I just learned something very interesting etymologically. It seems that the words “conspiracy” and “spirit” come from the same Latin root: “spirare,” which means “to breathe.” A conspiracy then is people who are “breathing together” - spirits that have come together.

Taken in this light, it’s especially interesting that the word “conspiracy” always has such negative, often illegal connotations. We are inherently trained to believe that the act of spirits “breathing” together is a nefarious thing which will lead only to ruin and social chaos.

Also interesting is the etymology of the word “theory,” as in “conspiracy theory.” “Theory” is supposed to be derived from “theoros,” Greek for “spectator.” This means that “conspiracy theory” would then mean “someone who watches spirits breathe together,” which is such a more eloquent and beautiful notion than the way that we’re all accustomed to seeing so-called conspiracy theorists.

I’m no linguist, but I spotted another oddity in the origin of the word “theory” that is worth highlighting. Apparently the Greek “theoros” is conjectured to break down into the components “thea” or “a viewing” and “-oros” which means “seeing”. It seems weird that a word would consist of two roots which meant the same thing in their language of origin, unless each connoted something very different at the time. Evidently, scholars are not entirely certain if this is in fact the true origin, because all the etymologies I’ve seen so far say that this is only probably it.

Seems like another possibility is being overlooked (although maybe there’s a good reason which I don’t know about). That is, the connection to the root “theo-” in words like “theology.” In this case, it means nothing less than “god”. I’ve also seen reference in linguistic context to “-ry” as being what is called a “bound derivational suffix.” I can’t find a good definition for what that means, but it’s like when you take the word “dentist” and turn it into “dentisty.” An even better example might be from “poet” to “poetry.” So, if “theo” meant god, it’s possible “theory” (if seen in this alternative interpretation) could be stretched into meaning possible something like “the realm in which god works.”

Again, I could be totally wrong, but the connection is extremely compelling (spoken like a true conspiracy theorist, I know). It gets especially good when we now go back and look at our phrase: “Conspiracy Theory.” Rather than being some kind of paranoid region of lunatics and losers, we’re now left with the fabulously liberating definition of “breathing together in the realm of god” - a spiritual conspiracy if I ever heard one.