Ordre du Temple solaire | |
 The variety of the Templar Cross used by the OTS | |
| Abbreviation | OTS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1984 |
| Dissolved | 1997 |
| Type | |
Region | |
Membership | 300–400 (core members) |
Founder | Joseph Di Mambro |
Grand Master | Luc Jouret |
Key people | Michel Tabachnik |
The Order of the Solar Temple (French: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS), or simply the Solar Temple, was a religious group, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout the 1990s. The OTS was a neo-Templar movement, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated a mix of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and New Age ideas. It was led by Joseph Di Mambro, with Luc Jouret as a spokesman and second in command. It was founded in 1984, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Di Mambro was a French jeweler, esotericist, and serial fraudster, while Jouret was a Belgian homeopath who lectured on alternative medicine and related spirituality. After meeting at one of these lectures they became close, and the OTS was formed. Di Mambro had founded several past esoteric groups, and had previous affiliation with a number of other organizations. The group was active throughout several French-speaking countries.
Following increasing legal and media scandal, including investigations over arms trafficking and pressure from an ex-member, as well as conflict within the group, the founders began to prepare for what they described as "transit" to the star Sirius. In 1994, Di Mambro first ordered the murder of a family of ex-members in Quebec, before orchestrating mass suicide and mass murder on two communes in Switzerland. In the following years, there were two other mass suicides of former OTS members in France in 1995 and in Quebec in 1997. In total, 74 people died in the course of these events; it is not known how many of the specific deaths were murder and how many were suicides.
The OTS was a major factor that led to the strengthening of the anti-cult movement in Europe, particularly in Francophone Europe. Due to the death of nearly all high ranking members of the organization, there was no one to convict, except a lone member, composer Michel Tabachnik; he was tried in France, but was acquitted twice in two separate trials, found to be innocent on all counts. In the aftermath many conspiracy theories revolving around the events resulted.