ktlight
27th February 2012, 06:58
FYI:
"Last June, we brought you the first review of The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion by Ohio State professor Hugh Urban, and then the first interview with the good professor himself.
During that interview, Urban told us that he was planning to continue his research into Scientology, and would be looking into a variety of areas. But we didn't know that one of those interests included a closer look at L. Ron Hubbard's wild occult history that preceded his publication of 1950's Dianetics.
Longtime Scientology watchers will be at least somewhat familiar with the tale: that after his involvement in WWII, Hubbard shacked up with Jet Propulsion Lab rocket scientist Jack Parsons, a man heavily into the occult, and in particular the teachings of The Great Beast, British occultist Aleister Crowley. You may even know something about the kinky things Parsons and Hubbard did trying to create a "Moonchild." But what Urban does in a new piece for the journal Nova Religio is produce a thorough, academic study of the ways that Crowley's "magick" found parallels in what would become Hubbard's most famous creation, Scientology.
Urban went into some of this material in his book, but he tells me he wanted to explore it more in depth with this article.
Nova Religio is one of those academic journals still doing things the old-fashioned way -- its articles don't appear in full on its website, and readers either need to purchase a copy of the journal or get it through an academic institution or something. So, we'll play along and hold on to our copy of the story and do our best to describe it here. Perhaps later Urban can convince the publication to allow wider access to the piece.
Urban's article is titled "The Occult Roots of Scientology?: L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion," and if you've read his book, its introduction will seem very familiar.
He then lays out the basics: after returning from his service in the war, Hubbard moved into John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons's Pasadena rooming house (the "Parsonage"), which was something of a flophouse for his occult friends. Parsons was heavily into Crowley's "magick," and soon found a willing partner in Hubbard -- and even wrote to Crowley himself about their attempts to engage in some of Crowley's rituals. The relationship between Hubbard and Parsons ended badly, with accusations of fraud and theft. But later, as Hubbard developed his ideas for Dianetics and Scientology, his experience with Crowley's "Ordo Templi Orientis" (OTO) seems to have permeated his thinking and even the terminology of the church.
Urban notes that the church itself has virulently denied that Hubbard's occult activities had anything to do with Scientology, or that remnants of Crowley's occult ideas can be found in its scriptures. But one of the most useful things about Urban's article is the way he shows that it's the church's own statements and legal maneuvers which tend to verify the connection between Crowley's "magick" and Hubbard's "tech."
If you've read Urban's book, you'll know that he accomplishes this neat trick with calm, deeply researched and thoroughly convincing material told in a crystal-clear prose style."
To continue
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/02/scientology_and_4.php
"Last June, we brought you the first review of The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion by Ohio State professor Hugh Urban, and then the first interview with the good professor himself.
During that interview, Urban told us that he was planning to continue his research into Scientology, and would be looking into a variety of areas. But we didn't know that one of those interests included a closer look at L. Ron Hubbard's wild occult history that preceded his publication of 1950's Dianetics.
Longtime Scientology watchers will be at least somewhat familiar with the tale: that after his involvement in WWII, Hubbard shacked up with Jet Propulsion Lab rocket scientist Jack Parsons, a man heavily into the occult, and in particular the teachings of The Great Beast, British occultist Aleister Crowley. You may even know something about the kinky things Parsons and Hubbard did trying to create a "Moonchild." But what Urban does in a new piece for the journal Nova Religio is produce a thorough, academic study of the ways that Crowley's "magick" found parallels in what would become Hubbard's most famous creation, Scientology.
Urban went into some of this material in his book, but he tells me he wanted to explore it more in depth with this article.
Nova Religio is one of those academic journals still doing things the old-fashioned way -- its articles don't appear in full on its website, and readers either need to purchase a copy of the journal or get it through an academic institution or something. So, we'll play along and hold on to our copy of the story and do our best to describe it here. Perhaps later Urban can convince the publication to allow wider access to the piece.
Urban's article is titled "The Occult Roots of Scientology?: L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion," and if you've read his book, its introduction will seem very familiar.
He then lays out the basics: after returning from his service in the war, Hubbard moved into John Whiteside "Jack" Parsons's Pasadena rooming house (the "Parsonage"), which was something of a flophouse for his occult friends. Parsons was heavily into Crowley's "magick," and soon found a willing partner in Hubbard -- and even wrote to Crowley himself about their attempts to engage in some of Crowley's rituals. The relationship between Hubbard and Parsons ended badly, with accusations of fraud and theft. But later, as Hubbard developed his ideas for Dianetics and Scientology, his experience with Crowley's "Ordo Templi Orientis" (OTO) seems to have permeated his thinking and even the terminology of the church.
Urban notes that the church itself has virulently denied that Hubbard's occult activities had anything to do with Scientology, or that remnants of Crowley's occult ideas can be found in its scriptures. But one of the most useful things about Urban's article is the way he shows that it's the church's own statements and legal maneuvers which tend to verify the connection between Crowley's "magick" and Hubbard's "tech."
If you've read Urban's book, you'll know that he accomplishes this neat trick with calm, deeply researched and thoroughly convincing material told in a crystal-clear prose style."
To continue
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/02/scientology_and_4.php