'initiation' or 'vision quest' in many traditional societies and can loosely be considered some dangerous variety of self-psychotherapy in modern terminology. I do not recommend it for everybody. The main thing I learned in my experiments is that 'reality' is always plural and mutable." -- Robert Anton Wilson, Preface, Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati "There are and have been various secret and not-so-secret groups using the name Illuminati within their ranks, including the Rosicrucians and Freemasons, but perhaps this is only symbolic of something within, a visible sign of an invisible grace; and as such it can easily mislead the foolish, but it can also guide the wise, just like an earthy and temporary Temple, which the wise discern to be but a symbol of the spiritual and eternal Temple within. This idea may also extend to the Order of the Illuminati founded in the outer world by Adam Weishaupt in 1776. In Occult Philosophy, the outer world is here to teach us about the inner world of the Spirit. The temporal (or finite) is intended to indicate the eternal (or infinite). Illusions exist to reveal the truth, not to deceive or blind us. So, to cut to the chase, the Illuminati are (at least among the intelligent and informed) a Spiritual Order of Illuminated Souls, an Invisible Circle of Enlightened Spirits or, in the language of the Golden Dawn, they are the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Silver Star (Astrum Argentum). This Order is truly secret, esoteric, or occult; for it is not without, but within; that is, it is in the Inmost Sanctuary of the Soul. Its members are invisible Beings of Light, so to speak, but who can, and do, incarnate in this visible crazy circle of human humdrum existence when it is essential for them to do so. In the midst of this loopy wheel of existence there exists an axle of various Outer Orders (which are really one in essence) that emanate from the spiritual Illuminati through their inner work upon the minds of initiated Adepts who are chosen by them to fulfill their sublime work in the world of men and women. Through these Adepts, the spiritual Illuminati accomplish their Great Work in the world, which is to initiate and illuminate mankind." -- David Cherubim, Foreword, Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati"Perhaps the final secret of the Illuminati is that you don't know you're a member until it's too late to get out." -- Robert Anton Wilson

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