The Order of the Illuminati is the secret organization that most surrounds people's collective imagination, being used as a central basis in the entertainment industry, such as in the book Angels and Demons by Dan Brown or in the movie The Legend of Lost Treasure, starring Nicholas Cage.

Even after 200 years of its emergence, the society is still the subject of several conspiracy theorists who believe that the Illuminati Order is still alive and spread in various places around the world to control people and governments.

But has this great secret organization managed to stay alive today? If so, could it be watching us through security cameras or our cell phones? In this article, you will learn how this organization came into existence and if there is a possibility that it is alive today.

How did the Order of the Illuminati come about?

The Illuminati Order was born in the year 1776, a period when the world was going through profound changes. At the time, the Catholic Church dominated all the affairs of European countries, and always imposed its traditional creationist values on the people.

Meanwhile, the late 18th century was undergoing a scientific revolution, where scientists were trying to understand the natural world so they could understand the mind of God, causing science and religion to walk together to create a more comprehensive narrative.

However, a law professor at the University of Ingolstadt in Germany named Adam Weishaupt was totally opposed to the ideas of the church. He was a freethinker with progressive views not accepted by religion. This caused on May 1, 1776, Weishaupt to select his five best students to form this society.

In the beginning, the Illuminati Order emerged as a safe environment to conduct debate and criticism free from the power of the state, where people could have freedom of speech and not be restricted to religious teachings.

Over time, the organization grew to 2,000 members, who were spread throughout the Bavarian region, where the group originated, and also in France, Hungary, Italy and Poland.

However, the group's ideas were considered too radical for the time, which caused the society to be broken up at the University of Ingolstadt and governments to prohibit the emergence of other illegal societies in 1784.

In 1785, the Illuminati Order was considered an illegal branch of the Freemasonry organization, and they were eventually banned. A while later, Weishaupt had to flee Bavaria, and spent the rest of his life in the German city of Gotha.

Two years later, in 1787, the ruler of Bavaria, Carl Theodore, began searching for members of the organization and prosecuting them. Membership in the Illuminati Order became punishable by death, which brought about the end of the society.

Is it possible she still exists?

Nowadays, the residents of the city of Ingolstadt seem to have lost that peculiar legacy it carries in its history. Few people know that the Order of the Illuminati was started in the city.

Even so, the idea of a secret organization made to revolt against the state is something that stirs people's imagination, and makes them believe that the society was never dissolved, but that it knew how to hide itself properly.

According to conspiracy theories, the Illuminati Order was responsible for the French Revolution, the death of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and even the terrorist attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001.

However, Adam Weishaupt produced several works about the illuminati that can be found in the Ingolstadt archives. The content they present shows that the organization was not started to reproduce such events in humanity.

"Weishaupt was a revolutionary in many ways. he liked the idea of teaching people to be better human beings. he wanted to change society, he dreamed of a better world, a better government. he started the Illuminati with the idea that everything humanity knows should be taught - something that was not allowed here at the university." says the journalist and Ingolstadt residentMichael Klarner while being interviewed by the BBC.

Today it is difficult to know whether or not the Illuminati Order is still with us, but some superstitions still linger in Ingolstadt: "Some people have come here and asked me about the meetings. I think there is something here, but what exactly, in which houses, I don't know," reports the nun Anna, who works in a bookshop opposite Ingolstadt's Gothic Liebfrauenmünster church.