Saturday 20 June 2015

How to record a ghost!

Electronic voice phenomena, or EVP, is the mysterious recording of voices from an unknown source. Where these voices come from (theories include ghosts, other dimensions and our own subconscious) and how they are recorded on various devices is unknown.

Ghost hunting groups and other researchers attempt to capture these voices as routine part of their investigations. But you don't have to belong to a ghost hunting group to try EVP.

In fact, you don't even have to go to an allegedly haunted location. You can try this at home (if you want to). Here's how.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 20 minutes



Here's How:

Buy basic equipment. Get the best voice recorder you can afford. Good quality digital recorders cost less than $60. Most researchers prefer digital recorders over cassette recorders because cassette recorders, with their moving parts, create their own noise. You'll also want good quality earphones or headphones to listen to your recording. Some researchers also recommend an external omnidirectional microphone to connect to your recorder as it might be more sensitive and produce better quality recordings, but this isn't mandatory.

Set up the recorder. Many digital recorders have a selection for quality. Always choose the high quality (HQ) or extra high quality (XHQ), setting. (See your recorder's manual.) Make sure you put in fresh alkaline batteries.

Choose a location. EVP can and have been recorded virtually everywhere. You don't need to be in a reputedly haunted location (although this might be more fun). You can even try it in your own home. But consider how you'll feel if you succeed in getting EVP voices in your home. Will that bother you or others that you live with?

Keep it quiet. You are trying to pick up voices that can often be soft, subtle and hard to hear, so keeping the environment as quiet as possible is of utmost importance. Turn of the radios, TVs and computers, and any other sources of extraneous noise. Avoid moving around to eliminate the sounds of footsteps and the rustling of clothing. Take a seat.

Turn on the recorder. With the recorder on the HQ setting, put it in RECORD mode. Begin by stating out loud who you are, where you are, and what time it is. Don't whisper; talk in a normal tone of voice.

Ask questions. Again, in a normal tone of voice, ask questions. Leave adequate space between your questions to allow the recorder to pick up any possible responses. Researchers often ask such questions as, "Are there any spirits here? Can you tell me your name? Can you tell me something about yourself? Why are you here?" Surprisingly, EVP voices sometimes respond to direct questions.

Have a conversation. If someone is with you during your recording session, you can talk with each other. Just don't be too talkative; you want to give the EVP voices a chance! A conversation is okay because many researchers have found that the EVP voices actually comment on what you're saying.

Be aware of ambient noise. As you are recording, try to be very aware of noises both inside and outside of your environment. In everyday life, we have trained our brains to filter out a lot of background noise, but your recorder will pick up everything. So when you are making your recording, be aware of those noises and remark about them so they are not mistaken for EVP. For example, "That was my brother talking in the other room." "That was a dog barking outside." "... a car passing on the street." "...my neighbor yelling at his wife."

Give it some time. You don't need to spend hours recording, but give your sessions a good 10 to 20 minutes. You don't have to be asking questions or talking the whole time. Absolute quiet is okay, too. (Just remark about those ambient noises.)

Listen to the recording. Now you can play back the recording to hear what you got, if anything. Listening to the recording on the recorder's little speaker is usually inadequate. Plug in your earphones and listen carefully to the recording. You can also connect the recorder to external speakers, but earphones are better in that they are also blocking out external noise. Did you hear any voices that you can't explain? If so, you might have captured an EVP!

Download the recording. A better method of listening to an analyzing your recording is to download it to a computer. (Many digital recorders come with software for doing this; see your manual.) Once you have it on your computer, it then becomes easier to turn up the volume, pause, go back and listen to specific segments of the recording. Again, it's best to listen through your computer via a set of earphones.

Keep a log. When you download the recording to your computer, give the audio file a name that reflects the place, date and time, such as "asylum-1-23-11-10pm.wav". Create a written log of your recordings and any results you might have heard so that you can easily find the recordings again when you need to. If you do hear a possible EVP on your recording, be sure to note the time on the recording and put that in the log. For example, if you hear a voice say "I'm cold" at 05:12 on the recording, put that in your log for that recording as "05:12 - I'm cold." This makes it easier to find that EVP later.

Have others listen. EVP vary greatly in quality. Some are very clear while others are very hard to hear or understand. For low-quality EVP especially, understanding or interpreting what the EVP is saying is a very subjective thing. So have others listen to the EVP and ask them to tell you they think it is saying. Important: Don't tell them what you think it is saying before you have them listen to it as this can influence their opinions. If other people think it is saying something different than what you hear, note that in your log, too.

Be honest. As with all aspects of paranormal research, honesty is of prime importance. Do not fake EVP to impress or scare your friends. Be honest about what you are hearing. Try to be as objective as possible. Eliminate the possibilities that the sound was just the dog barking or the neighbor yelling. You want good quality data.

Keep trying. You may not get EVP the first time you try it... or the first five times you try it. The strange thing is, some people are luckier (if it is luck) at getting EVP than others, using the exact same equipment. So keep trying. Researchers have noted that the more you experiment with EVP, the more EVP you'll get and with greater frequency. Persistence often pays off.
Tips:

Work at night. One reason ghost researchers often seek EVP at night is not only for the spooky ambiance, it also quieter.

Leaving the room option. Step 6 above says to ask questions, but another method is to start recording, state your name, place and time, and then set the recorder down and leave the room or area. After some time -- 15 or 20 minutes to an hour -- come back and listen to what your recorder has captured. The disadvantage to this method is that you aren't present to hear and discount any ambient noises.

Set it down. Even if you stay in the room with your recorder, it's best to set the recorder and microphone down on something -- a chair or table -- to eliminate the possible noise of your hands on the devices.

Editing software. Aside from the the software that came with your recorder for listening to your recordings, you also can use audio editing software such as Audacity (it's free!) to better analyze the EVP. The software lets you boost low volume, eliminate some background noise, and other tasks. Most helpful, it will allow you to cut out the specific EVP sections of the recording, duplicate them and save them separately.

Share your EVP. If you've captured what you consider good quality EVP, consider sharing them. Join a local ghost investigation group so you can share what you've got. Send them to websites, such as this one, that feature EVP from their readers.

What You Need:

Voice recorder
Headphones or earphones
External microphone (optional)
External speakers (optional)
Audio editing software (optional)

Friday 19 June 2015

Living with the fear and trauma of residing in a Haunted House

Sara Johnson* of California knows the fear of living in a haunted house. Several years ago, the St. Louis, Missouri home her family resided in had a healthy case of a haunting. Doors would open and close, sometimes locking members in a room, a picture of Jesus would reverse on the wall or fall off, apparitions appeared to be standing behind people in mirrors and water faucets would turn on and off. “I can’t answer those questions and I'm not sure I want to,” Johnson said, when asked to offer quotes for this article. “They are disturbing and I don’t think I can do it.”

Indeed, still today, Johnson is haunted by the memories of living in this house. Only 13 at the time, the incidents occurring left an indelible mark on her past, sometimes resulting in nightmares. Today, after nearly 20 years, she is still unable to confront them. “I can’t go there, not yet,” she said.



It’s trauma such as this that can stay with residents of a haunted house. Most people learn to live with the unusual incidents associated with living in a haunted house but for some, the trauma can be very real, even permanent.

“In a typical haunting, all these things [nightmares, insomnia, depression, addiction, etc.] can be caused by the anxiety many people feel over the events they are experiencing,” Dave Juliano, Director of South Jersey Ghost Research,founder of The Shadowlands: Ghosts and Hauntings and author of the books "Positive Energy for Haunted Homes" and "Ghost Research 101: Investigating Haunted Homes," said. “They cannot explain what is happening and the basic fear of the unknown kicks in and the anxiety starts. In other, less common circumstances, some of these things may be caused by a non-human or lower level spirit with malicious intent.”

“The mind is an amazing organ. If one allows outside interferences to control their way of thinking, a haunting can produce disastrous effects,” said Lisa Cox, of MAJDA. “You are as strong as your mind. And it can play tricks on you, if you let it. One must look upon (the) paranormal with an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out. It is absolute that sleeplessness and nightmares can occur. This would be quite normal. However, if depression, addiction and other symptoms of this seriousness occur, something more is going on. It could be some form of a medical problem or (to dare to venture into another spectrum) possible possession of another spirit wreaking havoc on the individual's mind causing a change in personality.”

“Residents who are stressed out about their haunting can experience widely differing levels of trauma, depending upon how they deal with stress,” Kristyn Beaty, Acting Assistant Director of South Jersey Ghost Research, said. “People who are better at dealing with stress will be more able to cope with a haunting, and keep it in perspective.”

Both Juliano and Cox have been on cases where residents experienced trauma from their hauntings.

“Each situation is unique but I usually will let them know what I have experienced and then point out that I now purposely go into strangers’ haunted houses to try to help them,” Juliano said. “If things were really that bad I would not be doing that. With people who are traumatized by a ‘regular’ human-spirit haunting, I will also try to point out some ‘Hollywood type’ scenarios and make the person see that what they are experiencing is nothing compared to the horror movies that the frame or reference for many people.”

“This is a pretty sticky subject, in that yes, we have come across some people who have had these symptoms,” Cox said. “However, I have found no evidence to support that their depression or the other symptoms were caused by the haunting itself. Unfortunately, we have found this sort (in our investigation) to be more of a mental instability rather than a haunting. In each of these cases, we found no scientific evidence of paranormal activity. We let the person know this, and in some cases it eased their minds.”

Living in a haunted house can have its interesting moments.  Residents have learned to live with furniture moving about or lights flickering, common characteristics of a haunted house.  Yet some may perceive what they see, hear and feel to be worse than it actually is, perhaps even bordering on the intolerable.  “Since the fear is often based on things that the person has seen on TV, read in books, etc., it is often exaggerated for no reason,” Juliano said. “I will work with the person to better understand their situation, to allow them to come to a realization that there is no reason for the extreme fear. Teaching the person that negative emotions like fear can increase the activity, and positive emotions may help alleviate some of the problems, is key.”

Positive emotions weren’t on the mind of Dominic Samson*. His wife, Wynonna*, recounted their experience to me. “In the Fall of 2000, my husband and I moved into a charming little house. We rented this house from a woman whose mother lived there for 20 years or so. This lady died in the house, not once but twice!  She called her daughter one morning to say she wasn’t feeling well and by the time her daughter arrived along with an ambulance, she had died. The paramedics revived her, but she died again in the same spot. It was almost a year after the mother died that her daughter decided to rent out the property. We had never met either woman, and only met the daughter while house hunting.

”Before we moved into this house, we had a lot of cleaning to do. Every afternoon my husband and I would go to the house and spend several hours working there. This is when we first noticed something was definitely strange. My husband would get a case of hiccups as soon as he stepped onto the bottom step leading into the yard. This was a city house on a hill with several steps leading into the yard, and more leading up to the porch.

“The first time this happened, we laughed about it because I had never seen him with hiccups. It was funny. But when we left that day, as soon as he stepped off that last step onto the street, the hiccups stopped immediately. Since he was plagued by them for hours, it was noticeable when it stopped.

“The next day, the exact same thing happened. As soon as he stepped onto the bottom step the hiccups started and as soon as he stepped back onto the street they would stop. This went on until the day we moved in, so we were already joking about how the lady didn’t like him and didn’t want him there.

“The first time I actually saw the woman, I was in the very spot where she died. I looked up, like when you can just ‘feel’ someone watching you, and there she was…peeking around the living room corner at me. Bear in mind that I had never seen a photo of her and had no idea what she looked like in life. This woman did not look at all like her daughter. Later that evening, I spoke with our landlady and told her what I saw. She and I were becoming friends, and she had my husband and me over for dinner. I described the woman as tiny and rather stern-looking, with short curly hair. She was wearing a light blue house dress with a pink floral design. Our landlady teared up and told me that I had described her mother to a ‘T’ and that the dress I described was her favorite…she wore it all the time before she died. She brought out a photo of her mother and I was floored. She was definitely the woman I saw. This was only the beginning.

“For the next couple of months, I saw the woman from time to time. She never interacted with me, but just seemed to be watching. My husband’s experience was quite different. He has always been prone to migraines, but he would get them so bad that he would be incapacitated. He would feel her pulling his hair and tugging on his beard. When these things happened, he didn’t hear her voice but he seemed to understand that she was saying she did not approve of him at all. He says it was more like words in his head.

“We kept our landlady updated on these things. She had actually tried to make contact with her mother since her death with no success, so she was very interested in any details we could give. When we told her of the hair-pulling and beard- pulling, she told us that her mother had always been very vocal about not liking men with long hair or beards. My husband has always had very long hair and a long goatee, so that made sense.

“I continued seeing her around the house, and my experiences remained benign. My husband’s experiences worsened. A stack of 5 or 6 books flew off a table at him even though they had been in that same spot for a week or more. I watched this happen and the only way to describe it is that they slid off the tabletop and went straight out about 3 feet to hit him. I never had problems with the windows in the house, but when he was in the bedroom alone in the evenings with the windows open, they would slam shut.

“Now here is what happened the night everything came together and finally ended. My husband got another migraine. This was the worst I had ever known of him to have, and he hasn’t had another like it since. He was lying down on the floor with a cold damp towel wrapped around his head. He couldn’t bear that for long, so I sat by him in a sort of yoga crossed-leg position and he rested his head in my lap. That way, I could support his head without the pressure of it being on a pillow. He tossed and turned, wrapping his arms around his head and kept saying the strangest things. ‘YES! I HEAR you!’ and ‘PLEASE stop. I WILL!’ It was like he was having a conversation with someone I couldn’t hear. I later learned that this was exactly the case. He heard the woman’s voice as if she was in the room with us, although I didn’t hear her. He told me that she kept yelling at him, directly into his ears.

“He kept this up for hours, always saying something to the effect of ‘Yes, I will do what you ask. Please leave me alone now.’ He was feverish so I feared he was hallucinating or something like that, but his medication didn’t help at all. Then out of the blue he rose up and looked at me. He said, ‘Tell Jane* to get the ring out of the box and wear it. You have to remember to tell her.’ I agreed, and then he grabbed his pillow and fell asleep on the floor.

“The next day, we went to our landlady’s house very early. We sat in her dining room, right across from the box containing her mother’s ashes. When we told her what happened the night before, she started crying and left the room. We were both afraid we had stepped over the line in telling her but when she returned, she held out her hand. She was wearing a big ring with several different types of stones. She called it a ‘Tree of Life’ ring, and then told us the story behind it. “She owned a ring that her mother liked, and her mother owned a ring that she liked. Every so often they would trade and wear each other’s ring. When her mother died, she placed that ring in a box and never wore it again. After she put her mother’s ring back on, my husband never had another migraine in the year we lived there, he never felt the hair pulling or beard pulling, the windows never slammed shut and I never saw her again.”

Even though Wynonna’s husband experienced trauma during this time they lived in their home, he tells me today, "At the time this happened, I was teaching Magick classes both publicly at a store and privately with appointments. I just thought she wanted me to leave the house. I didn't really think she was trying to communicate. It affected me directly by the fact that I never wanted to be at home and the migraines and of course the incessant hiccups that would cease as soon as I placed my feet on the street. The hiccups alone were difficult to tolerate, but the hair pulling, beard pulling and migraines were worse. Looking back, I wish that I could have been better able to communicate with her. Maybe she wouldn't have been as hard on me then."

He added, "When we lived in that house, it was very uncomfortable for me to be there. During the first two weeks it was constant...whenever I was in the house, but after the first two weeks it was only occasionally. When she told me about the ring and how she wanted me to tell her daughter to wear it, that was at the end of the first two weeks. Afterward, I only heard her and felt her presence once in a while."

Thankfully, the experiences the Samsons had in their home hasn’t resulted in any long-term trauma. “I think the torment was actually a by-product of her trying to communicate, although I think she didn't like me, anyway. The only long-term effects of this situation on me are the unpleasant memories and a slightly entertaining story about it all. Because I was familiar with the esoteric world before all this started, I was able to go through it without being scarred.”

This is exactly the kind of attitude Beaty says will help someone who has experienced supernatural episodes while living in a haunted house. “I think that the way people deal with stress is the bottom line,” she said. “If someone is able to maintain a positive outlook on life, the person will not be as dramatically affected as someone who is constantly feeling stressed.”

Keeping a positive outlook is a good way of dealing with strange happenings while in a haunted house. But for Julia Daniels*, of Red Oak, Texas, the experiences in her new home compelled her and her husband, Thomas*, to seek help in getting rid of their ghost. While moving into their new home, the couple and even some visiting in-laws kept noticing a strange body odor by the front door. Julia’s mother-in-law even commented that she saw a man standing by the door, watching with interest as they painted the new home. Since they didn’t perceive him to be a threat, nobody said or did anything concerning their ghostly roommate.

Then things took a big turn.

“About 2-3 weeks ago, my husband saw him in the master closet,”  Julia said. “He seemed to be wearing a brown suit from the '70s. Thomas came out of the closet with goosebumps all over his body, scared. He is 6'2" and 250 pounds, not scared of anything, but the ghost scared him. Neither one of us wanted to go back into the closet alone for a few days.”

Not long after, Julia was visited by the ghost, too. This time, the ghost crossed a line. “This last Wednesday, I was relaxing in the bathtub, when I started feeling like I was not alone,” she said. “I began feeling what I thought was bubbles going up my back but then I got very scared because it was like fingers rubbing my back. I got out of the tub and was leaving the bath when the water stopped draining. I went to go move the stopper so water could drain. When I reached in the tub, the stopper was all (the) way in the drain! I have never had a bath/sink stopper that has been pulled turn over and reinsert back into the drain.” She added, “If he had not ‘touched’ me while I was in the bath, he could have stayed, but that was crossing a boundary so that is why we are asking him to leave.”

It’s personal boundaries getting crossed like this which Juliano points out as an indicator a resident should seek advice or help in coping with their haunting experiences. “I would say that if their everyday life is being adversely affected, then they should go to speak with someone,” he said.

“Contacting a paranormal investigative group in good standing is one way to try to confirm the haunting,” Cox agreed. “It often helps to speak with others who can understand what it is you are talking about, and may relieve some of your concerns.”

The question remaining, though, is who exactly to talk to about this experience? Paranormal investigators are a good choice but some may believe that, because the trauma they experience can often result in problems such as depression and panic anxieties, a psychologist would be their best bet. Yet some may be under the impression that a parapsychologist, and not exactly a regularly certified psychologist, would be the better choice since what they are dealing with is, by nature, of the paranormal variety. Parapsychology is not a recognized field in the mental health world, yet it is a title popping up in magazine articles and on the streets. However, even as the University of California at Berkeley offers a course on the subject, it is not something Juliano recommends. “What I and most ghost research groups do is not parapsychology,” he said. “All my views are opposed to the field of parapsychology. The two fields are often thought to be the same but they are quite different. I am dealing with spirits. Parapsychologists deal with events that are unexplainably being caused by the human mind. Anyone who is traumatized by a haunting should never talk to a parapsychologist unless they want to (be) part of their research. They do not offer help. They would be better off simply talking to others who have had similar experiences. In severe instances, they should not be afraid to talk to a therapist.”

In addition to reaching out to talk to others about their experiences, the experts have other suggestions for coping with the trauma of living in a haunted house.

“No matter what the level of stress, people need to remain upbeat and keep a positive outlook so that things do not spiral up to the level of extreme trauma,” Beaty said. “It may seem difficult, but it's the most important thing that they can do.”

Why the stress on maintaining a positive outlook despite their frightening circumstances? Ghosts, especially negative entities, can feed on fear. They can pick up on energy from fear and anxiety and make it worse. “It is possible, which is why I tell people that even though it is easier said than done, it is utterly important that they maintain a positive and calm outlook on life,” Beaty said. “As I said, spirits use energy to manifest, be that electrical energy or nervous energy. If they find a small supply of nervous energy, they will find it difficult to stay and manifest.”

Cox agreed. “It is quite possible for the entity to pick up on this and try to make it worse for you,” she said. “Perhaps as in life, they may have been a prankster and get a kick out of scaring you. Or worse yet, you may come across a darker entity that gets its strength from your fears.”

Beaty offered further advice on some positive things a resident can do to help cope with a haunting. “Meditation exercises can help, as well as the usual healthy habits -- for mind as well as body (get enough sleep, exercise, watch what you eat, for example). Another thing for residents to keep in mind is that if the occupying spirit is a more cranky one in a positive living environment, the spirit will move on to a more sympathetic environment. People tend to keep the personalities that they had while they were alive, and if someone was generally grumpy in life, he or she will not feel like they want to stay in a home where everyone was happy and positive. Like attracts like, is what we believe.”

“Either way, in any type of haunting, it should be investigated, especially if it is interfering with the person's life and causing problems of any sort,” Cox suggested. “Don't wait to contact someone for their opinion if there is a viable problem.”

She added, “Keep in mind, a spirit generally is quite harmless.  After all, they are only human also, just in a different form. Keep your wits about you. Remember, you are the living entity in your home. They are long gone.”

After the experiences come and go, after residents have moved out and years pass by without any further problems, some, such as Johnson, may find it difficult to find closure with what they went through. Some haunting experiences can have long-term negative consequences such as insomnia and nightmares. This is when the issues and memories must be confronted so that the person may make peace with their past and move on. “They have to learn to accept what they have experienced,” Juliano said. “By not coping with the anxiety of the situation, they will (be) prolonging any post-traumatic stress they are experiencing. Talking to others who have had similar situations is a great way to work through any issues that the person may still have.”

*Names have been changed.

Thursday 18 June 2015

Facts about the Illuminati they don't want you to know!

Everyone has seen it – the so-called “All-Seeing Eye”, following the world’s population around, controlling it, not allowing people to live their lives in peace. This beady eye is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful – and it is allegedly the symbol of an influential secret society known as the Illuminati.
People may have heard of the concept of the Illuminati, but they cannot be sure whether or not it is the stuff of myth, legend and superstition, or whether this organisation really has infiltrated every aspect of society and controls the population of the world.
Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that the Illuminati is still at large, controlling the world on a global scale due to its presence inside worldwide financial institutions, national governments and even multi-national organisations.
But, if this secret society is as powerful as some people believe, how did it come to gain such a strong and far-reaching influence? Where did the Illuminati originate from and, if it is a secret organisation, how do people actually know about it? Also, what symbols other than the All-Seeing Eye are associated with this secret organisation?
Well, here are 16 mind-blowing facts about the Illuminati that the supposedly secret organisation doesn’t want you to know about…


Illuminati Means “The Enlightened Ones”… A Group Who Know More Than The Rest Of Society

The Illuminati likes to keep itself hidden off as a secret group which any outsider cannot infiltrate – and the meaning of the organisation’s name reflects this.
“Illuminati” literally means “enlightened” in Latin – and supposedly contains members who are better informed and more knowledgeable than those are not in the organisation.
Hopefully that information makes you more enlightened, anyway…

They Are Actually A Non-Religious Sect… So Claims They Carry Out Christian Deeds Are False

In popular culture – including in the film and book “Angels and Demons” – the Illuminati are often portrayed as a religious order, sometimes even with links to the papacy and the Catholic Church.
However, the Illuminati was actually set up as a secular, non-religious sect who wanted to dismiss religious influence over public life and state power.
Unlikely that the Pope is going to be a member, don’t you think?

The Illuminati Was Actually Formed In Opposition To Superstition… Yet It Has Become The Stuff Of Legend

Another one of the founding principles of the Illuminati that is misunderstood is that it was against superstition and “obscurantism” – which is when facts are deliberately withheld from the public.
Ironically, the Illuminati has become one of the most mysterious and unusual groups in the world – almost the stuff of legend – and so is almost in opposition to its own founding principles.

The Illuminati Has Not Officially Existed Since 1785… But Many Groups Claim To Be Off-Shoots

First established in Bavaria in May 1776, the Illuminati in its original form lasted just nine years before it was outlawed in 1785.
With the Roman Catholic Church and the Bavarian government worried about the impact the Illuminati could have, an Edict was released by German ruler Karl Theodor in 1785 that outlawed the organisation.
Due to the fact the Illuminati had arisen out of the Enlightenment, any conservative politicians at the time feared the organisation – so Theodor banned all secret societies. Theodor then demanded that all of the Illuminati’s secret documents were confiscated and published, so this forced the movement even further underground – with groups such as the Ordo Templi Orientis claiming to be an organisation directly descended from the original Illuminati.
If the Illuminati does still exist, then it really is an underground movement.

There Are Three Classes In The Order Of The Illuminati

In January 1782, the Illuminati in its original form published a three-tiered system of grades for the order.
This three-tiered system established a hierarchy within the organisation, and the classes were:
Class I – “The Nursery” (containing the Noviciate, the Minerval and Illuminatus minor).
Class II – “The Masonic Grades” (this involved three “blue-lodge” sub-grades of Apprentice, Companion and Master).
Class III – “The Mysteries” (lesser mysteries included Priest and Prince, while the greater mysteries included Mage and King).
Due to the fact there were sub-categories even within the individual classes of the organisation this meant that there was a clear hierarchy for the Illuminati. It begs the question, does such a hierarchy still remain in place to this day?

Allegedly Members Of The Illuminati Have Already Infiltrated Every Level Of Worldwide Society

The Illuminati as we “know” it today, or as we like to think we “know” it, has supposedly infiltrated every level of worldwide society.
In fact, the US government, the Vatican City, NATO, the UN, Hollywood and global media outlets are just some of the prominent and powerful groups who have supposedly been infiltrated – or even initially established – by the Illuminati.
Allegedly, because this group controls the government and all forms of media, that is the reason why this conspiracy is able to be kept under wraps and people just go about their everyday lives without realizing the Illuminati is running a global empire.

The Illuminati Allegedly Control The Banks And Big Business… And That’s How The Conspiracy Is Financed

You’re thinking: “How could the Illuminati possibly have the resources to run a conspiracy on a global scale?” Well, because they allegedly control most of the money too.
The biggest banks in the world and the leading global businesses supposedly have connections dating back to the formation of the original Illuminati in Bavaria – and allegedly finance the conspiracy’s activities accordingly.
No reason has ever been given as to why such a conspiracy is needed if they already own the money-making businesses, but those are the allegations…

Alleged Members Include Miley Cyrus, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Lady Gaga… And The Pope

Although theorists have claimed for centuries that the Illuminati have infiltrated national governments and international organisations, an interesting phenomena of the 21st Century have been the allegations levelled at the popular culture industry.
Musicians, actors and literary figures have been seen covering their eyes, creating the Illuminati’s supposed triangle symbol with their hands, and in many other ways supposedly “proving” their links to the organisation.
Rappers in particular – including Jay-Z, Snoop Dog and Kanye West – have been accused of being members, as have Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Emma Watson, Celine Dion, Rihanna and Bradley Cooper.
Interestingly, the Pope is another alleged member – despite the fact the organisation is anti-religion by nature – as is Barack Obama.
It would be great to witness a secret meeting of the Illuminati just to see Jay-Z greet the Pope, wouldn’t it?

The Illuminati Have Been Blamed For Such Historic Events As The Assassination Of JFK, The Battle Of Waterloo And The French Revolution

One of the many accusations levelled at the Illuminati is that they have been the masterminds behind some of most-important events in history.
Famously, some conspiracy theorists claimed the Illuminati orchestrated the 9/11 terror attacks and that it was not actually Al Qaeda. Others have claimed that President George W Bush was a member of the Illuminati and that he deliberately orchestrated the attacks for his own political means.
Other historic events that the Illuminati have supposedly been responsible for include the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963 (given extra credence due to the fact there remains evidence a second shooter was present), Emperor Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, as well as the French Revolution itself – with the anti-religious nature of this important event drawing parallels with the ideals of the original Bavarian organisation.

The “New World Order” Theory Was Originally Anti-Jewish Propaganda… And Has No Basis Of Truth At All

The Illuminati and the so-called “New World Order” are now two concepts that are often portrayed as inseparable entities – but they are actually mutually exclusive.
Whereas the Illuminati have existed in some capacity since the 1770s, the New World Order theory only arose early in the 20th Century when anti-Semitic propagandists such as Nesta Webster and Edith Miller alleged Jews were propping up both finance capitalism and Soviet Communism in order to divide and rule the entire planet.
Supposedly a secretive Jewish power elite with a globalist agenda have conspired to rule the world via an authoritarian global government – but, even if such a thing as the “New World Order” conspiracy theory does exist, it is not the same as the Illuminati.

Theories That The Illuminati Run The US Government Originate From The Fact The Declaration Of Independence was Signed Just Months After The Organisation Was Formed

The Illuminati secret society was founded in Bavaria on May 1, 1776 – and, just two months later, on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by a Continental Congress to establish the original thirteen states of the USA.
Due to the fact the Declaration of Independence came just two months after the formation of the Illuminati, many conspiracy theorists have suggested that some members of the secret organisation were involved in the original establishment of the United States of America.
These theorists then claim that members of the Illuminati have remained as prominent government figures in the USA – in both the Democratic and Republican parties – ever since, and that they are therefore pushing their own secret agenda on to a worldwide scale.

The Freemasons And The Illuminati Are Not The Same Organisation

Another common misconception – that some people think the Illuminati want you to believe – is that the Freemasons and the Illuminati are one and the same. In fact, the Freemasonry is a separate organisation altogether, although it does share many common principles with the Illuminati.
A fraternal organisation that can be traced back until at least the 14th Century, the Freemasons are one of the world’s oldest and largest non-religious groups. Alongside its dismissal of religion, the Freemasonry also shares a hierarchical system similar to that of the Illuminati. Yet the Freemasonry’s existence is acknowledged, despite the fact it is exclusive to its own members, whereas the Illuminati has not been proven to still be around.
Interestingly though, despite the fact the Freemasonry has been accused by some as being another branch of the Illuminati, it has actually suffered suppression from both the extreme right (including in Nazi Germany) and from the extreme left (most notably in the USSR).

Illuminati Mythology Does Not Actually Feature Satanism… Or Blood Sacrifice

Anyone who has watched “Angels and Demons” or any other film which depicts the Illuminati as some sort of satanic cult sacrificing humans to Beelzebub would be forgiven for thinking this is exactly what the organisation is – but this is simply untrue.
The original Bavarian Illuminati did not go about making blood sacrifices to Lucifer or repeating bizarre satanic chants for no apparent reason.
Yes, the Illuminati were an anti-religious group but that did not make them Satanic. There is no evidence to suggest that the Illuminati did – or ever has – sacrificed members, or enemies, to the Devil. So all those theories about Whitney Houston’s death are more than likely a load of rubbish, it seems…

The Original Illuminati Symbol Was Not The “All-Seeing Eye” Or A Pyramid… But An Owl

The symbols that have come to be associated with the Illuminati are the “All-Seeing Eye” and a spooky pyramid – but they were not the first emblem adopted by the group.
Popular culture seems to have made the association between the “All-Seeing Eye” – or “Eye of Providence” – and the Illuminati, but it was actually an owl that was first used by the organisation.
The “Owl of Minerva” or “Owl of Athena” is a symbol of knowledge, first featured in Roman mythology – and it was chosen as the Illuminati’s image due to the fact it highlights wisdom and perspicacity, something the organisation claimed to have.

The “All-Seeing Eye” Features On US Bank Notes… Which Is Why Some Believe The Federal Reserve Is Under Illuminati Control

As has already been mentioned, the “All-Seeing Eye” was never originally a symbol of the Illuminati but has come to be linked with the organisation through popular culture.
Despite this, due to the fact that both the All-Seeing Eye and the unfinished pyramid feature on the US one-dollar bank notes, this has led to some people claiming that the American government is actually controlled by the Illuminati.
Seen on the reverse of the note just above the unfinished pyramid, the All-Seeing Eye features on all one-dollar bills in the USA. Is the US government – AKA (allegedly) the Illuminati – really keeping tabs on the whole population?

The Illuminati Supposedly Create Their Own False Conspiracy Theories So That People Fail To Learn Of Their Existence

Critics of Illuminati conspiracy theorists often say that the idea is ridiculous, and that far too many supposed theories exist for it to possibly be true.
However, believers of the conspiracy say that this merely proves the existence of the Illuminati – and that the organisation themselves are responsible for throwing people off the real scent.
It is alleged that Illuminati members invent false conspiracy theories in order to discredit the real global plot that they are involved in – and to confuse those who are getting close to discovering the truth.
That’s a whole lot of conspiracy theories of conspiracy theories about conspiracy theories right there (if that makes any sort of sense at all)…