5 Astounding Facts About Solar Temple
If you enjoyed our previous article about Solar Temple, you will love this one! Yet again, we are bringing you 5 astounding facts about Solar Temple! Being a famous cult, while there still exist many secrets, we are lucky enough to know some crazy things about them. So sit down on your couch, grab a cup of tea, and read about these 5 astounding facts about Solar Temple!
Rebirth? In Space? Sign Me Up!
If you are familiar with cults like Heaven’s Gate, the idea of being reborn onto a planet or spaceship will be nothing surprising to you. The Order of the Solar Temple taught their followers the end of the world was coming, of course, and their human bodies would have to be shed. Where would they end up, you ask? Well, where else would they go than an unnamed planet near Sirius? It seems like a great deal, and while it took some time to get the followers onboard, they eventually accepted this new doctrine, giving up their lives in a blaze of fire.
Welcome to Solar Temple -The Game
What if we told you that not only could you be part of a secretive cult based on the Knight Templar, could enter space via fire and level up like a game? Sounds pretty exciting, right? Well, if this sounds up your alley, then the Order of the Solar Temple but be perfect for you. Three levels existed within the organization, and as you become more and more entrenched in the cult’s beliefs, the higher you could ascend the ladder. However, these levels took a lot of work and a long time to achieve.
Are you ready to learn the rankings you could achieve? They are: the Amanta Club, the Archedia Club, and the International Knighthood Organization. Everyone who joined the cult started in the Amanta Club and was in charge of spreading the group’s message. They mostly did all the leg work for helping the organization spread as far as it did. Now, if you did a great job at this, you might be selected to join the Archedia Club.
Secret initiation rituals welcomed the new Knights and they were granted access to publications no one else could see. Only an Elder could select you to join the Archedia Club, and it was a great honor to be chosen. Those who worked up to this level learned more secrets and were told they were closer to the “higher consciousness.” Finally, if you helped indoctrinate others, proved to be a loyal and hardworking member, and dedicated your life to the cause, you might join the International Knighthood Organization.
Yes, We are Pay-to-Win
Did you think you could level up in Solar Temple without paying? Silly person, of course, you have to pay. A defining part of Solar Temple’s hierarchy was that its members had to pay to advance. This made the leaders extremely wealthy and helped to keep their members under their thumb. In exchange for giving up much of their frugal wealth, members were granted secret knowledge and promised salvation when Jesus returned to Earth.
What is Better Than One Cult? A Super-cult!
Solar Temple was originally two cults before coming together in a merging for the ages. Joseph Di Mambro’s cult was called Di Mambro’s Foundation Golden Way, and Luc Jouret led a group called the Arch. Combining their beliefs, they created The Order of the Solar Temple. They took Diambro’s Knight Templar obsession and Louret’s new age beliefs to create a super cult.
I Have Credibility; I am a Doctor!
While Di Mambro was the brains behind Solar Temple, he knew he required someone else to be the pretty face on the screen. Not to say he was ugly; he just lacked the charisma necessary to grow the organization. And who better to fill that role than his fellow cult leader, Luc Jouret? Jouret had been a physician before becoming a cult leader, and everyone knows we all love someone with a position of authority, such as a doctor. This made it easier to draw in new members over the coming years.
Sources
Myrtil, Bianca. “’The Order of the Solar Temple’ Is One of the Creepiest Cults Ever.” Film Daily, 17 Aug. 2021, https://filmdaily.co/news/order-of-the-solar-temple/.
“Order of the Solar Temple.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Order-of-the-Solar-Temple.
Sedlak-Hevener, Amanda. “Disturbing Secrets of the Order of the Solar Temple Cult.” Ranker, Ranker, 22 July 2022, https://www.ranker.com/list/order-of-the-solar-temple-cult/amandasedlakhevener.