Order of the Solar Temple Part I

 

The Order of the Solar Temple (French: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS), or simply the Solar Temple, was a new religious movement and secret society, 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 order, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated an eclectic range of beliefs with aspects 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.

Di Mambro, a French jeweler and esotericist with a history of fraud, co-led the group with Jouret, a Belgian homeopath known for lecturing on alternative medicine and spirituality. Di Mambro had founded several past esoteric groups, and had previous affiliation with a number of other organizations. This included The Pyramid and the Golden Way Foundation, a New Age group founded by Di Mambro that the OTS replaced. The OTS was founded by Jouret and Di Mambro out of a schism from the separate neo-Templar group the Renewed Order of the Temple (ORT), which Jouret had taken over and then been kicked out of. The group was active throughout several French-speaking countries. Its practices focused largely on ritualistic elements, with beliefs in the ascended master figures of Theosophy, who they believed resided on the star Sirius. Its members were largely affluent former Catholics.

Following increasing legal and media scandal, including investigations over arms trafficking and pressure from an ex-member, as well as conflict within the group, the founders began to prepare for what they described as "transit" to Sirius. In 1994, Di Mambro first ordered the murder of a family of ex-members in Quebec, before orchestrating mass suicide and mass murder on two communes in Switzerland. In the following years, there were two other mass suicides of former OTS members in France in 1995 and in Quebec in 1997. In total, 74 people died in the course of these events; it is not known how many of the specific deaths were murder and how many were suicides.

The OTS was a major factor that led to the strengthening of the anti-cult movement in Europe, particularly in Francophone Europe. Due to the death of all high ranking members of the organization, the only one alive to be held responsible was Swiss composer Michel Tabachnik, who had involvement with Di Mambro and was the president of the Golden Way Foundation. Tabachnik was tried in France after the second mass suicide, but was acquitted twice in two separate trials, found to be innocent on all counts. In the aftermath, many conspiracy theories revolving around the events resulted, some alleging government and organized crime involvement.

Classification

The precise definition or classification as to what kind of movement the Solar Temple was by academics is inconsistent; scholars have labeled it variously as an esoteric new religious movement, a neo-Templar group, a Rosicrucian organization, a doomsday or suicide cult, a new magical movement, a magical-esoteric religion, or a secret society, among others. Stephen A. Kent and Melodie Campbell classified the group as a UFO religion. According to Henrik Bogdan, what the OTS is classified as depends on "how these labels are defined and what aspects of the OTS are emphasized."

Shannon Clusel and Susan J. Palmer described the OTS as a neo-Templar movement, with influence from the philosophies of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and the New Age. Bogdan emphasized their status as a masonic initiatory society. Massimo Introvigne has classified them as one of many neo-Templar movements; organizations that claim, through adherence to a set of myths about the secret survival of the Knights Templar, to actually be a continuation of that movement. Such groups were often affiliated with masonic rites and freemasonry.

The organization was described by the Quebec coroner investigating the case as incorporating a variety of traditions, but as primarily inspired by occultism, due to its belief in pseudoscientific practices, and practices unrecognized by other religions, which required special initiation. Palmer viewed the Solar Temple as fitting within anthropologist Mary Douglas's conception of a "strong group, weak grid" society (with a strong sense of social cohesion, or group, and a weak clarity of group meanings system, or grid); due to the immense pressure it placed on individual members in combination with its "vague and confusing classification system". These societies, according to Douglas, often exhibit a dualistic cosmology, in which the group does not view justice as winning over evil forces.

Organization

The group used many names during its existence, sometimes multiple at once. Following the deaths, "Solar Temple" has been used as the overall common term. The "Order of the Solar Temple" formally was only a part of the larger organization; many members of the "core" of the organization were never actual members of the "OTS" proper. Many aspects of the group's organizational structure were in flux, as is the case in many NRMs; the organization had several layers, compared to a Chinese box by scholars. The most public face of the organization was the Amenta Club (later Atlanta), which had Luc Jouret lecture on New Age-related issues, including ecology, homeopathy, and naturopathy; from the Amenta Club recruitment was done to the more secretive Archedia Clubs, which involved the ritual elements. The third, and apparently most secretive layer, was the International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition, or the Order of the Solar Temple.

The OTS had a strict hierarchy with three degrees, in the structure of an initiatory Masonic society: the Frères du Parvis, Chevaliers de l’Alliance, and Frères des Temps Anciens (the Brothers of the Court, Knights of the Alliance, and Brothers of the Former Times). The three levels of membership corresponded to the three degrees of initiation: initiates, awakened souls, and immortals. For each degree, a rite of initiation was undergone by the member; specifics of each ceremony varied, but in one ritual ("The Dubbing of a Knight") the officiants were mentioned as: Priest, Deacon, Ritual Master, Matre, Chaplain, Sentinel, Master of Ceremonies, Guardian, and Escorts. The precise relation of these hierarchies to the organization at large is unclear, with the degrees possibly constituting an even more selective group, which some sources call the Synarchy of the Temple. Outside of this framework was the fourth organization, the Golden Way Foundation (previously La Pyramide), which was the parent structure of both the Archedia and Amenta clubs. Members of the OTS paid a monthly membership fee and lived communally.

Beliefs and practices

As an esoteric movement, teachings of the OTS were only elaborated upon to those advanced enough in the organization. Members progressed through several related movements – the Amenta Club, then the Archedia Club, then to the OICST. Most of the dead were the high ranking members, with those left surviving being the lower ranking that had less access to the ideas of the group; this has caused difficulties in investigating their beliefs by scholars. Many members of the OTS were wealthy and socially successful, in contrast to many other cults; members were often middle-aged professionals who were highly cultured. This drew from its approach, elitist and interested in aesthetics, with a religious view that was non-fundamentalist. Its members were almost exclusively cultural Catholics, to whom it offered a type of religious mysticism and ritual that had been minimized by the Catholic Church in the previous decades.

The more odd beliefs of the OTS (e.g. reincarnation, or the Brotherhood) were hidden behind hermeneutics. The Order did not have one coherent method of syncretizing its system of eclectic beliefs. In a way similar to ancient gnostic systems of thought, the OTS did not have a "normative theology", instead utilizing allegory and symbolism in an interpretive manner to clarify their own beliefs in the context of existing practices. Though it contained tenets of Gnosticism, its approach to this was experimental, and its members also partook in a variety of occult subjects, with occultists of varying systems of beliefs being invited to do workshops for the OTS.

The OTS took a large portion of its ideology from the French alchemist Jacques Breyer, inheriting from Breyer's works occult-apocalyptic themes. His books were circulated within the organization; Breyer's book Arcanes Solaires: Ou les secrets du Temple Solaire espouses the "solar Christ" concept. It also says the world had reached the end of time; one chart calculates the "End of Incarnation" as "1999.8". Other dates it gave were 2147, 2156, or 2666, though said others were possible, as they were based on simple calculations. The precise date was viewed as less important than the preparation for the end. In another chart, he says that based on the year Jesus had born that the "Grand Monarchy" of the world "ought to leave this world around 1995–96."

Jouret defined seven principles of the Order of the Solar Temple, which were taken basically unaltered from Breyer's Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS). The OSTS wrote their seven principles as follows:

Re-establishing the correct notions of authority and power in the world.

Affirming the primacy of the spiritual over the temporal.

Giving back to man the conscience of his dignity.

Helping humanity through its transition.

Participating in the Assumption of the Earth in its three frameworks: body, soul, and spirit.

Contributing to the union of the Churches and working towards the meeting of Christianity and Islam.

Preparing for the return of Christ in solar glory.

Some commentators have suggested influences from Eastern religions; Emmanuelle was referred to as an avatar, though this term was not used in any philosophical sense, and Jouret believed the world to be in the Kali Yuga, as in Hinduism. Jouret's usage of the term was not in line with Hindu usage, being a much shorter period (6,000 instead of 432,000 years), more similar to Western astrological ideas. These and related concepts are widespread within New Age and Theosophical movements, and any further inspiration is contested. According to Chyrissides, Di Mambro's contrasting of Emmanuelle as the avatar with the antichrist showed that he still thought in a quasi-Christian manner.

The OTS was heavily influenced by the theosophist Alice Bailey. In particular, the preoccupation with the star Sirius and her emphasis on the theosophical concept of the Ascended Masters had influenced the Rosicrucian revival; Di Mambro also utilized her Great Invocation to begin Temple ceremonies. Jacques Breyer and the New Age movement generally, had drawn heavily from Bailey's ideas. Bailey also introduced the "reappearance of the Christ" concept, where Jesus had been a medium for the "Christ", who, towards the end of the 20th century, as long as a certain set of conditions were fulfilled, would reappear to herald a new age, which would coincide with the drawing of the Masters close to humanity.

Ascended Masters and Sirius

In OTS theology, the star Sirius was a focal point, as the "Blue Star" that had appeared roughly 26,000 years ago. Following the appearance of the star, the universe's history could be divided into several "ages", viewing the present moment as being one in which the world was moving from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius; this belief in the astrological ages was shared with several other New Age and occult groups. In the OTS's view, the arrival of the Age of Aquarius would result in the apocalypse, with the Earth being consumed by fire. The OTS then aimed to create a group of souls dedicated to surviving this apocalypse.

The OTS believed Sirius to be the home of the "Ascended Masters" (also called the Great White Brotherhood). The OTS conceived of the Ascended Masters as having arrived on earth, where they inhabited Agartha (an underground spiritual realm popular in esoteric thought). Their belief in the Ascended Masters was shared by the Theosophical Society. The Masters were, in the OTS's conception, effectively souls with the ability to manifest in physical form; both the Masters and human beings were perceived as souls who were merely temporarily occupying their bodies, and at the time of death would move on to another. The OTS believed that advanced or elite members could, at will, "de-corporealize", in accordance with their degree of initiation into the OTS.

Reincarnation

Both the Masters and human beings were believed to be capable of reincarnation, a key aspect of OTS theology. OTS members believed themselves to be reincarnated versions of the original Templars who had been burned at the stake with grandmaster Jacques de Molay, and even further, members of a class of people who had been reborn since ancient times, whose purpose in the world was to fulfill a "cosmic mission". Di Mambro personally claimed he was a reincarnation of, among others, an Egyptian pharaoh, one of the Twelve Disciples, Longinus (the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus's side during the crucifixion) and an Ascended Master, Manatanus. Jouret claimed he was a reincarnation of Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the original Knights Templar. Di Mambro often revealed these past lives to members, in the process giving them new spiritual identities. In doing this, according to Susan J. Palmer, both drama and the illusion of spiritual progress were applied to the member's time in the group.

The OTS was said to believe that souls had no gender, however Chryssides notes this is difficult to reconcile with the "cosmic marriage" doctrine, as well as the explicitly gendered nature of the Ascended Masters who were always consistent in gender throughout their incarnations. One former OTS member expressed the idea that the "inner self" was sexless, with there being no difference between the souls of the sexes. The "Cosmic Child" was always referred to as a he, despite being a girl.

Cosmic coupling

One important OTS practice was "cosmic coupling" or "cosmic marriage". Following Di Mambro's reveal of a member's past lives, either Di Mambro or Jouret — though Jouret himself was forced by Di Mambro to separate from his wife due to "cosmic incompatibility" — forced apart married couples and put them with other members. A ceremony was performed bonding the "discarnate archetypal forms" of the paired members. Di Mambro himself was bonded with Bellaton in a ceremony (viewed as the reincarnation of Hatshepsut). Di Mambro claimed he did this as the will of the "Cosmic Masters".

The goal of these cosmic couples was to birth seven or nine elite "cosmic children", one of whom was his daughter Emmanuelle (another included Tabachnik's son). According to Di Mambro, these seven children would form "the conscience of the new humanity" and were raised to fulfill this role. The "Cosmic Child" Emmanuelle was the subject of worship by group members; though her specific role in the group is unclear it was unique in the group. She underwent a special baptism of water from the Jordan River and Jerusalem-sourced chrismal oil. At the time of the mass suicides, there were only five cosmic children. In splitting up a couple, Di Mambro explained to them that their "karmic cycle" had been fulfilled; they were reassigned to a new partner, whereupon they were sent off on a mission together.

These pairings often had large age gaps: Dominique Bellaton (in her 30s) was paired with Patrick Vuarnet who was 14 years younger, Gerry Genoud was a decade younger than his cosmic wife, Thierry Huguenin's marriage was broken apart and his wife (in her 30s) was matched with Di Mambro's 14 year old son. Another cosmic couple had a 30-year age gap. Bruno Klaus, upon leaving his wife at Di Mambro's order, declared: "The Masters have decided. I am going to live with another woman". While marriage was idealized in the OTS, the leaders encouraged defamilialization through this practice. Ex-members often complained they were forced into these cosmic unions, though other ex-members said the OTS did not intrude in their personal or family lives.

Ritual

Ritual was an important aspect of the OTS's beliefs, described as its "core activity" by scholar Hendrik Bogdan. According to George D. Chryssides, what the OTS offered was a "mystical mood" that was available to all, not just those who were "spiritually gifted"; in a way similar to traditional Catholicism, through ritual the core messages of the group could be made available to those who were not well versed in the systems of thought used to understand it. There was a number of initiation rituals, of a Masonic nature – not in being directly related to actual freemasonry, but in their type of ritual practice, which once it was established afterwards spread outside of freemasonry. The OTS's initiation rituals were typical of neo-Templar groups but also incorporated aspects of New Age, Rosicrucian and alchemical practice.

One initiation ritual, the "Reception Ceremony" of the Hermetica Fraternitas Templi Universali (the name for the OTS in the English speaking world), which was the official initiation into the first degree Templi Noviciae, member candidates called aspirants are first given a copy of the oath they will take so they can become familiar with it (an uncommon practice for other Masonic initatory societies). The ritual objects used for the ritual include: a Templar cross, a sword, a three branched candelabrum with white candles, a vase containing a red rose, a red cushion, an altar, a sacred book (e.g. a Bible open to the Gospel of John), a red votive candle, and crosses, which are given out to the initiates. The ritual must include six officiants for the initiates. Compared to other Masonic rituals, it starts simply, with the playing of Bach's Toccata and the lighting of the votive candle, before the assembly is brought in, the candelabrum is lit and the chief officiant of the ritual opens and calls for prayer.

The chief officiant then explains the ritual's purpose and tells those present to meditate on the importance of what is about to happen. The aspirants are then brought in, and Gregorian chants are played; the chief officiant asks them if they wish to continue. They are informed that by taking the oath it reaches "beyond human limitation", and once they take the oath their life will be towards the "Path of Service, of Light, and Unity", and that the member's "field of consciousness will broaden and your scale of values will change, giving the full significance to the notions of Honor, Loyalty, Courage, Disciple and Effort", whose concerns should now be to "preserve and respect the Consciousness of Life, to maintain Harmony and radiate Love". Following this, the Vigia (a role probably restricted to female OTS members) or the chancellor would tell the aspirants the meaning of the ritual items used, before the aspirants are made to approach the altar, kneel on their right knee and place their right hand on the book, and read their oath aloud, before signing it. After this is completed, the chief officiant declares that they have reached the degree and gives them a cross as the emblem of the Order, which they are told has been blessed by an "Official Priest" and that all members should wear it during meetings.

Then, at the end, the "Templar Psalm" is read thrice. This psalm is included in many Solar Temple initiation rituals, and reads:

NON NOBIS DOMINE NON NOBIS / SED NOMINI TUO DA GLORIAM transl. NOT FOR US, LORD, NOT FOR US / BUT TO THY NAME GIVE GLORY

After, the chief officiant extinguishes the flames of the candles and candelabrum and announces the end of his work. Hallelujah is then played and everyone except the "Master of Ceremonies" and the "Guardian" positions leave. Another Order TS (the English aspect of the OTS) ritual, "The Dubbing of a Knight" (not an admission ritual, but probably a second degree ritual), states that the knighthood can only be granted by either the Grand Master (Di Mambro), the Deputy Grand Master, or "a dignitary" appointed by the Order. It is Catholic in nature and includes a mass performed at the same time. The oath given in this ritual reads thus:

I [blank] swear here and now a solemn oath to nobly serve the cause of the Temple, in a spirit of detachment and humility.

I shall strive in all circumstances to maintain a worthy and just attitude, not only with regard to my co-disciples, but also whenever I represent our Venerable Order in the world.

I promise to respect the sacred rules of the Temple which rule our Venerable Order, to live them permanently in accordance with the Ethic which constitutes its force and to obey the directives of my Superiors without reserve.

I commit myself to respect and conform to the customs and laws of the countries in which I might be called to serve.

In another ritual, the "Traditional Ritual for the Donning of the Talar", which is more complicated, the candidate is "purified" and sheds their clothes, standing only in their underwear to "cast[...] off all impurities". Scholar Hendrik Bogdan noted several of its lines as "particularly ominous" in light of the deaths. In one part it is stated that

Always remain worthy

Of wearing this Sacred Robe

Whatever may happen?

Even if you’re physical life is in danger,

For you will soon learn

That physical life is of no importance.

As well as the rituals of initiation, there were mystical or magical rituals. Underground sanctuaries were built by the group, hidden behind false walls and only accessible through secret passageways: to enter them, a member would have to take a ritual number of 22 steps (probably a reference to the 22 paths of the Tree of Life in Kabbalah). In one ceremony attended by cult researcher Jean-François Mayer in the summer of 1987, in order to commemorate the summer solstice, the Templars held a bonfire in the French countryside. Following their lighting of the fire, there were instructions and the members turned around the fire only clockwise. Mayer said during the event that it was ritual, whereupon a member corrected him and said it was not merely ritual but "something much more".

One of these rituals was where ranking members could supposedly witness the masters manifest in the underground chambers of the group, in what were actually holographic shows by Antonio Dutoit. OTS rituals may have involved hallucinogens, and utilized visual effects as well as music. Among the utilized effects were lightning effects, through which the masters and ritual objects like the Holy Grail were seen to appear. In order to achieve the community of souls that would survive the apocalypse, the OTS invoked sex magic, in which sexual activities are performed in order to acquire spiritual gain, though how much this was actually practiced, is unclear.

Transit

The "transit" terminology and concept is derived from AMORC, which Di Mambro had been a member of. AMORC uses "transit" as a term meaning death, among other vocabulary the OTS borrowed from the organization. AMORC, as with the OTS, saw death as merely a "transition", in which the physical body separates from the soul; unlike the soul, the physical body will change and decay.

The concept had first been brought up by Di Mambro in 1990 or 1991. It was to mean a voluntary departure of the members to another dimension in space, or an act of consent to bring the "germ of life" to another planet. He told the members that they would be summoned on short notice, and would need to be ready as this could occur any day. They conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius. According to Di Mambro, he did not know yet how they would transit, though he metaphorically evoked the idea of being picked up by a flying saucer or passing across a mirror. OTS members were familiar with similar ideas prior: in 1987, Jouret had for sale at one of his lectures a comic strip, Voyage Intemporel, which tells of a group of UFO believers who are picked up before a great cataclysm. Following the gun scandal, Jouret began speaking of the transit concept as well.

Palmer argued that the transit could have been viewed as a solution for many of the problems the OTS faced. It prevented the "loss of charisma" that Di Mambro would have to deal with given his old age and illness, as well as his suffering personal relationships with others. The problems of succession that the group faced, with conflict between Jouret and Di Mambro and Jouret's leadership problems in Canada, would also be solved. One interpretation was that it may have been a funeral intended for a Pharaoh (as Di Mambro was interested in Egyptian mythology), intended to bring Di Mambro's "retinue" with him into the afterlife and keep his power.

According to the later testimony of members, they did not interpret it as mass suicide, with one stating that they believed the transit was instead the idea of being saved from disaster. Members otherwise interpreted it innocuously or as an ephemeral concept, such as one interpretation of the transit being that the group would simply move to another geographical location or leave Geneva. According to Mayer, the transit concept was perhaps not a break with the OTS's earlier survivalist ideas, but instead a continuation, a survival in other dimensions where this one was irreversibly doomed.

History

Background

The OTS was one of numerous neo-Templar organizations active in France and Switzerland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These organizations followed a tradition of claiming unbroken descent from a lineage of grand masters that claimed to go back to the original medieval Knights Templar; the original Knights Templar had been dissolved by Pope Clement V following accusations of witchcraft and heresy at the beginning of the fourteenth century. In 1310, 54 Templar knights were burned at the stake, and four years later the Grand Master and a local leader were as well. French esotericist and alchemist Jacques Breyer initiated a resurgence of neo-Templar groups in France in 1952. This "Arginy renaissance" was tied to a claimed mystical experience in the Castle of Arginy, which led to the founding of the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple (OSTS), which was formally created in 1966.

Joseph Di Mambro was a French jeweler with an interest in esotericism. After scamming a business partner in the late 1960s, Di Mambro fled France, before returning to Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1972 and acting as a psychiatrist. Soon after, he was sentenced to six months in prison for writing bad checks, breaching patient trust, and for impersonating a psychiatrist. In the late 1960s, he became a member and lodge leader of the AMORC organization in Nîmes, France. AMORC is the largest contemporary Rosicrucian organization, structured into lodges which performed initiation rituals into specific degrees. Luc Jouret was a Belgian homeopath. He traveled widely studying various forms of alternative and spiritual healing, before settling in Annemasse and practicing homeopathy there.