.Gif Source: Z. Scott / We Invent You.
The New World Order plot of the Illuminati is one of the most popular conspiracy theories on the Internet. Did gossip on the Web foster this myth, mixing it with Freemasonry, black magic and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? One can scoff at the paranoid pyramid seekers, but they have a point: popular culture, institutions, corporations and political groups have incorporated so-called Illuminati messages for decades, and even centuries. That said, anti-Illuminati conspiracy theorists are often anti-Semitic and counter-factual, suggesting the Illuminati story in fact conveys those attitudes.
After the First World War, occult divination through ouija boards gained popularity as the bereaved sought to talk to their lost loved ones. At the same time, magical secularism which had enjoyed a vogue before the war lingered and combined with Satanic and Wiccan ideas. The outcome in a place like Hollywood, which already had (and has) a loose grip on reality, was grim. Perhaps certain cults gained a fatal foothold there. Odd evidence occasionally broke through the tinsel: ghosts of the 1920s; surrealism of the 1920s through the 1940s; the 1947 Black Dahlia murder, which may have involved a sacrificial black magic ritual; and many unsolved deaths from the 1930s to the present. Orson Welles, David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick are three of the most famous directors who explored this dark history.
Anne Hathaway flashed Mano Cornuto or El Diablo hand signs before she claimed her award at the 2013 Golden Globes for Les Misérables (2012). Image Source: AFP/Getty via Daily Mail.
These symbols have dominated entertainment, politics and advertising since the Second World War. Did politicians, business leaders, Hollywood and music industry moguls strike fateful bargains, applying occult practices and esoteric beliefs to the business of taming the newly-prosperous public? Did rising individuals, as director Roman Polanski may have suggested, join insider cults and labour under the illusion that their successes were and are due to arcane rituals, rather than their own talents and abilities?
Or perhaps occult and Masonic symbols offered an exciting visual lexicon for marketers in the post-World-War-II consumer culture. Just because a photographer, handler or stylist tells a celebrity to cover his or her eye, or make a cryptic hand gesture, it doesn't mean the individual is a cultist. This might simply be a marketing ploy, part of the art of public persona creation; the celebrity becomes a larger than life figure, the superficially-powerful pawn who sells entertainment media and consumer goods.
Image Source: Above Top Secret.
Are these Illuminati cults real or imagined? This blog is very skeptical of conspiracies, but this is the Hallowe'en countdown, so let us see. The Masonic all-seeing eye of God (or Lucifer?), also known as the Eye of Horus or the Eye of Providence, is a primary symbol purportedly associated with this world-dominating secret society. Below the jump, today's countdown to Hallowe'en presents a sobering overview of the prevalence of the Illuminati eye in the entertainment industry.
Chatter on the David Icke message board (for more on Icke's wild suspicions of world conspiracies, go here and here) debates the significance of a celebrity's illuminated left versus right eyes; the commenter additionally believes that there is a difference between those who encircle their eyes with their fingers or another gesture (the controllers) and those who cover their eyes (the controlled):
In addition, the left-right distinction may refer - so the conspiracy theorists say - to dominant character or talent through an indication of brain function.Handlers are those celebrities who willingly push the Agenda of the Illuminati. They can be identified by the "all-seeing eye" symbol. As handlers are often consistent with which eye they choose to "illuminate," I believe that a distinction can be made by observing which eye is favored. Though I have not been able to determine which is which, I believe that one eye indicates those who sympathize with the cause, and the other indicates those who agreed to push forth the agenda after being bribed (Please note that these individuals push the Agenda to reap its spoils, rather than doing so out of fear.) ... The Handled are those individuals who have been forced to push the Agenda. The individuals may have been opposed to the Illuminati from the start, or are former supporters who have finally had enough. Either way, these individuals are forced to cover one eye to represent that they are being oppressed; that they are the submissive. ... MK Ultra victims are viciously tortured, and when they attempt to escape within their minds, an alter-ego is put into place. Please note that many of those who have their right eye covered have referred to themselves as having alter-egos. ... Some photos may be written off as just someone winking or rubbing stuff out of their eye. However, it cannot be denied that the Illuminated eye symbol is everywhere in the celebrity community! Those who use these symbols are usually very consistent with which eye is covered, and which remains illuminated.
Image Source: David Icke chatboard.
None of those speculations is confirmed here, but the Illuminati theory is clearly a mish-mash of pop psychology, anti-government sentiment, anti-Semitism, suspicion of the mass media, the spread of the occult and the impact of confirmed cults (you can see a daily rundown of real life cult headlines here). The theory of the Illuminati is more of a metanarrative which ensnares conspiracy theorists (online gnostic seekers constantly proclaim they have found the so-called 'real truth' above the evident truth) in their own fears of enslavement. Thus, conspiracy theorists ironically actually participate in, and constitute, the very community of believers that they project on public circles. Does that mean that public figures don't join higher cults? Not necessarily. More likely, the fears and symbols telescope the higher one goes in any area of endeavour: illumination is universally in Millennial fashion. It is a sign that the revived pre-Christian and Christian heresy of gnosticism is rampant today.
Jack Nicholson. Image Source: pinterest.
Phil Collins on the cover of Rolling Stone (26 May 1985). Image Source: Take Me Back.
Johnny Depp. Image Source: Illuminati Watcher.
Leonardo DiCaprio. Image Source: pinterest.
Ethan Hawke. Image Source: Evil Industry.
Lionel Richie, Do It To Me from the album Back to Front (1992). Image Source: Before It's News.
Christopher Walken in Batman Returns (1992). Image Source: Movie Actors.
Michael Jackson. Image Source: Media Conspiracy.
Peter Gabriel. Image Source: Media Conspiracy.
Céline Dion, Eyes on Me from the album Taking Chances (2007). Image Source: SITFU.
Justin Bieber early in his career (2007-2008). Image Source: SITFU.
Rihanna, album Rated R (2009). Image Source: Before It's News.
Christina Aguilera (2010). Image Source: Disclose TV.
Jessica Alba (2011). Image Source: Veritas Aequitas.
Jessica Alba Revlon commercial (2011). Video Source: Youtube.
James Franco. Image Source: Boy Meets World.
Ben Savage at the Kids' Choice Awards. Image Source: Boy Meets World.
Miley Cyrus. Image Source: SITFU.
Belinda (2011). Image Source: Truth is Treason.
Khloe Kardashian, cover of YRB. Image Source: Vigilant Citizen.
Rob Kardashian (2012). Image Source: Vigilant Citizen.
Mylène Farmer (2012). Image Source: Vigilant Citizen.
Pudsey Bear of the UK's BBC Children in Need charity. Image Source: Before It's News.
Model Ana Buljevic connecting 3 satanic symbols: the Eye symbol, the one eye covered and 'The Devil's Horns.' Image Source: Whale.
Jourdan Dunn. Image Source: Before It's News.
Pharrell Williams. Image Source: Before It's News.
Willow Smith. Image Source: SITFU.
For more on famous people and the Illuminati hand-eye symbol, see images here, here, here, here, here, here, here and conspiratorial theories on what eye coverings mean - here.
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See all my posts on Horror Themes.
See all my Countdowns.
Check out other blogs observing the Countdown to Hallowe'en!
Image: Spirit Halloween (2011) © Julia Cosmos / Angel-Thanatos at deviantART.
What I find amusing about all these Secret Cabal Conspiracy Theories is that they only seem to be invoked to "explain" something the invoker doesn't like. War and plague? It's the Illuminati! The economy stinks? Illuminati! Some musician/actor gets an award I don't think was deserved? The Illuminati were pulling strings! Something nice happened? Nope, no secret conspiracy here. The illogic escapes them.
ReplyDeleteYour fellow 2014 Cryptkeeper (at pureblather.com),
Richard
Hi Richard, thanks for your comment - and yep, you nailed it.
DeleteWhat would these people make of David Bowie? Bowie got into a fight as a teenager that left the iris of one eye permanently dilated and his eyes are different colors. To downplay this, the covers of his RCA albums (1972-1982) feature portraits of him (a) in profile, (b) in black and white or (c) painted. The exceptions are "Lodger" (1979), which is a blurred photo, "Young Americans" (1975), where his eyes are in shadow, and "Pin-ups", where his eyes seem to be part of the alien-looking costume he's wearing. Counting compilations and live albums he was releasing an average of two albums a year during that period. Even after he slowed down his output, he continued to find creative ways to obscure his eyes on his album covers.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what David Bowie makes of these apparent rituals and Illuminati eye symbols. Perhaps the secret to his response lies somewhere in 'The Hunger.' Several movies from the 70s through the 2000s include actors making so-called Illuminati hand signals. I noticed it, for example, in the Ethan Hawke film, 'Before Sunrise.'
DeleteShould you be interested, cross reference your findings here with a search on various music and acting artists "exposing the industry".
ReplyDeleteYou may come to the same conclusion I have, that those that play the game win and those that don't get shoved out the industry.
The game I found they are playing is satanic. Worship satan, choose depravity, sell your individuality, your real self, and win. But at the cost of your happiness, sanity and possibly even your soul.