11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. Members of a mid-Western Klan realm begin to show up at the home of their Imperial Wizard (leader) for a year-end gathering.

This gathering was in tribute to November 25th, 1915 the day the 2nd era of the Klan was born.

On Thanksgiving night, November 25, 1915, sixteen men wearing white robes and hoods climb Stone Mountain in Georgia – a massive flat-topped outcropping of granite and quartz, 1,686 feet tall, located 15 miles east of Atlanta, now the scene of a massive carving honoring the Confederacy. Once at the peak, the men, led by William Joseph Simmons, hoist and burn a wooden cross. With this act, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is reborn.

Five years later, the Invisible Empire reached Indiana.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A Klansman helps a fellow Klansman adjust his “helmet” prior to a cross lighting ceremony. The black robe is worn by the Imperial Knighthawk, a security/courier position within the Klan

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. The King James Version of the Bible, along with two semi-automatic weapons sits atop a makeshift altar.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A Klanswoman (right), also known as a L.O.T.I.E. “Ladies Of The Invisible Empire,” checks an outside speaker prior to a cross lighting ceremony which was held in her backyard as two probationary members watch on.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A six-inch vintage robed Klansman figurine made of plaster at the home of an Imperial Wizard.

The Imperial Wizard, whose power is supreme "within the limits of this Constitution" and whose edicts, decisions and rulings were binding on all members of the order.”

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. An oath of blood, sealed with the blood of the initiated. With his left hand over his heart and his right hand raised to heaven and with the promise that he will uphold the law of the sacred order.

During the cross lighting ceremony, the signed promise is set aflame at the base of the fiery cross and can only be broken by death or banishment.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. The Imperial Kludd (chaplain) summoning all remaining members to the outside as the cross lighting ceremony is about to begin.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A Klansman, who also happens to be the Imperial Kludd (chaplain) takes a break after a turkey dinner in honor of Thanksgiving and the 103rd anniversary of the Klan’s second era.

On Thanksgiving night, November 25, 1915, sixteen men wearing white robes and hoods climb Stone Mountain in Georgia – a massive flat-topped outcropping of granite and quartz, 1,686 feet tall, located 15 miles east of Atlanta, now the scene of a massive carving honoring the Confederacy. Once at the peak, the men, led by William Joseph Simmons, hoist and burn a wooden cross. With this act, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is reborn.

Five years later, the Invisible Empire reached Indiana.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. Naturalization ceremony and knighting.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A young boy wearing his father's Klan helmet.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. A look into the living room of the IW (imperial Wizard).

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. Members of a mid-Western Klan realm take a moment to pose in front of a 12-foot wooden cross that is wrapped in burlap and doused with a mixture of Kerosene and oil, referred to as “Klan Cologne.”

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. According to Klan ideology, the fiery cross signifies the light of Christ and also meant to bring spiritual truth to a world that is blinded by misinformation and darkness.

The cross lighting is the culmination of a Klan gathering.

11/24/2018. Kentucky. USA. An imperial Knighthawk takes a knee during the closing moments of a cross lighting ceremony.