Scientology: A History of Man

A very interesting book, for sure. Not scientifically accurate at all, but Science Fiction rarely is (thus the "fiction"). Clocking in at a slim 147 pages, it's not too long and a pretty easy read. The book is actually 247 pages, but the last 100 pages are the Appendix and Glossary. Hubbard had a great habit of putting extremely thorough glossaries in the back of his Scientology books, so any terminology that you don't understand can be easily looked up. (By the way, that glossary has even more Space Opera elements littered throughout.) No Xenu here, but that's only because this book predates that "secret OT III revelation" by 10 years or so being that this was one of the first Scientology books L. Ron wrote. There are, however, some pretty strange notions about Evolution along with some Cold War era Space Opera peppered throughout this work. Apparently when this book came out in 1952 L. Ron was giving WHOLE lectures on Space Opera stories, but hardly any of these made it into print. Damn! This is one of the few books in Scientology that actually contains some of this stuff. The whole book was fairly entertaining (you'll need that Glossary), but if you're curious, the two Chapters to pay close attention to here are 4 and 9. If you have read some of the other reviews you'll notice people writing about Clams, Sloths, Birds, the Piltdown Man; these "Incidents" are found in Chapter 4. Wildly imaginative stuff. Now let's get to the really good parts: Large, glowing, nebulous bodies made of radioactive material floating in thin air that give off a hypnotic pulse, hostile alien invaders on Earth trapping and brainwashing Thetans, flying saucers dumping beings packed in ice into the ocean, bodies suspended in either electronic baths or some kind of a fluid, past life forgetter implants, Between-Lives Martian implant stations, alien invader forces fighting each other over Earth territory, and all those crazy Thetan Forgetter Traps set by the invaders (remember, Earth was a prison planet at that time). It's ALLLLL here in Chapter 9. That actually all sounds really cool! Unlike some of his ACTUAL science fiction novels, there is no bad character development, no stilted dialogue, and no overly bloated, unnecessary descriptions. Happy reading!!

Wow what a book! Due to the need for excessive "word clearing" it took me 8 years to finish it but the "cognitions" I got out of it were fantastic and I mean "fantastic" in the derivation sense of the word: "Late Middle English (in the sense of existing only in the imagination, unreal)" I didn't know that I used to be a clam, a sloth or, as everyone knows, the scientifically proven Piltdown Man. Because of reading this early on and really getting it without questioning I was able to complete OTIII without considering that having Thetans blown up in an Hawaiian volcano 75 million years ago by that cosmic jackass Xenu, they would have a hard time having been the victims of that since there were no Hawaiian volcanos at that time. But that's what makes Scientology so great is that is only for the insiders to be the ones privy to information that may seem outrageously stupid to the average person and because basic logic and common sense does not live in the rarified realms of the upper levels of the Operating Thetans. Operating Thetans such as Hubbard can create their own realities and in his case he put them down on the printed page and I don't see any reason that all humanity should not believe what he wrote word for word without any alterations. After my 8 years of completing this book I left it with a sort of consistent buzz in my ears and a sort of floating feeling that made it a bit difficult to order eggs and pancakes at Denny's but considering my trillions of years of existence and now my understanding of it all by reading this book, that is a small price to pay for my ultimate freedom down the line by going up the Bridge. I say "down the line" since unfortunately I only have $1.97 in my bank account (Hey, Denny's is getting progressively more expensive!) and I know going up the OT Levels will cost at least 10 bucks. Maybe in another 8 years I can scrounge that up. I wonder if eggs and pancakes taste better when one is freed of body Thetans? I suggest everyone read this book if you are curious about the egg-stent of your history as a spiritual entity!!!!!!!

This is not a beginning book on Scientology. It is best suited for auditors, Scientology counselors, and advanced students. This book has several chapters about the theta, or the Scientology term for a spiritual being. The origin of the theta can reach back countless centuries, even before recorded time. The frontmatter says that it is "a cold-blooded and factual account of your last 76 trillion years."

This is a terrific book. It covers L Ron Hubbard's early research on the history of Earth, evolution and of spiritual beings as they existed eons ago. If this book were taught in history class, no one would fall asleep, that is for sure. This is a text filled with completely original thinking and research, not influenced by other historians or scientists, or vested interests. While some of the data may seem far out, it actually answers a lot of questions about why things are the way they are on this planet. This is more advanced reading; for those who are new to Dianetics and Scientology and LRH's writings, I'd recommend "Problems of Work" or "Evolution of a Science" for beginners. But anyone can read History of Man for some clues into our earliest beginnings.

If you are a student of religion and not just looking to join one then you should read this. It is the Bible, Koran, Torah of Scientology. A friend of mine told me about it after I told them I had read about Scientology in another book about Cults. They said that the Dianetics book, which everyone thinks is the basis for Scientology, is in fact just about the therapy they use and they told me if I wanted to know the real background to Scientology then I should read this book as well, so I did. I also study comparative religion and I have now read quite a few books about Scientology. It is very bizarre and 'off the wall' to say the least but it did help me understand some of the aspects of Scientology I did not understand before, for example why they talk about engrams, thetans and why Dianetics even exists. I have found out though that apparently Scientologists in the Church are hostile to this book and they even deny it exists, which is odd as that is like the Catholic Church denying the New Testament. Although I should imagine the book would not provide positive PR for them as it is quite 'out there'. Having said that, from studying many religions and cults, 'out there' is the what you come to expect, humans are basically weird, odd and absurd and as humans invented religions it follows that religions are also bizarre and this book is no exception. I seriously doubt the book would convert anyone to Scientology, in fact it is likely to scare people off, which maybe explains Church members hostility towards it? It explains why there is a volcano on the front of all those Dianetics books, which is handy for all us religion buffs, as it details the 'history' of why L. Ron Hubbard came up with that idea and how it connects to the other things they practice. One thing is for certain you will not forget this book once you have read it and you will not have read anything like it before, or maybe ever will again. It does have a psychedelic feel to it and reading it can seem like some bizarre trip at times but definitely worth a read and it will give you a deeper insight into one of the most secretive and weird religions around.

In pristine condition. Good yarn -if it's straight off Nibs Hubbard's track!

Bizarre ramblings of a deranged lunatic.