Siderella

Siderella was known for its usage of multiple names, often simultaneously or in combination, which changed repeatedly.{{Cite magazine |last=Marhic |first=Renaud |author-link=Renaud Marhic |date=1997 |title=Liaisons dangereuses: Sectes et Ovnis |trans-title=Dangerous liasons: Cults and UFOs |magazine=Phénomèna |location=Aix-en-Provence |pages=15–21 |language=fr-FR |issue=37 |issn=1157-4704}}{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} It was founded under the name Iso-Zen,{{sfn|Vernette|1990|p=216}}{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} standing for {{Lang|fr|Intervalle Synthèse Opération Zététique, Energétique et Nucléonique}} ({{Literal translation|Interval Synthesis Zététique, Energetic and Nucleonic}}).{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=46}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=123}}

Then the name was changed to, successively, Futura, Galacteus,{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Mauge|Clark|1990|p=115}}{{sfn|Gałkowski|2019|p=78}} Euro-Culture, Italia, {{lang|fr|Résonances nouvelles}} ({{Literal translation|New Resonance}}), {{lang|fr|Azur Mieux-Être}} ({{Literal translation|Azur Better Being}}), {{lang|fr|les Voyageurs intemporels}} ({{Literal translation|The Timeless Voyagers}}), and then Siderella.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=46}}{{sfn|Gałkowski|2019|p=78}}{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}} Additional names included Appel, Espace Futura, {{Lang|fr|Groupe Énergie}}, {{Lang|fr|Groupe Eva-Nouvelle Eve}}, Groupe Futura, Groupe Operal,{{sfn|Vernette|1990|p=216}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} and Interal.{{Cite news |last=Brunschwig |first=Francis |date=1994-03-23 |title=Des sectes se cachent-elles derrière la médecine naturelle? |trans-title=Are cults hiding behind natural medicine? |url=https://www.scriptorium.ch/zoom/34698/view?page=17 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=24 heures |location=Lausanne |page=17 |language=fr-CH |via=Scriptorium |issue=69 |issn=1661-2256}} Siderella was the name it was listed as in the parliamentary cult report.{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|pp=93, 95}} The name Siderella is a neologism from Italian.{{sfn|Gałkowski|2019|p=78}}

Siderella is a UFO religion,{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Mayer|1999|p=195}}{{sfn|de Gibon|1985|p=562}} and also a contactee group.{{sfn|Mauge|Clark|1990|p=115}} The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo dubbed them a "psychopathosect".{{Cite news |last=S. |first=A. |date=1998-09-23 |title=Psychopathosectaire |work=Charlie Hebdo |location=Paris |language=fr-FR |issn=1240-0068}}{{sfn|Gałkowski|2019|p=78}} A "consciousness study group", it focused on practices aimed to expand human consciousness, and develop the "psycho-mental-spiritual evolution" of man.{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} Their perspective was immaterial and heavily focused on extraterrestrial contact, worshiping UFOs.{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}}{{sfn|Ramet|1998|p=235}} They believed in a "purified and unified devotion" towards aliens and "the Supreme Being".{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} They drew elements from Buddhism and Tantrism.{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}}{{sfn|Abgrall|2000|p=62}} The group sought new members from university professors, using competitive tests,{{sfn|Picard|Fournier|2002|p=265}} and advertised with flyers including science-fiction drawings.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=46}} They advertised in the New Age scene,{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=49}} and presented themselves as merely UFO enthusiasts. Mostly active in France,{{sfn|Gałkowski|2019|p=78}} they also had some members in Germany.{{sfn|Ramet|1998|p=235}} {{As of|1995}} they had an estimated 50 to 500 members.{{Cite magazine |date=1996 |title=Bloc-notes |magazine=Phénomèna |location=Aix-en-Provence |pages=17, 22–23, 27, 31 |language=fr-FR |issue=31 |issn=1157-4704}}

Members lived communally;{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} the group's activities centered around preparing for contact with aliens, and group sex,{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}} interpreted as "tantric transmutation".{{sfn|Abgrall|2000|p=93}} They also incorporated New Age beliefs and ones related to esoteric and initiatory societies, such as ones concerned with planetary degradation and "energy".{{Cite news |author=Devil |first=Nicolas Devil |last2=Bélair |first2=Michel |date=March 1977 |title="Les extra-terrestres" |trans-title="The Aliens" |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2219920 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=Mainmise |location=Sherbrooke |page=35 |language=fr-CA |via=BAnQ numérique |issue=68 |issn=1186-3161}}{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=269}} They incorporated crystals into their practice, and wearing them was recommended.{{sfn|Abgrall|2000|p=200}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} They also sold naturopathic medicine. They claimed to be able to telepathically communicate with beings from other dimensions, in an effort to achieve the "cosmic junction".{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} They believed of an impending apocalypse where members would be saved by aliens in a UFO craft and taken to Alpha Centauri, though they presented themselves as more UFO-oriented than apocalyptic.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|pp=47–48}} They were noted to use esoteric language.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=49}} They advocated initiating one's self into the "Unitary Science of the Intra-Universe".{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} Appel would, in a trance, "channel" messages from these space beings.{{Cite news |last=La Belle |first=René |date=1991-01-30 |title=À la découvre des nouvelles religions: lllusion, canular, phares d'avion, vaisseau spatial? |trans-title=Discovering new religions: illusion, hoax, plane headlights, spaceship? |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/4781393 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=Le Canada français |location=Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu |page=B-7 |language=fr-CA |via=BAnQ numérique |issue=34}} There were concerns over how they treated women.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}} A related commercial organization was SARL Transtar-Interal, the group's commercial outlet, who sold the group's products, including CDs, cassettes, member Sergio Macedo's works, as well as an over 6000 page "bible" written by Appel.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|pp=49–50}} They also sold courses for a fee. This was how the group raised funds.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|pp=49–50}}

They were often described as a cult by media outlets, and other UFO organizations, including the organization SOS-OVNI which was critical of them.{{Cite news |date=1996-11-12 |title=Les sectes récupèrent les OVNI |trans-title=Cults reclaim UFOs |url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2736310 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=Le Soleil |location=Quebec City |page=A15 |language=fr-CA |via=BAnQ numérique |issn=0319-0730 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}{{Cite magazine |last=Gaetner |first=Gilles |date=2002-09-18 |title=L'argent caché des sectes |trans-title=The hidden money of cults |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/l-argent-cache-des-sectes_498058.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-06-01 |magazine=L'Express |location=Paris |language=fr-FR |issn=0014-5270}} In 1995, the group was listed as a cult in the Cults and Money ({{Langx|fr|Sectes et argent}}) report of the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France.{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Picard|Fournier|2002|p=265}} It was one of only 3 groups officially classified as "UFO cults" in France (listed as Siderella) by the report, being the only three exclusively ufological in nature.{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|pp=93, 95}} The other two were Raëlism and {{Lang|fr|l'École de la préparation à l'évacuation extraterrestre}}.{{Cite magazine |date=1998 |title=Bloc-notes |magazine=Phénomèna |location=Aix-en-Provence |page=20 |language=fr-FR |issue=38 |issn=1157-4704}}{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=93}}

It was founded by Jean-Paul Appel-Guéry,{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}} known within the group as Appel Guery or Iso, Osi, or Io.{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} His real name was Jean-Paul Appel.{{sfn|Vernette|1990|p=216}}{{sfn|Mauge|Clark|1990|p=115}}{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}} A contactee, he claimed to receive messages from aliens.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}}{{sfn|Vernette|1990|p=216}} Appel also claimed that he had been conceived by aliens, who had bestowed upon him "favorable chromosomal conjunctions", and that he had been "exceptionally gifted, programmed as he was by the cosmic powers".{{sfn|Abgrall|2000|p=63}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} He claimed that he had first been contacted by extraterrestrial forces at age 12, when a beam of light passed through his brain, which, he said, only activated six years later while he was "initiated by a spiritual master".{{sfn|Vernette|1990|p=216}}{{sfn|Abgrall|2000|p=63}} In 1966, the group was founded by Appel as Iso-Zen in Paris, France. They operated out of the Lowendal street in Paris for some time.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}}

Appel declared it under the name Iso-Zen in 1970.{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=123}} It was part of the contactee movement in France, which was generally small.{{sfn|Mauge|Clark|1990|p=115}} He dissolved it again in 1978 and reestablished it under several different names.{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=123}} They were popular during the hippie movement throughout the mid 1970s, and were sometimes viewed as more of an artist collective; the group had two notable comic book artists among its membership. Brazilian comic artist Sergio Macedo joined in 1980 while in France. Afterwards, he supposedly received visions of extraterrestrials, which would feature more prominently in his works from then on.{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} The comic artist Jean Giraud, known as Mœbius, was also a member of the group.{{sfn|Mauge|Clark|1990|p=115}} Appel was a great influence on his works,{{Cite news |last=O. |first=A. |date=1986-02-27 |title=Le mois prochain au Centre culturel neuchâtelois: Va y'avoir des bulles... |trans-title=Next month at the Neuchâtel Cultural Center: There's going to be some bubbles... |url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=IMP19860227-01.2.126 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=L'Impartial |location=La Chaux-de-Fonds |page=23 |language=fr-CH |via=e-newspaperarchives.ch |issue=33164 |issn=1053-3222}} and in the 1990s described Appel as "a man of superior intelligence".{{Cite magazine |last=David |first=Marc |date=1996-01-10 |title=Jouret et Di Mambro la recommandaient: La BD qui annonçait le massacre |trans-title=Jouret and Di Mambro recommended: The comic book that foretold the massacre |url=https://scriptorium.ch/zoom/196663/view?page=26 |access-date=2024-09-05 |magazine=L'Illustré |location=Lausanne |pages=26–27 |language=fr-CH |via=Scriptorium |issn=1420-5165}} In 2015, Macedo expressed no regrets and praised Appel as "an extraordinary guide".{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} Other members included the relatives of politicians and well-known fashion designers. Singer Michel Jonasz briefly expressed interest before believing Appel was unwilling to "share the spotlight".

In 1980, they announced an impending apocalypse.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}} In 1982, the group moved out of France and to Tahiti in French Polynesia, where they established a "study center".{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}}{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}} Both Girard and Macedo moved with them to Tahiti.{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}}{{Cite news |last=Fleury |first=Pascal |date=1991-06-08 |title=Entretiens : "Docteur Mœbius et Mister Gir": La double vie de Jean Giraud |trans-title=Interviews: "Docteur Mœbius et Mister Gir": The double life of Jean Giraud |url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=LLE19910608-01.2.233 |access-date=2025-06-01 |work=La Liberté |location=Fribourg |page=41 |language=fr-CH |via=e-newspaperarchives.ch |issue=205 |issn=1660-2293}} Based on increasing visionary elements, that year Appel wrote Timeless Voyage, a comic book, with illustrations from Macedo.{{sfn|Abgrall|1999|p=95}}{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}}{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=48}} This comic depicts the beliefs of the group,{{sfn|Mayer|1999|p=195}}{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=109}} and was claimed to be based on a real story experienced by members of the group.{{sfn|Silva|2017|p=108}} They received some attention for this when another UFO religion, the Order of the Solar Temple, sold the comic; the Solar Temple committed mass suicide in 1994, which some commentators connected to the comic strip.{{sfn|Mayer|1999|pp=181, 195}} Appel denied any connection and called what happened tragic.{{Cite magazine |last=Laplau |first=Jacques |date=1996-02-21 |title=Mise au point |trans-title=Clarification |url=https://scriptorium.ch/zoom/196695/view?page=110 |access-date=2024-10-28 |magazine=L'Illustré |location=Lausanne |page=78 |language=fr-CH |via=Scriptorium |issn=1420-5165}} They later moved back to Europe, though they still regularly visited Tahiti.{{sfn|Drogou|1998|p=124}}

Beginning in 1981 in a parliamentary cult report by Alain Vivien, they were denounced as dangerous or as a cult by several sources. The French anti-cult group ADFI received several family complaints against them.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}} In 1992, the {{Lang|fr|Envoyé spécial}} program criticized them for allegedly abusive sexual practices.{{sfn|Marhic|Kerlidou|1996|p=47}} 1996, former member of the group, Isabelle Sebagh, denounced them for their behaviors and declared them a cult, calling Appel abusive, antisemitic, and saying their behavior was sexually disturbed. She had joined the group at age 17. In 1996, she wrote the book {{Lang|fr|L'adepte, 7 ans dans l'enfer d'une secte}}, published by {{Ill|Le Comptoir|fr|Le Comptoir (éditeur)}}, containing these allegations.{{Cite magazine |date=1996 |title=Sept ans de malheur: Une femme piégée par une secte apporte son témoignage |trans-title=Seven years of misery: A woman trapped by a cult gives her testimony |magazine=Bulletin de Liaison pour l'Etude des Sectes |language=fr-FR}} Originally published in the magazine Télérama, also published in the magazine Le Résumé, Le Compte Rendu, La Synthèse.{{Cite magazine |last=Marhic |first=Renaud |author-link=Renaud Marhic |date=1996 |title=Lectures |magazine=Phénomèna |location=Aix-en-Provence |page=31 |language=fr-FR |issue=32 |issn=1157-4704}} They were also denounced as a cult in the 1993 book {{Lang|fr|Le grand décervelage: Enquête pour combattre les sectes}} by Bernard Fillaire.

In the 1990s, they bought the Château de Jaugy in Gièvres, at 18 hectares, for 1.89 million francs. It was made into their headquarters and was converted into a restaurant and hotel.{{Cite magazine |date=2002-09-18 |title=Les châteaux, un placement très prisé |trans-title=Castles, a highly prized investment |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/informations/les-chateaux-un-placement-tres-prise_649355.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-06-01 |magazine=L'Express |location=Paris |language=fr-FR |issn=0014-5270}} By 2002, Appel had acquired a small fleet of boats based on his funds from the group.

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|25em}}

• {{Cite book |last=Abgrall |first=Jean-Marie |author-link=Jean-Marie Abgrall |title=Les sectes de l'apocalypse: gourous de l'an 2000 |publisher=Calmann-Lévy |year=1999 |isbn=978-2-7021-2954-8 |location=Paris |language=fr}}
• {{Cite book |last=Abgrall |first=Jean-Marie |title=Soul Snatchers: The Mechanics of Cults |publisher=Algora Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-892941-38-1 |location=New York |language=en |author-link=Jean-Marie Abgrall}}
• {{Cite book |last=Drogou |first=Annick |title=Le dico des sectes |publisher=Editions Milan |others=Centre Contre les Manipulations Mentales |year=1998 |isbn=978-2-84113-712-1 |series=Les dicos essentiels Milan |location=Toulouse |language=fr-FR |chapter=ISO-ZEN |pages=123–124}}
• {{Cite book |last=Gałkowski |first=Artur |editor-last=Felecan |editor-first=Oliviu |title=Onomastics between Sacred and Profane |publisher=Vernon Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-62273-401-6 |series=Series in Language and Linguistics |location=Washington |language=en |chapter=Names of Sects: Between the Unusual and Manipulation |pages=75–89}}
• {{Cite book |last=de Gibon |first=Yves |title=Dictionnaire des religions |publisher=Presses universitaires de France |year=1985 |isbn=978-2-13-038907-1 |editor-last=Poupard |editor-first=Paul |editor-link=Paul Poupard |location=Paris |page=562 |language=fr-FR |chapter=Extra-terrestres (Ovni)}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Marhic |first1=Renaud |title=Sectes et mouvements initiatiques en Bretagne: du celtisme au nouvel âge |last2=Kerlidou |first2=Alain |publisher=Terre de Brume |isbn=978-2-908021-78-3 |pages=46–50 |language=fr |chapter=Les étranges desseins de Siderella |year=1996 |author-link1=Renaud Marhic |location=Rennes}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Mauge |first1=Claude |last2=Clark |first2=Jerome |author2-link=Jerome Clark |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Jerome |title=The UFO Encyclopedia: UFOs in the 1980s |publisher=Apogee Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-1-55888-301-7 |location=Detroit |language=en|volume=1 |chapter=French Ufology |pages=114–115}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Mayer |first=Jean-François |author-link=Jean-François Mayer |date=April 1999 |title="Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End": The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple |journal=Nova Religio |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=172–196 |doi=10.1525/nr.1999.2.2.172 |issn=1092-6690 |translator-first1=Elijah |translator-last1=Siegler}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Picard |first1=Catherine |title=Sectes, démocratie et mondialisation |last2=Fournier |first2=Anne |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France |isbn=978-2-13-052569-1 |location=Paris |language=fr-FR|year=2002|author-link1=Catherine Picard}}
• {{Cite book |last=Ramet |first=Sabrina P. |title=Nihil Obstat: Religion, Politics, and Social Change in East-Central Europe and Russia |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8223-2056-2 |location=Durham |language=en}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Silva |first=Matheus Moura |date=2017-12-19 |title=Quadrinhos visionários de Sergio Macedo |trans-title=Sergio Macedo's visionary comics |url=https://periodicos.unespar.edu.br/sensorium/article/view/1931/1312 |journal=Art&Sensorium |language=pt |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=97–116 |doi=10.33871/23580437.2017.4.2.097-116 |issn=2358-0437|doi-access=free }}
• {{Cite book |last=Vernette |first=Jean |title=Le Nouvel Âge: À l'aube de l'ère du Verseau |publisher=Téqui |year=1990 |isbn=978-2-85244-981-7 |location=Paris |language=fr-FR}}

{{refend}}

• {{Cite book |last=Bayard |first=Jean-Pierre |title=Les sociétés secrètes et les sectes |publisher=Lebaud |year=1997 |isbn=978-2-86645-255-1 |location=Paris |language=fr}}
• {{Cite book |last=Fillaire |first=Bernard |title=Le grand décervelage: Enquête pour combattre les sectes |publisher=Plon |year=1993 |isbn=978-2-259-02473-0 |location=Paris |language=fr-FR}}
• {{Cite book |last=Lagrange |first=Pierre |title=La rumeur de Roswell |publisher=La Découverte |year=1996 |isbn=978-2-7071-2641-2 |series=Enquetes |location=Paris |language=fr-FR}}
• {{Cite book |last=Quillien |first=Christophe |title=Jean Giraud alias Moebius |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |year=2024 |isbn=978-2-02-147720-7 |location=Paris |language=fr}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Sadoul |first1=Numa |author-link1=Numa Sadoul |title=Doctor Moebius and Mister Gir |last2=Giraud |first2=Jean |author-link2=Jean Giraud |publisher=Dark Horse Comics |isbn=978-1-5067-1343-4 |location=Milwaukie |language=en |translator-last=Gauvin |translator-first=Edward |year=2023}}
• {{Cite book |last=Sebagh |first=Isabelle |title=L'adepte, 7 ans dans l'enfer d'une secte |publisher=Le Comptoir |year=1996 |isbn=978-2-88456-001-6 |location=Geneva |language=fr-FR}}
• {{Cite book |last=Vernette |first=Jean |title=Jésus dans la nouvelle religiosité: esotérismes, gnoses et sectes d'aujourd'hui |publisher=Desclée |year=1987 |isbn=978-2-7189-0320-0 |location=Paris |language=fr-FR}}

• {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20020210164406/http://home.worldnet.fr/~gvero/}}
• [https://www.appelguery.com/en-index.html Appel's website]

Category:1966 establishments in France

Category:Apocalyptic groups

Category:New Age organizations

Category:New religious movements established in the 1960s

Category:New religious movements in France

Category:Religious organizations established in 1966

Category:UFO religions