Ahh the memories

Tom Cruise has been under the spotlight lately and not for making movies but more to do with his beliefs in Scientology. I remember my first brush with Scientology. I got into it because Richard Lord (my old occult mentor from the early 1980‘s) suggested this will help me to be a bit more mentally stable because at the time I was an emotional wreck as I had invested so much energy on trying to make Ellen and I work until Richard got in the way. Mixing fundamental Christians, Aleister Crowley and Scientology is enough to make anyone go mental. Of course I really wasn’t mental as gone in the head or anything. I had just come off a court case from a non contact misdemeanor where the charges were stayed. Keep in mind I’ve never been in jail nor do I have a criminal record but I’m on their books for this, which keeps me from getting a security guards license. It was a mistake I made and one of my few regrets in life. But Richard suggested I take this course in Scientology. They had an office in this older Victorian style building not far from where Freemason Hall is now. Of course I didn’t know much about Freemasonry as I do now. The Scientology building in those days was adjacent to the First Presbyterian church. The Scientology location was adjacent to the church and it’s now a parking lot. But that was when Richard suggested I should take this Scientology course. I think I paid $20 for it. I never got as far as their e-meter “testing” but I remember playing with the plasticine toys and that’s when I thought that this was getting silly and that was it for Scientology. I remember getting into it again in 1982 when I was getting involved with Amway with Reg. Reg is now a staunch Amway critic bur in those days he was into the books and tapes the whole 9 yards. When Scientology moved out of that downtown location about 1982 I recall while living on the South Side 2 blocks behind Don Wheaton on Whyte Ave on 80th Avenue between 108th and 107th street (after Theresa left me) I used to go to the Scientology location. At that time it was adjacent to the Princess theatre on Whyte. I lost interest in Amway and Scientology by October of 1982 when I got my old job back at the Army & Navy. I look back now on those days and it was at that time I realized I should have looked more into Masonry but Masonry wasn‘t a blip on my radar screen. I was to much involved in the OTO here until 1996. Other then buying the odd book by L. Ron Hubbard and in the 1990’s their “Writers of the Future” That was my last and only brush with Scientology. When I was entering those contests I think I put in about 4 submissions and got a couple of “Thank you for your submissions” type things. Which kind of in a (Long about way) brings me back to Tome Cruise. Cruise is not the only main celebrity involved in Scientology as most everyone knows so is John Travolta among others. I don’t want to go into a huge rant about Scientology because I have nothing against them. Some people find value in Dienetics. I won‘t say it’s a cult anymore then Freemasonry is a cult. When I was involved in Amway now that was as close to a cult as ever I‘ve been in one but that‘s another story.