Esoteric Themes in David Icke’s Conspiracy Theories

What do the lizard illuminati and esotericism have in common? At first glance, perhaps, very little. The former belongs in the world of David Icke and a myriad of other conspiracy theorists, whilst the other is a fluid term normally used to designate a distinct way of thinking in a context confined to early fifteenth-century Europe until the twentieth century. However, on closer inspection and by using Antoine Faivre’s six-point typology of esotericism (with the addition of a seventh criterion, gnosis), this article places Icke’s seemingly strange and random discourse within an esoteric framework. Despite the warning from Antoine Faivre twenty-five years ago that New Religious Movements (NRMs) do not sit well within his typology, I locate Icke’s conspiracy theories within the context of Esotericism because when Faivre wrote Access to Western Esotericism (1994) both NRMs and the New Age were not yet ‘seated at the table’ of the academic study of religion. Twenty-five years on they are firmly within the purview of religious studies scholarship. It is useful to view Icke as an esotericist rather than merely a conspiracy theorist as his beliefs so clearly reflect an individual influenced by New Age discourses. Through the application of Faivre’s methodology, Icke’s theories are re-contextualised and examined within an esoteric context, enabling them to take on a religious meaning rather than just a conspiracist one. Drawing on Joseph Dan’s approach to esotericism as a way of viewing the world, rather than a term prescribed and inscribed by history, I seek to bring both Faivre and his indicia into conversation with the study of NRMs. Using Faivre’s six-point typology and his definition of gnosis this article places Icke’s conspiracy-based discourses within an esoteric framework.