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Julien Origas
Undated photo of Origas in his grand master role.
Born(1920-03-27)27 March 1920
Breitenbach, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France
Died20 August 1983(1983-08-20) (aged 63)
SpouseGermaine Origas
Signature

Julien Origas (27 March 1920–20 August 1983) was a French Rosicrucian. In his 20s, he was sentenced to prison by the French government for collaborating with the Nazi occupation, for which he received several years in prison, though he was amnestied after serving two. Following his release from prison, he became interested in esotericism, and joined AMORC, a large Rosicrucian organization. He later split from the organization following criticism over ties Origas had with neo-Nazi groups and ideas, and other more controversial occult organizations.

Alongside Raymond Bernard, another French esotericist, he founded the Renewed Order of the Temple, a neo-Templar order close to AMORC; after Bernard left the organization he was the sole leader. The group became increasingly apocalyptic following its independence from AMORC. Following Origas's death, Luc Jouret became its leader, but he was then thrown out by Origas's daughter, resulting in a schism. Jouret would, with several members of ORT, later help found the Order of the Solar Temple, a group that would commit several mass murder-suicides throughout the 1990s.

Early life

Julien Origas was born 27 March 1920.[1] He was of Alsatian origin, born in Breitenbach, Bas-Rhin, in France.[2] He was an office worker in the factories of the Matford manufacturing company in Strasbourg. During World War II, the workers of the company evacuated to Bordeaux, where Origas went as well, before he became a driver and interpreter for the Nazi Organisation Todt in Rochefort during the occupation.[2] His family alleged he used this position to help Jews and resistance fighters escape. This lead to his arrest by his superiors in 1943; he was given two choices, either be deported to the Guernsey concentration camp or be incorporated into the Gestapo, of which he chose the latter. He was moved to Brest the next year, where he served in the Gestapo under Georg Roeder.[2][3]

He was ambushed by Breton resistance fighters and was wounded, before being picked up by fleeing Germans.[2] Origas escaped and hid with the aid of friends in Alsace, but in 1947 was charged and convicted for collaboration with the enemy. He was sentenced to four years in prison by the Military Tribunal of Rennes for collaboration the next year, but was amnestied in 1950.[2]

Esotericism

Origas joined AMORC in the period of 1951-1952, shortly following his release from prison; this was in a period where AMORC was regaining power in France.[2] He was married to Germaine Origas, also a member of AMORC. He participated in many occult orders, including the French Saint Germain Foundation in Marseille; he came into contact with high ranking AMORC figure Jeanne Guesdon, reached the 12th degree in the organization, and became the chaplain of the Parisian Rosicrucian lodge. He was also the head of a Paris based group of the traditional Martinist Order, where he was a significant figure.[2][4][5]

He was also interested in Knights Templar revival movements; he likely joined the Sovereign Order of the Solar Temple, a neo-Templar movement, in 1965, affiliated with Jean-Louise Marsan and esotericist Jacques Breyer.[2] Interested in these Templar revival movements, of which he was particularly drawn to the apocalyptic aspects, he suggested to fellow AMORC member Raymond Bernard the founding of a Renewed Order of the Temple (Ordre rénové du Temple, ORT), to which Bernard agreed. Following the founding of ORT, Origas was crowned "King of Jerusalem" in a ceremony, using an actual crown. ORT was close to AMORC, and appealed to occultists who were interested in joining a neo-Templar order; it quickly became the largest neo-Templar group.[6][7] Bernard quickly let Origas take control, leaving ORT entirely in the following years, and it was then led entirely by Origas.[6][8]

Even prior to the founding of ORT, he was affiliated with Alfred Zappelli, the leader of the Sovereign and Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (OSMTJ). Both organizations, though remaining separate, had some common activities; there may have been a secret order that brought together members of both organizations, which the other members did not know about. This group had ideas relating to an imminent apocalypse and ascended masters which walked the earth, among which they counted Origas and the leader of the Saint Germain Foundation, Angela. Members of this group prayed to both Origas and Angela, and believed both would be important figures in the apocalypse. Later ORT and the OSMTJ would have fierce disagreements.[9][3]

Origas was negatively portrayed by the French media, who criticized him for his affiliation with European white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. These ideals and connections to the Saint Germain Foundation lead to him splitting from AMORC, and ORT became independent of it; the group experienced several schisms, forming various other organizations, and began to draw more concepts from Angela and from Breyer, revolving around messages given by the ascended masters and ideas about the end of the world.[9][6]

Origas also visited with the Golden Way Foundation (which involved Joseph Di Mambro, and later became the Order of the Solar Temple);[10] one ex member of the OTS described Julien Origas, Joseph Di Mambro and Breyer as "the three chums who spoke of esoteric things" during these early meetings.[11][12] Di Mambro and Origas were quite close, and in 1981 Di Mambro arranged for Origas to meet Luc Jouret (a Belgian homeopath, invited by Di Mambro to speak at Golden Way the previous year), and that year Jouret joined ORT.[3][4][13] Jouret, a former communist, and Origas, a neo-Nazi, were quite close, and Origas may have appointed Jouret to be his successor.[14][13]

Death and legacy

Origas died 20 August 1983.[15] Jouret officiated his funeral.[13] Following his death, the ideas of the group only became more bizarre.[4] Jouret became leader of ORT after he died, and attempted to be recognized in this position, but this was opposed by Germaine and Catherine Origas, Origas' daughter – the dispute may have also involved group funds.[14][12][13] Less than a year later he was forced out of the group, taking many of the members with him.[a]

As a result, ORT split in two. One group (the one lead by Jouret, with 30 former ORT members) later formed the International Chivalric Order of the Solar Tradition (OICTS), later the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS), which was both a continuation of and a schism from ORT.[6][17][14][12] OICTS was a continuation of ORT as well as a schismatic group.[14] Jouret later claimed that this schism had been the will of the ascended masters, who had appeared to him two years prior and revealed to him a 13 year plan until the world ended.[14]

In 1984, ORT was indentified as a "very dangerous" group in a publication by the Centre contre les manipulations mentales, a French anti-cult group.[18] The Order of the Solar Temple later became notorious for the mass murder-suicides committed by its members in the 1990s, which killed most of its high ranking members.[6][17] The OTS inherited from Origas white supremacist ideas and apocalyptic ideology.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ Chryssides says the majority went with Catherine, while Hall & Schuyler say the majority went with Jouret.[13][16]

References

  1. ^ Caillet 1997, Carte d’identité ecclésiastique de Julien Origas, after page 149.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Caillet 1997, p. 39.
  3. ^ a b c Hall & Schuyler 2000, p. 125.
  4. ^ a b c Introvigne 1998, p. 407.
  5. ^ Introvigne 2006, p. 26.
  6. ^ a b c d e Caillet 2001, p. XLVII.
  7. ^ Introvigne 2006, pp. 25–26.
  8. ^ Chryssides 2006, p. 126.
  9. ^ a b Introvigne 2006, pp. 26–27.
  10. ^ Mayer 2006, p. 13.
  11. ^ Introvigne 2006, p. 29.
  12. ^ a b c Palmer 1996, pp. 305–306.
  13. ^ a b c d e Chryssides 2006, p. 127.
  14. ^ a b c d e Introvigne 2006, p. 30.
  15. ^ Caillet 1997, p. 131.
  16. ^ Hall & Schuyler 2000, p. 126.
  17. ^ a b Introvigne 2006, pp. 21, 26.
  18. ^ Hall & Schuyler 2000, p. 128.
  19. ^ Introvigne 2006, pp. 30, 33.
Sources
  • Caillet, Serge (1997). L'Ordre rénové du Temple: Aux racines du Temple solaire (in French). Dervy. ISBN 978-2-85076-924-5.
  • Caillet, Serge (2001). "Les Sociétés Initiatiques". In Chantin, Jean-Pierre (ed.). Les Marges du christianisme: « Sectes », dissidences, ésotérisme. Dictionnaire du monde religieux dans la France contemporaine (in French). Paris: Éditions Beauchesne. ISBN 978-2-7010-1418-0.
  • Hall, John R.; Schuyler, Philip D. (2000). "The Mystical Apocalypse of the Solar Temple". Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe, and Japan. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-97766-8.
  • Introvigne, Massimo (1998). "Renewed Order of the Temple". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-1-61592-738-8.
  • Lewis, James R., ed. (2006). The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death. Controversial New Religions. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5285-4.
  • Palmer, Susan J. (October 1996). "Purity and Danger in the Solar Temple". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 11 (3): 303–318. doi:10.1080/13537909608580777. ISSN 1353-7903.
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