Order of the Solar Temple
The
Order of the Solar Temple also known as
Ordre du Temple Solaire (
OTS) in
French, and the
International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition or simply as
The Solar Temple was a
secret society based upon the
new age myth of the continuing existence of the
Knights Templar (see
Origins of the Solar Temple below). OTS was purportedly started by
Joseph Di Mambro and
Luc Jouret in
1984 in
Geneva as
l'Ordre International Chevaleresque de Tradition Solaire (OICTS) and renamed
Ordre du Temple Solaire. It is believed that other members were also involved who have remained unknown to the public.
NOTE: While a great deal of the material below is repeated in many articles and books written by journalists, much information about the Solar Temple remains unverified. There were few official documents and no official spokespersons that can document the beliefs and practices of this Neo-Templar splinter group. Ex-member accounts can be contradictory, as their statements are often based upon
hearsay from other members, or are allegations that were never responded to by the members of the group. The group received little publicity until after the tragedy which killed most, if not all, of its leaders.
The only information presented below is that which is generally undisputed.According to "Peronnik" (a pseudonym of temple member Robert Chabrier) in his book, "Pourquoi la Résurgence de l'Ordre du Temple? Tome Premier: Le Corps (Why a Templar Revival? Vol. One: The Body)
1975, pp. 147-149, the aims of the OTS included: establishing "correct notions of authority and power in the world"; an affirmation of the primacy of the spiritual over the temporal; assisting humanity through a great "transition"; and preparing for the
Second Coming of
Jesus as a solar god-king and furthering a unification of all Christian churches and
Islam.
It is stated that the OTS absorbed another neo-templar organization called
Foundation Golden Way, which was led by
Joseph Di Mambro (
1926 -
1995), who was born at
Pont Saint-Esprit in
France. Before founding the OTS, Joseph Di Mambro was also part of a
Rosicrucian organization called
AMORC (Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), from
1956 to
1970. Di Mambro, who had been trained as a clock maker and jeweler, became interested in esoteric religions at an early age. He was arrested on swindling charges which prompted his resettlement in Switzerland.
Luc Jouret was born in
1947 and died in
1994 in
Granges-sur-Salvan,
Switzerland, as part of the tragedy which ended the group's formal existence. He was the other publicly acknowledged founder of the OTS. Born in the
Belgian Congo, he was educated in
medicine at the
Université Libre in
Brussels, graduating in
1974. He specialized in
homeopathy. Jouret, who had interests in
freemasonry, the
Albigenses and
Cathars, as well as many
new age theories, convinced his followers that he and Di Mambro were members of the 14th Century Christian Order of the
Knights Templar during a
previous life, and that Di Mambro's daughter Emanuelle was "the cosmic child". She would lead them after death to a planet which was said to revolve around the star
Sirius. They claimed that Di Mambro's daughter was the result of a
virgin birth.
There were Solar Temple Lodges in
Morin Heights and
St-Anne-de-la-Pérade in
Quebec,
Canada, as well as in
Australia, Switzerland,
Martinique and other countries. The Temple's activities were a mix of early
Protestant christianity, mixed with a
new age philosophy and
homeopathic medicine, using variously adapted freemasonic rituals. Jouret was interested in attractive, wealthy and influential members, and it was reputed that several affluent Europeans were secret members of the group. There were press reports that executives of
Quebec's
Hydro-Quebec were building dams at the behest of Jouret, in order to provide electricity for a Quebecois colony that would exist after the group's prophesied
doomsday event.
According to the literature of the OTS, the central authority was the
Synarchy of the Temple, whose membership was secret. Its top 33 members were known as the
Elder Brothers of the Rosy Cross (an alternative name for the
Rosicrucians), and were headquartered in
Zürich, Switzerland. The Council of the Order formed
Lodges which were run by a Regional Commander and three Elders. Progression in the Order was by levels and grades, with three grades per level - the levels being
The Brothers of Parvis,
The Knights of the Alliance and the
Brothers of the Ancient Times in ascending order. There were many organizations associated with the OTS including the
International Archedia Sciences and Tradition,
Archedia Clubs,
Menta Clubs,
Agata Clubs and
Atlanta Clubs, all of which offered the teachings of Luc Jouret both to the general public and privately to OTS members. The Lodges had
altars, rituals and costumes. Members were initiated at each stage of advancement in ceremonies which included expensive purchases, jewellery, costumes,
regalia, and the payment of
initiation fees. Members believed in
reincarnation and held that Di Mambro and Jouret would lead them, after the members died, to a planet near the star of Sirius. During ceremonies, members wore
Crusader-type robes and were to hold in awe a
sword which Di Mambro said was an authentic Templar artifact, given to him a thousand years ago in a previous life.
Various contemporary groups perceive themselves as fulfilling the tradition of the
Knights Templar — an ancient Christian Order of
warrior monks, authorized by the Pope during the
Crusades, that had amassed great wealth and possessed great treasures. These treasures are variously speculated to be the
Holy Grail, the head of
Baphomet, proof of the survival of the historical Jesus after the
crucifixion and/or marriage to
Mary Magdalene. This wealth of the Templars disappeared without a trace after the leaders of the group were branded as heretics and burned at the stake by the Catholic Church. Neo-Templar groups are those which claim to share some kind of connection to the original Templars, which may be either an actual or esoteric connection. Some may purport to have knowledge of the mysterious treasure.
Some historians allege that the Solar Temple originates with French author
Jacques Breyer who established a
Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple in
1952. In
1968, a schismatic order was renamed the
Renewed Order of the Solar Temple under the leadership of French right-wing political activist
Julien Origas. Some reports have claimed that Origas was a
Nazi SS member during
World War II. Jouret eventually became a member of this
Renewed Order of the Solar Temple (ROTS), one of dozens of self-styled neo-Templar groups in Europe, some with no connections to ROTS at all. After Origas died in
1983, Jouret became the presiding
Grand Master of the ROTS. The group splintered one year later. It was then that Jouret and Di Mambro founded the OTS, taking a large portion of ROTS's members with them.
Umberto Eco's
Foucault's Pendulum (book) (
1989) is a sophisticated satire of these
western mystery tradition groups that became popular in Europe after World War II. See also
Priory of Sion, an article which deals with
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by
Michael Baigent,
Richard Leight and
Henry Lincoln.
In
1986 Jouret and Di Mambro moved to the Canadian province of
Quebec, establishing a chapter of the
Order of the Solar Temple near
Montreal and
Quebec City. They bought a chalet complex in
Morin Heights, complete with indoor pool, along with a center in
Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec. Jouret also brought some other of his loyal followers from Switzerland. The group believed that there was going to be a coming
global catastrophe. Jouret declared that "the world would soon be engulfed in warfare and famine. Only Quebec would be spared…" A "giant concrete nuclear air-raid shelter" was built in the centre to protect them during the predicted calamity.
Di Mambro also owned several luxury properties in
Australia,
France,
Switzerland,
Martinique and elsewhere in Canada which were used for Solar Temple activities. He also married a lady named Dominique Bellaton. The couple produced Emmanuelle, their alleged "virgin birth" daughter, whom the members of the group believed would lead them to
Sirius.
By the early
1990s, several members of the group had left, with various complaints. Jouret had been arrested for stockpiling
firearms illegally in the center of Quebec, and his doomsday predictions did not seem to be panning out.
In October
1994 an infant, aged three months, was killed at the group's centre in
Morin Heights, Quebec. The baby had been stabbed repeatedly with a wooden stake. It is believed that Di Mambro ordered the murder, because he identified the baby as the
Anti-Christ described in the Bible. He believed that the Anti-Christ was born into the cult in order to prevent Di Mambro from succeeding in his spiritual aim. A few days later, Di Mambro and twelve followers performed a ritual
Last Supper. A few days after that, mass
suicides and
murders were conducted at two villages in Switzerland, and at Morin Heights — 15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, 30 were killed by bullets or smothering, and 8 others were killed by other causes. Many of the bodies when found were drugged, possibly to prevent the members from objecting. The buildings were then set on fire by timer devices, purportedly as one last symbol of the group's purification.
In western
Switzerland, 48 members of a sect died in another mass
murder-suicide. Many of the victims were found in a secret underground
chapel lined with mirrors and other items of Templar symbolism. The bodies were dressed in the order's ceremonial robes and were in a circle, feet together, heads outward, most with plastic bags tied over their heads; they had each been shot in the head. It is believed that the plastic bags were a symbol of the ecological disaster that would befall the human race after the OTS members moved on to Sirius. It is also believed that these bags were used as part of the OTS rituals, and that members would have voluntarily worn them without being placed under duress. There was also evidence that many of the victims in Switzerland were drugged before they were shot. Other victims were found in three ski chalets; several dead children were lying together. The tragedy was discovered when officers rushed to the sites to fight the fires which had been ignited by remote-control devices. Farewell letters left by the believers stated that they believed they were leaving to escape the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world."
A mayor, a journalist, a civil servant and a sales manager were found among the dead in Switzerland. Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over $1 million to the cult's leader Joseph Di Mambro. There was also another attempted
mass suicide of the remaining members which was thwarted in the late 1990s. All the suicide/murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the
equinoxes and
solstices in some relation to the beliefs of the group.
Michael Tabachnik, an internationally renowned Swiss musician and conductor, was arrested as a leader of the Solar Temple in the late 1990s. He was indicted for "participation in a criminal organization," and
murder. He came to trial in
Grenoble, France during the spring of
2001 but was acquitted.
It is believed that The Solar Temple group continues to exist, with thirty surviving members in Quebec at the St-Anne-de-la-Pérade center (where some of the remaining members run an
organic bread bakery), with from 140 to 500 members remaining worldwide.
*Darkaul, Arkon.
A History of Secret Societies. (NY: Citadel, 1995)
*Galanter, Marc.
Cults: Faith, Healing, and Coercion. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989)
*Moran, Sarah.
The Secret World of Cults. (Surrey, England: CLB International, 1999)
Cult Members say Solar Temple Leaders Ordered Mass Suicides, AFP, April 19, 2001, www.rickross.com
*Davis, Eric.
Solar Temple Pilots, The Village Voice (October 25, 1994)
*"French Magistrate rejects idea that outsiders killed cultists," AFP, (April 24, 2001)
*Haight, James A.
And Now, the Solar Temple. Free Inquiry, Winter 1994-95.
*Hassan-Gordon, Tariq.
Solar Temple Cult Influenced by Ancient Egypt, (Middle East Times, Issue 18, 2001)
*Mayer, Jean Francois.
Apocalyptic Millennialism in the West: The Case of the Solar Temple, Critical Incident Analysis Group, hsc.virginia.edu, retrieved, January 4, 2003.
Musician Denies Solar Temple Murders, The Scotsman, Edinburgh (April 18, 2001)
*Palmer, Susan.
Purity and Danger in the Solar Temple, Journal of Contemporary Religion 3 (October 1996) pages 303-318
*Probert, Robert.
Solar Temple: Tabachnik Acquitted, Center for New Religious Studies, (June 25, 2001)
*Ross, Rick.
Solar Temple Suicides, Cult Education and Recovery, www.culteducation.com, (Sept. 1999)
*Serrill, Michael S.
Remains of the day, Time, (October 24, 1994)
*"Solar Temple," www.religioustolerance.org, (Jan 4, 2003)
Spanish cops arrest cult leader, Associated Press, (January 8, 1998)
*
:Category:Cults*
Religious Movements: Order of the Solar Temple (University of Virginia)*
Religious Tolerance: Solar Temple NOTE: The original text of this Wikipedia article borrowed heavily from this copyrighted site, or is it the other way around?
*
CBC Digital Archives - Solar Temple: A cult gone wrong
