The hidden & unconscious factors involved in the People’s Temple Movement, led by the Reverend Jim Jones, are discussed in terms of psychoanalytic psychology, focusing on the concepts of charisma & collective regression. These concepts are applied to the mass madness that engulfed the inhabitants of Jonestowm as they committed mass suicide. The author suggests members of the public remain vulnerable to similar tragedies until the psychodynamics of Jonestown tragedy are understood. (NBB)