Throughout the Dark Knight Trilogy (Christopher Nolan’s Batman films), The League of Shadows acts as Gotham City’s reckoning. They bring to light the ills of society and expose the falsifiers and cheats, then “free” the people from poverty and corrupt government. This is the legend of the infamous secret society, the Illuminati.
Rumors abound as to why the Illuminati exists and how it came to be. It’s from a darker side of secrecy where conspiracy theories run amok and goals are as clear as mud. For hundreds of years, the Illuminati has remained a mystery, if not a myth, to the world. To this day, what is known about the Illuminati is little, but what we do know for sure is that Beyonce flashed an Illuminati hand sign during her Super Bowl half-time performance.
Before we jump to the conclusion that Beyonce is the one controlling all world events, including the sentence I’m writing, we’ll have a quick history lesson on the Illuminati’s origins and fabled goals of a “New World Order.”
To begin with, the Illuminati didn’t originate as one secret society. It started out as many. A powerful Muslim society called the “Roshaniya” were the first to find illumination. They believed in a different afterlife than traditional Islamic teachings where there was no reward or punishment, just the simple philosophy of “eat, drink, and be merry.”
More common folklore dates the Illuminati back to the beginning of the Catholic Church. Many people hear “Illuminati” and automatically assume “Satanists that are against the Christianity.” Those people are false. The Illuminati that was the bane of Catholicism were scientists and “enlightened” thinkers of the age. Dan Brown’s novel “Angels and Demons” dives deep into Illuminati legend with a rich plotline that leads through Rome and Vatican City to ultimately discover the Church of Illumination, which is the Illuminati’s alleged secret headquarters.
Brown’s novel fits with the belief that the Illuminati began as an underground scientific organization back when Catholicism still taught that the earth was the center of the solar system, rather than the sun. Those who were Illuminatists at the time were “enlightened” because of science. Around the sixteenth century, this would all change as the Illuminati reemerge as the most powerful figures in the world with a goal of a “New World Order” masked by legends, mysteries, and conspiracy theories.
The new, powerful Illuminati seemed to encompass global events. They were rumored responsible for the French and Russian Revolutions, linked with the secret Skull and Bones American society, and highly influential on Hitler and the Nazi organization in WWII.
While the Illuminati isn’t as influential today as it used to be, Beyonce did flash what appeared to be an Illuminati symbol during her Super Bowl halftime show. Could it be that Beyonce is part of a greater scheme of New World Order?!
It’s possible. However, I could see Jay-Z being an Illuminatus before I could see Beyonce being one. Speaking of Jay-Z, he’s signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. Their symbol? A diamond. According to sports blogger Jay Busbee, Beyonce was merely flashing the triangle to show love to her hubby. Jay-Z does the same at his concerts, as do other Roc-A-Fella celebs. Granted, it’s a definite possibility that Roc-A-Fella Records is an Illuminati-influenced label, but it’s pretty much equally as unlikely.
The possibilities are endless, and I’ll leave them up to conspiracy theorists. My personal belief is that the Illuminati exists, but that it shouldn’t –and probably doesn’t– appeal to celebrities that are constantly in the spotlight, like Beyonce. It’s highly doubtful that a major celeb could mask membership to a big-name and highly mysterious society anyway. But there’s always the possibility that the Illuminati is dictating what I’m writing now, and that I’m copying verbatim what they tell me to say. You will never really know.