雖然我們對光明會/共濟會這樣的神秘組織已經耳熟能詳，但其實大部分人分不清這兩個組織的區別。比如一看到「全視之眼」，就認定是光明會，而事實是它也被共濟會所使用。所以在深入介紹卡牌之前，想先分享卡牌設計者史蒂夫·傑克遜提供的「關於光明會的50件事情」這篇文章，雖然每一條都很簡短，但信息量巨大，可以很好地幫助我們理解卡牌設計的思路（更重要的是，你能更好的理解什麼是光明會，然後再嘗試理解他們為什麼要做那些事，以及怎麼做到）。
原文截圖存檔：
關於「光明會」的50件事情
01.There are many Illuminated groups, with different kinds of secret knowledge. Anything you might say about them(including this) will be false for some of the Illuminati, but true for others, which only adds to the confusion and mystery.
光明會有很多分支，他們擁有不同的神秘知識。你所談及到的任何關於光明會的信息（當然也包括這條）對一些光明會分支來說都是錯誤的，但對其他光明會來說又是正確的。這使得光明會更加神秘，人們也更加困惑。
亞歷山大圖書館：館內收藏了公元前400-前300年時期的手稿，擁有最豐富的古籍收藏，後因戰火被毀，所有古籍失蹤，但據傳是被光明會轉移並據為己有。
02.The Illuminati infiltrate and take over organizations of all kinds, from churches to the post office to the corner grocery store, and turn them to their own ends.
光明會滲透並接管了各種組織，從教堂到郵局再到街角的雜貨店，並他們為己所用。
03.And, just as a black joke, some of their subject organizations advertise themselves as Secret Societies.
而且，就像一個黑色幽默一樣，一些被控制的組織會宣傳自己是秘密社團。
04.They have agents and「sleepers」 planted everywhere. Many of these people have no idea who they are really reporting to. Others are active members of the conspiracy, working their way ever deeper into the fabric of society.
他們到處安插間諜和「潛伏者」。但在這些人中，大部分都不知道自己在向誰匯報，而另外一部分人則熱衷於陰謀，他們的工作深入到了社會的細枝末節。
05.They control the schools in order to make sure that young people learn to enjoy strange tuneless music and weird outlandish games, and that they dress oddly.
他們控制着學校，以確保年輕人學會欣賞難聽的音樂和古怪的遊戲，並確保他們穿着怪異。
06.They also try to recruit the best and the brightest young people as agents, to insure the next generation of the Conspiracy.
他們還試圖招募最優秀和最聰明的年輕人作為代理人，以確保陰謀可以延續到下一代。
07.They constantly feud among themselves and war with other groups and organizations. Each group of Illuminati is constantly striving to increase its power base and undermine the competition.
他們之間經常發生爭執，並與其他團體和組織交戰。每一個光明會團體都在不斷努力以加固自己的權利並破壞公平競爭。
08.Their first means of dealing with opposition is to buy it off. To any group as rich as the Illuminati, a few million dollars are nothing.
他們對付敵對者的首選方法就是收買他們。對像光明會這樣富有的組織來說，幾百萬美元根本算不上什麼。
09.Next they try threats. Danger to possessions, status or loved ones has dissuaded many a would-be foe of Illuminati schemes.
如果收買不了，他們會嘗試威脅。讓反對者的財產、地位或親人面臨危險。這一招已經阻止了許多光明會計劃的潛在敵人。
10.And, of course, murder is an ancient political weapon. The Illuminati have been responsible for some of the most shocking assassinations of modern times.
當然，謀殺是一種古老的政治武器。光明會對現代一些最令人震驚的暗殺事件負有責任。
11.They also replace people with doubles. For many years they recruited look-alikes who would serve their ends. Now they are perfecting cloning technology that will let them replace anybody.
他們還使用替身來代替真身。多年來，他們招募長相相似的人來為他們服務。而現在他們正在完善克隆技術，讓他們可以取代任何人。
12.Those who can’t be dealt with any other way are discredited or driven mad.
那些很難處理的人會被抹黑或被逼瘋。
13.The Illuminati conspiracy is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. Many of the most famous names of history have been Illuminated, or Illuminati agents. Indeed, all of history is nothing more than an outside view of the schemes and struggles of the Illuminati.
光明會的陰謀就算沒有幾千年，也有幾百年了。歷史上許多最著名的名字都與之有關，或者說是光明會的代理人。事實上，所有的歷史都只不過是光明會的計劃和鬥爭的一個外在表象。
14.And, of course, the Illuminati are constantly rewriting history to serve their own goals. For instance, modern schoolchildren are taught that there is no historical evidence of Jesus Christ, and they learn nothing about the Russo-German War or the state of Arcadia.
當然，光明會不斷改寫歷史以實現自己的目標。例如，他們教導現在的孩子們，沒有歷史證據可以證明耶穌基督的存在；孩子們對蘇德戰爭或者阿卡迪亞州也一無所知。
15.They control the news media, so you hear what they want you to about today’s news. Any event that doesn’t fit in with their program will be quickly hushed up.
他們控制着新聞媒體，所以你能看到的新聞都是他們希望你看到的。任何不符合他們計劃的事件都會很快被掩蓋。
16.In particular, they control television. They don’t permit intelligent shows to survive; they encourage mind candy that will keep people from thinking. The only reason good shows are permitted to appear at all is to convince intelligent people that nobody else likes such material, and that there must be something wrong with them.
特別是，他們控制着電視。他們不允許聰明的表演存在；他們鼓吹那些能讓人們停止思考的「心靈糖果」。好節目被允許出現的唯一原因是為了說服聰明的人相信，根本沒人會喜歡這樣的節目，是你們自己出問題了。
17.The Illuminati manipulate the stock market and control currencies on an international level. Your paycheck is worth just what the Illuminati want it to be.
光明會操縱着國際股票市場並控制着貨幣。你的薪水光明會是想要的。
18.Likewise, the entire「energy crisis」 is an Illuminati invention. There’s no shortage of energy, of a dozen different kinds, but plentiful free energy might threaten the Illuminated power base.
同樣，「能源危機」也是光明會的陰謀。至少有十幾種不同的能源可供使用，根本就不存在缺能源這一說，但充足的能源可能會威脅到光明會的權力根基。
19.The Illuminati are doing their best to hold back the space program, for the same reason. If mankind was spread out through the solar system, they』d be much harder to control.[Not all the Illuminati agree on this. Some of them lust after the mineral wealth of space, and some want(literally) new worlds to conquer.
出於同樣的原因，光明會正在盡其所能阻止太空計劃。如果人類散佈在太陽系中，他們將更難控制。但並不是所有的光明會都同意這一點。他們中的一些人渴望得到太空裏的礦產資源，而另一些人則想要征服新世界。
20.And some of them are in touch with aliens from outer space. Some of them ARE aliens. Why would「advanced beings」 want to meddle with the affairs of Earthlings? Good question.
他們中的一些人與來自外太空的外星人有聯繫。另一些人則就是外星人。為什麼「高級生命」要干涉地球人的事務?好問題。
21.Worse, some of them have actual magical powers and are in league with forces from... elsewhere. Great huge beings that are madness to look upon, or tiny, malicious things that glare and gibber from dark corners. They have pins and dolls; they know old names.
更糟糕的是，他們中的一些人擁有真正的魔法力量，並與來自……emmm……某個地方的力量相連接。那些看起來很瘋狂的巨大生物，或者那些在黑暗角落裏怒目而視、胡言亂語的小而惡毒的東西。他們有大頭針和洋娃娃；他們知道古老的名字。
22.Other Illuminati have embraced technology. Their files of information are much more useful when backed by the power of the computer. They are also conditioning everyone to believe that computers are so complicated and dangerous that only the Experts should play with them. Next time you get an electric bill for$666,666.66, you know who’s behind it.
其他光明會已經接受了技術。在計算機的支持下，他們的信息文件要有用得多。他們讓人們相信計算機是如此的複雜和危險，只有專家才能玩。下次當你收到一張6666666.66美元的電費賬單時，你就知道誰是幕後黑手了。
23.And some of these technophiles have gone a step farther, creating actual machine intelligences. These sentient computers are now, themselves, a force amoung the ruling Illuminati.
其中一些技術愛好者甚至更進一步，創造出了真正的智能機器。現在，這些有知覺的電腦，它們本身，就是統治光明會的一股力量。
24.The Illuminati don’t like war; it’s expensive and wasteful. War only happens when two groups of Illuminati are very evenly matched and neither is willing to negotiate. But then they whip a few nations into a patriotic fervor and go at it.
光明會不喜歡戰爭；既昂貴又浪費。只有當兩股光明會勢均力敵，並且雙方都不願意談判時，戰爭才會發生。但隨後，他們會激起一些國家的愛國熱情，並付諸行動。
25.They send secret messages through the newspapers and airwaves– in the classified ads, and even buried in news reports. They have other, even stranger forms of secret communications... all around you, all the time.
他們通過報紙和電波傳遞秘密信息——在分類廣告中，甚至在新聞報道中。他們還有其他更奇怪的秘密通信方式……就在你身邊，每時每刻。
26.They keep everyone– yes, everyone– under constant surveillance. Every time you fill out another questionnaire, you’re weaving another strand of the net that binds the world.
他們時刻監視着每一個人——是的，每一個人。你填寫的每一份問卷，都在幫助編織連結另一個世界的網。
27.They are working to make the law as confusing as possible, so everything will be illegal or potentially illegal– then they have a hold on everybody and everyone will fear the laws.
他們正努力使法律儘可能混亂，所以一切都將是非法的或潛在的非法——然後他們控制了每個人，每個人都會害怕法律。
28.They encourage resistance to authority among young people and political dissidents, to distract government attention from the real enemy within.
他們鼓勵年輕人和持不同政見者抵制權威，以分散政府對內部真正敵人的注意力。
29.But when they reach a satisfactory level of control, they turn their efforts toward extinguishing independence and encouraging mindless obedience to whatever orders come from the Illuminati or their servants.
但是當他們達到一個令人滿意的控制水平時，他們就把努力轉向熄滅獨立和鼓勵盲從來自光明會或他們的僕人的任何命令。
30.They commit random atrocities– poisoning food at grocery stores, murdering old blind ladies, sniping on the freeway– just to make people vaguely confused, frightened and paranoid.他們隨意犯下各種暴行——在雜貨店的食物里投毒，謀殺失明的老婦人，在高速公路上狙擊——只是為了讓人們變得困惑、恐懼和偏執。
31.They suppress inventions which might change the status quo. The100-mile-a-gallon carburator, the perfect contraceptive, and the cornucopia plant are all lying in Illuminati vaults, waiting for the day when it will suit the Secret Masters to release them. What happened to the inventors? Bought off, intimidated, or just vanished.
他們壓制可能改變現狀的發明。每加侖100英里的汽化器，完美的避孕用具，以及聚寶盆植物都躺在光明會的地下室里，等待着神秘主人覺得可以釋放它們的那一天。那麼那些發明家都怎麼了?被收買，恐嚇，或者乾脆消失。
32.On the other hand, they also maintain secret laboratories where they develop new weapons and devices of all kind.
另一方面，他們也保留秘密實驗室，在那裏他們研發各種新武器和裝置。
33.Their arcane investigations cause all sorts of mysteries. Ever wonder about the Loch Ness Monster? The「cattle mutilations?」 The Oregon Crud.
他們的神秘調查引起了各種各樣的謎團。有沒有想過尼斯湖水怪?「牛殘割」（70、80年代,美國一些州曾發生的神秘「屠牛事件」,母牛的眼睛、乳房、舌頭被割走,原因至今無法解釋）?俄勒岡州的髒東西（病毒襲擊）。
34.And they require hundreds of human victims every year for their experiments. Ever wonder why there are so many Missing Persons reports, and why so few of those people are found.
他們每年需要數百人來做實驗。有沒有想過為什麼會有這麼多的失蹤人口報告，為什麼找到的人那麼少。
35.They are constantly experimenting with new types of mind control. They put drugs in drinking water, flash subliminal messages during movies and TV shows, and play instructions that you can’t quite hear over supermarket loudspeakers. They experiment with microwaves and ultra-low-frequency devices, too.
他們不斷嘗試新的精神控制方式。他們在飲用水中投毒，在電影和電視節目中閃現潛意識信息，通過超市擴音器播放你聽不到的指令。他們也用微波和超低頻設備進行實驗。
36.And every wire in your house is a potential pathway for Illuminati messages, attacks or controlling rays. Did you ever stop to think just how many wires lead to your house? And do you have any idea where they really come from
你房子裏的每根電線都是光明會獲取信息、發起攻擊或控制的潛在途徑。你有沒有想過到底有多少條電線通到你家?你知道它們是從哪裏來的嗎
37.Naturally, they discourage investigation of the strange and unusual, because it might lead to them. But they encourage people to joke about the Illuminati.
自然地，他們不鼓勵對奇怪和不尋常的事情進行調查，因為這可能會引向他們。但他們鼓勵人們開光明會的玩笑。
38.They also publish supermarket tabloids, just to make sure that everybody thinks「Hitler’s Brain Is Alive!」 and「Bigfoot Seen In Hawaii」 are just jokes.
他們還出版「地攤文學」，只是為了確保每個人都認為「希特拉的大腦是活的!」和「在夏威夷看到的大腳怪」只是笑話。
39.And they encourage the craziest pseudo-science「researchers」 they can find, because this tends to discredit legitimate investigators into the unusual.
他們鼓勵他們所能找到的最瘋狂的偽科學「研究人員」，因為這往往會使正統的研究人員對不尋常的事情失去信譽。
40.A popular belief is that the Illuminati want power for its own sake. This is true of some of them. But other Illuminated groups exist to support an ideology, to achieve a particular goal, or simply to oppose some other group of Illuminati.
一個流行的觀點是，光明會想要權力本身。他們中的一些人確實這樣想。但另一些光明會的存在是為了支持一種意識形態，為了實現特定的目標，或只是為了反對異己的其他光明會分支。
41.One of their chief preoccupations is life extension by any means possible. Nobody who has held ultimate power for fifty years is eager to let it go. Anything you can think of... yoga, cryonics, body-exchange, magic, cloning, goat(or other) glands, transfusions, computerized personality duplication... has been tried by the Illuminati at one time or another. And some of them work.
他們的首要任務之一是儘可能地延長壽命。擁有五十年終極權力的人都不願放手。任何你能想到的…瑜伽、人體冷凍、身體交換、魔法、克隆、山羊(或其他)腺體、輸血、電腦人格複製……光明會曾經都嘗試過。而且，有些是有效的。
42.Furthermore, powerful Illuminati from past centuries lie waiting to be revived when science allows it. Mummies, pickled corpses, frozen bodies, conscious brains in jars... you would recognize the names if we could mention them.
此外，來自過去幾個世紀的強大的光明會成員正在等待着在科學允許的時候覆活。木乃伊、醃製的屍體、冰凍的屍體、罐子裏的有意識的大腦……如果我們能提到他們，你就能認出他們的名字了。
43.You’re not cleared for this one.
你還沒準備好知道這條信息。
44.They use disease as a weapon to discipline their own populations or destroy competing ones. Black Death in Europe, smallpox among the American Indians... The swine flu, a few years ago, was thwarted by opposing forces, or you probably wouldn’t be reading this.
他們利用疾病作為一種武器來約束自己的人口或摧毀競爭對手。歐洲的黑死病，美洲印第安人的天花……幾年前的豬流感，是被敵對勢力挫敗的，否則你可能看不到這篇文章。
45.They have a variety of unhuman and inhuman servants. The dreaded Men in Black are perhaps their best-known agents. No one knows whether the MIBs are androids, golems, or something even worse. Perhaps they were once human...
他們有各種各樣的非人類和失去人性的僕人。可怕的黑衣人（MIB）可能是他們最著名的代理人。沒人知道MIB是機械人、假人還是更糟糕的東西。也許他們曾經是人類……
46.And they really are breeding a Master Race. The Nazis had no idea how they were being used, or why. And they』d be horrified at the Illuminati’s idea of perfection.
他們真的在培育一個優等種族。納粹不知道他們是如何被利用的，也不知道為什麼。他們對光明會的完美主義感到恐懼。
47.The Illuminati know weird sexual techniques undreamed of in the Kama Sutra. They also know why those techniques are used.
光明會知道《愛經》中做夢也想不到的奇怪的性技巧。他們也知道為什麼要使用這些技巧。
48.The next time you spend too much money to buy something you didn’t want or need, and it breaks in a week, you can be sure you』ve just contributed to an Illuminati fund-raising project.
下次你花太多錢去買你不想要或不需要的東西時，它會在一周後中斷，你可以確定你剛剛為光明會的籌款項目做了貢獻。
49.They start chain letters. They also plant rumors that the Red Cross can buy an iron lung if you send them a million cigarette packages, and that dying children in England want ten million business cards. No one knows why they do this.
他們開始寫連環信（收件人需轉交他人的信）。他們還散佈謠言說，如果你送他們一百萬包香煙，紅十字會就能買到一個鐵肺（人工呼吸器的一種），或者告訴大家英國垂死的兒童想要一千萬張名片。沒有人知道他們為什麼這樣做。
50.Fnord
弗諾德（這個詞最早是在混亂教的一部宗教經典《 Principia Discordia》中被創造出來的荒謬術語，後因在《光明會！三部曲》一書中被引用而被人熟知。」fnord」是一個感嘆詞，對未開化的人具有催眠的力量，小學的孩子被教導為不能有意識地看到這個詞語。在他們的餘生里，這個詞每出現一次都會在潛意識裏產生一種不安和困惑的感覺，妨礙他們對它出現的文本進行理性思考。這個詞在新聞集團和黑客文化中被用來表示諷刺、幽默或超現實主義。）
看到這裏，你還想問「光明會到底是什麼組織」這個問題麼？
我們都知道狹義上的光明會是於1776年在德國巴伐利亞成立的秘密組織，在有限的歷史記錄中，它僅存在了十來年，便因為宗教壓迫及兩個核心領導人內訌而消失了。其創始人亞當維索茲（Adam Weishaupt）則流亡至美國（當時美國處於獨立戰爭期間）。但廣義上的光明會則難以定義，它是無處不在的神秘力量，充斥在我們的生活中。歷史上很多著名的事件背後都有光明會的影子。如果你看過丹·布朗的《天使與魔鬼》，你應該也發現另一種可能存在的情況：不少秘密社團或陰謀家，正在肆無忌憚地利用「光明會」做背鍋俠。還有那些被誇大的非人類生物和來自外星的不明物種，以及聞所未聞地操控人類的方法……這一切看起來都那麼荒誕甚至愚蠢，既然已經難以置信，就更不會有人真的去探究了。但，這一切會不會本身就是光明會的一個陰謀呢？結語：本期關於光明會的50件事情是為了幫助有興趣的朋友了解更多信息，所有這些都是光明會卡牌的靈感來源，無論它是事實還是謊言，都在一定程度上讓人開了眼界，顛覆了世界觀。能夠更多緯度地去看待這個世界，很有趣不是嗎？在隨後的文章里我會逐一為大家提供詳盡的佐證。
