Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief (63 page)

73
Hubbard was finally given:
Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999,
www.spaink.net/cos/warher/battle.htm#doc-a
.

74
“These little sweethearts”:
“Ex-Portlander Hunts U-Boats,”
Oregon Journal
, April 22, 1943.

75
bottom of his class:
Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999,
www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/warhero/battle.htm
.

76
“It made noises like”:
Thomas Moulton testimony,
Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong
.

77
“The target was moving”:
Hubbard, “An Account of the Action Off Cape Lookout,” undated report.

78
with dawn breaking:
Ibid.

79
“There was no submarine”:
Commander Frank Jack Fletcher to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, June 6, 1943.

80
Japanese records after:
Chris Owen, “Ron the ‘War Hero,’ ” July 1999,
www.spaink.net/cos/warher/battle.htm#doc-a
.

81
“This on top of”:
“The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,”
www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html
.

82
He spent the next:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 107.

83
“Once conversant with the”:
Hubbard request to School of Military Government, Sept. 9, 1944.

84
none proved useful:
Patterson,
Robert A. Heinlein
, Vol. 1:
In Dialogue with His Century
, p. 350.

85
“Ron had had a busy war”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 109.

86
Hubbard had an affair with Heinlein’s wife:
Patterson,
Robert A. Heinlein
, pp. 369–70.

87
“He almost forced me”:
“The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,”
www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html
.

88
Vida Jameson…“Quiet, shy little greymouse”:
Samme Buck, personal correspondence; Frederik Pohl, “The Worlds of L. Ron Hubbard, Part 2,”
The Way of the Future Blogs
.

89
“Blinded with injured optic”:
Hubbard, “My Philosophy,”
The Philosopher: The Rediscovery of the Human Soul
, The
Ron
magazines, p. 85.

90
“I had no one”:
Ibid.

91
Doctors at Oak Knoll:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 112.

92
nor do his military records:
Hubbard said in 1950 that he was treated for “ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight, bursitis and something wrong with my feet.” Albert Q. Maisel, “Dianetics: Science or Hoax?”
Look
, Dec. 5, 1950.

93
“And I was watching this”:
Hubbard, “The Story of Dianetics and Scientology,” lecture, Oct. 18, 1958.

94
“My wife left me”:
“The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,”
www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html
.

95
Hubbard towed a house trailer:
Alva Rogers, quoted in Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, p. 103.

96
“James Dean of the occult”:
Hugh B. Urban, “The Occult Roots of Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion,”
Novo Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
(February 2012): 94.

97
He acquired a three-story:
Kansa,
Wormwood Star
, p. 28.

98
twelve-car garage:
Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions.

99
The house had once belonged:
Letter from Arthur Fleming to John Muir, Feb. 8, 1911; Pendle,
Strange Angel
, p. 208.

100
“Must not believe in God”:
Russell Miller interview with Nieson Himmel, “The
Bare-Faced Messiah
Interviews,”
www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/interviews/himmel.htm
.

101
Among those passing:
Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, pp. 84–86; Pendle,
Strange Angel
, pp. 244–45.

102
“women in diaphanous gowns”:
Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, p. 84.

103
captured in a portrait:
Pendle,
Strange Angel
, p. 209.

104
“The breakup of the home”:
Parsons,
Freedom Is a Two-Edged Sword
, p. 69.

105
Sara Elizabeth “Betty” Northrup:
Pendle,
Strange Angel
, p. 255. Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 116.

106
lost her virginity:
Pendle,
Strange Angel
, p. 203.

107
“Her chief interest”:
Ibid.

108
when she was fifteen:
Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions.

109
“He was not only a writer”:
Ibid.

110
“He dominated the scene”:
Alva Rogers, quoted in Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, p. 103.

111
“the most gorgeous”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 117.

112
“a gentleman, red hair”:
Ibid., p. 118.

113
angry debate:
The Church of Scientology forced the authors of a 1952 Crowley biography,
The Great Beast
, to remove any suggestion that there was a connection between Scientology and black magic.
Church of Scientology of California and John Symonds, MacDonald & Co. (Publishers) Limited, Hazell Watson & Viney
. High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, 1971. The church also provided me with its correspondence with the London
Sunday Times
in 1969 and 1970, in which the newspaper agreed to retract similar statements and not make such references in the future.

114
envious of his talent:
Grant and Symonds,
The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
, p. 18.

115
He may have served:
Spence,
Secret Agent 666
.

116
“Do what thou wilt”:
Grant and Symonds,
The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
, p. 18.

117
Nibs—Hubbard’s estranged:
Allan Sonnenschein, “Inside the Church of Scientology: An Exclusive Interview with L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.,”
Penthouse
, June 1983.

118
“What a lot of people”:
Ibid. The church fiercely disputes any of the derogatory remarks made by Hubbard’s son, especially in the
Penthouse
interview. In 1984, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.—who had changed his name to Ronald DeWolf—stated, “The interview of me in the June 1983 issue of
Penthouse
is true and accurate, period.” Transcript of Tape #1 of June 28, 1984—Ron DeWolf.
www.lermanet.com/scientology-and-occult/tape-by-L-Ron-Hubbard-jr.htm
. However, in 1987, DeWolf signed an affidavit recanting his statements against his father, saying they were “no more than wild flights of fantasy based on my own unlimited imagination.” Affidavit of Ronald Edward DeWolf, May 20, 1987, Carson City, Nevada. But five years later, DeWolf testified that he had signed the recantation “in order to protect my wife and children” from threats made by the church.
City of Clearwater Commission Hearings Re: The Church of Scientology
. May 6, 1982, Morning Session.

119
“spiritual progress did not depend”:
Grant and Symonds,
The Confessions of Aleister Crowley
, pp. 582–83.

120
“The Abyss”:
Ibid., p. 929 n. 57.

121
“my very good friend”:
Hubbard, “Conditions of Space/Time/Energy,”
Philadelphia Doctorate Course Transcripts
, Dec. 5, 1952.

122
“That’s when Dad decided”:
City of Clearwater Commission Hearings Re: The Church of Scientology. May 6, 1982, Morning Session.

123
“a savage and beautiful woman”:
Hugh B. Urban, “The Occult Roots of Scientology? L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion,”
Novo Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
(February 2012): 98.

124
“invocation of wand”:
Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, pp. 122–23. Interview with Anthony Torchia.

125
“We observed a brownish”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, pp. 120–21.

126
“I don’t know where I am”:
Kansa,
Wormwood Star
, p. 41.

127
Cameron’s version is that:
Ibid., p. 28.

128
“I have my elemental!”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 121.

129
“Display thyself”:
Ibid., pp. 122–23.

130
“Instructions were received”:
Ibid., p. 124.

131
“Apparently Parsons or Hubbard”:
Ibid., p. 124.

132
aborted another pregnancy:
Carter,
Sex and Rockets
, p. 151.

133
“Babalon is incarnate upon”:
Quoted in Pendle,
Strange Angel
, p. 266.

134
more than twenty thousand dollars:
Ibid., p. 267.

135
“I cannot tolerate”:
Hubbard, Appeal to Administration of Veterans Affairs, July 4, 1946.

136
“I have know”:
S. E. Northrup letter to Veterans Administration, Los Angeles, July 1, 1946.

137
“Banishing Ritual”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
: p. 127.

138
ship was too damaged:
Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions.

139
Parsons gained a judgment:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 127.

140
“keep him at arm’s”:
Robert Heinlein letter to John Arwine, May 10, 1946.

141
“a very sad case”:
Virginia Heinlein to Catherine and Sprague de Camp, Aug. 7, 1946.

142
“All right, I’ll marry you”:
Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions. Both the church and Hubbard himself denied that he was ever married to Northrup, although there is a marriage certificate on file in the Kent County Courthouse in Chestertown, Maryland, recording the marriage of Lafayette Hubbard and Sara Elizabeth Northrup on Aug. 10, 1946. Northrup also cites that date in her divorce pleading.

143
“I suppose Polly was”:
L. Sprague de Camp letter to Heinleins, Aug. 13, 1946.

144
In fact, Polly didn’t learn:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 189.

145
“Mr. Hubbard accomplished”:
Church of Scientology response to queries. Parsons lost his security clearance in 1948 because he was suspected of leaking state secrets to a foreign power. In 1952, while his wife was at the grocery store, he blew himself up in his garage, apparently accidentally. According to Anthony Torchia, a former member of the OTO, the order dissolved in the 1960s but re-formed in the 1970s and continues to this day. Moreover, the OTO does not consider itself “black” magic.

146
“No work since discharge”:
Veterans Administration Report of Physical Examination, Sept. 19, 1946.

147
“I got up and left”:
Sara Elizabeth Hollister (formerly Sara Northrup Hubbard) tapes, Stephen A. Kent Collection on Alternative Religions.

148
churning out plots:
Ibid. Among the stories Sara Northrup claimed to have written were the Ole Doc Methuselah series in
Amazing Science Fiction
.

149
“I kept thinking”:
Ibid.

150
Nibs told her:
Ibid.

151
Ron was arrested:
Ibid.

152
I am utterly unable”:
Hubbard letter to Veterans Administration, Oct. 15, 1947.

153
“a manic depressive”:
Miller,
Bare-Faced Messiah
, p. 175.

154
“He said he always wanted”:
www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/interviews/barbkaye.htm
.

155
“Paranoid personality”:
Jim Dincalci, personal communication.

156
“malignant narcissism”:
Stephen Wiseman, personal communication.

157
“a kind of self-therapy”:
Church of Scientology, California, v. Gerald Armstrong
. Information that has become available since the Armstrong trial, such as the Heinlein and Hays letters, confirms much of the material in the Affirmations, adding to its credibility.

158
“the Empress”:
Atack,
A Piece of Blue Sky
, p. 100, says that Hubbard may also have called his Guardian Hathor, an Egyptian goddess usually depicted with cow horns. In the Affirmations, Hubbard explicitly names his Guardian Flavia Julia. He may have been referring to Flavia Julia Titi, daughter of the Roman Emperor Titus; or, perhaps more likely, to the Empress Flavia Julia Helena Augustus, also known as Saint Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, who is credited with finding the “True Cross.” Jim Dincalci told me that L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., referred to his father’s Guardian as the source of his automatic writing; also, that Aiwass, Crowley’s Guardian, was in charge of this sector of the universe.