Yu-Gi-Oh! is an international phenomenon that captivates millions of fans worldwide. Primarily aimed at children and teenagers, the card game and its related productions contain many occult symbols and references taken from secret societies. This article looks at the symbols used and their occult origin.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has spawned into a franchise that includes television shows, trading card games, video games and movies. This worldwide phenomena has reached millions of fans across the world, but it is still widely unknown by “outsiders”. I came across Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie while randomly switching channels on a Saturday morning. I have to say that the entire production was of a rather mediocre quality (hence the movie’s horrible reviews). I’ve however noticed that it caters to actual adepts of the card game and not to “outsiders”, as many of the scenes simulate card duels using actual cards of the Yu-Gi-Oh! deck. So I did not understand much of the dialogue about spells and monsters during the movie, but I still found the plot and the symbolism of storyline quite startling. Further research into world of Yu-Gi-Oh! only confirmed my doubts: Yu-Gi-Oh! is permeated with secret society symbolism, notably of the Ordo Templi Orientis, an occult Brotherhood popularized by Aleister Crowley.
