While we were going through various L. Ron Hubbard lectures looking for fun items for our “Source Code” feature, we ran into something pretty wild that we wanted to share with you.
Our Scientology oldtimers may be fully familiar with this, but we have to admit that we hadn’t run across it before.
When we think of Scientology, we tend to think of L. Ron Hubbard giving one of his nutty lectures, which we’ve shared with you many times. Or, we think of individual Scientologists pursuing their path on the “Bridge to Total Freedom,” paired up with a twin or with an auditor.
What we don’t think about is a group activity, and certainly not the call-and-response sort of experience that you might get in another “church” context.
But in 1954, Hubbard was experimenting not only with processing exercises on an individual “preclear,” but on an entire room full of people.
And it strikes us as particularly apt, since historians like Jon Atack point out to us that before he started in on his Dianetics and Scientology caper, Hubbard had been trained as a stage hypnotist. His friends at the time, like Forrie Ackerman, said that Hubbard was remarkably skilled at making an entire room go under.
Well, we kept that in mind as we started to feel kind of woozy listening to Hubbard shout questions at his 1954 audience like a drill sergeant, and the happy responses of his followers.
To spare you some of the repetition, in the name of Fair Use we’ve pulled out only a short two and a half minutes from a call-and-response gag that actually went on for most of an hour.
Tell us what you think. Does L. Ron Hubbard here make you feel that he’s introducing you to the secrets of the universe?
We asked Sunny Pereira if ‘group processing’ had any place in Scientology after the 1950s.
“It’s mostly used for children or for Sunday service. Normally a Sunday service starts with group processing, then a lecture about some Scientology topic like ARC or how to raise children or some shit,” she says.
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Leaked document of the day
From the FBI documents release comes this item.
Here’s an odd one we found in the FBI file. It’s from 1977 and just four days after the FBI’s big raid on Scientology. It’s a note that a few days before the raid, in late June 1977, Scientology had rented a couple of refrigerator vans in Clearwater, Florida to transport taped lecture reels to Los Angeles.
Hubbard’s bloviations: So precious, they have to be preserved at cool temperatures for a cross-country trip, at thousands of dollars.
7/11/77
AIRTEL
To: SAC WASHINGTON FIELD (47-10713)
From: ADIC NEW YORK (47-NEW)
Subject: [Redacted] aka IMPERSONATION; FORGERY OF GOVERNMENT IDENTIFICATION (OO:WFO)
On 7/11/77, [redacted] Security Officer, World Headquarters, Avis Rent-A-Car System, 900 Old Country Rd., Garden City, NY, advised that on or about 6/16/77, or 6/17/77, a [redacted] (PH) telephonically made a reservation for the Church of Scientology, 500 Cleveland St., Clearwater, Florida, telephone number (813) 447-6238. The reservation was for two 18 ft. refrigerator vans. These two vans were rented out to the Church of Scientology on 6/20/77. The vans were rented for the purpose of carrying magnetic lecture tapes to Los Angeles, California. The drivers of the vehicle were [redacted].
When the trucks were rented, the Church of Scientology gave Avis a certified check, in the amount of $4,000, as a deposit. When the trucks were returned to Avis on 7/7/77, the bill came to $3,218.07, leaving $781.93 as the amount of change the Church of Scientology received from Avis.
[Redacted] informed that [redacted] is the Manager of Avis Truck Retail, 800 West Gore St., Orlando, Florida, telephone number (305) 843-1380. [Redacted] stated [redacted] handled the rental of these vehicles. [Redacted] stated that [redacted] has all the papers pertaining to the rental of the two refrigerator trucks at his, [redacted] office. [Redacted] averred that it had been learned that the FBI had arrested, in Los Angeles, members of the Church of Scientology for what, he believes, was the having of CIA records. [Redacted] informed that [redacted] has set aside the papers pertaining to the rental of these two refregator trucks and that he, [redacted] would like to know whether or not the Bureau wants these records maintained separately for Bureau use. [Redacted] stated it was his understanding that the individuals driving the two refrigerator vans kept a careful log of the temperatures of the vans during the trip from the East Coast to Los Angeles.
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“There’s a fellow by the name of Einstein passed some laws relating to the speed of light. And you get up to the speed of light, I understand, and you stop right there. And I hope that they don’t hear about this out in the outer planets there, because they’d have to drop those speedometers off. Because these boys going two or three times the speed of light there, as they just start to travel, would be embarrassed if they knew they couldn’t do that. And so somebody’d better inform them before they’re embarrassed by having this discovered about themselves.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 19, 1953
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“The MEST universe is basically a theta trap. So some OT abilities does not work until you’re inside a meat body.”
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“The comments sections on the CCHR vids on YouTube are this uber weird mix of Scientologists and the mentally ill who gravitate to this bullshit because it justifies them not taking their meds. It makes for some very unusual reading.”
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!
Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Scientology threatened to sue over last night’s episode, settled for sliming Leah & Mike instead
[TWO years ago] KID CORPS: Scientology wanted cadets as young as 6 dealing out justice to each other
[THREE years ago] Live-blogging Leah Remini’s special episode tonight: Get a load of these miscreants!
[FOUR years ago] Witness: Compton scam rehab was a special Scientology project — how high does it go?
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s Craigslist expert issues new instructions after so much ad flagging
[SIX years ago] How Scientology ‘ethics’ creates your very own Truman Show
[SEVEN years ago] L. Ron Hubbard’s “Secret Lives” — A Channel 4 Classic
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s Scourge, Paulette Cooper, Visits with the Voice
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,663 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,792 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,296 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,816 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 836 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 727 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,034 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,902 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,676 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,450 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,796 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,362 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,281 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,449 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,030 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,291 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,329 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,042 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,567 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,094 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,657 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,797 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,117 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,973 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,092 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,447 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,750 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,856 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,258 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,130 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,713 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,208 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,462 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,571 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 19, 2019 at 07:00
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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 14 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
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Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
