Ordeal by Fire: The Tragedy of the Solar Temple

Author: Introvigne M.

Source: Religion, Volume 25, Number 3, 1995 , pp. 267-283(17)

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Abstract:

On October 4th and 5th, 1994, fifty-three people were found dead in Switzerland and in Canada. Their bodies-some showing signs of violence suffered before the fires-were found in the incinerated centres of a neo-Templar movement called originally International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition or, for short, Solar Tradition, and after 1990-91 Order of the Solar Temple. The movement is part of one of several currents which as a whole compose the universe of the contemporary occult-esoteric movements, the neo-Templar tradition. In this paper I propose to trace, first of all, the history of the neo-Templar tradition, then that of the Solar Temple, relating the essential information on the tragedy of October 1994, and finally suggesting some possible interpretations.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: via Bertola 86, 10122 Torino, Italy

Publication date: 1995-01-01