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Golden Way Foundation
The Order of the Solar Temple (, OTS), or simply the Solar Temple, was a new religious movement and secret society, 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 order, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated an eclectic range of beliefs with aspects 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, a French jeweler and esotericist with a history of fraud, co-led the group with Jouret, a Belgian homeopath known for lecturing on alternative medicine and spirituality. Di Mambro had founded several past esoteric groups, and had previous affiliation with a number of other organizations. This included The Pyramid and the Golden Way Foundation, a New Age group founded by Di Mambro that the OTS re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renewed Order Of The Temple
The Renewed Order of the Temple (), abbreviated as ORT, sometimes called the Renovated Order of the Temple, was a neo-Templar revivalist order. The ORT was established in 1970 by Raymond Bernard (esotericist), Raymond Bernard at the suggestion of Julien Origas, both members of the Rosicrucian organization AMORC, which it initially had a relation to. It was also part of the Arginy movement of neo-Templar organizations, influenced by Jacques Breyer. Bernard was the group's first president, but shortly after Origas succeeded Bernard, who stayed the secret grand master of the ORT. AMORC's leader grew worried about the ORT's increasing popularity threatening its international status, and Bernard left in 1972, leaving Origas the grand master. Origas, upon taking control, recreated the group's doctrine away from Rosicrucianism and incorporated aspects of the American religious organization "I AM" Activity. Origas was a former member of the Gestapo, and the affiliation of ORT with some f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geographical Distribution Of French Speakers
The French language became an international language, the second international language alongside Latin, in the Middle Ages, "from the fourteenth century onwards". It was not by virtue of the power of the Kingdom of France: '"... until the end of the fifteenth century, the French of the chancellery spread as a political and literary language because the French court was the model of chivalric culture". Consequently, it was less as a centralising monarch than as a "gentle courtly prince" that the king unwittingly spread his language" and "the methods of expansion were not political"'. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the language of European diplomacy and international relations. The terms Francophonie or Francophone world refer the whole body of people and organizations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. French is the third most geographically widespread language in the world after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthodox Judeo-Christian, Judeo-Christian religion and Age of Enlightenment rationalism. It has influenced, or contributed to, various forms of Western philosophy, mysticism, Western religions, religion, science, pseudoscience, Western art history, art, Western literature, literature, and Western culture#Music, music. The idea of grouping a wide range of Western traditions and philosophies together under the term ''esotericism'' developed in 17th-century Europe. Various academics have debated numerous definitions of Western esotericism. One view adopts a definition from certain esotericist schools of thought themselves, treating "esotericism" as a perennial philosophy, perennial hidden inner tradition. A second perspective sees esotericism as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trial Of Michel Tabachnik
In 2001 Swiss composer and orchestral conductor Michel Tabachnik was tried in the Grenoble criminal court, over his involvement in the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) religious movement. The Solar Temple was an esoteric and eclectic new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, that had been involved in several high profile mass-murder suicides in the 1990s. Tabachnik was accused of brainwashing the followers into the suicides and having known about the plans beforehand. Tabachnik was the only person tried in the aftermath of the Solar Temple deaths; he was found not guilty in the 2001 trial and in the 2006 appeal trial. Tabachnik had been involved in the movement since 1977, and had written , some of their higher level esoteric texts. He was highly involved in its early years, but had gradually moved away from the order in the years prior to the suicides. Following 1994 Solar Temple massacres, the first suicide, Tabachnik's involvement was realized by i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michel Tabachnik
Michel Tabachnik (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music and novels. Tabachnik has an interest in esotericism and spirituality, and beginning in the 1970s he was a member of the Golden Way Foundation and its successor group the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), run by Joseph Di Mambro. In 1994, the Solar Temple committed mass suicide, and following another mass suicide the next year, Tabachnik was investigated and tried twice for responsibility in the OTS deaths. Tabachnik was acquitted on all counts in both trials, and returned to conducting. Early life Tabachnik was born in Geneva, Switzerland on 10 November 1942. His father was a trombonist. In 1976, the French Minister of Culture gave him creative control over the direction of two new orchestras. He got his degree in music theor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-cult Movement
The anti-cult movement, abbreviated ACM and also known as the countercult movement, consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of religious groups that they consider to be " cults", uncover coercive practices used to attract and retain members, and help those who have become involved with harmful cult practices. One prominent group within the anti-cult movement, Christian counter-cult organizations, oppose new religious movements on theological grounds, categorizing them as ''cults'', and distribute information to this effect through church networks and via printed literature. Concept The anti-cult movement is conceptualized as a collection of individuals and groups, whether formally organized or not, who oppose some "new religious movements" (or " cults"). This countermovement has reportedly recruited participants from family members of "cultists," former group members (or apostates), religious group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Saint-Casimir Mass Suicide
On 22 March 1997, five members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) committed mass suicide in Saint-Casimir, Quebec, setting their house on fire with them inside. Among the dead were two couples: Didier and Chantal Quèze and Bruno Klaus and Pauline Riou, as well as Chantal's mother Suzanne Druau. The three children of the Quèzes had initially been included in the suicide plan, but the first attempt to initiate the suicide failed. After the failure of the first attempt, they confronted their parents, and convinced them that they wanted to live and were let go. Following two more unsuccessful attempts to orchestrate the suicide, the final attempt, with help from the children, was successful. This followed two prior mass suicides by the group in 1994 Solar Temple massacres, 1994 and 1995 Vercors massacre, 1995; the group had the theological doctrine that by committing suicide, one would not die, but "transit"; they conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1995 Vercors Massacre
On the morning of 16 December 1995, 16 members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a mass murder-Mass suicide, suicide in a clearing in the Vercors massif, Vercors, near the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes in Isère, France. Two members of the group, Jean-Pierre Lardanchet and André Friedli, shot and killed 14 other members, including three children, before setting the bodies on fire and killing themselves. This was done in order to facilitate a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius, a "transit", as it had been in previous mass suicides. This was the second mass murder-suicide associated with the group, following the 1994 Solar Temple massacres, 1994 mass murder-suicide, which had killed 53 members of the group, including both of its leaders, Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret. Following this initial transit, the OTS was believed to be defunct, but was actually secretly continued by Christiane Bonet, a devoted member of the group. Bonet claimed that she could communicate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1994 Solar Temple Massacres
From 30 September to 5 October 1994, 53 members or former members of the Order of the Solar Temple died in a series of mass murders and Mass suicide, suicides in Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, and in Cheiry and Salvan in Switzerland. The Solar Temple, or OTS, was founded in 1984, active in several Francophone countries. The group was led by Joseph Di Mambro with Luc Jouret as a second in command; the group had a theological doctrine that by committing suicide, one would not die, but "transit"; they conceptualized the transit as a ritual involving magic fire, where they would undergo a spiritual voyage to the star Sirius, where they would continue their lives. Following several scandals and outside pressures the group faced, this idea became more prominent. They began to plan the "transit" and wrote a letter declaring their intents and purposes in the act, called ''The Testament''. On 30 September 1994, the Dutoit family, former members, were ritualistically murdered in Morin-He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border with the territory of Nunavut. In the south, it shares a border with the United States. Between 1534 and 1763, what is now Quebec was the List of French possessions and colonies, French colony of ''Canada (New France), Canada'' and was the most developed colony in New France. Following the Seven Years' War, ''Canada'' became a Territorial evolution of the British Empire#List of territories that were once a part of the British Empire, British colony, first as the Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Province of Quebec (1763–1791), then Lower Canada (1791–1841), and lastly part of the Province of Canada (1841–1867) as a result of the Lower Canada Rebellion. It was Canadian Confederation, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms Trafficking
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arms, unlike other organized crime commodities, is more closely associated with exercising power in communities instead of achieving economic gain. Scholars estimate illegal arms transactions amount to over US$1 billion annually. To keep track of imports and exports of several of the most dangerous armament categories, the United Nations, in 1991, created a Register for Conventional Arms. Participation, however, is not compulsory, and lacks comprehensive data in regions outside of Europe. Africa, due to a prevalence of corrupt officials and loosely enforced trade regulations, is a region with extensive illicit arms activity. In a resolution to complement the Register with legally binding obligations, a Firearms Protocol was in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
