# Order of the Solar Temple · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Cult Dossier · No. 070 · Apocalyptic / Doomsday
Order of the Solar Temple
Ordre du Temple Solaire; OTS
1984 – 1997 · Geneva and Cheiry/Salvan, Switzerland; Morin-Heights and Saint-Casimir, Quebec; Grenoble, France
VII. THE 1980s — SIEGE AND SCANDAL
Fully religious — Neo-Templar esoteric order
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 1984 Order founded in Geneva by Di Mambro and Jouret, growing from Jouret's earlier Amenta and Golden Way groups.
- JANUARY 1989 MEMBERSHIP PEAKED AT 442, drawn overwhelmingly from the upper and middle classes, primarily in CANADA AND SWITZERLAND, with members also in France, Martinique and Australia. Recruits included civil servants, a mayor, a journalist and business owners, and they transferred large sums to the order.
- 1980s–90s DI MAMBRO CONTROLLED THE MONEY AND SPENT IT ON PROPERTY. Using followers’ funds he bought real estate in AUSTRALIA, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND AND CANADA. A DISAFFECTED MEMBER SUBSEQUENTLY DISCOVERED HE WAS APPROPRIATING ORDER FUNDS FOR HIS OWN USE — which is the financial thread running underneath the deaths, alongside Tony Dutoit’s exposure of the faked apparitions.
- 1993 Jouret convicted in Canada of illegal firearms purchase; publicity begins to unravel the group. Financial pressures mount and internal disillusion spreads.
- 30 SEPTEMBER 1994 Morin-Heights, Quebec: the Dutoit family murdered. Fires set on a timer.
- 2–5 OCTOBER 1994 CHEIRY AND SALVAN, SWITZERLAND. The Cheiry deaths occur on the night of 2–3 October and are discovered on the 5th; 23 bodies are found in a chapel lined with mirrors, arranged in a radial pattern with their feet towards a central altar, most shot in the head, many drugged, some with plastic bags over their heads. At Salvan, 25 more die in three chalets. Devices set fires. 48 DEAD IN SWITZERLAND (23 at Cheiry, 25 at Salvan) AND 5 IN QUEBEC — 53 IN THIS FIRST WAVE. Di Mambro and Jouret are among the dead.
- 16 DECEMBER 1995 VERCORS, FRANCE. 16 more die near Grenoble — fourteen in a forest clearing, arranged in a star pattern, including three children, and two more found nearby. Two men shot the others and then themselves.
- 22–23 MARCH 1997 SAINT-CASIMIR, QUEBEC. 5 adults die in a house fire, arranged in a cross. THREE TEENAGERS NEGOTIATE THEIR OWN SURVIVAL and are left out of it.
### Its people
### Joseph Di Mambro
—
Co-founder and financial controller, Order of the Solar Temple · 19 August 1924 – 4/5 October 1994 · active 1984–1994
Before the law. Prior fraud conviction in France. Died before any prosecution for the killings.
Where things stand. Deceased October 1994. 74 people died across three countries between 1994 and 1997.
- 1984 Co-founds the Order with Luc Jouret.
- 1980s Recruits affluent professionals; large sums transferred to the order.
- 1993 Finances collapse; internal disillusion spreads.
- 30 September 1994 The Dutoit family murdered in Quebec.
- 4–5 OCTOBER 1994 Dies at Salvan, Switzerland, among 53 dead across two sites.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Luc Jouret
—
Co-founder and public face, Order of the Solar Temple · 18 October 1947 – 4/5 October 1994 · active 1984–1994
Before the law. Convicted in Canada, 1993, of attempting to illegally acquire firearms; fined. Died before prosecution for the deaths.
Where things stand. Deceased October 1994.
- 1984 Co-founds the Order.
- 1980s–90s Lecture tours across Europe and Quebec recruit doctors, civil servants, a mayor and business owners.
- 1993 Convicted in Canada of illegal firearms purchase.
- 4–5 OCTOBER 1994 Dies at Salvan, Switzerland.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Michel Tabachnik
—
Alleged senior figure, Order of the Solar Temple — twice acquitted · born 10 November 1942 · active 1980s–1994
Before the law. TWICE ACQUITTED. No finding of guilt was ever made against him.
Where things stand. LIVING, AGED 83, AND CONDUCTING AT THE TOP OF THE PROFESSION — CONFIRMED AUGUST 2026. His 2025/26 engagements include the ISTANBUL STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, the NEW JAPAN PHILHARMONIC and the OSAKA PHILHARMONIC, and he is teaching a conducting masterclass at the TEATRO NICCOLINI IN FLORENCE from 26 TO 31 AUGUST 2026. He co-founded the ENSEMBLE INTERCONTEMPORAIN in Paris with PIERRE BOULEZ and has been Music Director of the BRUSSELS PHILHARMONIC. THIS IS PART OF THE RECORD, NOT AN ASIDE: he was prosecuted in connection with the Order of the Solar Temple and ACQUITTED, and he went on to a full international career. The dossier notes elsewhere how rarely the accused in these cases return to ordinary life; this is the clearest instance of someone who did.
- 1980s Associated with the order; writes texts for it.
- 1994–97 The 74 deaths across Switzerland, France and Canada.
- 2001 ACQUITTED in Grenoble.
- 2006 ACQUITTED again on appeal.
- 2006–present Continues his conducting career.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### The Dutoit family
Tony, Nicky and Christopher Emmanuel Dutoit
Murdered by the Order of the Solar Temple · killed 30 September 1994 · active 1994
Before the law. NO ONE WAS EVER CONVICTED. Di Mambro and Jouret died days later.
Where things stand. All three deceased 1994. The infant Christopher Emmanuel was three months old.
- 1980s–90s Tony Dutoit works as the order's technician and installs the projection equipment.
- 1994 Reveals to members that the Masters' apparitions were staged.
- 30 SEPTEMBER 1994 All three killed at Morin-Heights, Quebec. The three-month-old is stabbed with a wooden stake.
- 4–5 October 1994 53 more die in Switzerland.
Checked
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