# data[].attributes.body
The group was formed in 1984 by Luc Jouret and Joseph De Mambro in Geneva, Switcherland.

# data[].attributes.body
The Knights Templars were arrested and brutually tortured- burned on a stake in Paris- the group not to re-form until the 1800s

# data[].attributes.body
A military religious group called the Knights Tempts founded in the 12th century that was suppressed by Catholics resurfaced in 1805 in the years after the French Revolution. The group resurfaced when a Knights Tempt descendent claimed to be the head of the group, attempting to recreate the order. It worked, however, his group split off into different fractions. Jouret, a co-founder of the Solar Temple, was originally part of one of these fractions that believed in the imminent end of the world. This lead to the founding of the Order of the Solar Temple. Group members were true believers that the earth was going to face a worldwide catastrophe around 1995, so their mission was to, in anticipation of the apocalyptic event, reach a "highly spiritual plane" and purification. Group members believe that once the end of the world comes they will be transported to a planet orbiting the star Sirius in order to live out an afterlife. The key objective is the return of "Christ in solar glory". To assist humanity through a great "transition", preparing for the "Second Coming of Christ as a Solar King God".

# data[].attributes.body
Part of the “purification” which Jouret preached to his followers involved ritual death and the fiery burning of the body. Due to this, the group is notorious for their mass suicides, occurring on Oct. 4–5, 1994, when 53 members of the Solar Temple in Canada and Switzerland were murdered or committed suicide and the buildings in which they died were set on fire. The fire destroyed a villa in Morin Heights, Canada, belonging to Joseph Di Mambro. Police found five charred bodies in the ruins. Three had been stabbed to death before the fire. A year later another 16 members killed themselves, and 5 more died in March of 1997.

# data[].attributes.body
- Life is an illusion, and the world will end it fire. In order to transfer to another world, you must die in a fire (this explains the mass suicides in fire).
- Members will be re-born on a planet orbiting the star Sirus,
which is the brightest star in the sky and means "glowing" in Ancient Greek.

# data[].attributes.headline
How does this cult exist as an example of conformity?

# data[].attributes.subject
How does this cult exist as an example of conformity?

# data[].attributes.body
The Order of the Solar Temple members was in constant conformity to their leaders. Di Mandro claimed that he was following the orders of the "masters", and therefore everyone must adapt their behaviors, attitudes, and opinions to fit his actions. He exercised extreme control on the group and could even control when the female members had children and what their names would be. Examples of why conformity was so high:

1. Members felt incompetent and Insecure.
"Jouret would reduce our food rations, we lived almost exclusively on peanut butter and
bread because Jouret said we must fast in order to survive the end of time." - OST member
Feeling weak and incompetent, members of the cult were more likely to comform. They were also convinced that without the cult they were incompetent, and would not be among the elite that went into the afterlife. In addition, members had to contribute a large amount of money, becoming more and more insecure financially and more and more dependent. Jouret and Di Mambro collected as much as 93 Million dollars from their follower's pockets and their assets which they sold and profited on!!!

2. The Group was on average about 400 people, making the likelihood of conformity increase due to the size of the group. Because the majority if not everyone was conforming, it was harder for individuals to rebel.

3. Members were highly impressed by the status of the group. Members of the group were convinced that the group was the most elite in the world, and were going to become the elite few who thrived after earth's destruction.

4. During rituals conformity increased due to the observation of fellow group members and leaders. Rituals never occurred alone. When conforming, members were being watched and observed.

5. The OST culture strongly encouraged respect to the leaders for they were the "masters" and had the power to alter member's destinies.

# data[].attributes.headline
How does this cult exist as an example of groupthink?

# data[].attributes.subject
How does this cult exist as an example of groupthink?

# data[].attributes.body
The Order of the Solar Temple members is an example of groupthink as their conformity bias happened despite a better judgment and the group completely changes members' way of thinking and how they view the world and their lives. OTS members, through groupthink, came to believe they could make their “departure” or “voyage” and complete the journey of their spiritual transformation through burning themselves to death.

Factors in the cult that contribute to groupthink include:
1. Isolation.
The Cult demands that members sever ties with family and friends outside of the group, making them more dependent and shaping the member's identity as solely "a member of the solar temple". By severing ties to the larger environment, members cut themselves off from information that might contradict their beliefs. Leaders had complete control over information and communication with the outside world. You were murdered if you tried to depart from the group.  In addition, the group organized only in physically isolated communal settlements.

2. Homogeneity of member's social background.
All members were white Canadians or Swiss, and of the middle to the upper class, which goes against many theories that cults result from the financially desperate. In contrast, members believed that they were the elite who would enjoy and perhaps rule in the perfect new existence that will follow the predicted catastrophe.

3. Directive Leadership.
The cult had very strong leaders- Di Manbro and Jouret- both who had strong and convincing opinions and beliefs on the end of the world. According to Jouret, the earth was currently at a critical point for experiencing the apocalypse. Specifically, he believed the world was headed toward “environmental catastrophes.  He spoke endlessly of ‘the final end’ brought on by Man’s destruction of Nature and he promised ‘purification’ to his followers. These directive Leaders promoted groupthink because of their strong opinions and authority.

4. High Stress from External Threats.
In this case, the threat was only perceived, not actually real. Members were convinced that the earth was going to end a in a catastrophic event.

# data[].attributes.headline
Identify the roles of the members of the group

# data[].attributes.subject
Identify the roles of the members of the group

# data[].attributes.body
Expected behaviors for the OST group members included:
1. Men had more to say than women within the OST
2. Members must believe in the causes and beliefs of the cult- the earth would be destroyed by a catastrophic event, but those who followed and believed would enter a highly spiritual plane. "Death is an illusion"
3. Obedience to anything leaders say- always participate in rituals

# data[].attributes.headline
Identify the norms of the cult (the rules)

# data[].attributes.subject
Identify the norms of the cult (the rules)

# data[].attributes.body
1. Members must never defy or disobey leaders
2. Members must believe in the causes and beliefs of the cult- the earth would be destroyed by a catastrophic event, but those who followed and believed would enter a highly spiritual plane. "Death is an illusion"
3. You can't leave the group
4. Women weren't allowed to get pregnant without permission, and if they did the leaders got to choose the name of the child.
5. There were rituals in which there would be death by fire in a ceremonial way and Jouret would have sex with the women of his choosing directly beforehand.
6. The only way out of the cult was through death (suicide or murder).
7. Members must come from wealthy families.
8. Must cut off the rest of the world

# data[].attributes.headline
What factors led to the cohesiveness of the group?

# data[].attributes.subject
What factors led to the cohesiveness of the group?

# data[].attributes.body
All members were wealthy and were told by the leaders that they were special and "the chosen ones". They were manipulated into believing that they, as a group, were elite, leading to a sense of one, forming lasting bonds, and therefore leading to group cohesiveness. Loyalty and a sense of group membership were also developed through group ceremonies, guided meditations, and prayers.

# data[].attributes.body
Di Manbro and Jouret were able to have complete authority over the group. Factors that contributed to the group member's insane obedience, even leading to their own death, included:

1. Fellow members had always been obedient, so rebelling against commands of the order of the solar temple was less likely.

2. The authority figures ( Di Manbro and Jouret)had a very high status-they were perceived as having legitimate power. They claimed to be true descendants of Christ.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Michel Tabacknik- a famous Swiss Composer deeply disturbed by the cult's killing of children. 

# data[].attributes.body
The bystander problem played out in regards to the cult as members escaped the cult yet still did not report the violence and manipulation because they believed that someone else must have already known about the cult. The size of the cult plays into this, where escapees assumed because the group was so large someone must have already reported it. Even a man named Michel Tabacknik who had met Jouret and Di Mambro from the Gold Way Foundation and was concerned with the way they were killing children, still did not say anything or take any actions until much later when he actually testified against the cult in court- but this was after someone else had finally stepped up.

# data[].attributes.body
Similarities- Within both cults authority figures require donations in order for the group members to be in the good graces of God. Authority figures used their power to get sexual pleasure. Both Groups have been convinced that without being in the group they will have a terrible fate relating to catastrophe. Both groups are isolated and outside information is given to them only from leaders. Leaders convinced members of the end of the world, yet when the set date came and passed without any catastrophe, leaders- due to their immense power and authority- were able to make excuses, claiming that God was taking pity on them, making members increasingly loyal and obedient. Both leaders claimed to have relations to God, giving them the power of authority of being "all-knowing". Both groups made members economically dependant which made them more vulnerable to authority.

Differences- As a way to get members to become true believers, OST leaders made members feel elite and special, the chosen ones. In contrast, Waren gained control with fear, telling members that if they, for example, told anyone about how he molested them, they would be going against god's will- he made members, especially children, feel worthless and incompetent and used this to get authority. OST members were obedient because they were afraid of the world ending yes, but they also felt like "the chosen ones", which is very different from Prophet's Prey.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Order-of-the-Solar-Temple
2.https://infosect.freeshell.org/infocult/phenomene/English/HTML/doc0008.htm
3. University of Wisconsin Document
https://montjoies.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Lewis-James-R.-ed.-Order-of-the-Solar-Temple.-The-Temple-of-Death-2006.pdf
4. Encyclopedia.com
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/solar-temple
5. Acidemickids
http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Order_of_the_Solar_Temple
6. LA Times
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-12-me-49232-story.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Table of Contents

Order of the Solar Temple, in full International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition, small New Religious Movement that was founded in Geneva in 1984 and is best known for the murder-suicide of 74 of its members in 1994-97.

The Solar Temple was founded in Geneva in 1984 by Luc Jouret, a homeopathic physician and New Age lecturer, and Joseph De Mambro. Its headquarters was later moved to Zürich, where a leadership council of 33 members presided, and regional lodges were set up to perform initiation ceremonies and other rites in Switzerland, Canada, and elsewhere.

The Solar Temple traced its history to the revival of the Knights Templar (a military-religious order founded in the 12th century that was suppressed by papal command in 1312) in the years after the French Revolution. In 1805 Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, claiming to be the head of the Knights Templar, attempted to re-create the order. His group split into many factions, some of which developed a belief in the imminent end of the world. Before founding the Solar Temple, Jouret had belonged to a descendant of one of these factions, the Renewed Order of the Temple.

Integral to the teachings of the Solar Temple was the belief 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. Thus, on Oct. 4-5, 1994, 53 members of the Solar Temple in Canada and Switzerland were murdered or committed suicide, and the buildings in which they died were set on fire. A year later another 16 members killed themselves, and 5 more died similarly in March 1997.

The Solar Temple was one of several 20th-century New Religious Movements whose ends occurred in acts of murder-suicide. The apparent affluence of the temple's membership challenged the prevailing conception of such incidents as the product of deprivations experienced by members and suggested a more ideological causation. The group seems to have survived the tragic events of the 1990s, and in the early 21st century it was believed to have between 140 and 500 members.

J. Gordon Melton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Order of the Solar Temple | New Religious Movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Order of the Solar Temple, in full International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition, small New Religious Movement that was founded in Geneva in 1984 and is best known for the murder-suicide of 74 of its members in 1994-97. The Solar Temple was founded in Geneva in 1984 by Luc Jouret, a homeopathic physician and New Age lecturer, and Joseph De Mambro.