Jeff Jacobsen - The Hubbard is Bare
Chapter seven: Aleister Crowley
Hubbard had clear connections to the occult. Even in the first
publication of dianetics in "Astounding Science Fiction", Hubbard
in explaining how he did his "research" into what the mind was
doing, says he used "automatic writing, speaking and clairvoyance"
(1) to discover what the mind's memory banks were doing. Automatic writing
is an occult method of communicating with the spirit world, although psychologists
consider its products to arise from subconscious thoughts of the writer.
Whichever is correct, it is hardly a method used by competent scientific
researchers.
Hubbard's connection to the occultist Aleister Crowley is quite clear and
noteworthy. Crowley called himself the Anti-Christ, the Beast of Revelations,
and 666. Russell Miller has adequately chronicled Hubbard's connection in
1945 to John W. Parsons, who headed Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis chapter
in Los Angeles. (2) Hubbard was an active member in this group for several
months, and first met his second wife there. The Church of Scientology claims
that Hubbard was actually infiltrating this group in order to break it up,
but the following should suffice to dismiss this claim.
In the Philadelphia Doctorate Course lectures taped in 1952, Hubbard discusses
occult magic of the middle ages, and recommends a current book - "it's
fascinating work in itself, and that's work written by Aleister Crowley,
the late Aleister Crowley, my very good friend." (3) The book recommended
was The Master Therion, (published in London in 1929) later re-released
as Magick in Theory and Practise. L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. asserts that
during the time when the Philadelphia course was given his father would
read Crowley's works "in preparation for the next day's lecture..."
(4)
There are interesting similarities between Crowley's writings and the teachings
of Hubbard. Dianetics' Time Track, in which every incident in a person's
life is chronologically recorded in full in the mind, is quite similar to
Crowley's Magical Memory. The Magical Memory is developed over time until
"memories of childhood reawaken" (5) which were previously forgotten,
and memories of previous incarnations are recalled as well. Hubbard gives
examples in the Philadelphia Doctorate Course of several people remembering
lives earlier on earth, some up to a million years ago. The similarity between
the Magical Memory and Time Track, then, is that they both can recall every
past incident in a person's life, they both can recall incidents from past
lives, and they both must be developed by certain techniques in order to
make use of them.
Both Hubbard and Crowley consider it important to have the person recall
his or her birth. "Having allowed the mind to return for some hundred
times to the hour of birth, it should be encouraged to endeavour to penetrate
beyond that period" (6) (Crowley). "After twenty runs through
birth, the patient experienced a recession of all somatics and 'unconsciousness'
and aberrative content." "Thus there was no inhibition about looking
earlier than birth for what Dianetics had begun to call basic-basic"
(7) (Hubbard).
Both Hubbard and Crowley are avowedly anti-psychiatry. "Official psychoanalysis
is therefore committed to upholding a fraud... psychoanalysts have misinterpreted
life, and announced the absurdity that every human being is essentially
an anti-social, criminal, and insane animal" (8) (Crowley). Hubbard
considered that psychiatry controlled most of society and was struggling
to create their own 1984 world. (9)
Hubbard (10) and Crowley both posit the ability of the person to leave his
or her body at times. Crowley states that the way to learn to leave your
body is to mock up a body like your own in front of your physical body.
Eventually you will learn to leave your physical body with your "astral
body" and travel and view at will without physical restrictions. (11)
Hubbard teaches the same, and his method of "exteriorization"
is to tell the person to "have preclear mock up own body" (12),
which will send the person outside his body.
Both Crowley (13) and Hubbard (14) use an equilateral triangle pointing
up in a circle as one of their group's symbols. Both use Volume 0 instead
of Volume 1 to begin enumerating their works. One could go on for quite
some time listing the similarities between Crowley's and Hubbard's theories
and writings, but for more the reader is encouraged to look for him or herself.
In Crowley's Organization are several grade levels. To reach the Grade of
Adeptus Exemptus "The Adept must prepare and publish a thesis setting
forth His knowledge of the Universe, and his proposals for its welfare and
progress. He will thus be known as the leader of a school of thought."
(15) It is apparent that Hubbard has fulfilled this requirement.
Gnosticism
First, an explanation of what gnosticism is. It is an old religious philosophy
with Platonic roots. Basically, gnostics believe that we as humans are "outsiders"
to this material universe. Our immortal godlike souls were trapped here
in a body by evil forces, and we are reincarnated continually, while our
true spiritual identities are clouded from our memory. It is our task to
discover the hidden knowledge, or gnosis, that will allow us to escape this
evil material world of illusion and return to our rightful place. We keep
reincarnating until we learn how to escape.
The world seems to be 'the epitome of evil'. Because it is alien
to their true nature, human beings must renounce it and flee from it in
order to be able to return to their heavenly home. To achieve this aim they
must possess Gnosis, be reborn in their true nature, and be baptized in
the cup of knowledge into which the divine intellect has been poured. (16)
Salvation begins with a messenger from beyond bringing the necessary knowledge
to mankind, but this knowledge is given only to those deemed worthy, and
even then one must follow certain steps in order to arrive at the ultimate
Truths. The individual must struggle to earn and then incorporate the secret
knowledge needed to return to his rightful place.
There is a need for someone to bring this gnosis or knowledge to mankind:
It follows that this divine reality cannot be known through
the ordinary faculties of the mind. Illumination, revelation, the intervention
of a celestial mediator is required. He descends from above to call the
Gnostic, to rouse him from earthly sleep and drunkenness, to take him back
to his divine homeland. (17)
While on this earth, man is plagued by many difficulties which lessen his
real abilities and being. One problem to us all is that within each of our
bodies is a plethora of spirits or souls, causing us harm:
A hierarchy of demons, servile and ready, is continually at
work in everyone's body, transformed into a remorseless inferno in miniature.
(18)
Mankind is also cursed with forgetfulness of his true home and true composition,
being blinded by this material world.
As with Christianity today, there were many sects of gnosticism. The most
famous gnostics were those that took the basic ideas of Christianity and
mixed them into their own otherworldly theories. One of the most dangerous
enemies of the early church were the Christian gnostic movement, for it
greatly distorted the essential message of Christ and his followers while
using similar terminology. The early church fathers, such as Clement of
Alexandria and Tertullian, spent much of their time speaking out against
gnosticism.
Scientology, however, embraces gnosticism. Its doctrines are gnostic, and
it uses gnostic writings to support its own ideas. For example, "Advance!"
issue 93 has an article entitled "The Surprising Christian Tradition
of Reincarnation", which relies heavily on gnostic writings such as
the Pistis Sophia (the best known of the surviving gnostic writings) to
support its viewpoint. Scientology is clearly gnostic, by its own admission
and by the similarities to its own and gnostic teachings. Once again, ideas
Hubbard declares to be new and discovered by him, are shown to be derived
from old and widespread teachings in existence long before he came along.
Hubbard claimed to be the sole source of the hidden knowledge needed to
escape these earthly bonds. "The mystery of this universe... has been,
as far as its track is concerned, completely occluded. No one has ever been
able to make any breakthrough and come off with it and know what happened...
I finally was able to make a breakthrough which brought people through the
zone safely." (19)
When Hubbard died in 1986, it was announced that he had left this "MEST"
(the acronym of Matter, Space, Time, and Energy) universe to continue his
work and research. In other words, he had obtained the gnosis needed to
break the bonds to this material illusory plane and travel to other worlds
or dimensions at will. (20)
Hubbard was the sole source for the technology Scientologists need to break
free from this MEST universe. "Nobody else - NOBODY - ever discovered
it." (21) He is thus the gnostic "celestial mediator" empowered
to bring mankind the knowledge needed to bring us back home.
Another obvious connection to gnosticism is in the upper level of training
known as Operating Thetan III, or "The Wall of Fire." It is at
this level that the Scientologist first is taught that many of his problems
are caused by other souls attached to his soul. These souls are detached
and sent on their way through the course training. The goal of OTIII is
to rid the individual of hundreds of "Body Thetans", or other
souls attached to the main dominant individual. No one is even allowed to
see OTIII material until he has completed the previous courses leading up
to OTIII. (21) This material is carefully guarded and treated as a great
important mystery to be imparted only to those proven worthy.
These great "discoveries" of Hubbard actually were taught as far
back as 300 AD:
"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. To me it seems that the heart
suffers in much the same way as an inn: for it has holes and trenches dug
in it and is often filled with filth by men who live there licentiously
and have no regard for the place because it belongs to another." (22)
Although this sounds almost identical to ideas in OTIII, it is in fact a
quote from Valentinus, one of the most famous early Christian gnostics,
writing around 300 AD. Valentinus taught that there was more than one spirit
within an individual, causing difficulties for the "host" or main
soul of the individual. The gnostic Basilides also taught in a similar vein
that 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." (23)
The above is similar to the New Testament idea of demons in that demons
are "outsiders" from the main inhabitant of the body and are problematic
to the host. Gnostics, however, seem to feel that it is the normal human
condition to have these other souls, whereas Christianity considers this
a rare aberration.
Another gnostic idea, that this is a world of illusion, is in Scientology
doctrine as well. Scientology teaches that this universe we live in is the
MEST (matter, energy, space, time) universe that exists solely because the
non-MEST beings known as thetans decided to agree to bind themselves to
the rules and laws that we see operating here, such as gravity and the speed
of light: "a Thetan may postulate a material or mental condition and
subsequently consider that he cannot escape that condition, and succumb
to the resulting illusion of entrapment within it." (24) Theta beings
(Hubbard's name for the soul) lived here on earth by dwelling in a human
body. Humans, that is, the living body, existed without the theta being
before the thetans were trapped in this material universe. Theta beings
are "trapped" into human bodies by trickery and forget their true
nature:
Your preclear was basically good, happy, ethical and aesthetic
before the contagion of the MEST universe got him. Then, still a thetan,
he wasn't very good but he was still trusting and ethical. Finally, when
he had a body - well, look around. (25)
Scientology then shares the gnostic idea that mankind is separate from the
physical universe and is trapped against his will here.
As gnosticism is a secret knowledge, Scientology hides its upper level or
OT level teachings under a strict veil of secrecy. When I visited the Los
Angeles "Big Blue Building" of Scientology, I was invited to listen
to some OT VIII's speak via satellite from the "Free Winds" ship
where OT VIII is exclusively taught. An OT VII on board said that the OT
VIII material is in a locked case, and the only way to open the case is
to enter a certain locked room and pass the case under a laser beam there.
Scientologists are taught that if they hear the teachings of OT III before
they have taken the necessary previous courses, they will catch pneumonia
and die.
Early gnostics also used various methods to hide their teachings. The initiations
were so secret that today we can only piece parts of them together. The
writings of many gnostics were purposely vague and incomprehensible, so
only the initiated could understand them.
The goal of dianetics and Scientology is to return the Theta being to its
inherent abilities (i.e. freeing it from the laws of this universe) and
remove it from its need to have a body. The sole source for accomplishing
this is the technology of L. Ron Hubbard, celestial mediator of the gnostic
Church of Scientology.
Parenthetically, one can clearly see from above that these teachings clash
with Christian thinking today. While Scientologists claim that "in
Scientology there is no attempt to change another's beliefs or to persuade
the person away from his own religious practice," (26) in reality there
is an incongruity of beliefs that must fall either to the side of Scientology
or Christianity. They are not compatible. Scientology is gnostic, which
has been seen from almost the beginning of Christianity to be a great threat
to correct Christian dogma (see the Ante-Nicene Fathers writings, for example),
and it requires the belief in reincarnation, which is foreign to Christian
thought. Elsewhere I write about Hubbard's connection to Aleister Crowley,
"my very good friend," who called himself the anti-christ and
taught accordingly. Hubbard generously borrowed ideas from and admired the
writings of Crowley. Obviously, Scientology's claim that their ideas will
not interfere with a person's Christian beliefs is absurd.
Notes:
- L. Ron Hubbard, "Dianetics: Evolution of a Science", Astounding
Science Fiction, May 1950 p. 66
- Bare-faced Messiah, pp.112-130
- L. Ron Hubbard, "Conditions of Space/Time/Energy" Philadelphia
Doctorate Course cassette tape #18 5212C05
- L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? p. 305
- Aleister Crowley, Magick In Theory And Practice (NY: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1976) p.51 (originally published 1929, London)
- Magick, p. 419.
- Dianetics, p. 171 and 172.
- Magick, p. xxiv
- L. Ron Hubbard, "What Your Donations Buy", church pamphlet
- Dianetics pp. 340f.
- Magick pp. 146-7
- L. Ron Hubbard, The Creation Of Human Ability, (Sussex, England:
The Department of Publications Worldwide, 1954) p. 226f
- Francis X. King, Mind and Magic (London: Dorling Kindersley
Ltd., 1991) p.100. see photograph.
- See for example the bookends of Hubbard's Research and Discovery series.
- Magick p.236
- Giovanni Filoramo, Gnosticism, (Cambridge, MASS: Basil Blackwell,
1990) p. 9
- Gnosticism, p. 40
- Gnosticism, p. 92
- "Advance!" issue 93, p. 16
- International Scientology News, issue 8, p. 3.
- International Scientology News, issue 8, p. 7
- The material has been released publicly in court cases. Scientologists
refuse to read it, however, until they reach the proper level of training.
They believe they will die if reading it unprepared.
- Gnosticism, p.98
- The Ante-Nicene Fathers (WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand
Rapids MI) reprinted February 1983. Volume 2, p. 372.
- L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology: A World Religion Emerges in the Space
Age, (Church of Scientology Information Service, Department of Archives,
date and location not listed) p. 23
- L. Ron Hubbard, A History Of Man (Sussex, England; Department
of Publications Worldwide, 1961), p. 55
- Staff of Church of Scientology, What Is Scientology? (Kingsport
Press, Inc., 1978) p.199
Reprinted with permission from The Hubbard is Bare by Jeff Jacobsen.
Copyright © 1992 by Jeff Jacobsen, P.O. Box 3541, Scottsdale, AZ 85271.