 | History The Order of The Solar Temple was founded by Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro in 1984 in Geneva Switzerland. The Solar Temple is a religious order that is a revival of the Knight’s Templar. Bernard Fabré – Palaprat tried to recreate the order in 1805. The group divided into many sects (some of the groups carried the belief of the end of the world). Luc Jouret was part of the Renewed Order of the Temple before he founded the Solar Temple. Joseph Di Mambro was born in 1924 in France. He had an interest in ESOTERIC religions , and He founded the Center for the Preparation of the New Age in 1973. |
Di Mambro claimed to be the reincarnation of many different political and religious leaders. He said he would look after the needs of the community and got people to give him their money and possessions.
He was in charge of deciding who was allowed to have kids, and performed “cosmic marriages”. His daughter Emmanuelle was said to be one of the “cosmic children” who would be the guide in the New Age. She was said to be the new messiah.
He got the group to conform by creating rituals (that included capes, swords, etc.). He created the group in 1978, called the Foundation of the
Luc Jouret was born in 1947 in Belgian Congo – he became a guide and prophet of the order. He went to India where he practiced homoeopathic medicine. The amount of people involved in the group reached over 400 in the 1980s. Di Mambro and Jouret received $93 million from their followers’ possessions.
The cult was paternalistic, with the headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Luc Jouret told his followers that he was an incarnation of Christ. He told them that after they left their bodies physically on earth that they would reunite with “death voyages” which brought the group to the star Sirius. He taught that death is an illusion and life would carry on, on other planets. He said that the earth would end from environmental damages and certain group members would be selected to go to Sirius before this happened. He told them the only way to exit would be through fire.
Beliefs The beliefs of the Order of the Solar Temple, as described by Luc Jouret include: · Re-establish the right ideas of world power · Establish the spiritual dominance over worldly · Make man aware of his dignity · Assisting in people’s transition · See the earth as having three planes (the body, the soul and the spirit) · Converging Christianity and Islam · The return of Jesus Christ · Apocalyptic beliefs |  Luc Jouret |
Events Members of the group began to question Joseph Di Mambro's "special powers", one of them being his son. This caused Joseph to become angry, and less accepting to group members when they made suggestions (he became more strict, expecting people to follow his word without question). The people that pointed out his fraud, saying that he used special effects and holograms to create the illusion of recieving "divine messages", became Di Mambro's "enemies". He wanted to seek punishment or revenge on these people. In 1994, on October 4th there was a fire in a Quebec condominium; 2 adults and their baby were found (they were murdered). In Switzerland many homes and cottages broke out in flames (it was their "transit" to the planet Sirius). There were 3 transits (in the first transit 53 people died ; some were stabbed, some burned and others poisoned). In the second transit 16 people were sacrificed. In the third transit, 4 Solar Temple members, and one of their parents killed themselves. Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro committed suicide in 1994. A total of 74 people died in Quebec and Switzerland between the years of 1994 and 1997.
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Treatment and Services
Geneva has created a prevention and help information centre (Inter-Cantonal Centre for Information on Beliefs).
They want to prevent another tragedy from taking place, as well as provide awareness and help for anyone who may be affected by religious cults.
To read more about this facility visit here: www. swissinfo.ch
