I repeat - Hubbard was "a long way from either saintly or perfect". I'm not trying to defend what happened to you or your mother. I agree with you that such actions are worthy of rebuke. I'm also not blind to his other faults. Unlike many who are still in the church, I've used the internet to educate myself as to what those faults may include, and your complaints don't begin to scratch the surface. The only thing I'm trying to accomplish is distancing "scientology" as a philosophy from the current reality of the corporation known as "The Church of Scientology". The two are worlds apart.
But, when you complain about the Church of Scientology's "secret police" you are mostly complaining about something that was called the Guardian's Office when Hubbard was still the Executive Director. The GO wasn't terribly concerned with "internal security" so much as conducting CIA-type information gathering raids on the government, as a response to the fact that the church had been the victim of such raids BY the government. After getting bitch-slapped BY THE GOVERNMENT for this activity, Hubbard closed down the Guardian's Office and most of the members of that area were expelled from the church permanently.
After he assumed control of the church, Miscavige resurrected the GO under a different name, and made church staff and parishioners it's primary targets (though it does work with local governments where legal threats to the local church or other security issues might come up). Still, due to the Department of Special Affairs (DSA) network, if you disagree with DM, the best place to be is permanently outside the church. Which is where I am, and will stay.
Since leaving the Church of Scientology, I've become interested in the occult and Zen Buddhism, though (since I live in SE Kansas) it is rather hard to find teachers to study from. Can you point me to some teachers you trust?
As far as the Guardian's Office goes, I refer you to Xenu TV (http://www.xenutv.com) 's wonderful articles on all aspects of Corporate Scientology past and present. As for the rest, I started studying and practicing the Western Ceremonial tradition and numerous others when I was in my 20s. I'm now 65, and have had four decades of it. Hubbard took the best of what he had to offer from those same traditions; he also threw in a lot of stuff that wasn't that valuable, and some that was downright counterproductive. I figure going straight to the original source, cutting out the middleman, works just as well as anything else. I also grew up not far from where Jack Parsons lived and worked, and over the years I've learned quite a bit about his life and career as well as his relationship with Hubbard, and the relationships they both had with Crowley, who frankly thought that their dabblings in certain risky forms of evocation was idiotic. (He was right, too, as witness the way Parsons died (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons), and what happened to Hubbard as a result of getting busted by the feds for Operation Snow White.) I'd rather stick to what I've found to be trustworthy and of lasting value. Anyway, if you want good teachers, I would recommend the works of Aleister Crowley, especially his Liber (http://www.scribd.com/doc/515813/Liber-777) 777 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/777_and_Other_Qabalistic_Writings_of_Aleister_Crowley), his Book of Thoth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Thoth_(Crowley)), his Magick Without Tears (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick_Without_Tears), his autobiographical Confessions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Confessions_of_Aleister_Crowley), and just about anything else by him; anything by Israel Regardie, a student of Crowley; Frater Albertus's books on alchemy; and John Lilly's Astrology, if you can find a copy. (Most or even all of these are also available free on the Web -- just goggle title and author to find them.) If you would like more, please let me know.
Being new to the studies (only began about 5 years ago) I found out right away that there is a lot of material on the internet, but there is a lot of trash-talking about who has what and how good it's value is for study. Getting recommendations from someone who's been using it for 40 years is a huge help! I'll do the google searches to get those titles tomorrow. Again, thank you!
You're most welcome. :-) Anything by Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Frater Albertus, and a few others would be excellent; I gave you titles of their works I have found particularly useful, but there are plenty of others that are good. You should also get a good textbook on geology, and one on physical chemistry and biochemistry, if you don't already have them, so that you can learn the properties of minerals and organic substances, which is very useful when learning alchemy, qaballah, and Magick. Two other types of reference I have found particularly useful, many examples of which I have in my own personal library, are good texts on astrobiology and fire science/scholasticism. I've reviewed a number of these on my blog; click on the following tags to see them: http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/astrobiology, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/peter%20d%20ward, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/stephen%20j%20pyne, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/books (and, if you like, follow up with the tags that come up on posts accessed via these links). Along with my literary partner, Rich Ransdell, I have written a number of novels in a science-fiction series called Here There Be Dragons, published versions of some of which can be found at http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookSearchResults.aspx?Search=dragon%20drive. One of the central characters of that series is an astrobioligist, a man named Monty Eisenstein, who is also a Ceremonial Magickian. So we've had to do a lot of research on the science as well as the mysteries. :-)
Just realized: you might also find these links of use: http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/magick, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/qaballah, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/alchemy, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/astrology, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/dragons, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/vesta, http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/poetry. Some of the posts accessed via these links include material on various esoteric subjects.
And last, but not least, is http://polaris93.livejournal.com/tag/fire -- fire has been with us for at least two million years, it seems now. We are unique in our ability to make and deploy fire and secondary sources of high heat. Neurologically and spiritually, our relationship with fire is deep in the human makeup. The science, mythology, mystique, and historical use of fire by human beings is therefore intimately intertwined with Magick as we use it: Magick is the Art and Science of causing change in conformity with Will, and anthropogenic fire is one way we have wrought enormous changes in the natural and human world.
Hmmmm . . . after spending over an hour clicking on links from my google search, I can't seem to find a copy of the "Book of Thoth" that isn't either "membership required" or on a torrent. I got Liber 777. Now I'm going to start looking for "Magick without Tears" and "Confessions".
I'll take a look in my archives - I think I already have some of Frater Albertus's books. He was referenced in an online alchemy study group I joined briefly (internal bickering soured me on the group).
The Book of Thoth -- both the book and the Tarot pack -- are widely available, including on amazon.com. I'd try there -- often you can get real bargains on such things.
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But, when you complain about the Church of Scientology's "secret police" you are mostly complaining about something that was called the Guardian's Office when Hubbard was still the Executive Director. The GO wasn't terribly concerned with "internal security" so much as conducting CIA-type information gathering raids on the government, as a response to the fact that the church had been the victim of such raids BY the government. After getting bitch-slapped BY THE GOVERNMENT for this activity, Hubbard closed down the Guardian's Office and most of the members of that area were expelled from the church permanently.
After he assumed control of the church, Miscavige resurrected the GO under a different name, and made church staff and parishioners it's primary targets (though it does work with local governments where legal threats to the local church or other security issues might come up). Still, due to the Department of Special Affairs (DSA) network, if you disagree with DM, the best place to be is permanently outside the church. Which is where I am, and will stay.
Since leaving the Church of Scientology, I've become interested in the occult and Zen Buddhism, though (since I live in SE Kansas) it is rather hard to find teachers to study from. Can you point me to some teachers you trust?
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Being new to the studies (only began about 5 years ago) I found out right away that there is a lot of material on the internet, but there is a lot of trash-talking about who has what and how good it's value is for study. Getting recommendations from someone who's been using it for 40 years is a huge help! I'll do the google searches to get those titles tomorrow. Again, thank you!
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I'll take a look in my archives - I think I already have some of Frater Albertus's books. He was referenced in an online alchemy study group I joined briefly (internal bickering soured me on the group).
no subject