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By Thea LeFave
The Order of The Solar Temple
The Order of the Solar Temple was a cult based on the Knights of Templar a religious movement in the middle ages. It was founded by Jospeh Di Mambro and Luc Jouret in Switzerland in 1984. While it is believed to have ended after the mass suicides, some think there are still members of this cult that have survived.
The founders were Luc Jouret and Jo Di Mambro. They founded the cult in 1984, Geneva Switerland.
Jo was born in 1924 and was born and raised Catholic. In the 1950's he began to practice occultism. He became a member of The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis. A little later he established Golden Way Foundation this is where he met Luc Jouret.
Luc Jouret had studied to become a doctor but he then left modern medicine and began traveling the world, studying spirituality and practising alternative medicine. Eventually, his journey led him to Golden Way Foundation, where he met Di Mambro
The beliefs were a mixture of early Christianity and various Freemason rituals. Several wealthy Europeans were secret members of the group. The lodges had altars, rituals and costumes. Luc saw himself as Jesus Christ and believed his children were demi-gods or "Cosmic Children" that would lead the members to salvation or a higher plane of existence. Other members of the cult were believed to be reincarnations of famous people is history. The members handed over their money and adhered to strict rules. They believed that the Earth would face a worldwide catastrophe in the mid-1990s. In anticipation of this apocalyptic event, members believed it was necessary to enter a higher spiritual plane.
The leaders felt that they were being persecuted by governments. They claimed to anticipate the coming end of the world due to an environmental disaster and decided that some of the members should leave the earth prematurely. The cult members either took their own lives or were ritualistically murdered. Some were shot in the head or asphyxiated, some had been drugged. Many wore black ceremonial robes, had plastic bags placed over their heads, bodies positioned in a star formation with feet pointing to the center. Many of the bodies were set on fire. A member of the cult had left with his son and wife a few months before this and Jo ordered them to be murdered, saying their son was the Anti-Christ. The two founders Luc Jouret and Jo Di Mambro, were among the dead. The total number of deaths attributed to the cult was 74, including several children.