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Affirmations - new Wikipedia article

Veda

Sponsor
I have long suspected that the cover images on some books (way back then) were intended to supposedly "key-in" people (WOGs).
Then they would be more likely to get involved in Scientology just because of this.

It's silly "whole track" stuff.

No need to suspect it. it's been known publicly for 25 years.

However, these angel/warrior covers (on '8-80' and ''8-8008') may be a departure from that attempt at "whole track" covert hypnosis or persuasion, and may be some other Hubbard weirdness. :)
 

Anonycat

Crusader
No need to suspect it. it's been known publicly for 25 years.

However, these angel/warrior covers (on '8-80' and ''8-8008') may be a departure from that attempt at "whole track" covert hypnosis or persuasion, and may be some other Hubbard weirdness. :)

He had a major thing for 8s.
 

Caroline

Patron Meritorious
No need to suspect it. it's been known publicly for 25 years.

However, these angel/warrior covers (on '8-80' and ''8-8008') may be a departure from that attempt at "whole track" covert hypnosis or persuasion, and may be some other Hubbard weirdness. :)

Because the Guardian WW, Jane Kember, used such similar imagery for her letterhead, I'd guess the figures are meant to be Hubbard's "Guardians" or "Guardian angels."

ltr-guardian-06june1979.jpg


Hubbard wrote quite a bit about his Guardian in The Admissions. For example:

Hubbard said:
Nothing can intervene between you and your Guardian. She cannot be displaced because she is too powerful. She does not control you. She advises you. You may or may not take the advice. You are an adept and have a wonderful and brilliant mind of your own.

[...]

You have magnificent power but you are humble and calm and patient in that power. For you control all forces under you as you wish. The strength of your Guardian aids you always and can never depart or be repelled. Your faith in her and in God is unswerveable, blind, powerful and you never, never doubt their good intent toward you. They work with you. You help them exert their plans. They have faith unbounded in you.

The Admissions
 

Claire Swazey

Spokeshole, fence sitter
I realize I'm almost definitely in the vast vast minority on this and I hope nobody jumps my shit over this, but, honestly, I just don't think it's a big deal.

The Affirmations have always reminded me of when I was fourteen (ok, Ron was older but hey, we know he wasn't mature, right? Right!) I used to keep a much loved/much scribbled in 3 ring binder style notebook. It was a brazen neon herringbone pattern on the cover. Oh yeah. And I'd right all kinds of stuff in there. Just these maudlin 14 year old girl thoughts. So random. And I'm sure majorly dorky.

Point is, when a person- whether they're crazy as a fucking bedbug or a beacon of rationality- writes stuff just for him or herself, anyone looking at it, any time- that's going to be out of context and it's gonna sound weird as shit. The thing about snakes? Shit. I know tons of people who'd have written something like that if they believed in affirmations.

Just not a big deal. Nothing wrong with it.

That being said, any piece by Chris Owen is worth reading, whether I agree with it, or don't, or like some of it or whatever. He's amazing.

But y'all are, IMO, kinda getting weirded out o'er nuttin'. :biggrin::omg::melodramatic::thumbsup:
 

secretiveoldfag

Silver Meritorious Patron
I must disagree with Claire (perhaps the Mods could provide a smiley for mild disagreement!). I have read right through the whole document, or as much of it as survives. It is on the Web and quite accessible. This is one location:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...JA6dtI&sig=AHIEtbRKLFVAYCrTQ4yzV-nkZbY2NOzirA

The Admissions are not the normal sexual witterings of a sub-adult but a window into a very disturbed mind. I find them chilling and distasteful. Like Hubba-Bubba himself.
 

Veda

Sponsor
-snip-

The Affirmations have always reminded me of when I was fourteen

-snip-

Just not a big deal. Nothing wrong with it.

-snip-

Hubbard was 35.

And these Affirmations were part of Hubbard's application of self-hypnosis by way of a sound-scriber, where he - while asleep, in natural sleep, or drugged sleep - would hypnotize himself with his own spoken words.

L. Ron Hubbard Jr. spoke of his father's use of sound-scribers, not only as a means of overcoming writer's block, but also while his father was in a drugged trance, wearing headphones. At the time, hardly anyone believed that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, could possibly have used drugs and practiced self-hypnosis.

Hey, why don't you suggest to Marty Rathbun, over at his blog, that he have an article on Hubbard's Affirmations? That would be fun. :)


From L. Ron Hubbard Sr.'s 'Affirmations':



"You are asleep... In this lesson you are going to learn several things. The first is the use of your beautiful new sound-scriber."

...

"Your psychology is good. You worked to darken your own children. This failure with them [Ron Jr., and his younger sister Katherine] was only apparent. The evident lack of effectiveness was 'ordered'. The same psychology works perfectly on everyone else. You use it with great confidence."

...


"Sleep to you is deep trance... only you can hypnotize yourself."

...


"Darkness is a cloak you may don. Your guardian and your own courage protect you utterly in darkness. You control anything you meet in darkness for that is part of your universe."

...

"Your writing has a deep hypnotic effect on people and they are always pleased with what you write."

...

"Your psychology is true and wonderful. It hypnotizes people. It predicts their emotions, for you are their ruler."​


As a non-sequitur comment, at the beginning of the first 'Philadelphia Doctorate Course' lecture, six years later: "...the prince of darkness. Who do you think I am?" [audience chuckles].​
 

mischief

Patron with Honors
When I first heard about the affirmations, I didnt think anything of it and didnt bother to actually look at them.
It is a commom thing that alot of people do.
An aunt had bought a set of these and would choose one at random to think about/focus on for that day.
If she had something in particular she wanted to deal with, she would write it herself.
I've had alot of people tell me over the years that they do these....so common as mud.

Then I read hubbards....euw, these were just wrong and reading them made me feel nauseous.
To me, these show a very disturbed person, to put it very mildly.
I feel ill thinking how this is the person I spent too long following.
 

Gadfly

Crusader
To understand what Hubbard was doing with the affirmations, one must understand the subject of affirmations, how they relate to various occult practices, and what Hubbard's aims were in using them. People don't flippantly and haphazardly choose and use affirmations. It is somewhat of a serious matter.

First, affirmations go way back as a technique to change ones experiences of personal reality. These techniques can be found in the subjects of Yoga, Buddhism, Rosicrucianism, Magick (both white and black), and MANY New Age subjects that exist even in modern popular psychology. Unless one has closely studied the details of a great many related subjects here, one will not be able to see the common thread of affirmations and visualization techniques.

Second, these methods are simply a tool and can be used for "good" or "bad".

Here is the theory, and while this may sound like Hubbard in some regard, these ideas have existed long before Hubbard, although Hubbard came up with his own unique slant on these various ideas:

We each, as a creative intelligence, cause our experiences of reality by what we think. This isn't a case of where you intend to make something happen, and then it happens, but instead that you determine what happens to you by 1) what you expect, 2) what you accept as true, 3) what you believe, and by 4) what you hold to be true at the deepest levels of mind about all various aspects of reality. While this is very true for a great many subjective and personal factors, it is not so true (at least not for most people) about objective aspects of reality.

These various occult subjects teach a person to learn to use their imagination to visualize new realities. Both affirmations and imagining techniques are used to condition the subconscious to accept and adopt NEW PATTERNS. The theory here is that the world "out there" will mirror back to you, in life and in experiences, what you accept as a pattern without question. That is where Hubbard got "Tone 40" from - without reservation.

Hubbard KNEW all of this, and in the way I am describing it. The purpose of affirmations is to trick ones subconscious into accepting new patterns by which to mirror back reality to oneself. If one is not very familiar with the history and use of affirmations and visualization techniques, in the ancient past, and in modern society, one will be unable to grasp what Hubbard was doing here.

So, realize that one uses affirmations to BRING ABOUT NEW VERSIONS OF REALITY. Affirmations are a succinct statement of a person's desires. Generally people affirm and visualize the REALLY important things - or at least the things that are really important to him or her.

One affirms things as a way to condition ones own mind to accept and adopt new realities so that these imaginings become realities. Theoretically, if one gets really good at this, once should be able to get OTHERS to also experience differently. Tibetan Buddhism is filled with stories of such things. The technique of creating a Tulpa is an example of a specific use of a very disciplined application of controlling ones imagination towards a desired effect. Most people have NO idea of what sort of mental training and expertise is required to bring about such things. The training of adepts in this regard goes WAY FAR PAST anything encountered in Scientology. Hubbard never taught his followers the details of THIS tech of "making mockups appear to others objectively". But, I have no doubt that HE HIMSELF knew of such things and also that he used such methods.

So, also realize that Hubbard USED these "magickal techniques" to get what he wanted. He never taught any of his followers these techniques. These techniques are NOT part of the subject materials of Scientology. But, THAT is the "tech" that Hubbard himself USED to realize HIS goals.

The materials of Scientology and the organization of Scientology are part of the details of the mechanics he used to "make others his slaves", to "be successful", and to realize the content of his earlier life affirmations.

No, sorry Fluffy, you can believe whatever you like, but what was displayed in Hubbard's affirmations were his REAL and TRUE deepest (shitty) desires, aims and purposes. This wasn't a case of the misguided mental meanderings of Hubbard's youth. :no:

I have practiced visualization and affirmations at various stages of my life, being well-versed in all of this stuff, and at NO POINT did I EVER desire, or aim to "make people my slaves", or to be able to "control others" to my benefit.

It is common in these subjects that one is also taught that one is NOT to use such techniques to control, rule or destroy others in the aim for personal success and betterment. You have to be a dullard (or evil) not to grasp this. And, Hubbard chose to use such techniques to overwhelm others towards his own personal wishes.

People who use affirmations and visualization techniques for personal gain and success, especially at the expense of others, are people who have traveled down the dark path (the path of BLACK MAGICK). This is common knowledge within the related subjects. And, people who use such techniques to help and benefit others, and self (without harming others), have traveled down what has traditionally been known as the Path of Light (white magick).

Hubbard KNEW what he was doing. He studied all of this stuff while dabbling with eastern subjects and the occult. The affirmations of Hubbard show his TRUE nature. They show the direction that he decided for his entire life. They show hisself at his DEEPEST un-retouched, innocent and non-PRed aspects.

If you want to know Hubbard at his core - read his affirmations. While he kept this between him and hisself later in his life, there is no doubt in my mind that the content of his affirmations were the guidelines for his entire life.

Read the affirmations. Do you wish for things like that? What sort of person DOES wish for things like that? :confused2:
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
No need to suspect it. it's been known publicly for 25 years.

However, these angel/warrior covers (on '8-80' and ''8-8008') may be a departure from that attempt at "whole track" covert hypnosis or persuasion, and may be some other Hubbard weirdness. :)

Okay, I get it. :duh:
 

Lermanet_com

Gold Meritorious Patron
"Sleep to you is deep trance... only you can hypnotize yourself."

Trance is fine, it is part of life, but you had better know whose program you are running, your own, as it should be or a con man's who founded a sect to make a lot of money?
 

Infinite

Troublesome Internet Fringe Dweller
No need to suspect it. it's been known publicly for 25 years.

However, these angel/warrior covers (on '8-80' and ''8-8008') may be a departure from that attempt at "whole track" covert hypnosis or persuasion, and may be some other Hubbard weirdness. :)

I was wondering if such "religious" imagery was a part of L Ron Hubbard's "Messiah" project that Nancy Many talks about and which got her into so much trouble when she (apparently) didn't give off the right "vibe" when reading the details?
 

Gadfly

Crusader
Trance is fine, it is part of life, but you had better know whose program you are running, your own, as it should be or a con man's who founded a sect to make a lot of money?

Trance can actually be used as a part of self-hypnosis (which is another way to look at visualization techniques).

It always killed me with Scientology that the aim of any honest form of magick or visualization is to allow the person to consciously know and choose what beliefs he or she is agreeing with and adopting, whereas with Scientology, Hubbard sets it all out and gives the members no choice at all. He dictates the exact pattern for the beliefs. Hubbard sets the exact form for the details of the content of the agreements - Hubbard wrote the script for ONE TRANCE STATE for ALL members alike.

Yes, one can use trance to change beliefs and expectations, and as you correctly point out, a person should be free and aware to choose and run the program (pattern) of his or her own making. That is impossible with Scientology. Hubbard made the pattern of the hypnotic state VERY exact for all members.
 

secretiveoldfag

Silver Meritorious Patron
I am impressed with everything that Gadfly says. But I don't agree with his estimate of Hubbard's expertise.

Most people have NO idea of what sort of mental training and expertise is required to bring about such things. The training of adepts in this regard goes WAY FAR PAST anything encountered in Scientology. Hubbard never taught his followers the details of THIS tech of "making mockups appear to others objectively". But, I have no doubt that HE HIMSELF knew of such things and also that he used such methods.

So, also realize that Hubbard USED these "magickal techniques" to get what he wanted. He never taught any of his followers these techniques. These techniques are NOT part of the subject materials of Scientology. But, THAT is the "tech" that Hubbard himself USED to realize HIS goals.

In every other way in which we can measure this man he was a lazy slob. He liked to pose - in a Naval uniform, with a camera, with a plane, with a guitar or a keyboard, with a motorbike - but in reality he had only one skill: short-story writing. Even that is a reflection of his short span of attention, his lack of knowledge, and a lack of mental fibre that one could call laziness.

I am sure he knew about magickal techniques which could produce new realities by the power of imagination. He became moderately proficient. But I am equally sure that he was too idle to do this well or consistently. I cannot imagine Hubbard sitting in an ashram for ten years learning how to discipline his mind. On the contrary, his career is typified by a lack of discipline and by gross self-indulgence (as his Affirmations also show). But his grasp of this technique was tenuous.

For which I think we can all be grateful.

Editing to say: one person who understood this approach better than Hubbard, and who had the mental capacity and the discipline to acquire it and who used it for evil was Charlie Manson, who learnt the method from Hubbard, probably from DMSMH. The various murders were Charlie's way of demonstrating his power over his followers. I believe Hubbard knew this and was scared witless by Manson.
 

Gadfly

Crusader
My point about Hubbard is that, to a great degree he DID realize his aims and goals:

. . . to have great control over many people

. . . to amass great wealth

. . . to be admired, loved and worshiped by some or many people

and so forth.

He was quite effective at realizing his goals as originally stated in his affirmations.

But, both the goals and realization of those goals does not at all impress me. They were really crappy goals. :yes:

A person can get very good at using a rifle, become a sort of "expert", and then go out and shoot twenty school children. THAT is a good analogy in regards to Hubbard with what he did with using affirmations and related magickal techniques to achieve his goals.

And, I agree with everything you said secretiveoldfag in the above post.

As with so many things that Hubbard contacted, studied (to some minor degree), and then incorporated and used in Scientology or his life, generally, he had a somewhat superficial understanding. He surely altered and distorted a great many ideas as he melded them into his own subject. He did the same with his use of affirmations, visualization and magick. Fundamentally, he was a nasty slob who used anybody and everything to achieve his own personal goals (as stated in his ego-centric affirmations).
 

Claire Swazey

Spokeshole, fence sitter
Hubbard was 35.

And these Affirmations were part of Hubbard's application of self-hypnosis by way of a sound-scriber, where he - while asleep, in natural sleep, or drugged sleep - would hypnotize himself with his own spoken words.

L. Ron Hubbard Jr. spoke of his father's use of sound-scribers, not only as a means of overcoming writer's block, but also while his father was in a drugged trance, wearing headphones. At the time, hardly anyone believed that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, could possibly have used drugs and practiced self-hypnosis.

Hey, why don't you suggest to Marty Rathbun, over at his blog, that he have an article on Hubbard's Affirmations? That would be fun. :)


From L. Ron Hubbard Sr.'s 'Affirmations':



"You are asleep... In this lesson you are going to learn several things. The first is the use of your beautiful new sound-scriber."

...

"Your psychology is good. You worked to darken your own children. This failure with them [Ron Jr., and his younger sister Katherine] was only apparent. The evident lack of effectiveness was 'ordered'. The same psychology works perfectly on everyone else. You use it with great confidence."

...


"Sleep to you is deep trance... only you can hypnotize yourself."

...


"Darkness is a cloak you may don. Your guardian and your own courage protect you utterly in darkness. You control anything you meet in darkness for that is part of your universe."

...

"Your writing has a deep hypnotic effect on people and they are always pleased with what you write."

...

"Your psychology is true and wonderful. It hypnotizes people. It predicts their emotions, for you are their ruler."​


As a non-sequitur comment, at the beginning of the first 'Philadelphia Doctorate Course' lecture, six years later: "...the prince of darkness. Who do you think I am?" [audience chuckles].​

I rarely read or post over there.
 

Claire Swazey

Spokeshole, fence sitter
I must disagree with Claire (perhaps the Mods could provide a smiley for mild disagreement!). I have read right through the whole document, or as much of it as survives. It is on the Web and quite accessible. This is one location:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...JA6dtI&sig=AHIEtbRKLFVAYCrTQ4yzV-nkZbY2NOzirA

The Admissions are not the normal sexual witterings of a sub-adult but a window into a very disturbed mind. I find them chilling and distasteful. Like Hubba-Bubba himself.

Just seems to me that if you knew half the shit people say to themselves when nobody's around, you'd be surprised. I think if you could see psychotherapists' notes of some of their sessinos with patients who aren't even considered mentally ill, that could seem really freaky deaky.

I was reading a book by Mary Roach (a charming humorous skeptic of sorts) who mentioned finding some kind of affirmations in some house. Sounded very weird to her. It would have to anyone. The maunderings of people who are trying to resolve things can and do sound very odd.

I do think it shows that, at least at that stage, Hubbard definitely was insecure and wasn't OT. Ok, it was before Scn, but still. I think it's pretty telling but to me what it tells is that he wasn't too dissimilar from most of humanity. I think we look at him from the vantage point of hindsight. There are uses for that vantage point, however, and I'm not saying we shouldn't...
 

Andtheyalllived

Patron with Honors
Just seems to me that if you knew half the shit people say to themselves when nobody's around, you'd be surprised. I think if you could see psychotherapists' notes of some of their sessinos with patients who aren't even considered mentally ill, that could seem really freaky deaky.

<snip>

I do think it shows that, at least at that stage, Hubbard definitely was insecure and wasn't OT. Ok, it was before Scn, but still. I think it's pretty telling but to me what it tells is that he wasn't too dissimilar from most of humanity. I think we look at him from the vantage point of hindsight. There are uses for that vantage point, however, and I'm not saying we shouldn't...

Did you read the lengthy and informative post that included the following...

The materials of Scientology and the organization of Scientology are part of the details of the mechanics he used to "make others his slaves", to "be successful", and to realize the content of his earlier life affirmations.

No, sorry Fluffy, you can believe whatever you like, but what was displayed in Hubbard's affirmations were his REAL and TRUE deepest (shitty) desires, aims and purposes. This wasn't a case of the misguided mental meanderings of Hubbard's youth.

... And you still put it off to Hubbard's "insecurity" and just "seeming freaky deaky" and "Not too dissimilar from most of humanity?"

Presumably you don't know "half the shit people say to themselves when nobody's around" anymore than the rest of us do. So we're talking about your assumptions regarding most of humanity, which are very different from mine.
 

Claire Swazey

Spokeshole, fence sitter
I don't know how much "the rest of us" (know). I would assume it varies from person to person.

That being said, yeah, I've seen some. Haven't seen it all since I'm not The Great Jehovah/Consciousness/Thingamabob. And hope to never be anything like that... :biggrin:
 

Techless

Patron Meritorious
"My point about Hubbard is that, to a great degree he DID realize his aims and goals:"

HHmmm

Boy - if he did do that by anyone's estimation, even his own: seems like he was a pretty freaked out, rather ill, paranoid and tortured soul when he went bye, bye. (EVERYONE was out to get him!!)
He may have been able to 'delay' the horror of himself to hisself, by means of having lots of money and apparent control of others to 'play' with and bide time
But I can't see this as any success, even in his own mind. But then again, I really don't know what delusions I'll have when I'm on the way out!

I guess, if anyone wants to consider that he did succeed, then it'd only be in a very limited, ill-minded last ditch effort, to make any sense of one's life. I suppose that's it quite definitely a 'human' thing to do. And God knows he had a LOT to ponder over.

As the facts of his life come out more and more, whatever he did, is looking worse and worse, and I think that he'd never be able to survive it, if he had the chance to look at and attempt to explain to the rest of us.

OT? Never. It completely goes against (just by a 'definition' alone) what happened as he faded away, quite alone, and in some sort of self induced hypnotic mindset - or just drugged out. If that's OT then I'm very glad to have missed that boat.
 
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