The Order of the Solar Temple

Routledge New Religions

by James R. Lewis (Editor)

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Religion, History

242 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Max · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one cohesive book about the topic, just 10 totally separate articles by guys who are very proud of their very special and very smart ideas about it. Tons of overlap in the information provided in the articles, which all cite each other and often even quote each other. Read the same quotes over and over.

Better than nothing, but just barely

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Order of the Solar Temple was founded in Switzerland in 1984 by Joseph di Mambro and Luc Jouret. The OST became an esoteric cult blending together Christianity, Rosicrucianism, secretive temple rituals, Knights Templar mythology, apocalypticism, homeopathy, reincarnation, ecology, and New Age psychobabble. Jouret was the public face of the OST and di Mambro was the master behind the scenes. The group's members were anything but average. Most were wealthy, well-educated, influential members of society. By the early 1990s, the group was attracting some negative attention. Some complained they had lost money and spouses to the group. Others were saying the preternatural temple ceremonies that featured the materialization of Ascended Masters, Jesus Christ and items such as the Holy Grail were achieved through holograms, mirrors, special lighting, and mild hallucinogens (surreptitiously given to members). The OST went from planning to survive the apocalypse to planning their "transit" to the star Sirius. To quote from one of their rituals, "Death is the same for us all. It is how we leave Life that makes the difference." In October 1994, fifty-three members of the group died en masse through either murder or suicide. Timed incendiary devices set fire to several of the buildings where the bodies lay. In 1995, sixteen additional members committed mass suicide and another five killed themselves in 1997. The scholarly articles making up this book attempt to provide answers as to why members of the Solar Temple committed these acts, realizing there were likely multiple variables at play among the leadership and the members. Appendix 1 contains "The Testaments," the group's last message to the world. Appendix 2 contains the group's "Ritual for the Donning of the Talar and the Cross."

[Grump · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a book but a handful of academic essays about the OTS. They were some weird fuckers. New age-y French people that claimed they were in contact with Ascended Masters from Sirius. They killed a baby because it was the anti-christ. Then over 50 of them murder-suicided in the 90s. Seems pretty stupid but people will do anything just to have something to believe in. The end is nigh, I suppose. Got kinda boring and overly highfalutin towards the end.