Scientology knows things are bad, so they’re selling nostalgia for their golden age

[Ron, post-golden era at Saint Hill]

Our thanks to the reader who forwarded along another propaganda mailing from the Church of Scientology that has struck us as a little unusual and that we thought you’d want to see.

This one is an invitation for Scientologists to visit Saint Hill Manor, L. Ron Hubbard’s former home in East Grinstead, England, and the location of Scientology’s UK headquarters to this day.

Saint Hill and East Grinstead have been in our thoughts lately because in November Scientology leader David Miscavige brought back the traditional IAS gala there and celebration of the organization’s biggest donors.

And now, apparently, Saint Hill is making a little push for some international tourism with a flier that sells nostalgia for Scientology’s golden age in the early 1960s, before everything went to hell.

Take a look at what they sent out to see what we mean…

LIVE THE LEGACY
The development of Dianetics and Scientology and the full technology of auditing starts here, where it was mapped for all of humanity.

FROM FOUNDATION TO TURRETS, EVERY element of Saint Hill is dedicated to the single purpose of seeing that all Scientologists ascend the Bridge. As anyone who has been here can tell you, this is made possible by the special nature of Saint Hill, possessing as it does a singular aura of legend and legacy found nowhere else on the planet.

Saint Hill Manor officially became “Ron’s Home” in the early spring of 1959. It was designated to serve as the international Scientology headquarters and expressly to consolidate communication lines then extending across four continents. It was also to serve as Scientology’s training and administrative centre for widespread clearing.

A CHAPEL STEEPED IN HISTORY
Just steps away from the Manor, the Chapel offers a sense of what it was like to hear Ron deliver the Briefing Course.

As Ron’s residence, the iconic Saint Hill Manor, situated on 77 acres of impeccably groomed grounds, also became the site of many of his breakthroughs and discoveries.

It was here in 1961 that Ron inaugurated his famed Saint Hill Special Briefing Course through which he codified auditing technology. It was through these same years he codified the Bridge itself, mapping the route to Clear and OT as described in his filmed Saint Hill lecture, The Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart of Levels and Certificates.

The Saint Hill Special Briefing Course commenced on May 7, 1961. Today, you can see on Ron’s desk the original roll book, listing students from the Americas, Europe, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. In every aspect, the room is exactly as it was on the day Ron formally announced his Saint Hill Special Briefing Course.

Here, too, are the original books, packs and Mark IV E-Meters students used, as well as the Ferrograph tape decks with which they played back the LRH lectures.

In 1962, to accommodate the growing number of students on the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, Ron converted one of the Manor’s outbuildings to a Chapel.

It stands today fully restored in every detail, including the stage and backdrop from where Ron presented over 200 Saint Hill Special Briefing Course lectures.

In its entirety, the original Briefing Course Room quite literally transports you to this central chapter in Scientology history.

Indeed, by visiting, you become part of this living history.

Our reader who forwarded this email to us pointed out what’s so glaringly depressing about it: Why is Scientology promoting nostalgia for a moment in history and a legendary L. Ron Hubbard product — the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course — that it no longer offers?

What a stark reminder, that under Hubbard, the focus was on recruiting new people through the sale of books, turning as many of them as possible into auditors, and then sending them out to make even more auditors.

Today, under David Miscavige, the emphasis is on fundraising for buildings, recruiting through video displays, and pushing very elementary “technology” like the Student Hat, Purification Rundown, and the Survival Rundown. It’s very basic stuff, and the focus is no longer on creating new auditors.

But hey, you can still pine for those days by visiting Saint Hill. (And maybe dropping some big donations while you’re there.) Hip, hip, hooray!

Book your flight now!

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A word from the Proprietor regarding Doug Kramer

I wanted to address some messages I've received in the last couple of days about what occurred when I reported the death of Doug Scott Kramer on Tuesday morning.

Doug was someone I liked very much. As I said in my story about him, one of my favorite experiences during the first Danny Masterson trial was being interviewed by him on his YouTube channel, "Dazed and Not Confuzed."

I was stunned to learn Monday night that Doug had been found dead in his apartment that day in Studio City.

A family friend was working with Doug's mother, who had asked for no reporting on the story until she could inform her daughter, Doug's sister.

So I waited. But then, Tuesday morning, I informed the family friend that the county medical examiner had listed Doug's death on its official website, and I was seeing people post that information at Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

The news was out, and I discussed with the family friend our mutual concerns about speculation and conspiracy theories about Doug beginning to circulate.

It was a tough situation, because we both wanted to give Doug's mother more time, but the story was getting out, and the family friend did want our positive portrayal of Doug to counter what we both feared might be coming from other sources.

So, the family friend told me to publish, and I did.

Much later in the day, after she had seen to various arrangements, Doug's mother informed her daughter about Doug's death. Her daughter had not learned about it from anyone else.

The family friend tells me she is still glad that we handled it this way.

Also, initially my story reported that the medical examiner had not yet posted the cause of Doug's death, and I know that this caused some speculation. However, later in the day the office did update its listing, showing that Doug died of heart failure.

I updated the story right away.

I was a fan of Doug's YouTube channel, I had friendly interactions with him even just a few weeks before his death, and I will miss him.

— Tony Ortega

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Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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