1995-edith_vuarnet-infocard

Twenty-six years and four days ago, a group of followers of "l'Ordre du Temple Solaire" (French for "Order of the Solar Temple") attempted an occult ritual. The Solar Temple had a long history of dodgy rituals - longer than its own existence, for the group was founded by members of Gestapo agent Julien Origas' "Renewed Order of the Temple". Usually the rituals involved drugs and light shows (which the believers thought were magic, because apparently nobody seriously considered the possibility that their Ascended Master could master a remote control.)In the 1990s, the leader's megalomania grew - and his sense of control waned. If I recall correctly, one factor was that the followers were RIGHT about one thing: their Master was not smart enough to build a remote controlled light show. His tech guy did it. And his tech guy quit the cult. The cult's teachings grew more sinister.In 1994, they ritually sacrificed three month old Christopher Emmanuel Dutoit. The murder of Christopher (and his parents) did not stabilize the group - rather, they set the stage for larger rituals. They were already brainwashed. All they needed was a new program.Julien's heir had a new program for his followers. They were to go to other planets - in spirit. This, of course, required death - and those too weak in faith to kill themselves were to be murdered.At the end, it is likely that the so-called Master had lost all grip on reality, for he joined a group of his followers in death. Unfortunately, many of the survivors continued to believe him, leading to a sprinkling of sacrifice-murder-suicides later in the 90s.https://apnews.com/article/abcbfec7bda64f349b982035192f383bThe OST's history is well worth researching, especially if you know French. Unfortunately, mine is too weak to dig to their roots in Julien Origas's so-called 'Templars'.The December 15th ritual claimed the lives of officers Jean-Pierre Lardanchet and Patrick Rostand - who, tragically, had been brainwashed to the point where they LED this particular dark rite. Lardanchet's daughters, Aldwin (4) and Curval (not yet 2) were murdered; Edith Vuarnet (pictured) and 11 other people were also murdered in the ritual.