15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, 30 were killed by bullets or smothering, and 8 others were killed by other causes. In Switzerland, many of the victims were found in a secret underground chapel lined with mirrors and other items of Templar symbolism. The bodies were dressed in the order's ceremonial robes and were in a circle, feet together, heads outward, most with plastic bags tied over their heads; they had each been shot in the head.
Another mass-death incident related to the OTS took place during the night between the 15 and 16 December 1995. On 23 December 1995, 16 bodies were discovered in a star-formation in the Vercors mountains of France. It was found later that two of them shot the others and then committed suicide by firearm and immolation. One of the dead included Olympian Edith Bonlieu, who had competed in the women's downhill at the 1956 Winter Olympics.
On the morning of 23 March 1997, five members of the OTS took their own lives in Saint-Casimir, Quebec. A small house erupted in flames, leaving behind five charred bodies for the police to pull from the rubble. Three teenagers, aged 13, 14 and 16, the children of one of the couples that died in the fire, were discovered in a shed behind the house, alive but heavily drugged.
I'm very curious about their teachings now, considering how many people were willing to kill and die over a long period. It's not like these were poor people with no prospects either.
The wiki article hints at them being similar to Heaven's Gate
The following users say it would be alright if the author of this
post didn't die in a fire!
Originally posted by aldra
I'm very curious about their teachings now, considering how many people were willing to kill and die over a long period. It's not like these were poor people with no prospects either.
The wiki article hints at them being similar to Heaven's Gate
Yeah I meant in terms of belief system; the idea that souls could leave earth and go to Sirius in this case, which features heavily in Crowley's Kabbalah-based mythos