Sure sign of Scientology’s decline? The new ‘OT Phenomena’ are not very… phenomenal

Are Scientology OTs losing their powers? Or have they just given up sharing their amazing feats of supernatural ability with the editors of Scientology’s Advance! magazine?

For years, we have enjoyed reading the ghost stories Scientologists pass off as evidence that they are gaining superpowers in Scientology’s “Operating Thetan” levels, which they can only get to after years of dedication and hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain.

In order to keep the pilgrims on the hook, Advance! has been publishing the ‘OT Phenomena’ column for decades, and former editor Jefferson Hawkins told us it was always the most popular feature in the publication. In the 1970s, when Jefferson was running it, the claims of super abilities were really something. We’ll never forget, for example, the OT supplicant who described leaving his body, traveling across the country in ethereal form to a hospital, and then participating in his friend’s surgery to help him pull through. Now that’s a creative use of occult prowess!

Advance! today is only a shell of what it once was, a digital-only and mostly uninteresting publication that still features ‘OT Phenomena,’ but as our readers are well aware, today’s OT powers seem to be limited to finding choice parking spots, changing signals to green, or locating lost wristwatches.

This issue’s offerings may be the most tepid ever. Have Scientologists simply given up trying to find loose thetans in cemeteries, perform astral surgery, or stop traffic accidents with their eye-beams? Come on, give us the good stuff if you want us to fork out a million dollars, right?

Anyway, here is the new batch. Is their lameness a sure sign that Scientology’s end days are upon us?

 
OT PHENOMENA

Stories of Thetan Abilities At Work

Making the Connection

I’d been working on disseminating to my family members for nearly five years, but I’d never been successful. Then I started the OT Levels, and in a session on OT II, I had a realization: I have the ability to experience another person’s universe. One day I asked myself who was the most spiritual person in my family, and I thought of my cousin’s wife.

I hadn’t spoken to her in two years, but right after I thought about her, she called and said she was thinking about me. I took the opportunity to share my wins and different gains I’d had in Scientology. She responded with strong interest, and said that she wanted to try studying Scientology. She did, and has already completed three Extension Courses, which is amazing!

Because I’m on the OT Levels, for the first time — and with no force or effort — I was successful at disseminating to a family member. Now that’s OT power! — W.H.

 
Documenting Where to Look

Recently, an associate called me. She sounded very stressed as she explained that she had lost an important document, which she needed right away. I had never been to her home, but an image flashed in my mind of a dark-coloured tea table with the document lying on its shelf. When I asked her if she had such a table, she said no, all of her tables were white. I asked her to have a look around just to see if there might be one dark table. After a minute, she said, “Oh my God, yes. I do have a dark purple tea table.” I told her to look on the lower shelf of that table, and there it was. Her day was saved. — M.H.

 
You Get What You Postulate

I am auditing on Solo NOTs, and I have my own company that installs security systems. Things had been going fine, but then for a whole week I didn’t get any new jobs.

I started going through all of my actions, checking whether I had changed anything that has worked in the past to keep business coming in. But I couldn’t find anything different or unusual that I had done or not done that would cause my flow of business to just dry up like that.

Then I started reviewing my own thoughts and postulates for an explanation. As I thought about it, I realized that before this whole period started, I had put in a few terribly busy days. Right after that, I decided that I wanted to “relax for a while.”

With that realisation, I immediately changed my postulate to wanting to have a steady inflow of work. Soon my phone started ringing, and I was scheduling jobs again. — C.C.

 
You see what we mean. It’s a far cry from the wild abandon of the old Advance! magazines of the the 1970s and their wild covers, such as Issue 53 here.

Another thing that Advance! was known for was taking a look at “other practices,” each month surveying some far-flung spiritual tradition with Scientology’s superiority about itself firmly in place.

This time, the new issue takes a look at Tarot, and we thought you’d like to see how it ends…

Fortunately for Mankind, there is a more stable and secure way to be at cause and succeed in life rather than counting on “the luck of the draw,” which is what one experiences in Tarot.

As beautiful as the decks are, there is no comparison to the knowledge and gains found in Scientology. Thanks to the Bridge to Total Freedom, the centuries of searching are over, and anyone is free to determine their own unlimited future by following LRH’s carefully mapped path to OT.

Seekers of truth will discover it for themselves as they progress through the OT Levels at the Advanced Organisation.

Did you get that, OT hopeful? Put away those fortune-teller cards and get on the real path to the secrets of the universe, the imaginings of a reactionary science fiction writer born in Tilden, Nebraska!

Technology Cocktail

“One spectacular recovery of an insane woman occurred when she ran an incident as a lion who ate her keeper. Freudian work hadn’t been able to crack the case. The alienist at the sanitarium kept her in with trying to explain how it was all delusion (the current technique pre-Dianetics). A Dianetic Auditor found and ran it and she became sane at once and stayed so.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1969

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“Let’s get the idea that right this moment you’re engaged in killing a woman. Now let’s remember this as an incident that occurred 20 years ago. Now let’s get the idea that you’re right this moment engaged in killing a man. Now let’s remember this as though it happened 35 years ago. All right….Now let’s get the idea of being a space ranger, a space man being shot to death right at this minute. Now let’s get this on recall now, as something that happened a hundred thousand years ago. This very incident. All right. Now let’s get the idea, right this moment you’re engaged upon being a sultan. Being a sultan. And now recall this as having happened 200 years ago. Now let’s get the idea of being a general, a general who is engaged in slaughtering a million troops. Killing them all to the last troop. Now let’s get this as having occurred a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. Now let’s get the idea of you being engaged this moment, successfully engaged upon blowing up the entire physical universe. Now get this as having happened yesterday. Now let’s get the idea of your own universe at this moment being blown to pieces. Now throw your memory into action as though it happened last night. And now as though it happened 50 years ago. And now as though it happened a billion years ago. And now as though it happened a trillion years ago. And now as though it happened 76 trillion years ago. Now, let’s get the idea right now of being engaged upon the construction of an entirely new universe. Now let’s get this as though you were engaged upon it, actually, at six o’clock this morning. OK.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 22, 1954

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“SECURITY: Remember, we were doing great until we forgot our security in letters, telexes and radio comms and ceased to be archaeologists or moving pictures people. Get our security in.” — The Commodore, March 22, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I suspect their are insane SPs somewhere who have the power to destroy multiple planets at once.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: Mrshowbiz published an interview with Scientology celebrity Jenna Elfman this week. “My husband has been a Scientologist for years, and I kept hearing him talk about Dianetics. And I said, ‘What is Dianetics?’ So he gave me the book. And he said there’s a course you can take and you just have to read parts of it. And then one day I ran into a situation that made me like, frazzled. I was spending the night at my now-husband, boyfriend-at-the-time’s house. I was so used to the alarm that it didn’t wake me up, and I woke up an hour and a half after I was supposed to be there. I got in the car and I was all frazzled and starting to cry and was rushed, and I couldn’t think. Then I went, Wait a minute–that’s purely reactive and insane. Look, you’re in the car, you can’t get there any faster. So just turn the music on, enjoy. And I went da-da-da, da-da-da and got a lot more analytical about the situation. When I got there, I said, ‘I’m very sorry I’m late. The alarm didn’t wake me up.’ And they said, ‘That’s fine. We’re not going to get to you for another few hours.’ Like, wow! I went, This is great. It’s just very simple: Scientology helps me live my life better.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Margery Wakefield writes in ‘The Road To Xenu’ about how they were allowed and encouraged to watch Star Trek in the mess hall. They would laugh about how the ‘wogs’ didn’t understand what they were watching were real Whole Track memories.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing March 26, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on March 20.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, hearing on March 26.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. 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 a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology is going space crazy! Hold on to your wallets, pilgrims, and let’s blast off!
[TWO years ago] War in Ukraine: What does it mean for Scientology there and in Russia?
[THREE years ago] Scientology on the ground: Despite church PR, things look very grim as the pandemic lingers
[FOUR years ago] Scientology tries to rah-rah its way through the pandemic while endangering its members
[FIVE years ago] Here’s the police report on Scientology’s sad attempt to mess with ‘Aftermath’
[SIX years ago] Scientology TV gives viewers a glimpse of the church’s most secret locations — but why?
[SEVEN years ago] The real reason Leah Remini is taking a wrecking ball to Scientology
[EIGHT years ago] Trial set in New York on April 7 over Narconon drug rehab hiding connection to Scientology
[NINE years ago] ‘Going Clear’ subject Hana Eltringham Whitfield fills us in on a Scientology secret or two
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack: Why I call Scientology a cult and not a church
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Sneaky Infiltration of New York City Schools

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 22, 2024 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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, 15 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

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

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

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone