HUBBARD AND THE OCCULT
*****
By Jon Atack
I stand before you having been accused in print by L. Ron
Hubbard's followers of having an avid interest in black magic. I
would like to put firmly on record that whatever interest I have
is related entirely to achieving a better understanding of the
creator of Dianetics and Scientology. Hubbard's followers have
the right to be made aware that he had not only an avid interest,
but that he was also a practitioner of black magic. Today I shall
discuss these matters in depth, but I shall not repeat all of the
proofs which already exist in my book A Piece of Blue Sky (1).
Scientology is a twisting together of many threads. Ron
Hubbard's first system, Dianetics, which emerged in 1950, owes
much to early Freudian ideas (2). For example, Hubbard's
"Reactive Mind" obviously derives from Freud's "Unconscious". The
notion that this mind thinks in identities comes from Korzybski's
General Semantics. Initially, before deciding that he was the
sole source of Dianetics and Scientology (3), Hubbard
acknowledged his debt to these thinkers (4). Dianetics bears
marked similarites to work reported by American psychiatrists
Grinker and Speigel (5) and English psychiatrist William Sargant
(6). The first edition of Hubbard's 1950 text Dianetics: The
Modern Science of Mental Health (7) carried an advertisment for a
book published a year earlier (8). Psychiatrist Nandor Fodor had
been writing about his belief in the residual effects of the
birth trauma for some years, following in the footsteps of Otto
Rank. In lectures given in 1950, Hubbard also referred to works
on hynopsis which had obviously influenced his techniques (9).
The very name "Dianetics" probably owes something to the, at the
time, highly popular subject of Cybernetics. (10).
By 1952, Hubbard had lost the rights to Dianetics, having
bailed out just before the bankruptcy of the original Hubbard
Research Foundation. He had also managed to avoid the charges
brought against that Foundation by the New Jersey Medical
Association for teaching medicine without a license (11). In a
matter of days in the early spring of 1952, Hubbard moved from
his purported "science of mental health" into the territory of
reincarnation and spirit possession. He called his new subject
Scientology, claiming that the name derived for "scio" and
"logos" and meant "knowing how to know". However, Hubbard was
notorious for his sly humour and "scio" might also refer to the
Greek word for a "shade" or "ghost". Scientology itself had
already been used at the turn of the century to mean
"pseudo-science" and in something close to Hubbard's meaning in
1934 by one of the proponents of Aryan racial theory (12). Other
possible links between Hubbard's thought and that of the Nazis
will be made clear later in this paper.
Scientology seems to be a hybrid of science-fiction and magic.
Hubbard's reflection on philosophy seem to derive largely from
Will Durant's Story of Philosophy (13) and the works of Aleister
Crowley. Aleister Crowley is surely the most famous black
magician of the twentieth-century. It is impossible to arrive at
an understanding of Scientology without taking into account its
creator's extensive involvement with magic. The trail has been so
well obscured in the past that even such a scholar as Professor
Gordon Melton has been deceived into the opinion that Hubbard was
not a practitioner of ritual magic and that Scientology is not
related to magical beliefs and practices. In the book A Piece of
Blue Sky, I explored these connections in detail. The
revealations surrounding Hubbard's private papers in the 1984
Armstrong case in California makes any denial of the connections
fatuous. The significances of these connections is of course open
to discussion.
The chapter in A Piece of Blue Sky that describes Hubbard's
involvement with the ideas of magic is called His Magical Career.
I hope I shall be excused for relying upon it. I shall also here
describe further research, and comment particularly upon
Hubbard's use of magical symbols, and the inescapable view that
many of the beliefs and practices of Scientology are a
reformation of ritual magic (14).
In 1984, a former close colleague of Hubbard's told me that
thirty years before when asked how he had managed to write
Dianetics: The Modern Science Of Mental Health in just three
weeks, Hubbard had replied that it had been automatic writing. He
said that the book had been dictated by "the Empress". At the
time, I had no idea who or what "the Empress" might be. Later, I
noticed that in an article printed immediately prior to the book
Dianetics, Hubbard had openly admitted to his use of "automatic
writing, speaking and clairvoyance" (15). However, it took
several years to understand this tantalising reference to the
Empress.
In the 1930's, Hubbard became friendly with fellow adventure
writer Arthur J. Burks. Burks described an encounter with "the
Redhead" in his book Monitors. The text makes it clear that "the
Redhead" is none other than Ron Hubbard. Burk said that when the
Redhead had been flying gliders he would be saved from trouble by
a "smiling woman" who would appear on the aircraft's wing (16).
Burk put forward the view that this was the Redhead's "monitor"
or guardian angel.
In 1945, Hubbard became involved with Crowley's acolyte, Jack
Parsons. Parsons wrote to Crowley that Hubbard had "described his
angel as a beautiful winged women with red hair, whom he calls
the Empress, and who had guided him through his life and saved him
many times." In the Crowleyite system, adherents seek contact
with their "Holy Guardian Angel".
John Whiteside Parsons, usually known as Jack, first met
Hubbard at a party in August 1945. When his terminal leave from
the US Navy began, on Dec 6th, 1945, Hubbard went straight to
Parsons' house in Pasadena, and took up residence in a trailer in
the yard. Parsons was a young chemist who had helped set up Jet
Propulsion Laboratories and was one of the innovators of solid
fuel for rockets. Parsons was besotted with Crowley's Sex Magick,
and had recently become head of the Agape Lodge of the Church of
Thelema in Los Angeles. The Agape Lodge was an aspect of the Ordo
Templi Orientis, the small international group headed by Aleister
Crowley.
Parsons' girlfriend soon transferred her affection to Hubbard.
With her, Hubbard and Parsons formed a business partnership, as a
consequence of which Parsons lost most of his money to Hubbard.
However, before Hubbard ran away with the loot, he and Parsons
participated in magical rituals which have received great
attention among contemporary practitioners.
Parsons and Hubbard together performed their own version of the
secret eighth degree ritual (17) of the Ordo Templi Orientiis in
January 1946. The ritual is called "concerning the secret
marriage of gods with men" or "the magical masturbation" and is
usually a homosexual ritual. The purpose of this ritual was to
attract a women willing to participate in the next stage of
Hubbard and Parsons' Sex Magick.
Hubbard and Parsons were attempting the most daring magical
feat imaginable. They were trying to incarnate the Scarlet Woman
described in the Book of Revelation as "Babylon the Great, the
Mother of Harlot and Abominations of the Earth...drunken with the
blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus."(18). During the rituals, Parsons described Babalon as
"mother of anarchy and abominations". The women who they believed
had answered their call, Majorie Cameron, joined in with their
sexual rituals in March 1946.
Parsons used a recording machine to keep a record of his
ceremonies. He also kept Crowley informed by letter. The
correspondence still exists. Crowley wrote to his deputy in New
York "I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these
louts".
Crowley was being disingenous. His own novel The Moonchild
describes a ritual with a similar purpose. Further, the secret
IXth degree ritual of the Ordo Templi Orientis (19) contains "Of
the Homunculus" in which the adept seeks to create a human
embodiment of one of the energies of nature - a god or goddess.
The ritual says "to it thou are Sole God and Lord, and it must
serve thee."
In fact, Hubbard and Parsons were committing sacrilege in
Crowley's terms. Crowley respelled "Babylon" as he respelled
"magic". His magick was entirely dedicated to Babalon, the
Scarlet Woman. Crowley believed himself the servant and slave of
Babalon, the antichrist, styling himself "The Beast, 666". For
anyone to try to incarnate and control the goddess must have been
an impossible blasphemy to him. Crowley, after all, called
Babalon "Our Lady".
Hubbard and Parsons attempt did not end with the conception
of a human child. However, just as Crowley said that "Gods are but
names for the forces of Nature themselves" (21), so it might be
speculated that Hubbard embodied Babalon not in human form, but
through his organization.
Parsons sued Hubbard in Florida in July 1946, managing to
regain a little of his money. The record of their rituals was
later transcribed and has since been published as The Babalon
Working (22). Parsons made a return to Magick, writing The Book
of The Antichrist in 1949 (23). Parsons pronounced himself the
Antichrist. In a scientology text, Hubbard spoke favourably of
Parsons, making no mention of their magical liason (24). A Piece
of Blue Sky covers Hubbard's involvement with Parsons in much
greater detail than I have given here.
Hubbard's interest in the occult was kindled long before he met
Parsons. It dates back at least to his membership of the Ancient
and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis or AMORC, in 1940. Hubbard had
completed the first two neophyte degrees before his membership
lapsed, and later there were private complaints that he had
incorporated some of the teaching he had promised to keep secret
into Scientology (25).
Having stolen Parsons' girl and his money, Hubbard carried on
with magical practices of his own devising. Scientology attempted
to reclaim documents which recorded these practices in its case
against former Hubbard archivist Gerald Armstrong. Some $280,000
was paid to publishers Ralston Pilot to prevent publication of
Omar Garrison's authorised biography of Hubbard. However,
Garrison retained copies of thousands of Hubbard's documents and
showed me one which had been referred to in the Armstrong trial.
The Blood Ritual is an invokation of the Egyptian goddess Hathor,
performed by Hubbard during the late 1940's. As the name
suggests, the ritual involved the use of blood. Hubbard mingled
his own blood with that of his then wife (the girlfriend he had
stolen from Parsons and with whom Hubbard contracted a bigamous
marriage.)
In a 1952 Scientology lecture, Hubbard referred to "Aleister
Crowley, my very good friend" (26). In fact, the two black
magicians never met, and Crowley expressed a very low opinion of
the man who he saw had tricked his disciple Jack Parsons. Even
so, Hubbard had a very positive regard for Crowley, calling his
work "fascinating" (27) and recommending one of his books to
Scientologists. Having referred to Crowley as "The Beast 666",
Hubbard said that he had "picked a level of religious worship
which is very interesting." (28). He also made it clear that he had
In his 1952 lectures, Hubbard also referred to the Tarot cards,
saying that they were not simply a system of divination but a
"philosophical machine". He gave particular mention to the Fool
card, saying "The Fool of course is the wisest of all. The Fool
who goes down the road with the alligators at his heels, and the
dogs yapping at him, blindfolded on his way, he knows all there
is and does nothing about it...nothing could touch him" (30).
The only Tarot pack which has a alligator on the Fool Card is
Crowley's (31). When I interviewed Gerald Armstrong, Hubbard's
archivist, in 1984, he told me of a Hubbard scale dating from the
1940's. At the base of the scale was the word "animals". It then
ascended through "labourers, farmers, financiers, fanatics" and
"the Fool" to "God". Hubbard seemed to have seen himself as the
Fool and was perhaps trying to create a trampoline of fanatics
through whom he could achieve divinity. Indeed, if Scientology
could live up to its claims, then Hubbard would be a "godmaker".
Of course, the Tarot pack also contains the Empress card and
knowing this it is finally possible to understand what Hubbard
believed his Guardian Angel to be.
Crowley examined the Tarot in The Book of Thoth (32). Of the
Empress card he said "She combines the highest spiritual with the
lowest material qualities" (33). Crowley identifies the Empress
as the "Great Mother" and indeed on her robe are bees (34), the
traditional symbol of Cybele. Crowley is not alone in the belief
that different cultures give different names to the same deities.
The worship of Cybele goes back to at least 3,000 B.C. She
entered Greek culture as Artemis and to the Romans was Diana, the
huntress. Crowley also identified the Empress with the Hindu
goddess Shakti (35), and the Egyptian goddess Isis and Hathor.
Crowley directly identified Isis with Diana (36). More usually,
Crowley called the Empress by the name Babalon (37).
Contemporary New Age groups see the Great Mother in the aspect
of Gaia the Earth Mother. This is far from Crowley's view. Diana,
the patroness of withcraft (38) was seen by Hubbard rather
through the eyes of Crowley than as a benevolent, loving mother.
Hubbard made no reference for example to Robert Graves' White
Goddess, but only to Crowley and peripherally to Frazer's Golden
Bough and Gibbon's Decline and Fall, both or which give reference
to the cult of Diana. To Crowley, the Great Mother, Babalon, is,
of course, also the antichrist.
While Crowley's path was submission to the Empress, Hubbard
seems to have tried to dominate the same force, bringing it into
being as a servile homunculus. Hubbard's eldest son, although a
questionable witness, was insistent that his father taught him
magic and privately referred to the goddess as Hathor. The Blood
Ritual confirms this assertion if nothing else.
Publicly, Hubbard was taken with the Roman name of the goddess,
Diana, giving it to one of his daughters and also to one of his
Scientology Sea Organization boats. Curiously this boat had been
renamed The Enchanter and before Scientology he had owned another
called The Magician. Hubbard had also used Jack Parsons' money
to buy a yacht called Diane (39). "Dianetics" may also be a
reference to Diana. Shortly before its inception, another former
US Navy Officer and practitioner of the VIIIth degree of the Ordo
Templi Orientis had formed a group called Dianism (40).
When The Blood Ritual was mentioned during the Armstrong trial
in 1984, Scientology's lawyer asserted that it was an invokation
of an Egyptian goddess of love (41). Hathor is indeed popularly
seen as a winged and spotted cow which feeds humanity. However,
there is an important lesson about Scientology in the practice of
magicians. The teachings of magic are considered by many
practitioners to be powerful and potentially dangerous and
therefore have to be kept secret. One of the easiest ways to
conceal the true meaning of a teaching is to reverse it. By
magicians Hathor is also seen as an aspect of Sekmet, the
avenging lioness. One authority on ritual magic has revealed the
identity of Hathor as "the destroyer of man" (42). The important
lesson is that Scientology has both a public and a hidden agenda.
Publicly it is a Church, privately as the record of convictions
shows, it is an Intelligence agency. Many public Hubbard works
speak of helping people. In his largely secret Fair Game
teachings, however, Hubbard is outspoken in his attack upon
either critics of himself or his works. For example, in What is
Greatness? Hubbard says "The hardest task one can have is to
continue to love one's fellows despite all reasons he should not.
And the true sign of sanity and greatness is so to continue." In
one statement of the Fair Game Law, however, Hubbard said that
opponents "May be tricked, sued or lied or destroyed" (43). Of
practitioners unlicensed by him Hubbard said "Harass these
persons in any possible way" (44). Nor did he exclude the
possibility of murder against those who opposed him (45). The
harassment of critics, may explain the dearth of academic
research into Scientology. Hubbard's use of contradiction to
captivate and redirect his followers is worthy of a separate
study (46), but it has its roots in his study of magic. Perhaps
he related his "Dianetics" also to Janus, the two-faced god whose
name is sometimes called "Dianus".
While Hubbard was supposedly researching his Dianetics in the
late 1940s, he was in fact engaging in magical rituals, and
trying out hypnosis both on himself and others. During the 1984
Armstrong trial, extracts from Hubbard's voluminous self-hypnotic
affirmations were read into the record. The statements, hundreds
of pages of them, are written in red ink and Hubbard frequently
drew pictures of the male genitalia alongside the text (47).
Amongst his suggestions to himself we find" "Men are my slaves",
"Elemental Spirits are my slaves" and "You can be merciless
whenever your will is crossed and you have every right to be
merciless" (48).
Black magic is distinguished from white in the desire of the
practitioner to bring harm. "Maleficium" is the traditional word
for such magic. The "Suppressive Person declare" and the "Fair
Game Law" speak reams in terms of Hubbard's intent.
Scientology is a neo-gnostic system, which is to say that it
teaches the attainment of insight through a series of stages.
These stages are called by Scientologists "the Bridge to Total
Freedom". The Bridge currently consists of some 27 levels. These
levels might be compared to the initiations of magical systems.
While the stages appear dissimilar to those of Crowley's Ordo
Templi Orientis, it is worth noting that both systems consist of
stages, that both have secret levels and that both are numbered
with Roman numerals. Hubbard also shared with Crowley a numbering
system which begins at 0 rather than 1.
The Scientology Bridge has as its end the creation of an
"Operating Thetan". Hubbard used the word "thetan" to identify
the self, the spirit which is the person. He claimed that the
word derived from an earlier Greek usage of the letter theta for
"spirit" (49). I have been unable to find such a usage, but can
comment that the theta symbol is central to the Crowley system
where it is found as an aspect of the sign used for Babalon. To
Crowley, the theta sign represented the essential principles of
his system - thelema or the will. (50)
By "Operating Thetan", Hubbard meant and individual or "thetan"
able to "operate" freely from the physical body, able to cause
effects at a distance by will alone. In Hubbard's words "a
thetan exterior who can have but doesn't have to have a body in
order to control or operate thought, life, matter, energy, space
and time" (51). Hubbard used the term "intention" rather than
"will" (52), but the goal of Scientology is clearly the same as
that of the Crowley system. The Scientologist wishes to be able
to control events and the minds of others by intention. This
seems to be exactly what Crowley called "thelema". In a 1952
lecture, Hubbard recommended a book which he called "The Master
Therion" (53). This was in fact one of Crowley's "magical"
names. I have been advised by an officer of one of the Ordo
Templi Orientis groups that the reference is most likely to
Crowley's magnum opus Magick in Theory and Practice. In that
work, Crowley gave this definition "Magick is the Science and Art
of causing Change to occur in confirmity with Will" (54). So the
aim of both Crowley and Hubbard seems to have been the same.
As a recovering Scientologist, I must raise an ethical
objection to the desire to control the minds of others without
their consent. This is the purpose of many Scientology procedures
(55), and can be seen either as deliberate "mind control" or as
the black magician's contempt of others. Scientology is a curious
hybrid of magic and psychology. After all, Hubbard boasted "we
can brainwash faster than the Russians - 20 seconds to total
amnesia" (56).
At the centre of Crowley's teaching is the notion that we can
control our own destiny: "Postulate: Any required Change may be
effected by the application of the proper kind and degree of
Force in the proper manner through the proper medium of the
proper object" (57), further "Every intentional act is a Magical
Act" (58), "Every failure proves that one or more requirements of
the postulate have not been fulfilled" (59). Hubbard taught that
everything is down to the intention of the individual. He called
such intentions "postulates". The victim of any negative event is
said to have "pulled it in". Hubbard taught a contempt for
"victims" and regarded sympathy as a low emotional condition
(60). As Crowley put it "Man is ignorant of the nature of his own
being and powers...he may thus subjugate the whole Universe of
which he is conscious to his individual Will" (61).
Hubbard was to employ or parallel so many of Crowley's ideas
and approaches that it is impossible, especially with Hubbard's
references to Crowley, to avoid comparison. For example, in his
Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard laid much
emphasis on the recollection of birth. Crowley had earlier
insisted that the magican must recall his birth (62). Crowley
spoke of "A equals" (63), where Hubbard, again in Dianetics
spoke of "A equals A equals A". Both men were noisy in their
contempt for pyschotherapists (64). Both Hubbard and Crowley
spoke of "past lives" rather than "reincarnation" (65). Indeed,
the notion of past lives and their recollection is essential to
both systems, as Crowley wrote "There is no more important task
than the exploration of one's previous incarnations" (66).
Scientology and Dianetics also rely upon the supposed
recollection of previous incarnations. Crowley called this the
"magical memory" (67).
Hubbard gave as the fundamental axiom of his system "Life is
basically a static. A Life static has no mass, no motion, no
wavelength, no location in space or in time." (68). Crowley was
more succinct, called the self "nothing" (69). Hubbard was to
say that even an "Operating Thetan" could not "operate" alone,
and Crowley said "Even in Magick we cannot get on without the
help of others" (70).
The first essential teaching of Scientology is that "reality is
basically agreement" (71) or "reality is the agreed-upon
apparency of existence" (72), which Crowley expressed as "The
universe is a projection of ourselves; an image as unreal as that
of our faces in the mirror...not to be altered save as we alter
ourselves" (73). The controlling power of thought, or will, is
evident in both systems, Crowley has it "we can never affect
anything outside ourselves save only as it is also within
us."(74).
Both men believed that truth is unobtainable in the material
world. Crowley expressed it thus "There is no such thing as
truth in the perceptible universe (75). Hubbard said "The
ultimate truth...has no mass, meaning, mobility, no wavelength,
no location in space, no space." (76)
Hubbard's concept of the "thetan exterior" - operating apart
from the body is found in Crowley"s "interior body of the
Magician" which can "pass through matter" (77). Both systems
seek to get the spirit "out of the body" (78).
Crowley said "Evil is only an appearance...like good" (79),
where Hubbard said that "goodness and badness...are
considerations, and no other basis than opinion" (80).
Each spoke of a personal "universe" (81). Hubbard also followed
in Crowley's footsteps with the insistence that the meaning of
words should be clarified or "cleared" (82).
Crowley announced that Christ was "concocted" (83) which
tallies with Hubbard's assertion that Christ was a hypnotic
"implant" (84). Here the major difference between Crowley and
Hubbard becomes apparent: Crowley was publicly outspoken about
his views, Hubbard was careful to keep negative material secret.
Scientology claims to be eclectic and non-denominational. Only
in secret teachings is Hubbard's contempt for Christianity
apparent (85).
The long series of lectures in which Hubbard called Crowley his
"very good friend" and recommended his writings, centres on a
technique called "creative processing" by Hubbard. It is
unsurprising that this technique is common to magicians. Nowadays
it is more usually known as "visualisation."
Scientology surely has the distinction of containing the
largest collection of teachings produced by one man. There are
more than a hundred books and over 2,500 recorded lectures. But
there are also thousands of registered trademarks, including many
symbols.
Many of these symbols have magical significance. It seems
highly unlikely given his study of the occult that Hubbard was
unaware of the earlier use of these symbols. The Scientology
cross which Hubbard claimed to have seen in an old Spanish church
in Arizona (86) is markedly similar to the Rosicrucian cross
(87) and also to Aleister Crowley's OTO cross. Hubbard had been a
member of the Rosicrucians. He had also commented on Crowley's
Tarot which carries the OTO cross on the back of every card.
Hubbard cannot have been ignorant of these uses.
The Scientology cross could also be seen as a crossed out
cross, with potentially Satanic implications. It seems strange
that Hubbard who called Scientology a "better" activity than
Christianity (88) called Christ an invention (89) and said that
the "Creator of Heaven" would be found "with beetles under the
rocks" (90), should have adopted the exclusive Christian word
"church", the garb of Christian ministers and the use of the
cross as a symbol. But Scientology is based upon deception and
contradictions.
The Rosicrucians and the Freemasons share a ritual called the
"grave of fire" (91). A senior Rosicrucian who had also studied
Scientology told me that the initiate lies on a carpet within a
pattern of lapping flames. He claimed that Scientology's
Religious Technology Center - or RTC - symbol was very similar.
The RTC symbol contains the Dianetics triangle, which is a
common magicical symbol, representing the door of the Cabala, the
letter Daleth. Hubbard indeed assigned it to the Greek
equivalent of Daleth, Delta. The triangle on its base is also the
symbol of Set, the Egyptian god called by some "the destroyer of
man", the male equivalent of Babalon. Indeed Crowley equates Set
with Satan (93). The triangle is universally recognised as a
sign of malign power. Alexandra David-Neel commented upon its use
as such among the Tibetians. Her best-selling books of the 1930's
contain many other possible comparisons with Hubbard's work.
The "S and double triangle" is a major symbol found throughout
Scientology. The "S" supposedly represents "Scientology" and the
two triangles Affinity-Reality-Communication and
Knowledge-Responsibility-Control. There is another possible
interpretation. The "S" seen on its own can easily be seen as a
snake. To Crowley, indeed, the "S" represented the tempting
serpent, Satan. Perhaps Hubbard's "thetan" is pronounced to match
with a lisped "satan"? He was after all wry in his humour. The
two triangles can be assembled differently to form the Star of
David, called the Seal of Solomon by magicians (94). This symbol
allegedly represents "tetragrammaton" the holy name of God which
must never be spoken. Perhaps breaking it apart is simlar to
hanging the Christian cross upside down.
Next we see the Sea Organization symbol. The five pointed star,
or pentacle is the most commonly known symbol of magical power.
It is held between two thirteen-leaved laurels. Armstrong told me
in 1984 that judging by the papers in Hubbard's archive the
creator of Scientology was more interested in numerology than
any other aspect of magic.
Among the more seemingly fanciful claims of Hubbard's oldest
son, L. Ron, junior, was that his father was the successor to the
magicians who created Nazism. Nazism was certainly an
authoritarian group, a protypical destructive cult. Recent
revealations about leading Scientologist Thomas Marcellus'
long-running direction of the Institute for Historical Review can
only add to speculation (95). Dusty Sklar has said that had she
known about Hubbard she would have used him in the last chaper of
The Nazis and the Occult rather than Sun Myung Moon (96). L.
Ron, junior, was sure that the teachings of the Germanen Orden
and the Thule Society had passed directly to his father by
courier. In this light, the white circle on a red square of
Scientology's International Management Organization (97) can be
readily compared to the Nazi flag. The four lightning flashes or
"sig runes" are also common to Nazism. No explanation is given
for these sig runes by Scientology. They also appear on the RTC
symbol. At the time that both of these symbols were introduced,
Hubbard also created the International Finance Police, headed by
the International Finance Dictator. An unusual choice of words.
Hitler too had been aware of the power of occult symbols and
rituals. Speaking of Freemasons, he said "All the supposed
abominations, the skeletons and death's head, the coffins and the
mysteries, are mere bogeys for children. But there is one
dangerous element and that is the element I have copied from
them. They form a sort of priestly nobility. They have developed
and esoteric doctrine more merely formulated, but imparted
through the symbols and mysteries in degrees of initiation. The
hierarchical organization and the initiation through symbolic
rites, that is to say, without bothering the brain by working on
the imagination through magic and the symbols of a cult, all this
has a dangerous element, and the element I have taken over. Don't
you see that our party must be of this character...? An Order,
the hierarchial Order of a secular priesthood." (98)
Having shown many comparisons between Crowley's work and
Hubbard's, and having shown the common intent of both systems, I
shall now move on to the secret rituals of Scientology. The
attempt to obtain magical powers is certainly not unique to
Hubbard and Crowley. Every culture seems to have its own
approach.
One common element to most cultures is the belief in
disembodied spirits. Disembodied spirits can be found in the
teachings of all the major religions (99). Crowley shared with
many the belief that such spirits can be used in the practice of
magic (100). Most of the secret teachings of Scientology concern
such disembodied spirits.
Toward the end of his life, Hubbard wrote some chirpy pop songs
which were recorded under his direction (101). One of these
songs, The Evil Purpose, begins "in olden days the populace was
much afraid of demons and paid an awful sky high price to buy
some priestly begones". The song goes on to explain that there
are no demons, "just the easily erased evil purpose". In fact,
the Operating Thetan levels are concerned almost entirely with
"body thetans" or indwelling spirits or demons.
Hubbard first floated the idea to his adherents in spring 1952,
during his first Scientology lectures (102). He spoke of "theta"
as the life-force and went on to describe "theta beings" and
"theta bodies". Mention was made again that June in the book What
to Audit, which is still in print, minus a chapter - as
Scientology: A History of Man. Here Hubbard said that we are all
inhabited by seven foreign spirits, the leader of which he called
the "crew chief". The idea did not find favour, so it was
abandoned for fourteen years.
In December 1966, in North Africa, Hubbard undertook "research"
into an incident which he claimed had occured 75 million years
ago. In a tape recorded lecture given in September, 1967, Hubbard
announced his revelation to Scientologists. On the same tape he
boasted about his wife Mary Sue Hubbard's use of "Professional
Intelligence Agents" to steal files. His wife, the controller of
all Scientology organizations subsequently went to prison.
Scientology continues to claim that its creator knew nothing of
the events that put his wife into prison, but also continues to
sell the tape. Armstrong, Hubbard's former archivist has said
that the Hubbard archive contains letters written while he was
creating Operating Thetan level three. In his lecture, Hubbard
claimed to have broken his back while researching. Armstrong told
me in 1984 that Hubbard had in fact got very drunk and fallen
down in the gutter. A doctor had been called out to him to deal
with a sprain. Hubbard also detailed his drug use in this
correspondence. In February, 1967, Hubbard flew to Los Palmas and
the woman who attended him there has told me that he was taking
enormous quantities of drugs and was in a very debilitated state.
The result of Hubbard's "research" was a mixture of
science-fiction and old-fashioned magic. According to Hubbard, 75
million years ago, Xenu, the overlord of 76 planets, rounded up
most of the people of his empire, some 178 billion per planet -
and brought them to Earth. Here they were exploded in volcanoes
using hydrogen bombs and the spirits or thetans collected on
"electronic ribbons". Disorientated from the massacre, the
disembodied thetans were subjected to some 36 days of hypnotic
"implanting" and clustered together. From seven indwelling
spirits per person Hubbard's estimate had gone into the
thousands. The "implants" supposedly contained the blueprint for
future civilizations, including the Christian teaching, 75
million years before Christ. Operating Thetan level three had to
be kept secret, according to Hubbard, because the unprepared will
die within two days of discovering its contents. The story has in
fact been published in many newspapers without noticeable loss of
life. Hubbard was so taken with his science fiction, that he
finally wrote a screenplay called Revolt in the Stars about the
"OT3" incident, ignoring his own warnings.
It is often the case with Hubbard's work that he has simply
taken other ideas and dressed them up in new expressions. Careful
study shows that Dianetics included such words as "operator",
"reverie", and "regression" common to hypnotic practitioners at
the time. On leaving Scientology, most people cannot see that the
"body thetans" of Operating Thetan levels three to seven are in
fact the demons of Christian belief. The "OT levels" are
factually the most expensive form of exorcism known to man.
Unfortunately, such beliefs and practices can have a severe
effect upon practitioners, who take Hubbard's warning to heart
and come to believe themselves multiple personalities. I have
been called to help in several times in such instances.
Indeed, the whole process of "auditing" can be seen as an
update of magical ritual. Scientology is a mixture of occult
ritual and 1950s style psychotherapy. The adherents travel
through increasingly expensive initiations with the hope of
attaining supernatural powers. There are badges, symbols and
titles for almost every stage of the way.
Other links with ritual magic have emerged. A peculiar event
occured aboard Hubbard's flagship, the Apollo, in 1973. Those
aboard ship responsible for overseeing the management of
Scientology organizations were involved in a ceremony called thee
Kali ceremony after the Hindu goddess of destruction. The whole
was staged very seriously, and the managers were led into a dimly
lit hold of the ship and ordered to destroy models of their
organizations. A few years before, a high-ranking Sea
Organization Officer claims to have been ordered to Los Angeles
where he was meant to mount an armed attack on a magician's
sabat. He did not mount the attack but claims that the meeting
happened exactly where Hubbard had told him it would.
In 1976, Hubbard ordered a secret research project into the
teachings of gnostic groups. He had already carried out a project
to determine which of his ship's crew members were "soldiers of
light" and which "soldiers of darkness". The latter group were
apparently promoted. Jeff Jacobsen has provided insight into a
possible connection between Hubbard's OT levels and gnostic
teachings (103). Jacobsen quotes from the third century Christian
gnostic Valentinus: "For many spirits dwell in it {the body} and
do not permit it to be pure; each of them brings to fruition its
own works, and they treat it abusively by means of unseemly
desires". Jacobsen goes on to cite the gnostic Basildes, man
"preserves the appearance of a wooden horse, according to the
poetic myth, embracing as he does in one body a host of such
different spirits." Jacobsen points out that multiple possession
seems to have been considered normal by these gnostics.
Possession equates to madness in orthodox Christianity, and
example of multiple possession are rare [the Gadarene swine for
example]. Jacobsen draws other interesting parallels between
gnosticism and Scientology.
Another former Sea Organization member affidavited a meeting in
the 1970's with an old man whose description fitted Hubbard's.
She claimed to have been taken to the top floor of a Scientology
building by high-ranking officials and left there with this man,
who performed the sexual act with her, but very slowly (104).
Indeed, in the way advocated by Crowley and called karezzo. No
outside witness has corroborated this statement.
I have already said that the public and private faces of
Scientology are very different. The vast majority of Hubbard's
followers are good people who genuinely believe that the
techniques of Scientology can help the world. Most are ignorant
of the hidden Fair Game teachings. Hubbard presented himself as a
messiah, as Maitreya the last Buddha, but in fact he was
privately a highly disturbed and frequently ill man. There are a
number of reports of his drug abuse. He advocated the use of
amphetamines (105). He admitted to barbiturate addiction (106)
and was also at times a heavy drinker. His treatment of those
around him was often deplorable. Although holding himself out as
an authority on child-rearing, his relationship with his children
was geniunely dreadful. He disowned his first son, barely saw his
first daughter, and Quentin, the oldest son of his third
marriage, committed suicide. Quentin had reached the highest
level of Scientology twice. He was a Class XII auditor and a
"cleared theta clear", but he was also a homosexual. Hubbard was
publicly homophobic - saying that all homosexuals are "covertly
hostile" or backstabbers. I have received alarming reports of his
sexual behaviour. I must emphasise that these reports are not
corroborated, so can only stand as allegations.. One Sea
Organization officer claims to have witnessed a sexual encounter
between Hubbard and a young boy in North Africa. Another claims
that Hubbard admitted to a sexual relationship with one of his
own children. It is impossible to substaniate such reports. But
such behaviour would be in keeping with an extreme devotee of
Aleister Crowley who said that in the training of a magican "Acts
which are essentially dishonourable must be done." (107).
In conclusion, I believe that Hubbard was a classic psychopath.
Some trauma in infancy separated him from the world and made him
untrusting of other people. This developed into a paranoia, a
need to control others. He created a dissociated world, inhabited
by the Empress. Bear in mind that he actually saw the Empress in
full colour, and that she spoke to him (108). From his comments
about automatic writing and speaking, it could be averred that
Hubbard was in fact "channeling" the Empress. Hubbard separated
off a compartment of himself calling it the Empress and gave in
to its urging. He lived a life of dreadufl contradiction. He
claimed expertise in all things, but factually was a failure at
most. Some will see him as having a psychiatric complaint, others
will believe that he invoked the very devil, or Babalon, and was
possessed. Hubbard's own belief lives on with all of its
contradictions in his teaching. Ultimately, as Fritz Haack put
it, Scientology is twentieth-century magic.
References:
(1) Atack, Jon, Lyle Stuart Books, New Jersey 1990
(2) Sigmund Freud, Clarke Lectures 1-3, in Two Short Accounts of
Psycho-Analysis, Penguin Books, London, 1962, Cf Hubbard
"Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health" and "The
Dianetic Auditors Course"
(3) Hubbard HCO Policy letter "Keeping Scientology Working", 7
February 1965
(4) e.g. acknowledgements lists in Hubbard's "Science of
Survival", 1951, and "Scientology 8-8008, 1952, Phoenix Lectures,
p. 264
(5) Grinker and Speigel, "Men Under Stress", McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1945
(6) Sargant, "Battle for the Mind", Heinemann, London, 1957.
Hubbard had a copy of this book on his library shelf in
Washington, D.C. in 1958. It also has relevance to other aspects
of Scientology.
(7) Hermitage House, 1950
(8) Fodor, "The Search for the Beloved - a clinical
investigation of birth and the trauma of prenatal conditioning",
Hermitage House, 1949
(9) Wolfe & Rosenthal, Hypnotism COmes of Age, Blue Ribbon, NY,
1949, Young Twenty-Five Lessons in Hypnotism, Padell, NY, 1944.
Both recommended by Hubbard in Research & Discovery, volume 2,
p. 12, 1st edition.
(10) Jeff Jacobsen has written two interesting papers relevant
to any discussion of the origins of Scientology. Dianetics: From
Out of the Blue, the Skeptic, UK, March/April 1992, which
discusses the origins of Dianetics and The Hubbard is Bare,
1992, a more general discussion including comments about Crowley
and gnosticism. I have worked for some time on a set of papers
which discuss Hubbard's plagiarism, as yet these are
unavailable.
(11) A Piece of Blue Sky, pp. 119 & 125-126.
(12) A Piece of Blue Sky, pg. 128
(13) See particularly the chapters on Bergson and Spencer.
(14) See also Jacobsen's The Hubbard is Bare and Bent Corydon's
L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? Corydon relied upon excellent
research by Brian Ambry but also upon L. Ron Hubbard jnr, whose
credibility is questionable. See also L. Ron Hubbard, jnr, A
Look Into Scientology or 1/10 of 1% of Scientology, manuscript,
1972.
(15) Hubbard, "Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science" originally
printed in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1950. Republished by
AOSH DK Publications Department, 1972, quotation from p. 56, see
also p. 59.
(16) Burks, "Monitors" CSA Press, Lakemount, Georgia, 1967.
(17) King, Francis, The Secret Rituals of the OTO, C.W. Daniel,
London, 1973.
(18) Revelation, chapter 17.
(19) Secret Rituals of the OTO
(20) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, Castle Books, New
York, p. 88
(21) Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 120
(22) There is contention between the various OTO groups about the Book of
Babalon. Its existence is sometimes denied, and the OTO New York
have claimed that only a fragment exists (published in Parsons,
Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword, Falcon, Las Vegas, 1989) I have
read three versions of the manuscript, one is the Yorke
transcript, another is un-named. The third was published in
vol.1, issue 3 of Starfire, London, 1989.
(23) Published by Isis Research, Edmonton, Alberta, 1980, ed Plawiuk
(24) Professional Auditors Bulletin, no. 110, 15 April 1957.
(25) Author's interview with 15th degree Rosicrucian, 1984.
(26) Hubbard, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 18 "Conditions
of Space-Time-Energy".
(27) Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 18
(28) Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 35
(29) Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 40
(30) Hubbard, Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 1, "Opening, What is
to
be done in the Course".
(31) Thoth Tarot Deck, US Games Systems, NY, ISBN 0-913866-15-6.
(32) Crowley, The Book of Thoth, Samuel Weiser, Maine, 1984. First
edition 1944. (33)
(33) Book of Thoth, p. 75
(34) Book of Thoth, p. 76
(35) Francis King, The Magical World of Aleister Crowley, Arrow Books, p.
56
(36) Crowley, Confessions, Bantam, New York, 1971, p. 693.
(37) e.g, Book of Thoth, pp. 136
(38) Cavendish, The Magical Arts, Arkana, London, 1984, p. 304
(39) A Piece of Blue Sky, p. 99
(40) Francis King, Ritual Magic in England, Spearman, London,
1970, p. 161
(41) Litt, in Church of Scientology v Armstrong, vol. 26, p. 4607
(42) Hope, Practical Egyptian Magic, Aquaarian, Northants, 1984, pp. 39
& 47. (43) HCO Policy
(43) HCO Policy letter, Penalities for Lower Conditions, 18 October 1967,
Issue IV. (44) HCO Executive Letter, Ampriministics, 27 September
IV.
(44) HCO Executive letter, Amprinistics, 27 September 1975.
(45) e.g. HCO Policy Letter, Ethics, Suppressive Acts,
Supression of Scientologists, the Fair Game Law, 1 March 1965.
The offending part of the text was read into an English court
judgement (Hubbard v Vosper, November, 1971, Court of Appeal).
In USA v Jame Kember and Morris Budlong, in 1980, Scientology
lawyers admitted that despite public representations Fair Game
has never truly been "abrogated" (sentencing memorandum,
District Court, Washington, D.C. criminal no. 78.401 (2) & (3),
p. 16, footnote). The Policy Letter which did eventually cancel
it, off 22 July 1980, was itself withdrawn on 8 September 1983.
Unknown to MOST of its adherents, Fair game is still a
scripture, and according to Hubbard's Standard Tech principle
binding upon Scientologists. Hubbard issued a murder order in
1978 under the name "R2-45" (The Auditor issue 35). Thankfully,
this order was not compllied with.
(46) See for example the technique called False Data Stripping and
Hubbard's
comments on controllling people through contradictory
instructions.
(47) Interview with Robert Vaughan Young, former Hubbard
archivist, Corona Del Mar, April 1993.
(48) Affirmations, exhibits 500-4D, E, F & G, See Church of
Scientology v Armstrong, transcript volume 11, p. 1886
(49) Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology Dictionary, Church of
Scientology of California, L.A., 1975, "theta" definition 6.
(50) The Babalon sign with a theta at the centre of a 7-pointed
star is found in many of Crowley's works, e.g. The Book of
Thoth. The winged sign of the OTO and the use of the theta sign
can be found in various place, e.g. Equinox - Sex and Religion,
Thelema Publishing Co., Nashville, 1981.
(51) Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary, definition
of "Operating Thetan".
(52) e.g., PAB 91, The Anatomy of Failure, 3 July 1956. See also
definition of "Tone 40" in the Dianetics and Scientology
Technical Dictionary, "giving a command and just knowing that
it will be executed despite any contrary appearances"..
(53) Philadelphia Doctorate Course, lecture 18
(54) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. xii
(55) e.g., Dissemination Drill, CCHS, Opening Procedure by
Duplication, Mood TRS & Tone Scale Drills, TRS 6-8, TR-8Q, the
FSM TR "How to control a conversation". On the OTVII practised
up to 1982, the student was expected to telepathically implant
thoughts into others.
(56) Technical Bulletin of 22 July 1956.
(57) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. xiii
(58) ibid, p. xiii
(59) ibid. p. xiv.
(60) e.g. The Tone Scale. For a discussion of Scientology
beliefs, see A Piece of Blue Sky, pp. 378.
(61) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. xvi-xvii.
(62) ibid, p. 419
(63) ibid, p. 9
(64) e.g., Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. xxiv.
(65) e.g. Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 228.
Hubbard Have You Lived Before this Life?, Church of Scientology
of California, L.A., 1977, p. 3
(66) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 50
(67) ibid. pp. 50 & 228
(68) Hubbard, Phoenix Lectures, Church of Scientology of
California, Edinburgh, 1968, Scxientology Axiom 1, p. 146
(69) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 30
(70) ibid. p. 63
(71) Phoenix Lectures, p. 175
(72) Phoenix Lectures, p. 173, Scientology Axioms 26 & 27.
(73) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 110
(74) ibid. p. 121.
(75) ibid. p. 143-144
(76) Phoenix Lectures, p. 180, Scientology Axiom 35
(77) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 144.
(78) e.g., ibid, p. 147
(79) ibid, p. 153
(80) Phoenix Lectures, p. 180, Scientology Axiom 31.
(81) Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 251. Hubbard,
PAB 1, General Comments, 10 May 1953.
(82) Crowley, Magick Without Tears, Falcon Press, Phoenix, AZ,
1983, pp. xii, 26, 407 & 440. Hubbard, Dianetics and
Scientology Technical Dictionary, definition of "word clearing".
Korzybski also advocated understanding of words.
(83) Crowley, Magick Without Tears, p. 11
(84) HCO Bulletin, Confidential - Resistive Cases - Former
Therapies, 23 September 1978.
(85) e.g. Hubbard, HCO Policy Letter Routine Three - Heaven, 11
May 1963 and the original preface to the Phoenix Lectures,
Hubbard South Africa Association of Scientologists,
Johannesburg, 1954 "God just happens to be the trick of this
universe", p. 5. In HCO Bulletin Technically Speaking, of 8
July 1959, Hubbard said "The whole Christian movement is based
on the victim...Christianity succeeded by making people into
victims. We can succeed by making victims into people."
(86) What is Scientology?" Church of Scientology of California,
first edition, 1978, p. 301
(87) H. Spencer Lewis, Rosicrucian Manual, AMORC , San Jose,
1982.
(88) Modern Management Technology Defined, definition of Church
of American Science
(89) HCO Policy Letter, Former practices, 1968
(90) HCO Policy Letter, Heaven, 1963
(91) cf Hubbard's use of "wall of fire" to describe OT III & OT
V. These may also be compared to gnostic ideas.
(92) The RTC symbol is frequently used, e.g., What is
Scientology, 2nd edition, 1992, p. 92
(93) Magick Without Tears, p. 259
(94) Cavendish, p. 243
(95) Paul Bracchi, The Cult and a Right-Winger, Evening Argus,
Brighton, England, 4 April 1995.
(96) Letter to the author. Sklar's book was published by
Crowell, NY, 1977. It was originally released as Gods and
Beasts. See also Gerald Suster Hitler and the Age of Horus,
Sphere, London, 1981.
(97) This symbol is frequently used, e.g., What is Scientology,
2nd edition, 1992, p. 358
(98) Suster, Hitler and the Age of Horus, p. 138
(99) Francoise Stachan, Casting out the Devils, Aquarian Press,
London, 1972. See also Alexandra David-Neel Initiates and
Initiations in Tibet, pp. 168-169.
(100) Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 16
(101) The Road to Total Freedom, BPI records, L.A., 1986
(102) The Hubbard College Lectures
(103) The Hubbard is Bare
(104) Affidavit of Ann Bailey, p. 34
(105) e.g. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health,
Bridge, L.A.m 1985, p. 389 or AOSHDK, Denmark, 1973, p. 363. See
also the Research and Discovery series.
(106) The Research and Discovery Series, vol. 1, 1st edition
1980, Scientology Publications Org, p. 124
(107) Magick in Theory and Practice, p. 339
(108) Hubbard ordered that new dust sleeves should be put onto
his books after he'd released OT3, in 1967. These book covers
are supposedly meant to depict images from the 36 days of
implanting and will su
in the 1990 Bridg, L.A., edition.
********
Suggested further reading: Hubbard and the Occult