Das verbesserte System der Illuminaten mit allen seinen Graden Einrichtungen (original) (raw)

Note the inclusion of the insignia of the Minerval or third degree in Adam Weishaupt's system of degrees developed for his Bavarian Illuminati. This design, with the addition of the letters P.M.C.V. (per me caeci vident : through me the blind see), was cast or hand-graved as a jewel to be worn by Minervals. There is no record of how many were made, and only three are known to exist: one in a private collection in Ansbach, Germany; one in a private American collection; and one in the Deutsches Freimaurermuseum Bayreuth. A photograph of this last one appears in Freimaurer Solange die Welt besteht (Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, 1993), p. 314. The text of Der ächte Illuminat oder die whren, unverbesserten Rituale der Illuminaten, Edessa (Frankfort-on-the-Main), 1788, includes rituals for the Preparation, Novitiate, Minerval Degree, the Minor and Major Illuminati Degrees. The Minerval Degree text describes the “Medallion” with the owl, as illustrated above. Title page, Das verbesserte System der Illuminaten mit allen seinen Graden Einrichtungen, Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1788. Notes courtesy Arturo de Hoyos (2007).