The Franklin Files

Omega · Guru

RE: The Thule Society II

Omega · Guru

Many of these symbols have possible 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 (086) is markedly similar to the Rosicrucian cross (087) 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 (088), called Christ an invention (089) and said that the "Creator of Heaven" would be found "with beetles under the rocks" (090), should have adopted the exclusively Christian word "church", the garb of Christian ministers and the use of the cross as a symbol. But Scientology is based upon deceptions and contradictions.

The Rosicrucians and the Freemasons share a ritual called the "grave of fire" (091). 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. (092)

The RTC symbol contains the Dianetics triangle, which is a common magical 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 (093). The triangle is universally recognised as a sign of malign power. Alexandra David-Neel commented upon its use as such among the Tibetans. Her best-selling books of the 1930s contain many other possible comparisons with Hubbard's work.

Omega · Guru

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 (094) This symbol allegedly represents "tetragrammaton", the holy name of God which must never be spoken. Perhaps breaking it apart is similar 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 Naziism. Naziism was certainly an authoritarian group, a prototypical destructive cult. Recent revelations about leading Scientologist Thomas Marcellus long-running direction of the Institute for Historical Review can only add to speculation (095). Dusty Sklar has said that had she known about Hubbard she would have used him in the last chapter of The Nazis and the Occult rather than Sun Myung Moon (096). 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 (097) can be readily compared to the Nazi flag. The four lightning flashes or "sig runes" are also common to Naziism. 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 word.

Omega · Guru

Hitler too had been aware of the power of occult symbols and rituals. Speaking of the Freemasons, he said: "All the supposed abominations, the skeletons and death's heads, 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 an esoteric doctrine not 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 but 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, that is what it has to be - an Order, the hierarchical Order of a secular priesthood." (098)

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 had 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 of the major religions (099). 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.

Towards 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.

Omega · Guru

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 occurred 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 in prison, but also continue to sell this 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 an enormous quantity 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 has 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 "OT 3" incident, ignoring his own warnings.