Purity and danger in the solar temple
Based on research conducted in Québec, this study explores the shape of the social life, apocalyptic ideology and authority structure of the Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS) or Solar Temple within the framework of Mary Douglas's typology of group and grid'. The pollution fears and purity rit...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Carfax Publ.
[1996]
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| In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 1996, Volume: 11, Issue: 3, Pages: 303-318 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Based on research conducted in Québec, this study explores the shape of the social life, apocalyptic ideology and authority structure of the Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS) or Solar Temple within the framework of Mary Douglas's typology of group and grid'. The pollution fears and purity rituals of this controversial new religious movement are analysed as an important factor in their decision to orchestrate a religiously-motivated mass suicide/homicide, explained in their suicide documents as a transit' (a magical feat of soul travel) to the Star Sirius. Douglas's insights into how the human body becomes a natural symbol' for small, persecuted groups, mirroring the social body and the vulnerability of its exits and entrances vis-à-vis the surrounding culture, are applied to the alternative patterns of sexuality and parenting in the OTS. It is suggested that the magical aspect of the mass suicide expressed a concern for purity and for protecting the boundaries of their community. It is also suggested that the ritual homicides in Morin Heights resemble the witch-hunts' characteristic of Douglas's small society' that conceives of itself as the perfect, impermeable vessel. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13537909608580777 |