Editing Order of the Solar Temple (section)

== Organization ==
The group used many names during its existence, sometimes multiple at once. Following the deaths, "Solar Temple" has been used as the overall common term.{{sfn|Mayer|2006a|p=7}} The "Order of the Solar Temple" formally was only a part of the larger organization; many members of the "core" of the organization were never actual members of the OTS proper.{{sfn|Mayer|2006b|p=91}} Many aspects of the group's organizational structure were in flux, as is the case in many NRMs;{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} the organization had several layers, compared to a [[Chinese boxes|Chinese box]] by scholars.{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} The most public face of the organization was the Amenta Club (later Atlanta), which had Luc Jouret lecture on [[New Age]]-related issues, including [[ecology]], [[homeopathy]], and [[naturopathy]]; it was the Amenta Club from which recruitment was done to the more secretive and ritualistic Archedia Clubs.{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} The third, and apparently most secretive layer, was the International Order of Chivalry Solar Tradition, or the Order of the Solar Temple.{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}}

The OTS had a strict hierarchy with three degrees, in the structure of an initiatory [[Freemasonry|Masonic society]]: the Frères du Parvis, Chevaliers de l’Alliance, and Frères des Temps Anciens (the Brothers of the Court, Knights of the Alliance, and Brothers of the Former Times).{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} The three levels of membership corresponded to the three degrees of initiation: initiates, awakened souls, and immortals.{{sfn|Chryssides|2006|p=120}} For each degree, a [[rite of initiation]] was undergone by the member; specifics of each ceremony varied, but in one ritual ("The Dubbing of a Knight") the officiants were mentioned as: Priest, Deacon, Ritual Master, Matre, Chaplain, Sentinel, Master of Ceremonies, Guardian, and Escorts. The precise relation of these hierarchies to the organization at large is unclear, with the degrees possibly constituting an even more selective group, which some sources call the Synarchy of the Temple.{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} Outside of this framework was the fourth organization, the Golden Way Foundation (previously La Pyramide), which was the parent structure of both the Archedia and Amenta clubs.{{sfn|Bogdan|2006|p=144}} Members of the OTS paid a monthly membership fee and lived communally.{{sfn|Clusel|Palmer|2020|p=219}}