In 1945, Magdalena Solis was born in Veracruz, Mexico. Due to her upbringing in a low-income family, she had little possibilities to further her education and career. She relocated to San Francisco del Rincón in the state of Guanajuato in the late 1960s, when she joined a local cult known as “The Palomar.”

Santos, the leader of the Palomar, professed to possess supernatural abilities and the capacity to speak with the gods. Santos persuaded his followers that he was a heavenly entity and that they had to offer sacrifices to the gods in order to please them and usher in a new era of abundance and prosperity.

When Santos passed away, Solis and her brother Eleazar gained control of the sect. They changed its name to “The Order of the Solar Temple” and started pressuring their adherents to make even greater sacrifices. They persuaded their adherents that Solis was a reincarnation of an Incan goddess, and that in order to usher in a new era of enlightenment, she needed to be adored and appeased.

At initially, the cult killed animals as sacrifices, but soon moved on to offering human beings as well. The cult members gladly offered themselves as a sacrifice because they believed Solis had the ability to bring them wealth and prosperity.

Local law enforcement ultimately learned about the cult’s activities, and in 1963 they detained Solis and her brother. They were accused with several counts of murder, and Solis was judged responsible and given a 50-year prison term. In prison, she passed away in 1983.