It's Maiden Voyage season again -- "A celebration so spectacular it will take your breath away" -- and the hype-o-meter is peaking. Actually, it's that time of year David Miscavige makes a scuba diving trip to the Caribbean and "the elite" (used to be OT VIII's only, but there are no longer enough of them with enough money to fill the ship) are told to attend to listen to 4 events "up close and personal." Each year it is the same pattern. They start with an event recognizing the "amazing work" of the "OT Ambassadors" doing crazy fundraising events, along with some false stats they … [Read more...]
Sea Org “Recruitment”
This is a recent Email sent out by a public scientologist in an attempt to help AOLA get some new recruits. It speaks for itself. It is an amazing glimpse inside the shriveling world of scientology. I could never imagine in my time in the Sea Org that anything like this would have been sent out by public scientologists... Maybe I was simply too removed from the day to day happenings at org level? It seems to me that back in the day, it really WAS considered within the SO that "Many are called, few are chosen" and that the Sea Org was an "elite corps." Nowadays they are apparently so … [Read more...]
Janis Gillham Grady Making Waves
Janis Gillham Grady Talks About Her New Book
I have known Janis for more than 40 years. She is someone I will always hold dear. Janis was one of my first friends on the Apollo, a fellow Australian teenager like her sister Terri, we were a small contingent. In fact, it might well have been just the 3 of us in that exclusive club. Those are the sort of relationships that never die. Janis is truly a Sea Org historian. Someone with first-hand and unique experience and a desire to record the information for everyone else to share. She graciously wrote this piece to explain a bit about her new book. I finally did it! … [Read more...]
Tales from the Apollo
Another story from the early years of the Sea Org aboard the Apollo by Gary Reisdorf. Stores Party Gone Wild - Sled breaking One of the functions of being a deckhand is when the ship was at anchor, we had the privilege of running people and goods from the shore to the ship. Boat runs are normally quite fun and took us away from our usual mundane jobs of painting that bucket of rust, sanding and varnishing the railings or re-caulking the wooden decks. We had 8 lifeboats on the ship to save the passengers and crew if the ship began to sink. The problem is, only 2 of them … [Read more...]
Line Snapping Fun
Another post from my friend and former shipmate, Gary Reisdorf. Agadir Line Snapping Fun I was just leaving the most forward room on the Apollo, the foc'sle, when I heard the commotion. The most forward cabin was the Deck Force’s storage room, called the Bosun’s Locker, where we stored all of the paint and ropes we used when working on the ship. Being a Deckhand, I started my day preparing paint, paintbrushes and rollers for a day’s painting and ended the day cleaning brushes and rollers, all in the Bosun’s Locker. Being the most forward part of the ship, it was away from seniors, … [Read more...]
Apollo Tales
Gary on duty as a "Lookout" aboard the ApolloMy friend Gary Reisdorf sent me this article from is early days (around the time I first met him). His wife, Lois, provided us all with a wonderful series of posts about her history in the Sea Org with L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige. Tales From The Apollo One of the hardest things to do while on the ship was getting approval to purchase items you needed to do your job. In most companies, if you were running out of copy paper or pens, you would merely send an email to the appropriate person in the company and let them know. The … [Read more...]
Lies Scientology Recruiters Tell You
Many people wonder how people in this day and age are recruited into the Sea Org. If you have Google, I think the chances are that you might check it out before you sign a billion year contract for anything. And that is part of the answer as to who the few are that join the SO today. SO recruits come from two buckets: A. People in less fortunate countries in Eastern Europe and Venezuela who are offered a visa to the US, room, board and a job. B. Children of scientologists. The first category are pretty easy to understand. If you lived in Ukraine and had someone tell you … [Read more...]
Abortion and Scientology
Often one looks at the church of scientology and wonders if anything will ever change. Are they bound to continue to practice Fair Game, hard sell vulturing and disconnection forever because it is dictated by L. Ron Hubbard? The answer is no. Outside pressure, bad PR and legal cases DO impact scientology and change the way they behave. Here is a perfect example: I know this is just a "PR statement" and scientology says a lot of things it doesn't practice. I am certainly not saying that because carefully worded statements like these appear in their public statements … [Read more...]
The Lois Reisdorf Story: Part 1
I published an essay by Lois Reisdorf ("Fleecing the Sheeple") and promised that she would be providing us with more information from her considerable experience as the daughter of scientology aristocracy in South Africa, her subsequent experiences as one of the first Commodore's Messengers working with L. Ron Hubbard on the Apollo and interaction with David Miscavige rising. It is a fascinating story. Here is the first installment. MAKING OF A CHILD SCIENTOLOGIST AND SEA ORG MEMBER I am starting from the beginning of my life and the making of me into a Scientologist and child … [Read more...]