Order of the Solar Temple

Order of the Solar Temple

RELS 225Cults and New Religious Movements

RELS 225Cults and New Religious Movements

Slide 2.

BackgroundBackground• 1805 Bernard-

Raymond Fabre-Palaprat founded the Order of the Temple

• 1966 Breyer & Roquemaure: Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple

Slide 3.

FoundingFounding• Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret

in 1984• Morin Heights, Quebec• two villas as personal residences. • Di Mambro

• born in France • skilled clock maker and jeweler• interested in esoteric religions at a young

age• created “Foundation Golden Way”

• Luc Jouret • born in Belgium in 1947 • Studied medicine at a University in Brussels • strong interest in “freemasonry, the

Albigenses, Cathars” and • Di Mambro invited Jouret to speak

at the Golden Way • On homeopathy

Slide 4.

Members of Solar TempleMembers of Solar Temple

• 200-300 established members • journalists and the disgruntled

ex-members’ criticism led to closed doors

• Canada and Switzerland• early 1990’s, approximately

100 members recruitment targeted reputable people

• Gilles Devault, mayor of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade?

• 15 employees of Hydro Quebec• police agent Daniel Tougas expelled

for his association with the Solar Temple (wife attended lectures)

Slide 5.

BeliefsBeliefs

• members belonged to “the pivotal elite” which “has been removed from the collective by superhuman effort”

• did not belong to the “human world but rather, to the race of Gods”.

• couples must separate if one was not a member

Slide 6.

ClaimsClaims• Di Mambro and Jouret were

members of the “14 Century Christian Order of the Knights Templar” during a previous life.

• Di Mambro’s daughter, Emanuelle was “the cosmic child” and would safely lead them to another place after their death.

• conceived without sex, when Joseph pointed a magical sword at his wife’s throat.

• the child with power to “rebuild the Temple and prevent the Apocalypse”.

Slide 7.

ActivitiesActivities• assist the arrival of the New Age• meditative and occult disciplines • elaborate rituals to achieve

enlightened state of consciousness.

• dress in white mantles, wear a red cross around their neck while walking side by side into a round room.

• Under their robes are long swords

• raise them together towards the light.

Slide 8.

TeachingsTeachings

• “soul travel between earthly existence and eternal transcendence”

• claim to “bridge the gulfs of separation between this world and other realms, between the historical present and other times, between finite life and infinite immortality”.

Slide 9.

Escalating CrisisEscalating Crisis• transporting firearms • Economic problems

• embezzling money• convinced members to donate to the Solar Temple• for “life centers” in Canada and Chiery. • actually spent on personal expenses and living costs

• suspicions of Di Mambro and Jouret • Some members began distancing themselves from the group• leaders “had reached a point that they could no longer

accept the questioning of or disagreement with their views”• Therefore began teaching “transition”

Slide 10.

Transition Transition

• leaders claimed to direct members to escape to the world of higher reality.

• All members were elite • “heirs to an uncommon destiny” • “invested with a cosmic task to fulfill”.

• believed that they would become gods upon death

Slide 11.

Tragedy: September 1994Tragedy: September 1994

• Murders• Dutoit family • Di Mambro said their son Emmanuel was

Antichrist• Boy killed by wooden stake stabbed through

heart• Parents also murdered

Slide 12.

Tragedy: October, 1994Tragedy: October, 1994

• Fire in Quebec villa• 5 burned bodies• 3 of them stabbed to death

• Mass suicides, murders and fires • simultaneously in Switzerland and Quebec• Di Mambro and Jouret planned deaths of many members,

including their own• Quebec deaths

• 15 ‘inner’ circle members by the use of poison• 30 by bullets or smothering • 8 others killed as traitors

• Another 48 members in a mass suicide • Some with plastic bags over their heads,

Slide 13.

InvestigationInvestigation

• a cassette tape of a conversation between Di Mambro and Jouret about their intended “departure”

• building in France equipped with same fire-activating device as in Switzerland and Quebec. • Remote detonatation

• October 13th 1994: discovery of Luc Jouret and Di Mambro’s charred bodies

Slide 14.

Tragedy: December 21, 1995Tragedy: December 21, 1995

• 16 more members took their own lives

Slide 15.

Tragedy: March 22, 1997Tragedy: March 22, 1997

• 5 more members took their own lives

Slide 16.

Comparison to Jonestown and Waco

Comparison to Jonestown and Waco

• intentionally organized death by “transit”, public and authorities fearful

• Police worried of repetitions at new moon, equinox or anniversary