12-28-2020, 11:27 PM
In 1784 Weishaupt’s Illuminati order was eventually suppressed by an electoral edict in Germany, which lead to the closure of many recognised Masoniclodges in the south of the country. No doubt it was believed Weishaupt’s Illuminism had already infected the lodges and they were duly closed to prevent the spread of civil unrest. Rumours circulated that many of the suppressed Illuminati fled into France and were received into several recognised Masonic lodges with the result the exiles helped to foment the spirit of the French Revolution.83 Other researchers of Masonic history continued to maintain that the order was never completely disbanded and that despite having been rejected by the official masons, the order still worked secretly like a virus through the lodges of recognized Freemasonry until Weishaupt’s death in 1830, and was in fact, one of the prime instigators of the French Revolution, the order sending out various pawns to do the dirty work while most of the ‘Unknown’ leaders of Illuminism remained cloaked in secrecy. There is evidence that Weishaupt used the charlatan Cagliostro and the meteoric rise of his bogus ‘Egyptian Rite’ to inject Illuminism into the lodges of Europe. Apparently, Cagliostro himself confessed to the Inquisition in Rome that he had received a commission from Weishaupt to groom the French Masonic lodges to be receptive to Illuminist doctrine.84 Of interest, in Lord of the Rings, the traitor-wizard Saruman is used in a similar fashion by the Dark Lord Sauron as Frodo remarks: “Yes, this is Mordor ... just one of its works. Saruman was doing its work all the time, even when he thought he was working for himself. And the same with those that Saruman tricked...”.85
How successful was Cagliostro in his mission? Considering the secrecy surrounding the lodges even to this day, it is difficult to tell. However, we have a few personal opinions from famous Masons who it is said joined the Illuminati in those days and who dared to let a few things ‘slip’, such as the German author Wolfgang von Goethe.** Goethe, a monarchist not supportive of the revolutionary schemes, was disgusted at how far the quack Cagliostro had instigated himself into the French court. The charlatan had found favour with King Louis XVI and many members of the French nobility, fooling them with his claims of possessing maguslike powers and the ability to produce the famed alchemical ‘elixir of youth’, which disgusted Goethe. In his opinion, Cagliostro’s quackery helped to discredit the French monarchy as the gullibility of the court occasioned it to lose what little respect it still retained amid the growing dissatisfaction of the French people riled up by the disgruntled revolutionaries. Goethe also believed Cagliostro and other corrupt members of the court played their part in a premeditated conspiracy to deliberately destroy the French monarchy, namely, the scandalous Diamond Necklace Affair in which Queen Antoinette was accused of recklessly spending on a costly necklace while her people starved. She never commissioned the necklace ~ it was an elaborate set-up and jewel heist arranged by the Countess de Mott who duped her lover, the Cardinal of Rohan, into ordering the necklace by pretending the queen wished him to personally place the commission. Eventually the truth came out, the Countess was flogged, branded and imprisoned for life, while the Cardinal was acquitted and banished to a monastery. However, the damage was done, the final blow came when the Cardinal and Countess were put on trial. Cagliostro was also brought forward for questioning as the Cardinal was his staunch supporter. Goethe was infuriated about Cagliostro’s ‘performance’ during this serious trial on which the reputation of the French court rested, giving the law court a load of gibberish and “ridiculous cock-and-bull stories”.86 In all, Goethe observed Cagliostro’s quackery (used by Weishaupt we recall!) helped to put the nail in the coffin of the absolute French monarchy:
83 A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, Vol. I p. 386.
84 Rev. Mgr. George Dillon, The permanent instruction of the Alta Vendita, Chapter VIII, (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son., Ltd., 1885). Reprint: E-text: www.catholicvoice.co.uk/dillon/text.htm#14
85 Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, p. 1055.
** For more information on the Goethe’s interest in alchemy, Freemasonry, the French Revolution, and how they influenced his work, see Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World, Vol. 2 (Portugal: Batalha Publishers, 2010).
86 Goethe, letter written in Sicily, April 13-14, 1787, Italian Journey [1786-1788]. Reprint, W.H., Auden and Elizabeth Mayer, trans. (London: Penguin Classics, 1970), p. 248.
87 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Campaign in France 1792, Siege of Mainz, in Goethe: The Collected Works, Vol. 5, Trans, Ed. Thomas P. Saine, Ed., Jeffrey L. Sammons, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 743.
How successful was Cagliostro in his mission? Considering the secrecy surrounding the lodges even to this day, it is difficult to tell. However, we have a few personal opinions from famous Masons who it is said joined the Illuminati in those days and who dared to let a few things ‘slip’, such as the German author Wolfgang von Goethe.** Goethe, a monarchist not supportive of the revolutionary schemes, was disgusted at how far the quack Cagliostro had instigated himself into the French court. The charlatan had found favour with King Louis XVI and many members of the French nobility, fooling them with his claims of possessing maguslike powers and the ability to produce the famed alchemical ‘elixir of youth’, which disgusted Goethe. In his opinion, Cagliostro’s quackery helped to discredit the French monarchy as the gullibility of the court occasioned it to lose what little respect it still retained amid the growing dissatisfaction of the French people riled up by the disgruntled revolutionaries. Goethe also believed Cagliostro and other corrupt members of the court played their part in a premeditated conspiracy to deliberately destroy the French monarchy, namely, the scandalous Diamond Necklace Affair in which Queen Antoinette was accused of recklessly spending on a costly necklace while her people starved. She never commissioned the necklace ~ it was an elaborate set-up and jewel heist arranged by the Countess de Mott who duped her lover, the Cardinal of Rohan, into ordering the necklace by pretending the queen wished him to personally place the commission. Eventually the truth came out, the Countess was flogged, branded and imprisoned for life, while the Cardinal was acquitted and banished to a monastery. However, the damage was done, the final blow came when the Cardinal and Countess were put on trial. Cagliostro was also brought forward for questioning as the Cardinal was his staunch supporter. Goethe was infuriated about Cagliostro’s ‘performance’ during this serious trial on which the reputation of the French court rested, giving the law court a load of gibberish and “ridiculous cock-and-bull stories”.86 In all, Goethe observed Cagliostro’s quackery (used by Weishaupt we recall!) helped to put the nail in the coffin of the absolute French monarchy:
“I saw the dignity of royalty undermined and doomed by
this incredibly wicked plot, and unfortunately everything that
happened from that time only confirmed my fearful forebodings.
(...) For many years I had been dismayed by the frauds peddled by
bold visionaries and calculating fanatics and had had occasion to
curse them roundly; and I had been amazed and repelled by the
incomprehensible blindness of otherwise intelligent people in the
face of such brazen importunities. Now I saw before me the direct
and indirect consequences of such follies, (i.e. the French
Revolution), which led to crimes and offences against royalty and
had an effect powerful to shake to its foundations the fairest throne
in the world.”87
this incredibly wicked plot, and unfortunately everything that
happened from that time only confirmed my fearful forebodings.
(...) For many years I had been dismayed by the frauds peddled by
bold visionaries and calculating fanatics and had had occasion to
curse them roundly; and I had been amazed and repelled by the
incomprehensible blindness of otherwise intelligent people in the
face of such brazen importunities. Now I saw before me the direct
and indirect consequences of such follies, (i.e. the French
Revolution), which led to crimes and offences against royalty and
had an effect powerful to shake to its foundations the fairest throne
in the world.”87
Of course, history tells us what eventually happened next, the following is a brief summary: the Revolution erupted, the Church and the nobility were despoiled of their lands. With the monarchy overturned and the aristocracy in tatters, the majority of the surviving nobility fleeing into exile, the Church was left without its royal defenders and the New Order of France was free to take shape in the form of a democratic Republic championing liberty, equality and fraternity, which in turn brought about a bloodthirsty Reign of Terror (1793-1794) in the new jostle for power. Churches were plundered and submitted to terrible desecrations, such as undergoing new ‘consecrations’ as temples to their new principles of Deism and Liberty. A sacrilegious ritual was held in Notre Dame in which atheists lit a flame to the power of Reason. Loyalists to the throne were rounded up, thousands of anti-revolutionaries were slaughtered. The Holy Ampulla miraculously brought centuries ago by the Holy Ghost to anoint Clovis I and his house was smashed in 1793, only a few fragments were saved. King Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793 just before the Terror began, while Queen Marie-Antoinette was executed nine months later on October 16, 1793.
83 A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, Vol. I p. 386.
84 Rev. Mgr. George Dillon, The permanent instruction of the Alta Vendita, Chapter VIII, (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son., Ltd., 1885). Reprint: E-text: www.catholicvoice.co.uk/dillon/text.htm#14
85 Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, p. 1055.
** For more information on the Goethe’s interest in alchemy, Freemasonry, the French Revolution, and how they influenced his work, see Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World, Vol. 2 (Portugal: Batalha Publishers, 2010).
86 Goethe, letter written in Sicily, April 13-14, 1787, Italian Journey [1786-1788]. Reprint, W.H., Auden and Elizabeth Mayer, trans. (London: Penguin Classics, 1970), p. 248.
87 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Campaign in France 1792, Siege of Mainz, in Goethe: The Collected Works, Vol. 5, Trans, Ed. Thomas P. Saine, Ed., Jeffrey L. Sammons, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 743.
Reliquary holding the surviving fragments of the Holy Ampulla at the Tau Palace in Rheims.
Artistic recreation of the original reliquary holding the Holy Ampulla by Sergey Prokopenko
(2012) according to surviving sketches. The vial containing the oil is held by a representation
of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. A remnant of the oil was saved the day before the
Ampulla was publicly destroyed by the Revolutionaries in 1793.