Order of the Solar Temple
A highly secretive cult for the elite, which has committed three separate mass suicides so far
1984 - present
The Order of the Solar Temple is a famous suicide cult that began in 1984 by leaders who thought they were members of the Knights Templar in a previous life. Leaders targeted wealthy and powerful people and required large amounts of money to learn the cult's secrets and earn salvation.Â
The Order started strong, gaining hundreds of followers, but tensions rose in the early 1990s. It was discovered that the leaders had been faking supernatural events with special effects. In addition, members killed a baby and its parents because he was born without permission. Plus, there was suspicion and anger about how the large amounts of donated money were being used. In light of these growing controversies, the leaders convinced followers to commit suicide, resulting in three mass suicides totaling sixty-nine deaths. In addition, at least two more mass suicides were planned among members but were stopped by authorities.
This organization still exists despite these tragedies and seems to be going strong.
Religion: New Age
Founders: Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret
Founded: 1984 in Geneva, Switzerland
Size: 442 (during its peak in 1989)
Location: Switzerland (ZĂĽrich; Cheiry; Salvan; and Morin Heights); Canary Islands, Spain; Morin Heights, Canada; Vercors Massif, France
Also called: Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS); International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition; The Solar Temple; l'Ordre International Chevaleresque de Tradition Solaire (OICTS)
Believed that all life on earth was about to end (source)
Many members were possibly drugged before they died (source)
Three teenage members were found alive but heavily drugged after one of the mass suicides (source)
Drugs were often given to the members as a control mechanism and were used to force members to sign papers they might have otherwise refused (source)
After a child was born without leader Di Mambro's permission, he claimed that the child was the Antichrist and made his followers murder the three-month-old child, along with both parents (source)
Police suspected that additional followers were murdered by Di Mambro around the time of the first mass suicide (source)
Leaders persuaded several Europeans to sell everything they had and invest the money into the cult's projects (source)
Members believed that they would be reborn on the planet Sirius after they committed suicide (source)
In 1994, 15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, and 38 were killed by other causes (source)
A mass suicide was attempted in the late 1990s but was stopped (source)
On 15-16 December 1995, 16 members committed suicide (source)
Five members committed suicide, and three more were found heavily drugged on 23 March 1997 (source)
In 1993, a mass suicide of 60-80 members was stopped after a police investigation (source)
Attempted to bomb a house after murdering the members who lived there (source)
Members were charged with possession of illegal weapons (source)
Canadian authorities believed that they were responsible for a threat to murder the province's Public Security Minister, Claude Ryan (source)
Possibly bombed two Hydro Quebec transmission towers (source)
Leader Di Mambro was involved in an arms trafficking and money laundering ring (source)
Other info:
Dead members included an Olympic athlete and a mayor (source)
Several affluent Europeans are suspected of having been involved in the group, including Michel Tabachnik, who was indicted for being a possible leader (source)
To join, members had to donate money and "accept severe discipline" (source)
Members had to pay steep fees to move up in rank and attain salvation (source)
Leaders were living a luxurious lifestyle (source)
Faked spiritual visions through special effects (source)
One member used to be a chaplain for Mussolini (source)
In October 1994, fifty-three members of the Order of the Solar Temple in Switzerland and Québec were murdered or committed suicide. This incident and two later group suicides in subsequent years played a pivotal role in inflaming the cult controversy in Europe, influencing the public to support harsher actions against non-traditional religions. Despite the importance of the Order of the Solar Temple, there are relatively few studies published in English. This book brings together the best scholarship on the Solar Temple including newly commissioned pieces from leading scholars, a selection of Solar Temple documents, and important previously published articles newly edited for inclusion within this book. This is the first book-length study of the Order of the Solar Temple to be published in English.
As we approach the Millennium, apocalyptic expectations are rising in North America and throughout the world. Beyond the symbolic aura of the millennium, this excitation is fed by currents of unsettling social and cultural change. The millennial myth ingrained in American culture is continually generating new movements, which draw upon the myth and also reshape and reconstruct it. Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem examines many types of apocalypticism such as economic, racialist, environmental, feminist, as well as those erupting from established churches. Many of these movements are volatile and potentially explosive.
Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem brings together scholars of apocalyptic and millennial groups to explore aspects of the contemporary apocalyptic fervor in all orginal contributions. Opening with a discussion of various theories of apocalypticism, the editors then analyze how millennialist movements have gained ground in largely secular societal circles. Section three discusses the links between apocalypticism and established churches, while the final part of the book looks at examples of violence and confrontation, from Waco to Solar Temple to the Aum Shinri Kyo subway disaster in Japan.
Other tags:
Documentary on the Cult