Something interesting is going on in Scientology. For years, we’ve been telling you that the movement has been shrinking, and more recently we’ve said that the church’s gravitational center has moved from Los Angeles to Clearwater, Florida.
The pandemic has contributed to that concentration, and so has leader David Miscavige’s relocation to the Florida headquarters.
A couple of years ago, we started hearing reports that the famously reclusive Miscavige had begun making appearances at Friday night graduation ceremonies at the Fort Harrison Hotel, the centerpiece of the Flag Land Base in Clearwater. Then Scientology’s own publications confirmed it, and those publications also celebrated that Miscavige had hosted the past two New Year’s Eve celebrations in the hotel ballroom.
And now, along with that focus on “Flag,” Scientology’s publications are more openly celebrating Miscavige as a sort of demi-god whose appearances at the hotel are nearly miraculous occurrences.
For evidence, we have the latest issue of Source magazine, which expresses awe that, a few weeks after the LRH Birthday Event in March, Miscavige made an unannounced appearance at a Friday night graduation. Just get a look at the language that’s used to describe how the audience swooned…
Flag was still pulsating with pride after hosting the first International Event in over two years. The epic LRH Birthday Celebration introduced the Golden Age of Administration — a monumental advance that is the final component of our Ideal Org movement — and ignited Scientologists around the world to put the pedal to the metal. A few weeks later, as if to underscore our status as the center of the Scientology universe, Chairman of the Board RTC, Mr. David Miscavige, made an encore appearance at the Flag Auditorium.
As he walked onstage, the Graduation audience was on its feet for a prolonged standing ovation, the thunderous applause reverberating throughout the Auditorium. When he finally settled the audience down, Mr. Miscavige said, “Why am I here? I guess the main reason is I just wanted to see you.” And with that, the crowd was back on its feet, unable to contain their excitement at being in the right place at the right time.
In this impromptu appearance, Mr. Miscavige gave a globe-spinning roundup of expansion news, with an overview of strategic advances, including a preview of orgs speeding down the Ideal runway. Then he circled back to Flag, saying, “I am here for big news that concerns you,” and with that he introduced a new phase of our protocols. Suffice it to say, it was a thrilling announcement that widens the Bridge and has led to an avalanche of people arriving from around the world. Flag — it’s always the place to be.
Watch the entire series of COB Flag Graduation briefings when you come to Flag.
And what was the big news? Back on May 8, we first heard the news from a couple of our tipsters that Miscavige had announced changes at Flag, some lifting of pandemic protocols and a seven-phase program to “fully open” the compound. Mike Rinder, at his blog, also covered some of these changes.
They sounded like pretty familiar changes that many businesses are going through now as the pandemic subsides somewhat. But of course Miscavige must make it sound like monumental news.
And what did the audience think? Well, glad you asked. The magazine also included this great collection of quotes.
“That was awesome! I love COB’s sense of humor. It was so great to get the news on things he has been working on.” — D.O.
“My God, talk about motion and expansion. Very exciting stuff on the runway!” — L.B.
“I already have messages from friends and family asking me, ‘What’s the big announcement at Flag?’ I have to call them all back and tell them the great news!” — C.B.
“The new protocols are going to blow the doors of Flag wide open.” — C.A.
“This is very, very exciting! We are totally moving in the right direction.” — D.G.
“This was so wonderful! I am leaving this Graduation invigorated, excited and inspired.” — M.A.
“I had an inkling that maybe it would be COB coming out tonight. I am so in awe of what he’s doing to expand Scientology.” — S.F.
I loved this so much. The way COB tells us about what is happening, he is so open and so cool!” — M.L.
“Seeing COB again was the cherry on top. The update on what’s happening around the world, all of it… just phenomenal!” — L.C.
“This was fantastic, brilliant! COB is just amazing and I love every time he briefs us.” — S.M.
“Getting the update from COB directly was really special” — A.B.
“I am so happy about the protocols! I’m very happy I came and am totally blown away by tonight. Wow!” — L.V.
The worship of Miscavige seems to be getting a lot more out in the open than in past years, don’t you think? We also thought we’d get some thoughts from an expert, and that brings us to our second item…
Coming today: A bonus for our supporters
A week ago we started an experiment with Substack, and the results so far have been very exciting. We asked our longtime readers to sign up for free emails so that each morning the Substack feature arrived in their email inbox.
Not only have many of you done so, but some of you also took out paid subscriptions without being asked to. We are humbled by your generosity, and we wanted to show our appreciation.
So, to that end, we finally decided to put together something that people have been asking us about for a long time: Yes, we recorded the first Underground Bunker podcast this week.
It features a super special guest, and will go out at noon today to our paid subscribers as a heartfelt thanks for your investment in the Underground Bunker. We hope you find it worth your time.
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
And today: A new video from Chris Shelton!
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I can easily imagine that this Source Mag not only got final approval from david miscavige but also was ordered by david miscavige. He is such a megalomaniac. I wonder if some of his followers know who L. Ron Hubbard is.
"Flag was still pulsating with pride."
A doctor can lance that for you.