L Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard - pulp science-fiction author, and founder of Dianetics and Scientology.

Born Lafayette Ronald Hubbard on 13 March 1911 in Tilden, Nebraska, Hubbard was the son of a teacher and a United States Navy officer. His early childhood was spent on various Navy bases, including a lengthy period in the US territory of Guam.

From the age of 12, Hubbard engaged in friendly correspondence with Commander Joseph ‘Snake’ Thompson, a former Navy spy and pioneering psychoanalyst, who had brought psychoanalysis directly from Vienna to the US Navy and introduced it into the Navy.

Hubbard later attended George Washington University, where he pursued studies in engineering, though he departed prior to graduation. While at university, he befriended William Alanson White, a professor of psychiatry and then-Superintendent of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.

In the 1930s, Hubbard volunteered within the psychiatric community in the nation’s capital, working alongside White and Thompson.

He was trained in psycho-analysis in Washington, D.C. by both Thompson and White, a mentorship Hubbard himself confirmed in a June 1955 lecture. Hubbard majored in engineering, with a particular focus on finite energies, conceiving the human mind as the "finest energy". He conducted experiments aimed at discovering how memory was stored, encountering a "conundrum of such magnitude" that he believed "a man couldn’t remember… more than three month’s worth" due to insufficient storage space for energies.

White encouraged him to "pursue along this line" and to "tell me about it from time to time". Hubbard claimed to have hypnotised the entire staff at St. Elizabeth’s in the 1930s, stating he told them they had heard a good speech and left the stage, after which they exclaimed, "What a good speech that you gave!".

He developed an animosity towards Winfred Overholser, White's successor at St. Elizabeth's, subsequent to Overholser's dismissal of his Dianetic research. Hubbard lectured in 1952 about the perils of Overholser's treatment of schizophrenics at the hospital’s Chestnut Lodge, noting that three staff members from Chestnut Lodge had serviced him in the 1930s. Chestnut Lodge itself held CIA-cleared psychiatrists and was approved by the CIA Security Office for use in 1953, with collaboration between US intelligence and its psychiatrists dating back to World War II.

At the onset of the Second World War, Hubbard enlisted in the Navy after his period at St. Elizabeth’s, where he was reportedly a hot-bed of psychiatric research during Project Bluebird and Project Artichoke, the precursors to the infamous MK Ultra programme.

While specifics of his rank and accomplishments during the war remain subject to discrepancy, it is widely acknowledged that he served as an intelligence officer. His work encompassed under-discussed operations on behalf of US Naval and other intelligence agencies.

Furthermore, he infiltrated Jack Parsons’ occult-influenced rocket programme, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), whose work became the scientific foundation for NASA. The Church of Scientology later claimed that Hubbard was dispatched by the US Navy to "break up black magic in America." According to this assertion, he resided at Parsons’ residence, investigated black magic rituals, and successfully rescued a young woman, leading to the dispersion and destruction of the black magic group.

In 1945, following the conclusion of the war, Hubbard moved into an estate in Pasadena, California, owned by Jack Parsons, one of the original co-founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a key figure in the development of jellied rocket fuel, the kind of fuel that propelled Apollo missions and other spacecraft.

Parsons was also affiliated with Caltech, which had connections to the Los Alamos project. Hubbard was swiftly initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a Thelemic magic group, in 1945.

Parsons regarded Hubbard as being "in direct touch with some higher intelligence" and described him as "the most Thelemic person" he had encountered. The OTO, which pre-existed Aleister Crowley, was subsequently infused with Crowley's Thelemic principles. Its origins trace back to Theodore Reuss, a Prussian police agent, and it was later taken over by Crowley, who served as an agent of British intelligence.

Hubbard himself was deeply involved in the occult, being a member of the OTO in Pasadena in the 1940s under Parsons' leadership, and also studied Rosicrucianism, joining the Rosicrucian order. Hubbard would wear his naval uniform everywhere, including to Parsons' house. Hubbard and Parsons became inseparable, even sharing Parsons’ then-partner, Sara Northrup, who was also the half-sister of Parsons’ first wife, Helen. In the winter and spring of 1946, Hubbard and Parsons engaged in a series of occult rituals in the Mojave Desert known as "Babalon Working," an attempt to incarnate the Thelemite goddess Babalon onto Earth.

Parsons noted that Hubbard had a "natural ability to just understanding metaphysical import of any notion" and could translate it into ritual language. Hubbard would select mood music, such as Shostakovich, for these rituals. Hubbard promptly took nearly all the funds from Parsons' sale of the estate, as well as Parsons' then-partner, Sara Northrup, who was also the half-sister of Parsons' first wife, Helen.

Hubbard and Sara Northrup then eloped to Mexico, taking Parsons' sailboat with them too. Although Parsons eventually managed to get his money back, Hubbard, Sara, and the sailboat continued on without him.

Hubbard married Northrup in Mexico. Hubbard's son, Nibs Hubbard, and grandson, Jamie Wolf, both asserted that his work was rooted in black magic or Satanism. Nibs, who became one of Scientology's "greatest auditors," later retracted some of his claims, reportedly due to financial inducements after leaving the organisation due to financial hardship.

Shortly after his separation from Parsons and establishing himself with Sara, Hubbard began his life’s work with Dianetics, publishing his first work on the subject in May 1950.

Establishment Establishing

This initial publication was an article titled "Dianetics: The Evolution of Science," appearing in the Astounding Science Fiction magazine, which he wrote in three weeks on an IBM typewriter. In April 1950, Hubbard collaborated with the magazine’s editor, John W. Campbell, to generate pre-publication enthusiasm, leading to the establishment of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.

The formation of this foundation was specifically suggested by Charles Parker Morgan, a former FBI special agent and OSS agent. Donald H. Rogers, the Director of Research at the newly formed foundation, also served as a former FBI agent. In January 1951, the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners initiated a lawsuit against the Foundation.

In response, two intelligence officers, Charles Parker Morgan and John Starr Cooke, advised Hubbard to incorporate Dianetics as a religion to protect it from legal challenges.

John Starr Cooke, a man of wealth and influential family connections, was no stranger to high-level CIA personnel, with his sister married to Roger Kent, and Roger’s brother, Sherman Kent, serving as head of the CIA’s National Board of Estimates and Allen Dulles’s "right-hand man". Cooke, who hobnobbed with Sherman Kent at family reunions, ascended to a high rank within Scientology, becoming the first "clear" in America.

The ex-CIA agent Miles Copeland described an "Occultism in High Places" (OHP) theory of political activism, stating that "properly ‘charismatised’ leaders, placed in certain positions in the ‘free world’s’ ‘key’ bureaucracies, could be used as political levers" by the CIA.

Copeland specifically mentioned such "arrangements" with the Church of Scientology, stating an agent was "planted in the Scientology cult who became a ‘clear’ under the tutelage of Ron Hubbard himself."

Hubbard's later body of work developed into Scientology

He believed Scientology could help individuals overcome psychological issues and escape life's routines, though he did not equate it with salvation, seeing it as a vehicle for people to "unfold what I already have".

The Church of Scientology operates on a pay-to-play hierarchical system, where members must advance through ranks and pay substantial sums to gain access to its inner secrets.

Hubbard was known for meticulously controlling every facet of the organisation, diverting funds from followers’ life savings. He acquired opulent items for himself, including multi-million pound camera collections and a variety of toys, even as some of his followers faced starvation.

Hubbard once stated: "Remember one thing, we are not running a business, we are running a government. We are in direct control of people’s lives."

Methods of Influence

Hubbert’s writings emphasised that auditing subjects should be treated as machines to be manipulated, rather than autonomous individuals. He discovered that increasing persuasiveness could be achieved by speaking confusing phrases. This concept led to his invention of the Alice in Wonderland Technique.

Hubbert openly wrote about this method in his work. The technique requires the auditing subject to read several lines from the book Alice in Wonderland to a coach. When an individual is confused, the first piece of logical information they receive afterwards will be automatically accepted or more automatically accepted without being screened or scrutinised by the brain. By inserting a logical thought following a confusion statement, many psychological defences are lowered. The Central Intelligence Agency copied Hubbert’s technique almost word for word into an interrogation manual, yet provided no attribution to him.

Hubbard's Cosmology

Dianetics is presented as a pragmatic methodology for the mind, primarily focused on the elimination of "engrams"—bad memories originating from both current and past lives—through systematic "auditing" sessions. Hubbard dismissed psychiatry as ineffective, characterising it as based on "literary fancies." His approach was underpinned by the philosophical principle that "what's true is what works."

Central to his cosmology is the concept of the "Thetan," described as a spiritual entity that existed prior to the material universe. Hubbard's epistemology outlines four levels of knowledge: the lowest being skepticism, associated with spiritual beings (Thetans) either postulating no games or being completely trapped in matter without belief in a game; followed by divine Fiat, where actions are dictated by a higher power without consideration of good or evil; then an engineering perspective, where societal and ethical laws are based on observed natural laws that "work"; and finally, the highest level, the "Operating Thetan" (OT), where the individual realises that natural laws were originally mere postulates, thus allowing them to control, destroy, and create their own rules for their own universe.

Thetans are believed to have created a "game"—the material universe, encompassing matter, energy, space, and time (MEST)—by mutually agreeing to limit themselves and establish a lower realm. In this process, Thetans inadvertently forget their true nature and become ensnared by the images or "facsimiles" they themselves brought into existence.

Hubbard developed the "Xenu myth," in which an malevolent leader named Xenu purportedly trapped Thetans and subjected them to a visual presentation known as R6. This "film," showing Christ on the cross, instilled concepts of death, pain, and killing for survival. The R6 is a "concretised film" that visually portrays a composite human being undergoing crucifixion, electrocuted by psychiatrists and slowly dismembered by surgeons, exposing bones that are then cut, all while screaming in excruciating pain.

This imagery, according to Hubbard, is the origin of the concepts of hell and the devil, as it depicts oneself "failing to survive throughout eternity and feeling nothing but pain." Hubbard's aim was to construct a "different Hollywood film," or narrative, to liberate individuals from the influence of the R6 imagery. He considered the R6 implant to be the fundamental cause of Western civilisation's perceived decline, describing Western civilisation as a "dynamic crucifixion of everyone involved in it".

He explicitly stated that the Xenu myth is not allegorical but constitutes "word for word absolute revelation."He incorporated Christian symbolism, such as the cross, into Scientology's iconography, specifically a Celtic cross design. He interpreted this cross as representing the "intersection of the life force (Theta) taking control of MEST (matter, energy, space, time) and guiding it toward his utopian purposes," also reminiscent of the Gnostic cross. Additionally, Hubbard believed that "sexual deviance," including Homosexuality and child molestation, was "implanted in R6." He also integrated elements of popular culture, advocating for traditional gender roles, stating that "women need to be women and men need to be men."

In August 1967, Hubbard formally established the Sea Organisation (Sea Org), initially comprising three large ships.

Membership within the Sea Org was reserved for Scientology's most devoted adherents, who received training for the highest levels of the religion.

Documents indicate that the Sea Org believed "the governments of the world were on the verge of collapse" and that "the Sea Org would survive and pick up the pieces." Initiates of the Sea Org were required to pledge a billion-year term of service to Scientology, in accordance with the belief in human immortality.

The treatment of Sea Org members was said to be a "careful imitation of techniques long-used by the military to obtain unquestioning obedience and immediate compliance to orders, or more simply to break men’s spirits."

Former members reported enduring 15-hour workdays as teenagers, seeing their parents only twice between ages 12 and 18, earning as little as £17 per week, and residing in austere conditions, sometimes lacking even a doorknob on their rooms.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched an investigation into the Church of Scientology in 2009, specifically targeting the Sea Org, due to concerns regarding human trafficking. However, no charges were filed, primarily due to a federal judge’s ruling in August 2010 that the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom prevented the court from scrutinising the Church's disciplinary methods.

The formation of Sea Org coincided with the revocation of Scientology's tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) earlier that year. Hubbard's establishment of this personal navy was motivated by his desire to escape control from national governments and opposition from various authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the IRS, and the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Rhodesia, as well as various media sources around the world.

The Sea Org was perceived as a potential replacement for the CIA's off-the-books, off-shore shadow operations, such as the Sea Supply, a 1950s trafficking operation run by the CIA. Hubbard's flagship, the Apollo, was suspected of being involved in drug trafficking, white slave traffic, and acting as an intelligence operation, with a US Consulate cable mentioning "rumors in town that the Apollo is involved in drug or white slave traffic," and a tabloid speculating a link to the CIA and Sharon Tate murders.

Sea Org vessels routinely followed a triangular route between ports in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, transmitting coded radio messages to New York and establishing land bases in Casablanca and Tangier.

Hubbard’s Guardian's Office detected the presence of law enforcement, prompting the Apollo to reverse course from Charleston, South Carolina, where "Customs agents had gathered here from as far away as California to keep watch on the Apollo" due to suspicions of "carrying large quantities of narcotics".

A former Sea Org Captain, Scott Mayer, provided an affidavit stating he was given "instructions to kill" alongside Jerry McDonald, who was "widely rumoured to have been a former mercenary and a paid assassin in Europe". Mayer further testified to preparing mission orders and briefing couriers who would smuggle money out of the United States.

Former Sea Org member Hana Eltringham recalled helping "courier 7 or 8 million dollars in cash to Switzerland" and "stashed gold bullion". The operations were described as "James Bond stuff" and "real intelligence missions" targeting organisations such as the United Nations and the World Federation of Mental Health, as well as infiltrating governments to covertly support political candidates, breaking into presidential palace grounds, and conning guards.

Reports from the US Coast Guard indicated that two of the Church's ships were conducting "military drills" while "bearing Coast Guard insignia replicas". Jerry McDonald's ship, the Makaira, was found to have "loads of weapons," believed to be taken "in trade for marijuana… from Mexico". McDonald was later cleared of all charges despite criminal allegations and failure to appear in court, alluding to suspicions of him working on behalf of intelligence.

By early 1974, Hubbard and his then-wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, began discussing the infiltration of the IRS. This initiative evolved into Operation Snow White, an extensive espionage operation that infiltrated over 30 countries and numerous US government agencies.

In July 1977, FBI raids on Scientology headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, revealed a cache of incriminating items, including lock picks, pistols, ammunition, knockout drops, a blackjack, bugging and wiretapping equipment, and a vial labelled "vampire blood".

More than 23,000 impounded documents had been stolen from federal prosecutors, US Cabinet members, and various government bodies, including the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency (NSA), and the US Customs Service. Although a US judge later ruled the raid unconstitutional, 11 Scientologists, including Mary Sue Hubbard, were convicted of conspiracy and imprisoned. Hubbard himself went into hiding until his death in January 1986. During his absence, David Miscavige assumed control of Scientology.

In the 1980s, Hubbard hired L. Fletcher Prouty, a former CIA agent and former Chief of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kennedy, to produce an affidavit on government attacks against Scientology. Prouty’s report indicated that intelligence messages about Scientology activities worldwide were routinely routed to high-level government agencies, suggesting a high classification and security handling of otherwise unclassified information.

In October 1991, Miscavige met with IRS Commissioner Fred T. Goldberg Jr., offering to cease Snow White operations and drop all lawsuits against the IRS in exchange for the restoration of Scientology's tax-exempt status. Goldberg agreed to these demands, creating a special five-member working group—an "exceptionally unusual arrangement"—to resolve the dispute. As part of the settlement, the IRS also agreed to distribute a fact sheet about Scientology and Hubbard, which Miscavige affirmed was written by the Church itself.

Before authoring Dianetics and founding Scientology, Hubbard was a prolific science-fiction author. He believed in the concept of a "film-like implant" within all minds and subsequently sought to become a filmmaker.

Early in his career, he befriended Richard DeMille, the son of Cecil B. DeMille, to gain entry into Hollywood circles. Later, he established his own studio for producing training films for Scientology, which included dramatisation of the Xenu myth.

His training films sometimes dramatised conflicts with mainstream society, such as the bombing of an FBI office, during the production of which he reportedly demanded "more blood" while FBI officers with "both their arms lopped off were crawling around on the ground". Hubbard's Guardian's Office systematically infiltrated government offices to gather intelligence on what the FBI and CIA were saying about Scientology.

Scientology established a "Celebrity Centre" in Los Angeles, designed to cater to film stars, offering them flattery and preferential treatment, including "their own little Bungalow with all your favorite snacks". Hubbard consistently encouraged more auditing sessions, thereby ensuring a continuous flow of income from his followers, often with reasons such as "there are really more satans in their body" requiring "more auditing".

He was an exceptionally prolific writer, generating thousands of pages of policy letters, books, and science-fiction novels. Many of his published works, however, were rehashings or compilations of previously released material. He skillfully incorporated jargon, obscure mystical terms, and playful language into his teachings, such as "goofed the floof" or "loose fart" for Lucifer, enabling them to resonate with a mass audience.

He instructed his followers to repeatedly read Scientology texts until they achieved complete understanding, using footnotes to define terms and insisting no doubts should remain, a practice that critics argue stifled critical thought. Hubbard passed away in January 1986.