The Order of the Solar Temple, or simply the Solar Temple, was a religious group, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout the 1990s. The OTS was a neo-Templar movement, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated a mix of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and New Age ideas. It was led by Joseph Di Mambro, with Luc Jouret as a spokesman and second in command. It was founded in 1984, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC) is a Rosicrucian organization founded by Harvey Spencer Lewis in the United States in 1915. It has various lodges, chapters and other affiliated bodies in several countries. It operates as a fraternal order in the mystical Western Esoteric Tradition.
Harvey Spencer Lewis, a Rosicrucian author, mystic and founder of AMORC. He lead AMORC as its first leader (imperator) from its creation in 1915 until his death.
Luc Georges Marc Jean Jouret was a Belgian religious leader, doctor and homeopath. Jouret founded the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) with Joseph Di Mambro in 1984. He committed suicide in the Swiss village of Salvan on 5 October 1994 as part of a mass murder–suicide. While Di Mambro was the true leader of the group, Jouret was its outward image and primary recruiter.
The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem are a group of associations commonly originating from the revivalist Ordre du Temple which was formed in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat.
Joseph Léonce Di Mambro was a French religious leader who founded and led the Order of the Solar Temple with Luc Jouret. Di Mambro had been associated with a variety of esoteric groups before founding OTS. He was previously convicted of several counts of fraud, including impersonation of a psychiatrist, leading him to flee France in the 1970s. He founded the Solar Temple with Jouret in 1984. He committed suicide in the Swiss village of Salvan on 5 October 1994 as part of a mass murder–suicide.
Jean-François Mayer is a Swiss religious historian, author, and translator. He is also Director of the Religioscope Institute, which he founded. He received his masters degree, and then his doctorate, from the Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 in 1979 and 1984. His writing focuses on religion, with a particular focus on new religious movements and cults, including the Unification Church, the Church of Scientology and the Pilgrims of Arès.
Following the dissolution of the Knights Templar, or the Order of the Temple, several groups have claimed to have unbroken descent from the initial Order. The origins of most Neo-Templar groups can be traced to a revivalist Templar order founded by French physician Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat in 1805, who claimed to have discovered an unbroken chain of Knights Templar Grand Masters descending from the original group. A separate wing of Neo-Templarism grew from the works of French esotericist Jacques Breyer in the 1950s. The idea of the Templars' continued existence has been criticized by scholars of Templar history. These orders typically draw from western esotericism.
Jacques Breyer was a French esotericist and writer. He launched the "Arginy Renaissance", a rebirth of Neo-Templar groups, in France in the 1950s. He published and wrote various books on esoteric elements, including ones with apocalyptic teachings.
Julien Origas was a French Rosicrucian. In his 20s, he was sentenced to prison by the French government for collaborating with the Nazi occupation, for which he received several years in prison, though he was amnestied after serving two. Following his release from prison, he became interested in esotericism, and joined AMORC, a large Rosicrucian organization. He later split from the organization following criticism over ties Origas had with neo-Nazi groups and ideas, and other more controversial occult organizations.
Sacred Suicide is a 2014 edited volume about suicide and religion, particularly as it relates to cults or new religious movements. It was published by Ashgate and edited by James R. Lewis and Carole M. Cusack, part of the Ashgate New Religions series. Other contributors to the book include Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Mattias Gardell, and Thomas Robbins. It is divided into five sections.
Les Mythes du Temple Solaire is a book by religious historian Jean-François Mayer. It was published in 1996 by Georg éditeur. The book covers the Order of the Solar Temple a group notorious for the deaths of many of its members through both murder and suicide in several incidents throughout the 1990s. Mayer had access to many of the OTS's records while writing the book, and had been personally consulted in the police investigation.
Les Chevaliers de la mort: Enquête et révélations sur l'Ordre du Temple Solaire is a book by journalists Arnaud Bédat, Gilles Bouleau and Bernard Nicolas, covering the Order of the Solar Temple, notorious for the mass murder-suicides committed by the group in the 1990s. It was co-published in December 1996 by L'Illustré and TF1 Éditions, and published in Canada by Libre Expression the next month.
Vie et mort de l'Ordre du Temple Solaire is a 1994 book about the Order of the Solar Temple, written by Carl-A. Keller and Raphaël Aubert. The Solar Temple was a notorious group active in Switzerland in the 1990s, known for the mass suicides of several of its members throughout the 1990s. The book was published in December 1994 by Éditions de l'Aire, just two months after the first deaths. It was the first book about the group.
Following the Order of the Solar Temple affair – a case that gained international notoriety when members of the group, a then-obscure Neo-Templar group, orchestrated several mass suicides and mass murders in the 1990s – there have been several books and studies published about the events and organization. The case became a media sensation, with many conspiracy theories promoted by the media; as described by Susan J. Palmer, "false or unverifiable trails have been laid: secondhand testimonies are traded by journalists, ghost-written apostate memoirs are in progress and conspiracy theories abound."
Violence and New Religious Movements is a 2011 edited volume. It was edited by sociologist James R. Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. Lewis' previous work had focused on new religious movements, and he had edited several books on the topic. Containing 19 articles by 22 academics, mostly sociologists or scholars in religious studies, it discusses the intersection between new religious movements and violence, both perpetrated by and against the groups. It is divided into five sections.
Controversial New Religions is an edited volume discussing new religious movements, or cults, that have resulted in controversy. It was co-edited by James R. Lewis and Jesper Aagaard Petersen, and was first published in 2004 by Oxford University Press. A second edition containing mostly new content was published with the same two editors in 2014. The first edition contains 19 essays, while the second contains 22. Both editions are divided into four sections by topic, and cover numerous groups.
On 22 March 1997, five members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) committed mass suicide in Saint-Casimir, Quebec, setting their house on fire with them inside. Among the dead were two couples: Didier and Chantal Quèze and Bruno Klaus and Pauline Riou, as well as Chantal's mother Suzanne Druau. The three children of the Quèzes had initially been included in the suicide plan, but the first attempt to initiate the suicide failed. After the failure of the first attempt, they confronted their parents, and convinced them that they wanted to live and were let go. Following two more unsuccessful attempts to orchestrate the suicide, the final attempt, with help from the children, was successful.
From 30 September to 5 October 1994, 53 members or former members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a series of mass murders and suicides in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, and in Cheiry and Salvan in Switzerland. The Solar Temple, or OTS, was founded in 1984, active in several Francophone countries. The group was led by Joseph Di Mambro with Luc Jouret as a second in command; the group had a theological doctrine that by committing suicide, one would not die, but "transit"; they conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius, where they would continue their lives.
Timeless Voyage: Earth Sky Connection is a comic book, illustrated by Sergio Macedo and written by Appel Guery. It was published in 1982 by Editions Glénat. An English translation was published in 1987 by Transtar Pacific. The book's author, Appel Guery, was the leader of the UFO religion Siderella. Siderella was deemed a cult by a French government report in 1995. The comic carries the beliefs of the movement. It follows a group of UFO believers, who are picked up before a great cataclysm by a flying saucer.
