#The secret society of happy people code
#The secret society of happy people tv

The Illuminati were founded by professor Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria on May 1, 1776. If you do get in, you’ll be in good company: Famous freemasons include Mozart, Winston Churchill, Davy Crockett, Franklin D.

#The secret society of happy people tv

The rituals around becoming a freemason are shrouded in secrecy, but have entered the public imagination in film and TV and were even parodied on an episode of “ The Simpsons.” Membership is open to all males over the age of 21, and women can join an associated group known as “The Order of the Eastern Star.” According to the New York Times, aspiring members must ask to join and cannot be otherwise approached, as summed up in a recruiting slogan: “All you have to do is ask.” In 1985, Roman Catholic Bishops restated over 200 years’ worth of these strictures in the face of an increased number of Catholics joining the order.Ī depiction of a Masonic ritual taking place in a New York Masonic lodge, circa 1900.įreemasons exist today, and their public image has been greatly influenced by the high-profile charity work of the Shriners, a subset of freemasons also known as “the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.” The Shriners were founded by freemasons in 1870 at New York City’s Knickerbocker College and continue their volunteer work today. The Church first condemned the freemasons in 1738 and has gone on to issue around 20 decrees against them. Freemason Beliefsįreemasonry is not a religion, though members are encouraged to believe in a Supreme Being, or 'Grand Architect of the Universe.” Masonic temples and secret rituals have brought them into conflict with the Catholic Church. Freemasonry quickly spread across Europe and to the American colonies. The earliest reference to masons is in the Regius Poem, or Halliwell Manuscript, which was published in 1390, but Freemasonry as we know it today was founded in 1717, when four London lodges merged to form England’s first Grand Lodge. They identified one another via signs of their trade, like the builder’s square and compass in Freemasonry’s now-iconic symbol. Cathedral builders, by nature of their profession, had to travel from city to city. The freemasons can trace their routes to the Middle Ages in Europe, a time when most craftsmen were organized into local guilds.

#The secret society of happy people code

Popular books and films like The Da Vinci Code continue to inspire curiosity about the Knights Templar today. Rumors that the Knights Templar guarded artifacts like the Holy Grail and Shroud of Turin began bubbling up among conspiracy theorists. Under pressure from the French crown, Pope Clement V formally dissolved the order in 1312 and redistributed their wealth. In 1309, as the city of Paris watched, dozens of Knights Templar were burned at the stake for their alleged crimes. On October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France, whom the Knights Templar had denied additional loans, had a group of knights arrested and tortured until they made false confessions of depravity. When the Crusades came to an end after the fall of Acre, the Knights Templar withdrew to Paris, where they focused on their banking endeavors. READ MORE: 10 Reasons Why the Knights Templar Were History's Fiercest Fighters What Happened to the Knights Templar? At the apex of their power, the Knights Templar owned the island of Cyprus, a fleet of ships and lent money to kings. Their influence swelled to a new high in 1139, when Pope Innocent II issued a Papal Bull exempting them from paying taxes… and decreeing that the only authority they had to answer to was the Pope. They became one of the most wealthy and powerful forces in Europe after setting up a bank that allowed pilgrims to deposit money in their home countries and withdraw it in the Holy Land. The Knights Templar were known for more than their military prowess and moral lifestyle.