When Icke told the Green Party leadership what he had experienced, he was immediately banned from speaking at party public meetings. In 1991, after a trip to Peru, he wrote Truth Vibrations, an autobiographical work which summarized his life experiences up to that point, with an emphasis on his recent spiritual encounters. He began to wear only turquoise and on March 27, 1991, held a press conference to announce: "I am a channel for the Christ spirit. The title was given to me very recently by the Godhead."

In an interview on the Terry Wogan show that year, he announced that he was "the son of God," and that Britain would be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes. His statements were met with laughter and ridicule from the studio audience, derision in the press, and suggestions that he was mentally ill. Icke later said that he had been misinterpreted by the media. According to Icke, he used the term "the son of God" "... in the sense of being an aspect, as I understood it at the time, of the Infinite consciousness that is everything. As I have written before, we are like droplets of water in an ocean of infinite consciousness" (Tales From The Time Loop 2003). In a 2006 interview with The Observer, he stated that "Everyone is a son or daughter of god".

After being widely ridiculed, he disappeared from public view. He has written that, for several years, he was unable to walk down the street without people pointing and laughing, and that this experience helped him find the courage to develop his controversial ideas, because he was no longer afraid of what people thought of him. He told Jon Ronson: "One of my very greatest fears as a child was being ridiculed in public. And there it was coming true. As a television presenter, I'd been respected. People come up to you in the street and shake your hand and talk to you in a respectful way. And suddenly, overnight, this was transformed into 'Icke's a nutter'. I couldn't walk down any street in Britain without being laughed at. It was a nightmare. My children were devastated because their dad was a figure of ridicule." Ronson, Jon. "Beset by lizards, part two", an extract from Ronson's book ,Them: Advertures with Extremists, The Guardian, March 17, 2001.

Conspiracy writings

Icke's core ideas are outlined in four books written over seven years: The Robots' Rebellion (1994), ...And the Truth Shall Set You Free (1995), The Biggest Secret: The Book that Will Change the World (1999), and Children of the Matrix (2001). The basic conspiracy theory is that the world is controlled by a network of secret societies referred to as the "Brotherhood," at the apex of which stand the "Illuminati" or "Global Elite." Barkun, Michael. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, Comparative Studies in Religion and Society, University of California Press, 2003, p. 104. The goal of the Brotherhood is a world government, a plan that Icke says was laid out in the anti-Semitic hoax, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and its methods include control of the world's economies and the use of mind-control techniques.

The Global Elite controls the Brotherhood and the world using what Icke calls a "pyramid of manipulation," consisting of sets of heirarchical structures involving banking, business, the military, education, the media, religion, drug companies, intelligence agencies, and organized crime.

At the very top of the pyramid are what Icke calls the "Prison Warders," who are not human. Icke, David. ...And the Truth Shall Set You Free, 1995, p. 185. He writes that: "A pyramidal structure of human beings has been created under the influence and design of the extraterrestial Prison Warders and their overall master, the Luciferic Consciousness. They control the human clique at the top of the pyramid, which I have dubbed the Global Elite."

Icke cites the Holocaust, Oklahoma City bombing, and the September 11, 2001 attacks as examples of events financed and organized by the Global Elite. British journalist Simon Jones writes that, according to Icke, "Ordinary people are being massively duped into believing that the ordinary course of world events are the consequence of known political forces and random, uncontrollable events. However, the course of humanity is being manipulated at every level ... Now you may be wondering just what nefarious activities these people could possibly get up to. Icke, of course, has the answer. These individuals arrange for incidents to occur around the world, which then elicit a response from the public ('something must be done'), and in turn allows those in power to do whatever they had planned to do in the first place." Jones, Simon. "The Icke-onoclast", Word Smith, April 3, 1996 Icke refers to this as problem-reaction-solution. Icke, David. "Problem-reaction-solution", News for the Soul, retrieved May 24, 2006.

Reptilian humanoids

The reptilian group includes many prominent people and practically every world leader from Britain's late Queen Mother to George H.W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Harold Wilson, and Tony Blair. These people are either themselves reptilian, or work for the reptiles as what Icke calls slave-like victims of multiple personality disorder: "The Rothschilds, Rockefellers, the British royal family, and the ruling political and economic families of the U.S. and the rest of the world come from these SAME bloodlines. It is not because of snobbery, it is to hold as best they can a genetic structure — the reptilian-mammalian DNA combination which allows them to 'shape-shift'."

He has stated that Diana, Princess of Wales was killed because she had discovered that Charles and Camilla had had a child who had been sacrificed in a satanic ritual. Icke has also written that, according to Christine Fitzgerald, a confidante of Diana, she believed that the British royal family was connected to reptiles and that she had seen them shape-shift.

Icke has since published a number of additional books on the same theme. His latest work sees George W. Bush, also a reptilian, playing a key role in what Icke alleges is a 9/11 conspiracy. In Tales From The Time Loop and other works, Icke states that most organized religions, especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are Illuminati creations designed to divide and conquer the human race through endless conflicts. In a similar vein, Icke believes racial and ethnic divisions are an illusion promoted by the reptilians, and that racism fuels the Illuminati agenda.

Alleged relationship with the far right

Barkun writes that Icke has "clearly sought to cultivate the extreme right," but that the relationship is tense because of the New Age "baggage" that Icke brings with him. Barkun cites the London Evening Standard, which wrote in 1995 that: "uncanny parallels are emerging between Icke's thoughts ... and the writings of senior figures in the armed militia movement in America." Barkun writes that Icke's relationship with militias and Christian Patriots is complex. On the one hand, Icke believes the Christian patriots to be the only Americans who understand the truth about the New World Order, but on the other, he allegedly told a Christian Patriot group: "I don't know which I dislike more, the world controlled by the Brotherhood, or the one you want to replace it with." Barkun, Michael. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, Comparative Studies in Religion and Society, University of California Press, 2003, p. 107.

Allegations of anti-Semitism

"I strongly believe that a small Jewish clique which has contempt for the mass of Jewish people worked with non-Jews to create the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Second World War. This Jewish/non-Jewish Elite used the First World War to secure the Balfour Declaration and the principle of the Jewish State of Israel). They then dominated the Versailles Peace Conference and created the circumstances which made the Second World War inevitable. They financed Hitler to power in 1933 and made the funds available for his rearmament."

In 1995, Alick Bartholomew of Gateway, at that time Icke's publisher, told the London Evening Standard that an early draft of ...and the truth shall set you free contained "revisionist Holocaust material."

Icke has cited white supremacist, neo-Nazi and other far-right publications in his books. British journalist Simon Jones notes that the bibliography of ... and the truth will set you free lists The Spotlight, formerly published by the now-defunct Liberty Lobby, and which Icke calls "excellent," and On Target, published by the Australian League of Rights, which has organized speaking tours for Holocaust denier David Irving. Jones writes: "It's tempting to dismiss David Icke as a confused and ignorant man, manipulated by extremists in order to present their philosophy in a socially acceptable format. But Icke clearly understands the implications of his words."

Mark Honigsbaum has written about the apparent link between the more extreme New Age proponents and the far-right armed militia movement in the U.S. Icke's books contain multiple references to the "Illuminati," which Icke and the militia movement believe constitutes the secret government they call the "New World Order". In 1995, Honigsbaum wrote in the London Evening Standard that Combat 18, the British neo-Nazi group, was publicizing Icke's speaking tour of the UK in its internal magazine, Putsch. The magazine wrote that Icke spoke about "'the sheep' and how the Zionist-operated government, sorry 'illuminati', uses them for its own ends". The story continued: "^* began to talk about the big conspiracy by a group of bankers, media moguls etc. — always being clever enough not to mention what all these had in common."

Icke believes that Combat 18 is a front for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which in turn is an "Illuminati front." The role of the ADL, he says, is to "brand as anti-Semitic" anyone who gets close to "the truth." In ... and the truth shall set you free, he wrote: "In Britain, I am told by an extremely reliable source very close to the intelligence organisations that the "far-right" group, Combat 18, is a front for the sinister Anti-Defamation League, the United States arm of the Israeli/Rothschild secret service, Mossad. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has been operating in Britain and Europe since at least 1991 and its role is to brand as anti-Semitic anyone who is getting close to the truth of what is going on. What better way to discredit an investigator than to have a "far-Right" group like Combat 18 to praise them?" Icke, David. ...and the truth shall set you free, pp 133-134, cited in Offley, Will. "Selected Quotes Of David Icke", PublicEye.org, Political Research Associates, February 23, 2000.

Icke has strongly denied that his reptiles represent Jews, calling it "friggin' nonsense." "I am not an anti-Semite!", he told The Guardian, "I have a great respect for the Jewish people." Ronson, Jon. by lizards, part one", an extract from Ronson's book, Them: Adventures with Extremists, The Guardian, March 17, 2001. He maintains that the reptilians are not human, and therefore not Jewish, but are "extra-dimensional entities" that enter and control human minds. "This is not a Jewish plot. This is not a plot on the world by Jewish people," he told Jon Ronson. He says that what he calls the "white race" is most susceptible to reptilian influence, particularly white people with blue eyes. ^*

During a question-and-answer session after one of his lectures, Icke told Jones: "I believe that people have a right to believe, to read, and have access to all information, so that they can then make up their own minds what to think. If something is a nonsense, and if something doesn't stand up, it will be shown to be a nonsense in the spotlight of the public arena."

British journalist Louis Theroux, reviewing Jon Ronson's Them: Adventures with Extremists, cautioned against accusing Icke of anti-Semitism: "Icke's "theory" is basically The Protocols of the Elders of Zion with a new cast and a few script changes. Not surprisingly, Icke has come under suspicion of anti-semitism ... Not only might it be unfair to Icke, but by implying that he is so dangerous that he has to be censored, the watchdogs are giving a patina of seriousness to ideas that are — let's face it — very, very silly." Theroux, Louis. "Stranger than fiction: Are 12ft lizards running the world?", The Guardian, April 7, 2001

Protests in Canada

University of Toronto law professor Edward Morgan wrote on September 30, 1999 to the university's president, Robert Pritchard: "Having been involved in a number of the more renowned cases in Canada dealing with hate literature, it is my view that this is precisely the type of vilifying material with which the Supreme Court was concerned in its decision regarding the Criminal Code ban. The publications praise classic anti-Semitic tracts, and are replete with references to a secret society carrying on a global conspiracy led by a manipulating Jewish clique. The material which I have reviewed finds no place in the Canadian marketplace of ideas."

Sumari Communications, which hosted Icke's tour, denied the allegations: "I dispute the anti-Semite issue because the Jewish community has chosen to isolate anti-Semitic quotes in David's books which he himself uses quotes from Jewish authors to prove his theories. No one is forcing these people to be here, but what is important is that they have the choice. It is called freedom and David doesn't even mention the Jews in his talks."

Current activities

In January 2003, he traveled to Brazil, and later talked about having used Ayahuasca: "is a plant – a rain forest plant – which they turn in to what they call a turn and Shaman in South America have been using it for centuries at least to take people into other realms of reality. ... I took it twice and it was an experience – particularly on the 2nd night – that completely transformed my view of life. What it did was take my intellectual understanding that the world is an illusion into the realms of knowing it’s an illusion and there’s a difference between intellectually understanding it’s an illusion and this level of knowing it because you’ve experienced it. I got to the age of 50 without taking a single magic mushroom and I never even had one smoke of pot or anything." [http://www.newsforthesoul.com/icke-transcript-2004.htm "Interview with David Icke", News for the Soul, undated, retrieved May 23, 2006

Some newspapers wrote in 2004 that he might appear on the UK Big Brother television programme in 2005, but Icke later said that he was interested in "... the REAL Big Brother, not adding to the diversions that allow him to operate unchallenged."

According to the Daily Mail on May 24 2006, he was among a group of supporters of Brian Haw, an anti-war protester outside the Houses of Parliament in London, whose placards had been removed by the police a couple of nights earlier. Icke was quoted as saying that "the Nazis wore brown shirts, our fascists came in yellow."

Pop culture references

• Comic book writer Mark Millar developed several plot and character elements of the Marvel Comics series "The Ultimates" (a revamp of "The Avengers") based on Icke's worldview. In creating Thor for a modern audience, Millar gave readers a handsome, blond European with vague ties to radical environmentalist groups, who inexplicably insists that he is the incarnation of that Norse god. As of 2005, the series has remained coy as to whether Ultimate Thor is crazy or divine. Icke also unwittingly contributed the name for an invading reptilian alien race called the Chitauri, called Skrulls in the earlier Avengers series.
• Leatherface's Bowl of Flies contained the lyrics "David Icke is right/does he need to give his life/to prove that he is right".
• Ewigkeit's album Radio Ixtlan recommended And the Truth Shall Set You Free as further reading alongside eight other books. This connection to conspiracy was brought to a head with the release of 2005's "Conspiritus" album (Earache records) - a concept album about a dystopian world controlled by the Illuminati. There is a link to buy the CD online through David Icke's own website.
• Carter USM's After the Watershed contained the lyrics "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday/ Come home you silly cow/ We've baked a cake and all your friends are waiting/ And David Icke would like to show us how/ To love you back to life again now". The song is more famous for the inevitable Rolling Stones copyright lawsuit. The band stated that the lyrics were actually about domestic abuse.
• The British digital TV channel E4, in selling its lineup of Sunday reruns, features a series of ads in which a fruity-voiced, corrupt and lecherous cult leader tempts the audience to join his "Church of Second-Chance Sunday", leading them through his massive mansion staffed by beautiful women and chanting, zombie-like cult members. "And we've just heard," he says enthusiastically in one of the ads, "that David Icke will be joining the Church next week."
• Icke was featured in the third episode of the first season of Penn and Teller's Bullshit! about alien abductions.
• In a poll published by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine in January 2006, Icke was voted the third most eccentric star, being beaten by Björk and Chris Eubank.
• The conspiracy theory satirical site The-Mad-Revisionist asserts that "a disproportionate number of the leaders and agitators of the Bolshevik revolution were lizards"^*, qualifying the statement with a footnote pointing out that "granted, most were not, themselves, practicing lizards, but revisionist research can show that almost all had at least some amphibian in their line of evolutionary descent."
• Mike Scott of The Waterboys wrote a song called "Sympathy for David Icke". Slightly tongue in cheek, the song urges people to look beyond the negative media hype and read David's books. "I'm not saying he's the king, and he himself claims no such thing, He said we all are points of light, and you know what, I think he's right."
• Clem Snide wrote a song the Ballad of David Icke, available on MoveOn.org's Future Soundtrack for America. It contains the lyrics "The secret rulers of the world / have stolen my girl."

Works

Books

• Infinite Love Is the Only Truth: Everything Else Is Illusion (2005)
• Tales from the Time Loop: The Most Comprehensive Expos of the Global Conspiracy Ever Written and All You Need to Know to Be Truly Free (2003)
• Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster (2002)
• Children of the Matrix (2001)
• The Biggest Secret: The Book That Will Change the World (1999)
• And the Truth Shall Set You Free (1996)

Videos

• The Reptilian Agenda
• David Icke - Secrets of the Matrix (Parts 1 -3)
• David Icke: The Freedom Road
• David Icke: Revelations of a Mother Goddess
• David Icke, Live in Vancouver: From Prison to Paradise

See also

• Jordan Maxwell
• Michael Tsarion
• Erich von Däniken
• Illuminati
• Reptilian humanoid
• Zecharia Sitchin
• Bible conspiracy theory

Notes