Siberian Satanist Cult

While admittedly very, very little is known about this cult, I felt it would be fairly interesting to detail what little is known about it here.

In 1996 in Tyumen, a town in Siberia, five teenagers and young adults between 17 and 22 years were found hanged between the months of April and October. At first they were concluded to be tragic suicides with no relations, but later investigation revealed that all five victims were in fact members of an apparent Satanic cult. They assembled regularly in a basement, which contained a Satanic altar, and all five members possessed writings detailing their beliefs. They listed several steps in a bizarre initiation process, the last of which was ritualized asphyxiation. Sergei Sidorov, the fourth person to die, told his mother before his death that he was involved in something he couldn't escape. 36 additional deaths had been recorded in Tyumen the previous year, all aging between 12 and 22. Although police are searching for the leaders of this cult, progress has been little to none, and it is most likely that the case will never be resolved.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures other, so enjoy this fairly relevant Satanic cult icon.

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God was a cult in Uganda, founded in some ways by Credonia Mwerinde and in others by Joseph Kibwetere. Mwerinde was a prostitute in the town of Kanungu who had been through several unhappy marriages before she met a man who took her as his seventh wife. She had three children from previous marriages, but was unable to conceive, which strained her marriage once again. However, she claimed to have visions of the Virgin Mary, who apparently told her that she herself had decided to withhold Mwerinde's children. Kibwetere believed very strongly in these visions and later claimed to have visions himself of conversations between Mary and Jesus.

The face of Joseph Kibwetere, failed politician and Movement leader.

The Movement was founded due to one of these conversations that Kibwetere allegedly heard, in which the Virgin Mary complained to Jesus about the world's lack of regard for the Ten Commandments. She also predicted in this conversation that the world would end on December 31, 1999. The group started out harmlessly enough, with members reportedly being very disciplined with only some strange habits. However, it took a turn for the worse when it began to fail to fulfill public health requirements and authorities began to receive reports of children being treated badly.

Mwerinde's own goals especially became to come to light when she became a dominant figure in the group. The Virgin Mary's orders were channelled through her body and voice, causing others to refer to her as the "programmer." Kibwetere was mostly seen as a mere pawn in Mwerinde's quest for fame and money. She was said to be violent and unstable, and it was speculated that she was a pyromaniac and that she had killed before. One of her ex-husbands was quoted as saying "She was only happy when she was making money."

When December 31, 1999 came to pass and the year 2000 began, Mwerinde declared that the world would end before the year 2000 did, and there would not be a year 2001. On March 17, 2000, a fire that may have been planned beforehand killed between 300 and 600 people. The Movement engaged in celebratory activities a few days beforehand, and Kibwetere described the world-changing events that were about to take place in a letter to government officials. However, there is speculation that it may have been a mass murder rather than a mass suicide. Unfortunately, due to the challenges posed by the fact that the Movement was in Uganda, proper investigation has failed and very little is known about the Movement or the disastrous fire that killed many members.

The unfortunate cleanup crew dealing with the aftermath of the fire.

Order of the Solar Temple

The Order of the Solar Temple was a secretive cult based in Quebec, founded by Jo Di Mambro and Luc Jouret. Di Mambro was a very radical man, declaring several bizarre practices and beliefs. He said he was reincarnated, but his former incarnation changed frequently to suit his needs. He also organized marriages between his followers and decided who could have children in their group. His history of fraud and swindling hints as to why he managed to get so much money from donors in the first place. Luc Jouret, however, was a charismatic doctor and obstetrician from Belgium. He had professional merit, but he embraced spiritual healing as well and ultimately proved almost as radical as Di Mambro, coming to share many of his ideas.

A medallion showing the emblem of the Order.

The Order first came to light in a sinister case of murder at a renowned ski resort in Morin Heights. Fire services were called to the property due to, as is hopefully obvious, a fire. They recovered two charred bodies, which were at first believed to be Di Mambro and Jouret, as they were on Di Mambro's property. However, autopsies showed that the bodies did not belong to them, but to two members of the Order, and further investigation discovered three more bodies in a cupboard. The corpses belonged to the family that Di Mambro had been renting the property out to, consisting of a couple and their young son.

Di Mambro ordered the murders of the Dutoit family due to an incident during which they left the cult. Tony Dutoit had helped Di Mambro create an illusion in which the elders of the Order would materialize before their followers for their rituals. However, he eventually revealed the practice to other Order members and tried to reclaim the money he had donated to the Order. His wife, Nicki Dutoit, also became pregnant without Di Mambro's permission, which only angered him further. The couple left the Order, and after their son, Emmanuel Dutoit, was born, Di Mambro declared him to be the Antichrist, justifying his orders to the Order.

Afterwards, several mass suicides began to occur in Switzerland and France. Followers were found placed in a sun-shaped circle around a triangular altar, some with plastic bags over their heads. Only some of them turned out to be suicide, however, as most were murdered. Flammable liquids such as petrol were found poured all over the buildings, which were rigged with several explosive devices that failed to detonate. This traces back to the Order's belief that fire is the only medium which one can ascend to the next realm through, which was the star Sirius, where the cult believed they could reconvene after death.

The triangular altar and the suicide room, minus bodies.

All in all, 74 followers took their own lives, after which the cult died down. The authorities do not consider any remaining members of the Order a threat.

The People's Temple

The People's Temple was a cult that appeared to start out as relatively well-meaning, but it eventually became one of the most infamous cults of the 60s and 70s, possibly of all time. It was founded by Jim Jones, who quickly gained infamy along with his cult and was born in a small town in Indiana in 1931. He quickly became interested in religion, namely the Christian faith, of which he was a part of. He became a pastor at 19, and began to introduce black worshippers into the church congregation. When he resisted racism, which was prominent in Indiana at the time, he gained many followers, mostly from Indianapolis' ethnic minorities.

A picture of Jim Jones.

Eventually, due to problems with government investigation, the organization moved to Ukiah, California, as Jones was paranoid of the threat of nuclear attack and a recent magazine article had listed Ukiah as one of only nine places in the U.S. that could survive a nuclear attack. He planned on moving to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in an attempt to avoid the nuclear threat, but eventually decided that Guyana would be a more ideal place for the People's Temple.


Children, like the ones pictured here with Jones himself, were also inhabitants of Jonestown.


He built a complex in the Guyanese jungle called Jonestown, and then he and 1,000 of his faithful followers moved there to build Jones' ideal paradise. However, a San Francisco politician named Leo Ryan grew concerned about the people that went with Jones, especially when he received messages saying that several followers were held against their will in Jonestown. He eventually managed to gain access to Jonestown, promising the followers that they were free to leave with him and they would be protected. Fifteen people said they wanted to leave and go home, but the airplane wouldn't have been able to carry them all back. Another plane was called to help, but before it ever arrived several Temple followers opened fire on the group. Five people died, including Ryan, and eleven were wounded.

Jones feared retribution for the murders, and it was at this point that he declared that it was time to depart to a better place than the Earth, which his followers were too good for. Some form of fruity drink, possibly Kool-Aid or FlaVor-Aid, was laced with cyanide and sedatives. Then the mixture was fed to babies, then children, and finally adults. Several members resisted and had their throats slit or were shot in the head. Only a few managed to escape into the jungle.

A picture of the aftermath of the mass suicide at Jonestown.

Overall, between 911 and 914 deaths were recorded at Jonestown, with Jones having a bullet wound in his right temple. It is believed that he inflicted the wound himself during the mass suicide. The bodies were sent back to the U.S., but most cemeteries refused to bury the remains. The Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland finally agreed to take the 409 remaining bodies, and a memorial service is held in honor of the victims every year. The rest of the bodies were cremated or buried in family graveyards. Most of the survivors killed themselves and their children a few months later anyways, and several ex-members were also shot dead afterwards. Jonestown was finally destroyed by fire in the 80s, and the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 destroyed the People's Temple headquarters in San Francisco.



A bigger picture of the aftermath of the mass suicide at Jonestown.

Heaven's Gate

The Heaven's Gate cult first became infamous in 1997 when its 39 members committed mass suicide in San Diego. Founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, later known as Do and Ti respectively, it was centered around the belief that a UFO would appear to take the cult's followers to the "next level." Its members were ordered to give up most worldly comforts, such as family and friends, alcohol, tobacco, and sex. In fact, six male members of the cult infamously went to Mexico in order to be castrated, one of which was Applewhite himself. All members wore identical clothes and had identical haircuts, making it virtually impossible to tell the gender or identity of any member.

Marshall Applewhite in his cult initiation video.

Eventually, the comet known as Hale-Bopp came to pass by the Earth, in a rather amazing and colorful display. Indeed, it became the most photographed comet of all time. An amateur photographer named Chuck Shramek took a picture in November of 1996, apparently capturing another object trailing behind the comet. The Heaven's Gate cult immediately assumed this object to be the UFO that they had been waiting for, and they began to prepare to depart the Earth before the apocalypse. Bonnie Nettles, who had died in 1985 due to liver cancer, was believed to be piloting the spacecraft, and the remaining members appeared to be thrilled about their impending reunion.

The Heaven's Gate logo, as seen on the group's official website.



After enjoying their last period of time on Earth by going to Golden Beach and San Diego Sea World, eating pizza, burgers, steaks, chicken pot pie, cheesecake, and iced tea, and purchasing insurance against alien abduction at a UFO conference, the 39 members all committed suicide in 3 groups. 15 died in the first group, 15 in the second, and the last 9 in the third and final group. They all drank a mixture of applesauce, phenobarbital, and vodka, the last two being deadly when combined. They all also wore plastic bags over their heads to ensure suffocation if the poison failed, and after death the living members would remove them and replace them with purple shrouds. Two bodies still had plastic bags over their heads when they were discovered, as apparently they were the last to die, leaving no one to remove the bags.

The Heaven's Gate cult still impacts several people today. Apparently, there are several "new age believers" who are currently waiting for another UFO to beam them up into space. However, no one was to spread the belief except for one survivor, Rio DiAngelo. He was the 40th person in the suicide pact formed by the cult, but Applewhite told his followers several times that they were free to leave if they wished. DiAngelo left about a month before the suicides took place, but Applewhite agreed that it was "part of the plan" and remained in contact with him. DiAngelo does still seem to admire Applewhite and still thinks of the Heaven's Gate members as his friends. He still considers himself a member but doesn't plan on ever committing suicide. Even stranger is the fact that the Heaven's Gate official website, made when the Internet was brand new, is still active and is the fifth most popular result for "heaven's gate" on Google, after two Wikipedia articles, a website about an unrelated movie with the same name, and a list of several articles about Heaven's Gate. Apparently, a mysterious person named Mark King has been renewing the website every year since 1997, although it has never been updated and it still contains the cult's farewell message. His listed contact information took years to trace, and even now the only information gathered on him is a lawsuit from 1998. He was a trustee of the cult that sued Chuck Humphrey for selling unauthorized Heaven's Gate merchandise, but that is the only thing known about him at this point. Hopefully, more information can be gathered in the future.