For thousands of years of using money, it has not been possible to explain this cultural technique clearly. The ideas and assumptions about money still vary widely. Some claim that money is an illusion, a fake, empty and without substance. For others, money is a dark, all-controlling, inexplicable power. However, money can be economically explained in its essence and function, and its historical development can be coherently traced. There are, however, societal forces with a strong interest in making the topic of money opaque. Specifically, the banking and financial sectors, as well as financial and economic policy, have obscured ruinous and exploitative money and financial practices. This treatise aims to trace the red thread of money throughout human history and to clarify the mystifications and confusions surrounding money.