Conspiracy Archive Interview

You may already be familiar with Conspiracy Archive.

Run by Terry Melanson, Conspiracy Archive is intended for research on conspiracy, secret societies, and alternative history. The web site is like a course in conspiracy research. Terry writes some of the commentary articles along with a staff of regular contributors, including Paul and Phillip D. Collins, Barry Chamish, Mark Owen, Erik Fortman, Joseph E. Fasciani, Jim Kirwan, and D’arcLyte.

Terry was kind enough to answer some questions designed to illuminate us on some continuing themes we’ve encountered in our recent studies.

How would you characterize the Freemasons that apparently rebelled from the British Empire to found the United States? Specific historical incidents that occurred later seem to indicate that this may have been a true rebellion (War of 1812, Jackson vs. Central Banksters, Civil War, Jekyll Island, etc.) that had to be brought back into "the fold" later on, so to speak. What does your research indicate?

 

Freemasonry enabled the American Revolution just as it did for France. The ideology espoused within the American Lodges was of the same character found within the lodges of France. Both the American and the French lodges were hotbeds for subversion and had a decidedly revolutionary flavour. Many freemasons from America held dual membership within the lodges of France, and vice versa. Other than an official charter from England for the privilege of instituting a lodge, American masons were hostile toward England, including their English Masonic brethren.

 

Since the death of Cecil Rhodes and the subsequent creation of the English/American Round Table groups, the conspiracy by the elite seems to have consolidated its interests. The Pilgrims Society is a perfect example. This group is perhaps the highest echelon; the directorate of organizations such as the Milner Group, RIIA, CFR, the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderbergs. (Consult the work of Joël van der Reijden and Charles Savoie for further details.)

 

Along those same lines, we continually hear of an "infiltration" by a dark, occult brotherhood (if not the Illuminati itself) of Freemasonry in the late 18th century. Was this a real takeover? An official merger? Just theatre? Or some combination?

 

Freemasonry was infiltrated by a myriad of different beliefs during the "age of enlightenment." Templarism was the first corrupter. As early as the 1730s, Masonic scholars were theorizing that masonry stemmed directly from the Knights Templar. The theory persisted with increasing elaboration until an order within Freemasonry was created to officially propagate the doctrine: the Strict Observance. This attracted a large number of aristocrats who naturally thought it only proper that masonry claim lineage from a knightly order. However, pomp and pageantry concealed a more sinister secret. Besides the single vow swearing absolute obedience to "unknown superiors," by 1755 the Strict Observance proposed the takeover of orphanages (for financial gain), the founding of military academies (for control of the noble class), and infiltration of the government. Members were sworn to uphold these principles. The famous Masonic Conference at Wilhelmsbad in 1782 was convoked to either banish the teaching outright, or confirm and adopt its principles. The former was the final decision. Bavarian Illuminati agents were present at the gathering and quickly snatched up the rebuked members of Strict Observance for their own Order – the marrying of two revolutionary societies. The Illuminati's membership increased significantly from the ranks of, the now forbidden, Strict Observance.

 

The Bavarian Illuminati did indeed succeed in a "real takeover." They were a parasitic blight on a large number of Masonic lodges throughout the whole of the Holy Roman Empire, and controlled initiates as well as resources and finances. Amongst themselves, the Areopagites of the Illuminati would laugh about it. Freemasonry was essentially a dupe - used as a tool - and the organization is still sore about it today. After 1787, most of the Masonic lodges controlled by the Illuminati in Bavaria were shut down. It's the lodges in other territories that we're not sure about. Despite assertions by scholars, a total de-illuminization of Freemasonry has never been proven to have occurred. I don't think we'll ever know for sure – we are dealing with "secret" societies after all.

 

Rosicrucianism, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Kabbalism, Sabbatianism, Alchemy, Mesmerism, Necromancy, and Ritualized Magic were all introduced into the corrupt system of lodges on the European continent during the Enlightenment. Vienna was a particular hotbed of activity, with an estimated 10,000 practicing alchemists. The age of reason could've just as easily been dubbed the age of superstition.

 

 

What is your opinion of seeking "enlightenment," or consciousness expansion, in terms of Luciferian doctrine? Is it possible to seek enlightenment and not be engaging in a Luciferian practice at some level? Am I simply misunderstanding the concept of Luciferianism?

 

I indulged in the occult (ala Castaneda, Gurdjieff and Ouspensky) in the early 90s when I should have known better. Consciousness expansion techniques, in my experience, are a cleverly disguised ruse for spiritual control.

 

It's been said many times before: it is a spiritual battle. The occult techniques proscribed to initiates for contact with either their "higher self" or some otherworldly entity is a recipe for spiritual enslavement. Alice Bailey is a shining example. She claimed to have channeled messages from a deceased Tibetan master, Djwhal Khul, for 30 years. The overshadowing, she called it – a euphemism for possession.

 

Ask yourself this: why is it that, whenever given the chance, the messages received through occult means - even those received by the so-called UFO contactees - invariably contradict the teachings of Christ? An awful lot of energy is expended just to proselytize a purely Luciferian doctrine (we shall become as gods), contradict the Word of God, and convince the channeler of the erroneousness of the Bible.

 

Throughout the study of modern conspiracies, it seems that there is not only an occult connection through the persons of the conspirators, but that the event itself holds great occult significance. The JFK assassination and 9/11 are but two of many that immediately come to mind. Do you believe there is an occult purpose to these conspiracies, and if so, what is that hidden purpose? Is it just magickal practice through a societal "mega-ritual"?

 

Both those seminal events you've cited were aided and abetted, to one degree or another, by individuals working within the intelligence apparatus. It's no secret that the CIA and other such agencies have always been interested in the occult. The Temple of Set, an offshoot of the Church of Satan, had access to military intelligence through its founder Lt. Col. Michael Aquino. He recruited a number of spooks to his cause, had top secret Pentagon clearance, and worked in the psychological warfare division. James Shelby Downard has described a "Sirius-worship cult" with adherents in the highest levels of the CIA. Apparently, rituals take place "at the Palomar Observatory under the telescopically focused light of Sirius, bathing its participants in luminance of the majestic Dog-Star." (Quoted by Adam Gorightly, in Ritual Magic, Mind Control and the UFO Phenomenon) And, of course, there's the official secret programs instituted by the CIA and military intelligence. The outright practicing of the occult became a government-sponsored activity, culminating in Lt. Col. Jim Channon's First Earth Battalion.

 

The power elite have always been preoccupied with the occult. This being the case, esoteric communication - symbolism, semiotics, astrology, cypher or numerology - must, on some level, inevitably occur. Chasing after symbols and patterns is not very productive though, as the rabbit-hole extends pretty deep. On the other hand, magickal rituals to effect change on a large scale probably does occur. Nonetheless, theories which postulate the discovery of hidden meanings behind recent events have to produce results or it's meaningless. I'll start paying attention when somebody accomplishes the feat of predictability.

 

Many secret societies and occult organizations claim that their power and guidance derives from otherworldly, or non-human, entities. Do you believe this to be true, or another control technique?

 

The concept of Hidden Masters or Unknown Superiors has been used for purposes of control by secret societies for thousands of years. If the initiates aren't sure who's directing them from above, this is a perfect system to keep everyone in check. An extension of this is that the real masters aren't humans at all but beings from without, guiding the purpose and will of the whole. Rosicrucianism and Theosophy has had great success through the implementation of such a notion. The only thing significant is that they - the initiates or dupes - believe it to be so.

 

Is it more important to focus on improving one's inner self or the outer political environment, or some combination? After many years of studying politics and now the occult and the origins of humanity, it seems that focusing inward might have much more potential for actually changing both the inner and outer worlds. What is your opinion of this view?

 

Luke 6:20-49. Nuff said.

 

Besides your own work, what other books or authors would you recommend as your favourites on the topics of the occult, secret societies, and conspiracy?

 

For what you're investigating, one would be exceedingly remiss not having familiarity with the works of James Webb. The Occult Underground and The Occult Establishment are required reading. Webb's two-volume scholarly survey spans the entire history of the occult in the modern age; from the enlightenment up to the counter culture of the 1960s.

 

The Kabbalah is integral to the teachings of Western occultism, thus the works of Gershom Scholem are essential. He was the world's authority on Jewish mysticism. In particular, most of what we know today about the antinomian sects of Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank is due to the meticulous research of Scholem. Sabbataian and Frankist occult undercurrents are the most pernicious. The teachings of these pseudo-messiahs represent a complete reversal of values: religious nihilism, ritualistic sexual practices, and sin for sin's sake. According to Arthur Mandel: "Everything is permitted, lies, deceit, adultery ('there is no such thing in heaven'), all moral concepts reversed, and truth turned into absurdity. Interrogated by a rabbinical court, some Frankists admitted to having had sexual intercourse with married women in the presence and with permission of their husbands, while others confessed to incestuous intercourse. Championing this, even before Frank's arrival in Poland, was the family of the rabbi of Rohatyn, Elisha Schorr, whose daughter Hanna, a kind of Frankist priestess, uttered in sexual rapture whole passages of the Zohar, the Cabbalistic bible." (The Militant Messiah, or, The Flight from the Ghetto: The Story of Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, p. 39)

 

The opportunity has presented itself so I'm going to let you in on a theory of mine. Interesting to consider in this light is the movie Eyes Wide Shut.

Eyes Wide Shut

The scene involving the members of a secret society taking part in a ritualistic orgy, I believe, is a direct node to Frankist occultism. Scholem documents the sect's survival (including its Doenmeh offshoot) into the 1800s and possibly as late as the middle of the 20th century. The trail goes cold at this point. However, many of the Jews who immigrated abroad during the 19th century, and into the early 20^th, came from Frankist strongholds in Poland, Moravia, and Bohemia. Stanley Kubrick is a direct

descendant of Jews who came from this region, and at the right point in history. Now this is pure speculation, but perhaps he was recounting a tale passed on through the family (only whispered about).

In any case, the famous scene in that movie bears a remarkable resemblance to what is described as taking place at a Frankist orgiastic ritual. Moreover, a later scene in which the "Grand Master" of the sect is interrogating Tom Cruise – the leader is seated in a chair, or throne, bearing the mark of the Hapsburg Holy Roman Empire: the double-headed eagle.

 

 

This is a revealing clue for the fact that Jacob Frank was a favorite of Empress Maria Theresa. The Frankist sect subsequently became indebted to the Austrian Empire and received patronage from the imperial family. Jacob Frank's successor and cousin, Moses Dobruschka (aka Baron Franz Thomas von Schoenfeld; aka Junius Frey), would go on to join the Jacobin club during the French Revolution - possibly as a spy for the Hapsburgs. Known to his Jacobin compatriots as Junius Frey, Dobruschka was arrested on this very charge and subsequently guillotined along with his brother Emmanuel Frey, on 5 April, 1794.

 

Charles William Heckethorn's Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries, is a valuable work. It's been out of print for years and nearly forgotten. Kessinger Publishing has made it accessible again. A massive study; most definitely the greatest encyclopedic reference of secret societies ever published.

 

Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition

Frances A. Yates

Frances Yates' studies on Renaissance occultism are highly recommended: The Rosicrucian Enlightenment; Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition; and the Theatre of the World.

The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age

 

The works of Nesta Webster are compulsory. Certain biases are obvious; however, her research can be the foundation (and frequently has) for further study into all aspects occultism and the socio-political manipulation of society by its adherents. Secret Societies & Subversive Movements spans 2000 years of the occult underground; World Revolution: The Plot Against Civilization concentrates more on revolutionary societies, from Illuminism to Bolshevism. Webster revised and expanded World Revolution just before her death; therefore the 6th revised edition from the 1960s is the one to get.

Fire in the Minds of Men

James Billington

 

Unmatched in the area of revolutionary movements is James H. Billington. Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith is a work of great importance. Of all the books currently in my collection, Fire in the Minds is the most underlined and scribbled in. Much ink is devoted to the occult aspects of the revolutionaries, which is refreshing coming from such a scholarly, academic work. His book (actually a masterpiece) is a natural companion to those penned by Nesta Webster - though Billington would certainly cringe at such a suggestion.

 

The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship

Paul & Phillip Collins

More recently, I like Peter Levenda's books. I'd recommend anything and everything by Jacques Vallee. Philip and Paul Collins' The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship is incredible (See my review, here. Perhaps I should have disclosed the fact that they write for my site. Featured at my site or not I'd still be a fan of the Collins brothers, and it wouldn't change the fact that they are extremely important authors.)

 

For conspiracy, it's hard to find someone that is factual and precise to the utmost degree, and manages to come across with integrity. The best recommendation I can give is the works of Antony C. Sutton. To read and digest the literature of Sutton is to earn a doctorate in conspiracy and the true nature of elitism.

 

Occult of Personality 2007. Licensed under Creative Commons.