ABSTRACT
The relation between esotericism and conspiracy theory takes many forms. However, the scholarly literature has focused mainly on conspiracy theories about esoteric societies. This is understandable. Leafing through the literature of conspiracy culture one may often be struck by the prominence given to esoteric societies in these alternative versions of history. Many websites of conspiracy theory pay an enormous amount of attention to “occult” groups, some imaginary, others well known. Seemingly small and powerless societies like the Ordo Templi Orientis may be presented as the polar opposite. Societies long defunct according to academic historiography may be presented as driving forces in history, the crowning example being the Bavarian secret society Illuminati, theories about which have grown only more expansive since the order’s demise in the 1780s. 1
