On the morning of October 5, 1994, 53 people were found poisoned and riddled with bullets in a farm in Cheiry (FR) and a burning chalet in Salvan (VS), as well as in a villa in Quebec. All are members of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS). The RTS Podcast “Soleil noir” dissects, using previously unpublished sound archives, the horrors committed within the sect.
Between 1994 and 1997, the sect was at the heart of a series of tragedies that shocked the world. In total, 74 people lost their lives in Switzerland, France and Canada. This organization advocated a mixture of New Age spirituality, esotericism and survivalism, promising its followers a “transit” on a star called Sirius.
The podcast “Black Sun, autopsy of a sect”, produced in partnership with Radio Canada, delves inside the OTS.
Through exclusive interviews, internal audio archives – members of the sect had been wiretapped by the “master” Joseph di Mambro – and police recordings never broadcast, this investigation both deciphers the mechanics of mental control, an unusual notion at the time, and explores the gray areas that remain 30 years later.
>> The first episode of the series, dedicated to the massacres which brought the OTS to light:
>> The page bringing together all podcast episodes
The OTS drama played out before the era of social networks. But one of its leaders, the homeopathic doctor Luc Jouret, was a bit of an influencer before his time. He understood that it was necessary to create content and that it was necessary to disseminate it as widely as possible. The sect works with audio cassettes of the numerous conferences he gives.
For a former follower, Joseph di Mambro manipulated the members of the OTS “100%”. “We did meditations that lasted for hours. We fasted. It was always night. We no longer had our critical sense and our discernment. That was what he wanted,” explains this woman during her interrogation by police.
But the control mechanism is not complete. Some members began to doubt the functioning of this community. Roger (assumed name), a former follower, testifies today: “I found that things were starting to go a little off the rails in the words of the leaders who gave us their testimony. For me, it was a bit off to the stars. I didn’t understand that didn’t suit me. And life as a couple was a little more difficult. I felt the need to resume my life according to my choices and to be able to decide what I felt I could no longer do. that is, I was told to do and think what I should do and think.”
“Soleil noir” is a podcast by Fanny Moille and Gautier Renault, directed by Didier Rossat, produced by Magali Philip, with music by Pierre Audétat and with the collaboration of Radio-Canada. In addition to the RTS sites and applications, it is available on all podcast platforms.
