E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Illumina’ti.
The baptised were at one time so called, because a lighted candle was given them to hold as a symbol that they were illuminated by the Holy Ghost.
1
Four religious societies have been so called, viz.:
2
(1) The Hesychasts in the fourteenth century.
3
(2) The Alombra’dos of Spain in the sixteenth century.
4
(3) The Guerinets of France in the seventeenth century.
5
(4) The Mystics of Belgium in the eighteenth century.
6
Add to these the Rosicrucians (q.v.).
7
The Order of the Illuminati. A republican society, founded at Ingoldstadt in Bavaria, 1776; having for its object the establishment of a religion consistent with “sound reason.”
