mentioned Lord Carrington, owner of the Daily Mail. And then went on to discuss how all of the major newspaper owners attending Bilderberg meetings, or have links with members of groups like the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute. It's a startling fact that most of the world's media is owned by 5 corporations: control of it isn't really that difficult. The media gives us our popular ideas of the world, gives us our news, and according to some people tells us exactly what to think.

When you look at the material, it's quiet easy to see where ideas of a New World Order are coming from. Tony Gossling's work is a rare example of a fire where there's smoke. Some elite Satanic group, sacrificing Children to an Owl God and controlling the minds of the masses to shape the world according to their malign designs is an unlikely source of the world's misery. But the highly concentrated power of corporations, and the individuals who control them, is a traceable fact that weaves a disturbing narrative distinct from the world we're presented with on a daily basis. But it seems that often the most common source for the theories that posit an invisible hand in control of the world, or even the universe, is in the psychology of the individual. An attempt, like a belief in God, to order a disordered world, and source blame for human ills on a nebulous other. Secret societies, being secret, are ideal candidates for this projection, because nobody knows what they really do, except the members themselves, and they're not telling - or if they do, only half truths, like the Masonic press officer on the Insider DVD. My relations with Tim Acheson became strained when he'd somehow discovered that I'd been asking the press about him. The possibility of a meeting became more and more remote as our communications continued, and he was able to garner that I knew more than a little about secret societies. I began to doubt the authenticity of his associations. Persistent investigation revealed that he liked to plug his website, and that he worked hard at giving the impression that the Acheson Intelligence Group was an all seeing eye all to itself.

The elusiveness of the truth regarding the Illuminati is perhaps what keeps people going. There are hints, but no real evidence. Just a trail of connections which are baffling, intriguing and a little scary all at the same time. One truth possible to garner from investigating the Illuminati is that history is not as it's told in schools: there is a matrix of hidden influences behind all of the events that have shaped our world. Are they all Masons? Are they all a secret elite, guiding humankind either to its destruction of liberation? Researchers like Tony Gossling and Jon Ronson have come across some startling things, but these have more to do with the strange behaviour of government: the idea that a hidden hand could control the world is perhaps putting a little too much faith in the powers of the human, and too little faith in the power of Chaos and the individual's choice to live free as they will to do, inhibited only by a web of cultural norms and values that seem to turn some people into zombies and others into freedom fighters.
Gossling was my full stop. Masonic conspiracy my arse. But when I left Tony's office, a picture on the wall I hadn't seen caught my attention. It was the plaque on the main MI5 offices, and it bore a striking resemblance to the eye in the pyramid: I took a closer look, and on inspection that's exactly what it was.

Should You Join the Illuminati?

Reasons to consider joining the Illuminati rather than demonizing them. They might be good guys with an evil reputation.

Whenever articles have been written about secret societies and conspiracies about world domination, the Illuminati name would surface and what would be written about them would imply they were the Evil Overlords. One began to get the feeling they were a secret "them," or "they," the true rulers of the world. They sound like pretty scary people right? Far less was known about them than the Order of the Freemasons who were thought to be a more public arm of the Illuminati. One always had mental visions of them in secret locations in hooded robes, chanting evil chants and maybe even having the occasional human sacrifice event, rather like the secret society version of a barbecue. The visions of what the Illuminati did in secret were limited only by the imagination.

One definitely thought that surely all of them were rich and powerful, movers and shakers and power brokers in the world. Some probably are, but like Freemasons and other groups, the social standing of the members can vary widely. It is not always so that the rich ones pull the less rich ones up to higher levels. I am sure some networking goes on. It is human nature for those who know one another to give each other first crack at business deals, jobs, investment opportunities and that sort of thing. However I doubt seriously that any group's members all walk in lockstep regarding mutual goals. That goes against human nature. The idea there is some secret group organizing its members worldwide to move in concert to accomplish goals on some hidden timetable is a bit hard to swallow. I am not ruling it out, I am just saying I find it more improbable the older I get.

What are the Illuminati?

Adam Weishaupt and a German Freemason, Baron Adolph von Knigge, founded the Illuminati. This was officially the Bavarian Illuminati. Yes, among their plans was a desire to overthrow the Roman Catholic Church, defeat all governments and one-day rule the world. It sounds pretty evil. But it was a response to times where church domination was an evil in and of itself, and most governments were pretty oppressive. Adam Weishaupt deplored bigotry, and the backward beliefs of the clergy of his day. The 1770s, May 1, 1776 to be exact was when he officially launched the Illuminati. The Illuminati hoped to create cells of enlightened and illuminated men who would spread themselves throughout the world seeking positions of power and try to help spread the ideas of the "enlightenment period." Their intermingling with Freemasonry is what made the Catholic Church think of these secret societies as their number one enemies, and papist propaganda may have been a lot of the reason they got the evil reputation. They were demonized by the ruling elite of the time.

Why Join the Illuminati?

If you are inclined to like to associate yourself with traditions, organizations with a long and colorful history, and want to do some good in the world, this could be for you! I do not know if the modern day Illuminati groups have similar ranking systems to the Freemasons or not but more than likely they do, I would be disappointed if they did not. I would like to revel in it all and wear a pyramid with an eye in the center on my head...just for the fun of it. I know that some people link the Illuminati to Satanic groups. I am not seeing that in my research. Satanic groups have an entirely different feel to them, and different goals. Not much altruism in these groups. The Illuminati like the Freemasons seem to be about altruism and enlightenment, pushing back repression and superstition wherever it still exists.

Risks

The main risk would be getting mixed up with dangerous people. You could also risk being ridiculed by family or friends, but then they need not know, that is part of the reason for secrecy in any endeavor. Finding a genuine Illuminati organization can be tricky. If they want money, especially a lot of money to join I would write them off.
There are many Illuminati organization websites on the Net. Here is one that seems to be sincere.

You just have to let your gut be your guide. Do your own web searches for Illuminati branches. Read up on the claims for how evil they are, as some of them may be right. But also give the groups that sound sincere a fair shake. Remember why secret societies were born in secret, to be too open with new ideas could be a death sentence and even today, some ideas are best kept hidden until the average person can handle explosive information.
There is risk in everything and even a well-established fraternal organization can get branches that go off the ranch and get into activities that are really weird and dangerous. So always beware when joining any kind of group, even a church, as a lot of them have some major bad apples in their barrels. But, if you do your research, always keep your head on straight; know what your values are so you can't be pulled into any cults unawares. Why not join the Illuminati or the Freemasons. It could be fun and you could do some good in the world. Don't always believe what you hear. The Old Saying goes: "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see." So do not believe every rumor you hear regarding secret societies and fraternities. Do not fall for anything that goes against who you are, but do not be deterred by rumors. Do your own research and check things out for yourself.

18 Ways Anyone Can Join the Illuminati

Regarding the Illuminati, most of the Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists (PCT) have a habit of jumping to conclusions based on faulty evidence and reasoning. They are so good at it they could be finalists in the Olympic Conclusion Jumping Event. One of the common errors they make is that of constantly referencing each others works without going further back to find original source material.


Let's suppose that in spite of reason and logic an Illuminati does exist and you were one of the rare people who wanted to join it. By joining the Illuminati you could build an empire that increased your personal holdings while further subjugating the uninformed masses of humanity.
Let's further assume that you were not born into the so-called “blood lines of the Illuminati” to whom access is most easily granted. There must be a way to get “in”.

Here are 18 things you can do to increase your chances of becoming a part of the Illuminati.

1) Take the long view of things. Be patient. The Illuminati is, if nothing else, patient with their goal of world domination.
2) Start your own form of Illuminati group that models everything you know about the so-called “real” Illuminati. Your members should want nothing less that more power, money, control and domination while at the same time making their influence appear invisible.
3) Study up on what the PCT say about The Illuminati and learn as much as you can.
4) Get a degree from Harvard. While there make it your intent to join the Skull and Bones Society or the Pen and Quill.
5) Subtly incorporate Illuminati symbolism in everything that you do. This will include The Pyramid with the All Seeing Eye, the snake swallowing it's tail, the ankh and any variations to them.
6) Join the Masons and aspire up the hierarchy of degrees. As you progress up the Masonic Degree system be on alert for those who might be hiding their secret ambition for world domination.
7) Join any other occult group that has a hierarchy like the Rosicrucian's and work up the degree system within it.
8) Study the “mystery religions” and occult practices.
9) Form a coven or magical group.
10) Strategically find your way into the social circles of the elite. This may be done by joining various boards of directors or volunteer groups. Or by finding people who are 'connected' and working into their social circle.
11) While in these groups cautiously demonstrate a) your ambition and b) your inclination toward the occult.
12) Build a group of “slaves”. For legal reasons it's best that these relationships be consensual and from the Dominance/submission community.
13) Work on having all your outward appearances to be that of a decent, moral and upstanding citizen.
14) Openly become a member of the Christian clergy while secretly holding some occult practice.
15)Create a network of connections that form a hierarchy. The hierarchy at the bottom are those people who can help you without knowing your connection to or ambition within the Illuminati. At the top of the hierarchy are those who know, share and support your ambition. Typically this may only be two to four people. In the middle will be the various occult groups that may or may not share your interest in supporting the Illuminati.
16) Be judicious with what you tell people. Reveal your goals and purposes like a slow strip tease making certain that people only know about you what they will accept and be supportive of.
17) Appear to always know more than you are revealing. This will do two things, first it will attract people who want to learn from you and second those who have some connection within the Illuminati are more likely to confide in you.
Most of all this last point:
18) Be patient. You can only join the Illuminati after years of consistently demonstrating your worth. This could be a process that takes decades.