Solar Temple: Doomsday Cults

There are many different cults in the world and there are some that seem harmless and other well not so much. The cults have an uncanny way of controlling their followers and members do not realize what is going on. The cults that have this power become the cults of mass murder and suicide.
The Solar Temple was a doomsday cult that was founded in 1984 (The Solar Temple 2004). The founder and leader of the Solar Temple is Joseph Di Mambro (Lewis 2005). He decided to try a few different groups and organizations before creating the Solar Temple including the Ancient and Mythical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC). He was from France that started as a hardworking young man and then had convictions of fraud by impersonating a psychologist and also

Since, Jouret became quite famous so other groups that followed the similar teachings of the Solar Temple wanted to leave Jouret the groups when the leader would pass (Bromley 2002). This caused tension between the groups because the families didn’t want Jouret to take over and they did not feel it was his right to take over (Bromley 2002). The Solar Temple soon gathered a lot of attention from many anitcult organizations that opposed their teachings. A few years later in 1993 the Canadian police would come in and start an investigation about the Solar Temple buying illegal semiautomatic weapons with silencers (Bromley 2002). Some members were arrested and later released and

Joseph Di Mambro led the people to believe that they are famous individuals who were reincarnated (Lewis 2005). He said that he was the only one that could contact the “Masters”. Di Mambro said that their “cosmic children” would shape the future destiny of the planet (Lewis 2005). He continued to say he was the incarnation of a 14th Century Christian Order of the Knights Templar and that his daughter was the cosmic child and was to be the messiah of the New age (The Solar Temple 2004). Jouret and him convinced their followers that they were they only ones to lead them after death to a planet that revolves around the star Siruis. Death in this movement is considered only but an illusion and that life would continue on other planets. The Masters held all power and whatever they said is what must be (The Solar Temple 2004). A main practice that was performed was called cosmic coupling (Lewis 2005). Cosmic coupling is when the Master’s decided who should be with whom. Many married couples would split to be with placed with someone else. This would cause major age differences between these new couples (Lewis