Illuminati

A Human Response to Smart Technology

Recent Articles

  • The $500 Ghost-in-the-Machine Short-Story Experiment

    (or, How to Stop Worrying and Let the Language Models Crash the Party) I’ve lost count of the contests that open with a cheery “No AI-generated work will be accepted.” The disclaimer is always followed by hand-wringing about “authentic voice,” “the sanctity of craft,” and “protecting literature from soulless algorithms.” Lovely. Also unenforceable. Unless the…

  • The Hidden Curriculum of Secret Societies: Ethical Architecture & Esoteric Education

    Prologue — Why Study What Prefers the Shadows? Ask a Freemason, a Discord occult-kid, or a Fortune 500 executive fresh from a “Digital Lodge” retreat what they actually learned behind closed doors and you’ll get the same grin: I could tell you, but then…Yet secrecy often camouflages something surprisingly ordinary—a curriculum. Degrees, stages, progressive disclosure,…

  • Behind the Triangle: The Eye of Providence from Ancient Roots to Modern Conspiracies

    Flip over a U.S. dollar and you stare straight into a tiny triangle crowned by a single eye—solemn, watchful, a little unnerving. Officially it’s the Eye of Providence, perched above an unfinished pyramid, a design that has graced America’s Great Seal since 1782 and paper money since 1935. But the symbol’s road to your wallet…

  • How to Start a Literary Journal

    Below is a step-by-step playbook for launching a legitimate, peer-reviewed academic journal under the Illuminati Press banner—one that can stand alongside established titles in Scopus, DOAJ, and Web of Science. I’ve included practical resources (most of them free or low-cost), common pitfalls, and the milestones that indexers and tenure committees look for. 1 Define Your…

  • Memory Palaces in the Digital Age: An Esoteric Guide to Data Visualization

    I’ve always loved the idea that a person with no smartphone, no Post-it notes, and no browser tabs could wander an imagined villa and recall entire epics. The Romans called it the Method of Loci; Renaissance magi called it the ars memoriae. Modern brain-hack TikTokers call it “that Sherlock thing.” Whatever the label, a memory…

  • How Do I Make Weather a Character in My Story?

    Weather isn’t just background noise. When done right, it can be as powerful as any character—a force that shapes the mood, reflects emotions, or even drives the plot forward. But too often, weather in fiction is purely decorative—something a writer adds to set the scene, but not to affect the story in any meaningful way….

  • Why Do My Settings Feel Generic?

    A great setting doesn’t just describe a place—it makes the reader feel like they’ve stepped into it. But some settings feel… flat. Vague cities, empty rooms, generic forests, interchangeable taverns. No matter how much you describe them, they lack personality. They don’t feel like places where real things happen, where real people live. The best…

  • How Do I Write Vivid Descriptions Without Slowing the Story Down?

    Description can make or break a book. Done well, it immerses readers, making them feel like they’re inside the story, breathing the air, feeling the tension, seeing the world as if they’ve stepped into it themselves. Done poorly, it slows everything down, turning an otherwise gripping story into a slog through excessive detail. Some writers…

  • Why Aren’t My Readers Surprised By My Plot Twists?

    You planned it perfectly. You set up the clues, built the tension, and finally dropped the twist—only for your readers to say, “Yeah, I saw that coming.” Nothing kills a great plot twist faster than predictability. The whole point of a twist isn’t just to shock the reader, but to make them rethink everything they…

  • How Do I Make Small Stakes Feel Big?

    Not every story is about saving the world. Some of the best books—some of the most emotionally gripping books—have stakes that are, on the surface, small and personal. There’s no war, no apocalypse, no grand conspiracy. Just a character trying to win someone’s trust, make a difficult decision, or face a personal fear. But if…