Order of the Solar Temple

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Order of the Solar Temple was a secret society that would go down sharing the pages of history with Jonestown, the Branch Davidians and Heaven’s Gate. But is it fair to compare the groups? When it comes to incidents of mass violence and cults, perhaps it may be unavoidable. Because whether they ended in mass murder-suicide or a different form of violence, in spite of the striking ideological differences between them, there were some similarities – in all of these groups that ended with such undeniable tragedy.

EPISODE LINKS

• Violence and New Religious Movements — by James R. Lewis, Oxford University Press, 2011
• Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements — by Thomas Robbins & Susan J. Palmer, Psychology Press, 1997
• Pont-Saint-Esprit poisoning: Did the CIA spread LSD? — by Mike Thomson, BBC News, 23 August 2010
• Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis — AMORC international website
• Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis — AMORC Austral-Asia website
• The Tragedy Of The Solar Temple Cult — by Stephen Dafoe, TemplarHistory.com, 1 April 2010
• Joseph Di Mambro Biography — Biography.com listing for Joseph Di Mambro, 2 April 2014
• A Preacher With a Dark Side Led Cultists to Swiss Chalets — by Alan Riding, The New York Times, 9 October 1994
• Homeopathy — Homeopathy listing on the Victoria State Government's Better Health Channel
• The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death — by Professor James R Lewis, Ashgate Publishing, 2013
• Coroner's Report into the deaths at Morin Heights, Cheiry and Salvan — in French, June 1996
• "Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End": The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple — by Jean-Francois Mayer, Nova Religio, 1999
• Swiss Say They've Identified Body of Solar Temple Leader — by Alan Riding, The New York Times, 14 October 1994
• Quebec Fire Kills 2; Linked to Cult in Switzerland — by Clyde Farnsworth, The New York Times, 6 October 1994
• Canada Seeks Money Trail Of Secret Cult — by Clyde Farnsworth, The New York Times, 16 October 1994
• Wife of Top Cult Leader Identified — Associated Press, 21 October 1994
• Cults: The One Thing I Will Never Write About — by Hannah Mary McKinnon, CrimeReads, 19 April 2018
• Suspected cult leader faces second trial — SWI swissinfo.ch, 24 October 2006
• Geneva seeks to temper influence of cults — SWI swissinfo.ch, 3 November 2001
• Fire kills 5 Canadian cultists — The Victoria Advocate, 24 March 1997
• Le miraculé du Temple solaire — by Renaud Leblond, l'express, 3 August 1995 (in French)
• Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases — by Catherine Wessinger, Syracuse University Press, 2000
• "There Is no Place for Us to Go but Up": New Religious Movements and Violence — by Massimo Introvigne, Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (SISR), 21 August 2001
• Sects and Violence: The "Standard Model" of New Religions Violence — by James R Lewis, Journal of Religion and Violence 1:1, 2013
• The gory details of the Solar Temple cult at Morin Heights — Jed Kahane, CBC News, 8 October 1994
• Is the Solar Temple a doomsday cult or New Age religion? — Tina Srebotnjak, CBC News, 6 October 1994
• Solar Temple cult leader Joseph Di Mambro confirmed dead — Heather Hiscox, CBC News, 10 October 1994
• Brainwashed or free will? A former Solar Temple cult member speaks — Neil MacDonald, CBC News, 6 October 1994
• Searching for answers in Solar Temple cult deaths — Tom Kennedy, CBC News, 24 March 1997
• Quebec Police Say Baby Was Target of Cult — by Clyde H. Farnsworth, The New York Times, 20 November 1994
• 48 in Sect Are Killed in Grisly Ritual in Switzerland — by Alan Riding, The New York Times, 6 October 1994
• Theosophy Wiki: Alice Bailey
• The Externalisation of the Heirarchy — by Alice A. Bailey, Lucis Trust, 1957
• Solar Temple death case in court — News24, 17 April 2001
• "The sect still exists and can kill" — by Frédéric Vezard, LeParisien 19 April 2001 (in French)
• Ordeal by Fire: The Tragedy of the Solar Temple — by Massimo Introvigne, Religion, 25:3, 267-283, 1995
• Order of the Solar Temple — Jennifer Sloan, Soc 257: New Religious Movements, Spring Term, 1999, University of Virginia
• Cult Leader In Swiss Case Still Missing — by Alan Riding, The New York Times, 11 October 1994
• Body Found in Swiss Chalet Identified as No. 2 Cult Leader — by Alan Cowell, The New York Times, 10 October 1994
• Swiss Say Some Sect Members Found in Fires Were Murdered — by Alan Cowell, The New York Times, 9 October 1994