ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a number of theories that have been put forward to explain the violence of the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS). A common characteristic of many new religious movements is that their organizational structure is in more or less constant change, and in that respect the Order of the Solar Temple was no exception. In the English-speaking world, the order was known by at least two names: the Order of the Solar Temple and the Hermetica Fraternitas Templi Universali. The Order of the Solar Temple was organized as a Masonic initiatory society with a strict hierarchy divided into different degrees. The rituals of the Solar Temple can be divided into two categories: magical/mystical ceremonies and rites of initiation. According to Wessinger, the Order of the Solar Temple adhered to a catastrophic millennialism expressed in New Age terminology. There has, however, been some criticism of the primacy of apocalypticism in explaining the violent end of the Solar Temple.
