tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post3712188658471396880..comments2024-03-28T08:06:23.620-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: How the "Illuminati" conspiracy theory got startedPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-57253173532591857242020-07-17T20:39:11.116-05:002020-07-17T20:39:11.116-05:00The Rosicrucians started shortly after Mr. Gutenbe...The Rosicrucians started shortly after Mr. Gutenberg's invention caught on. Some legendary joker printed up a bunch of flyers, and had them posted in cities across Europe. They proclaimed that The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross would be inviting the most exceptional men alive to join their number and learn their closely guarded secrets.<br />Naturally, people were curious if their resident philosophers and potentates had been invited, so they asked. And were told "No". Which set off speculation that if so-and-so with all his wealth, power, knowledge, and accomplishments wasn't considered worthy to join, who was?<br />Of course, there were some who said "No", but did so with a wink.<br />Not to mention a whole lot of extremely powerful and status conscious people mortally offended that they hadn't been invited. (Especially if they suspected that some black sheep cousin from a lesser branch of the family had been!)<br />It became a self-licking ice cream cone in almost no time.<br />(And if the guy who started it had originally planned establishing an actual secret society, he wisely kept his head down, and his mouth shut.)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12822511906907583597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-18581673273893962412020-07-17T20:13:24.416-05:002020-07-17T20:13:24.416-05:00And from the distant past of DOS era computing, a ...And from the distant past of DOS era computing, a friend told a joke about knowing someone who was coding gbe Necronomicon as a self-extracting file.<br />John in Indy John in Indyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726277544639088808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-50872772072552818802020-07-17T13:09:12.992-05:002020-07-17T13:09:12.992-05:00The problem with actually running a secret society...The problem with actually running a secret society is the quality of the people that tend to join them. <br /><br />All three of the gigantic tyrannies of the 20th century (run by Stalin, Hitler, and Mao) may have started out in a small secret conclave, but they rapidly jettisoned the original group and took power within a decade. <br /><br />My guess is that there were a thousand such groups throughout history that simply faded away in failure or fraud. OldFanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05151291410029063960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-6154094063526848212020-07-17T07:46:35.897-05:002020-07-17T07:46:35.897-05:00From Steve Jackson Games - Illuminati (card game) ...From Steve Jackson Games - Illuminati (card game) and Illuminati New World Order (collectible card game).McChuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10243337792601085456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-28605021788098542552020-07-17T07:30:18.042-05:002020-07-17T07:30:18.042-05:00Unknown. "...a world where short sighted stu...Unknown. "...a world where short sighted stupidity wins over and over again." That does seem to sum it up(I'm stealing that one)rather nicely. Are you old enough to remember when the Rosicrucian Society advertised in Popular Mechanics Magazine? Their mailing address was in California some place. Big surprise that. Since I have never seen any expose articles on them, like there have been about Scientology, they must have been pretty benign. As you say, the field is great for story telling and I have enjoyed my share of them.P. Lesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08062920205161041254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-828623776065965032020-07-17T01:07:13.195-05:002020-07-17T01:07:13.195-05:00And the Rosicrucians started as a Renaissance chai...And the Rosicrucians started as a Renaissance chain letter.<br /><br />And the Priory of Sion was entirely fabricated by a career criminal putting his experience as a conman and forger to creative use.<br />.<br />And it doesn't matter.<br />.<br />Would you rather imagine a world where short-sighted stupidity wins over and over again?<br />Or one where the powerful people who could end your life and livelihood on a whim are actually smart, far-sighted, and patiently enacting a secret plan?<br />(This delusion is possibly most attractive to the people who gained power they do not deserve.)<br />.<br />And, as storytellers, it's a hell of a lot more fun Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12822511906907583597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-55760398187918852572020-07-16T20:40:52.254-05:002020-07-16T20:40:52.254-05:00I've been a fan of RA Wilson since the '70...I've been a fan of RA Wilson since the '70's too. The trilogy is just fun, wackadoodle stuff that Wilson and Shea threw together to see how absurd they could get. It allegedly links every conspiracy you've ever heard of back to Atlantis and before.<br /> Wilson was perfectly serious though about his philosophy of Radical Agnosticism, and I concur with his idea that our partially evolved chimpanzee brains are not capable of apprehending reality: The universe is not only wierder than you imagine, it's wierder than you're CAPABLE of imagining. Cf Douglas Adams as well.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06183459827508486809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-40517990248541456892020-07-16T18:32:25.750-05:002020-07-16T18:32:25.750-05:00I read the Illuminatus Trilogy in the 70s. I neve...I read the Illuminatus Trilogy in the 70s. I never thought it was anything but a clever amalgamation of crackpot conspiracy theories put together as entertainment. I did not take it seriously and still don't. As a Texas Freemason I know how silly this stuff can get. When people ask I always tell them that "Yes we are plotting to control the world but we only meet once a month and knock off early for dinner so it is progressing very slowly".P. Lesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08062920205161041254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-35990021269764373752020-07-16T16:53:27.309-05:002020-07-16T16:53:27.309-05:00And then there's the (in)famous chant attribut...And then there's the (in)famous chant attributed to those who took "The Necronomicon" seriously:<br />"It's true,<br />it's true,<br />every word of it's true.<br />I made it all up,<br />and it's tru-u-u-u-e!"Ex-computer Geekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17480280133224764235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-67059079906996486072020-07-16T16:10:44.436-05:002020-07-16T16:10:44.436-05:00Curse you Eric, you beat me to it!
:DCurse you Eric, you beat me to it!<br /><br />:DDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06212847992939949480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-73555001027682388052020-07-16T15:45:10.928-05:002020-07-16T15:45:10.928-05:00Tom Smith summed it up concisely in "The Illu...Tom Smith summed it up concisely in "The Illuminati Polka":<br />https://youtu.be/w05naS4E-g4Eric Wilnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351991168469225129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-14925155242492769772020-07-16T15:28:54.176-05:002020-07-16T15:28:54.176-05:00I don't know that I believe the Illuminati exi...I don't know that I believe the Illuminati exist *as a group who call themselves The Illuminati* but I know for a fact that nothing the BBC has to say on the subject will ever convince me. If orgs like the BBC, NYTimes, etc, tell me the sky is blue, I'll suspect it's not until I've verified it for myself. <br /><br />They're evil. And if there is an organization that in any way bears a resemblance to the "Illuminati" then, dollars to donuts, those orgs are controlled by it. <br /><br />Side note, Jeffrey Epstein called. He said it's perfectly fine being seen as a threat by a powerful, secretive group of evil people who definitely don't exist as a group. Not bad for your health at all. Also he totally killed himself. /S<br /><br />Bibliotheca Servarehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11643412827583261562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-39098855297541492912020-07-16T14:44:00.543-05:002020-07-16T14:44:00.543-05:00generally modern thinkers believe the boys and gi...generally modern thinkers believe the boys and girls do exist but today call them the "deep state". those un-elected yet permanent bureaucrats that are the bane of common sense and clear thinking who's pay grade is linked to the number of drones they control instead of their productivity and efficiency.<br />there was years ago a society in la belle france dedicated to lording power over the farmers that made up the country's majority. the goal of the society was to hide from plain sight while excersizing extraordinary power over the commoners daily lives. politicians and ministers come and go, but the bureaucrats stayed in perpetual power.<br />Now, doesn't that all sound somewhat familiar?capt fasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14374459887067010071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-54073949882352863412020-07-16T12:55:01.388-05:002020-07-16T12:55:01.388-05:00Sure, sure... That’s what the Illuminati want you...Sure, sure... That’s what the Illuminati want you to think.... <br /><br />:-)kirksterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15992002235773669020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-71776941380615915012020-07-16T10:40:29.807-05:002020-07-16T10:40:29.807-05:00www.amazon.com/Steve-Jackson-Games-1305SJG-Illumin...www.amazon.com/Steve-Jackson-Games-1305SJG-Illuminati/dp/1556343841tweellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13095316476018974556noreply@blogger.com