Ant's Scientology Story Part I

[ May 2011: A suggestion has been made that I add more dates to this account. I have also recently met some one in the "Church" from 1984-2004, and I am somewhat surprised by the worsening, which makes me wonder if I should go through these pages and add some more data on how much freedom there was then. If you have suggestions for making this account more useable for you, please write me ("Contact Ant" to the left) Ant]

Early Scientology Years

WE HAVE SEEN Rolf K's series about his Scientology story, which goes back to 1967, [This, up to Ant's Story Part IX, was originally written for the magazine International Viewpoints,  See http://articles.ivymag.org/ . This note April 2013 ] and I found it [Rolf's series] interesting as it referred to things I had almost forgotten, and especially because it referred to places where I had not been.

My Scientology story goes back to 1954. I have experienced many aspects of Scientology's history which are not widely known nowadays, and yet some of them are important to a full understanding and interpretation of Scientology now. And the Scientology "Church" carefully avoids telling new members about these things.

So, if the Good Lord allows me time and health to do so, I intend to write this up in some detail. This little article is just a brief run through the period from 1954 to 1966, as I experienced it.

1954
My introduction to Scientology occurred because I had two severe problems in life, and turned to my father for advice. I was working in Cambridge (England) and when I visited my father in South East London, and told him of the problem, he gave me a brief session and turned me over to a field auditor of which there were a few in the London area. For the next approximately one year, I travelled into London on Thursdays for extra training as an optician, and got a session of about 2 hours in the evening.

1955
The auditor decided (or rather told me) that I should get some training. It could be that he felt I was too tough a case. In the summer I went to a Scientology conference, and then (having got work in London) went on the evening HPA (Hubbard Professional Auditor) course in HASI (Hubbard Association of Scientologists, International) in Notting Hill, London. Here we listened to tapes, and audited each other. The basis was at the beginning the Chart of Processes, found on page 29 of my copy of Creation of Human Ability, reprinted in 1968 from the 1954 first edition.
The first process was two way communication, and I remember uncertainty on what that was.
The course was supposed to last six months, three evenings a week. However when my six months was about finished, that was changed to a year, to match in hours to the eight week day course. My protest was expressed in my giving up my job and taking the day course, which occupied me for the first four weeks in 1956. At the end of this I underwent an exam, which involved me writing down the (then) 50 Scientology axioms word (and punctuation) perfect from memory, and answering a number of simple questions.
I did not get my certificate, as that was held by the HASI until I had paid for the course.

1956
We were told that having taken the HPA course we could audit, and get preclears easily, and there were some announcements (small ads.) one could put in the local paper. So I borrowed as much money as I could from a life insurance policy my father had started when I was a babe in arms, and rented for six months a small furnished flat in Surbiton, Surrey. In six months I got nearly no preclears and left the flat.
At the December of 1956 Ron launched a new course consisting of dummy auditing drills. I was on that course, run by Rosina Mann, and Mary Sue Hubbard (with her friend Peggy Conway) were also on that course (it was the predecessor to the TRs). It did not make much impression on me, and I can remember being nonplussed when Rosina encouraged me "to put more life" into my communication. What on earth did she mean?
I also got and paid for one or two 25 hour intensives from the HASI London (they took a week), without making much impression on my case.

1957
At the beginning of 1957 I did not have a job, so found myself painting the stairs at 37 Fitzroy Street, the HASI having bought (instead of renting) premises there, near Warren Street underground station. I had dearly wanted to come on Scientology staff, but there were no vacancies.
One day Jack Parhouse, the executive director (head of HASI, there was also a HCO, Hubbard Communications Office, manned by two people) asked me into his office, at the basement at the foot of the stairs. Would I take the job of Director of The American College of Personal Efficiency in Dublin, Ireland. I was flabbergasted, and far below making a self determined decision.
If Jack Parkhouse thought I could do it, who was I to say no?
I went to Dublin, and for me it was six months of hell, where when I sent my weekly report to Jack and Ron Hubbard, I pleaded every time for some one to relieve me. I understood there was 25% unemployment in Dublin, we were in debt to the newspapers that carried adverts for us. Twice Jack sent an auditor out for a week to audit me, and generally sort the affair out. After 6 months I was relieved (in two senses of the word).
There was one highlight to this period; the running of the Personal Efficiency Course. Much will be written of that later (God willing). see Scientolipedia, Teaching by Agreement http://scientolipedia.org/info/Teaching_by_Agreement
I will only say here that for me, getting a new group of people every week to understand ARC, cycle of action, tone scale, communication, stable data and confusion, really gave me my first reality on Scientology.

1958
When I came back from Dublin, I was found a job in HASI London (my postulate of a job in HASI realised!). I was shipping (filling postal orders for books, etc.) tapes (copying and sending out tapes for the tape library which people could belong to), and memberships (keeping records of those who paid both in USA and Great Britain, roughly the extent of the Scientology Empire at that time).
At the weekends I was unhappy. I asked someone what to do about it, and instead of his saying "get auditing" as I expected he suggested I got a weekend job at HASI London. I became Weekend Upper Indoc Instructor, as well as my weekday duties.
My second big reality on Scientology was the Upper Indoc, where we practiced drills on control (over and over, for over a year), and also (the whole class together) listed to LRH's Eighteenth ACC lectures.
At the end of 1958 the 5th London ACC was held, and I relieved the Director of Training of his day instructor job so he could do the ACC.

1959
I was instructing day and weekend. The 6th London ACC came along, and the extension course instructor wanted to go on it.
And I took over that work in the evenings. There had to be pairs for co-auditing on the ACC, someone came a week late, insisting on coming on the ACC, so I was asked by Nibs Hubbard (Ron's eldest son) if I would take the course for free, and receive some monetary recompense from this man. We ran overts and withholds in the "what might you have"... version, which gave me some reality on the whole track.
Afterwards (I think, chronology a bit wonky) Ron was not satisfied with the training I was in charge of, so he swapped the lead HGC auditor (Hubbard Guidance Centre, auditing department) with me, and I got to audit 25 hours a week, and write letters.
Then became Director of the PE Foundation, afted a while at this I did not get the pay rise I wanted, so I left the org. I tried to get a group going in Pinner, Essex, and also worked with Ray Kemp on handicapped children (research work for Ron).

1960-69
In 1960 I was student on the 1st Saint Hill ACC.
Working in a shop in London, I got marvelous auditing in the evenings at HASI London from a pretty young lady who said nothing, but held her hand behind her for a supervisor to up come if she thought I needed help.
I got a job at Saint Hill England in August 1964, earning £2 a week more than for working in a shop in London. Please ask the Lord above that I may have time and health to tell you more (if you want more!)