Mazdaznan sun-worshipping cult attracted Montreal's elite to a temple on Mount Royal Avenue

Ellen Shaw and Ruth Hilton, 1908

  Montreal was a key spot for a religious cult from 1908 that attracted wealthy donors to support a sun-worshipping religion invented by a German named Ernst Otto Hanish (1844-1936)

 The tale of the Montreal Mazdaznan temple starts in Massachusetts where wealthy widow Ellen Shaw, 65, would start her days lying on the  dew-covered grass to catch the sun rays that she believed boosted her health and purified her for the coming Messiah.

 Shaw, of Lowell, Mass., 50 km north of Boston, was a devotee of the Mazdaznan religious cult launched by a German immigrant Ernst Otto Haenisch and based on the Zoroastrian traditions. 

 Zoroastrians, also known as Pharsis, originally came from Iran and were the first to monotheists, a tradition subsequently adopted by Judaism and in turn copied by Christianity. Mazdaznan advocated vegetarianism and breathing and physical exercises. Several members of the German Bauhaus art movement were said to be adherents.

 Family members sued Shaw in 1908 to prevent her from donating $40,000 - almost her entire life savings - to the cult for the purposes of building a Mazdaznan temple on Mount Royal Ave. in Montreal. 

They argued that Mazdaznan high priestess Mrs. Ruth Hilton had hypnotized Shaw. They noted that Shaw lounged around in a union suit, a pajama onesie. 

 An attorney questioned Shaw about "flimsy and transparent robes" that she had shipped to Montreal for the purposes of worship. 

 Shaw prevailed, as the Montreal temple materialized three years later on the north side of Mount Royal. 

 It's unknown exactly where the temple sat because Montreal changed its addresses in 1929. The address 1063 Mount Royal W., Outremont, no longer applies but it likely sat at what's now 403 Mount Royal W., the NW corner of Hutchsion. The current structure might be the original but modified. 

 Worshipers partook in a consecration ceremony at noon on 24 May 1911 as Hanish, who called himself Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nish, was clad in white and gold and accompanied by three acolytes attired in the purest of white. They departed from the home of adherents Mr. and Mrs. Hooper Mallet, who had married in 1907 in Chicago under the rites of the cult. About 50 worshippers of the Great Orb followed, most dressed in the old Persian clothing, the men in white serge and women in gowns of the same color.

 Followers included Alex Thomas Stuart, Arthur Fitzroy Gault, Wilfred W. Wadleigh, W.P. Knowles, C.J. Beemer, David Rees, John Massey Walker, G.W. Elliot and F. H. Tayor. They sought the "physical, intellectual and moral advancement of its members and coherents." 

  Hanish offered some incoherent mumblings to consecrate the temple and predicted the growth of the faith while a young girl read a poem she'd written for the occasion. Hanish, while in town, gave lectures on Persian religious history at a couple of other places. Newspapers offered no negative views on the cult, possibly because its members were respectable and the group purchased newspaper ads. The temple hosted elaborate feasts and the rich smell of incense was always present.

Hanish

 Disaster struck the cult after relatives of Billy Lindsay, 12, expressed concern that his millionaire widow mother Elizabeth Lindsay, from Philadelphia, had him involved inappropriately with the cult. Billy's uncle Charles went to court to gain custody of his nephew and read a chapter of Hanisch's book Inner Studies, which described tantric sexual intercourse, causing Hanish to blush in embarassment. 

 The court heard that Hanish had occasionally shared a bed with the young boy on his travels. 

  Montrealer Hooper Mallet was in Chicago for the proceedings and vowed to protect Billy, the "Martryed Vadah" of the sun cult. Two months later the search was still on for young Billy and an anonymous letter claimed that Hooper Mallet, a prosperous realtor, was hiding him somewhere in Canada. Police found the boy at the Chicago temple on 21 December 1911.  

  Authorities then raided the Chicago temple and arrested Hanish for sending obscene literature over state lines. The court demonstrated that Hanish could not speak Persian and had been using false names. He was sentenced to two years. Hanish hid out at the Montreal temple for a time evading arrest but was caught later while venturing into the States.  

 Several Montreal adherents stayed faithful to the cause, including the Gaults, the Mallets and Alexander Stuart, all donating liberally. 

 Montreal's Mazdaznans bought ads until October 1913 as the temple closed around that time. 

 Several Montreal devotees followed Hanish to California. Mrs. Mallet died in 1919, Mr. Stuart died earlier. The Gaults found work in Pasadena before returning to Montreal with faith unshaken. 

 By 1922 the temple was no more and the property was inhabited by a local doctor.