Hubbard's first Dianetics publications urged readers to try the
technique, becoming auditors (therapists) either by simply
following the instructions in the first book or by joining in the
formal Dianetics movement. A strong impression was conveyed that
clears had already been produced and that a skilled auditor could
duplicate Hubbard's successes. Dr. J. A. Winter, who collaborated
with Hubbard in setting up the movement, says Hubbard claimed "that a
`clear' had been obtained in as few as twenty hours of therapy." But
Winter himself never saw a single convincing clear during his
association with Hubbard. "I have not reached that state myself, nor
have I been able to produce that state in any of my patients. I have
seen some individuals who are supposed to have been `clear,' but their
behavior does not conform to the definition of the state. Moreover,
an individual supposed to have been `clear' has undergone a relapse
into conduct which suggests an incipient psychosis" (Winter, 1951:34; cf. Wallis, 1976:85).
Martin Gardner reports that, in 1950, Hubbard presented a young woman to a Los Angeles public meeting, saying she was a clear with a perfect memory. "In the demonstration which followed, however, she failed to remember a single formula in physics (the subject in which she was majoring), or the color of Hubbard's tie when his back was turned. At this point, a large part of the audience got up and left" (Gardner, 1957:270). The second Dianetics book (Hubbard, 1951) continued to claim that the great benefits of treatment could be measured objectively and listed a number of diseases it could cure. These strong claims may have attracted sufferers seeking real solutions for specific problems, but they left the entire Dianetics movement open to being discredited in public. The safer course was to prevent outside evaluation, especially of clears, insulating individual followers from knowledgeable independent assaults on their hopes.
Not only was failure a threat, so was the alleged success of rivals. Sociologist Roy Wallis (1976:84) reports, "A severe challenge to Hubbard's standing in the movement came when independent auditors began to proclaim that they had produced `clears.' Such auditors were eagerly sought for guidance, training and auditing, and rapidly moved into positions of leadership in the Dianetics community." Dianetics had been presented as a science, a public process of discovery, open to all who would experiment with the new techniques. This meant not only that some, like Winter, would be disappointed at the empirical results, but also that more sanguine auditors could claim to equal or surpass Hubbard's achievements. This, presumably, was one of the main reasons Hubbard recast his science as a religion, establishing the authority of a prophet with the incorporation of the Founding Church of Scientology in 1955 (Hubbard, 1959; Malko, 1970; Wallis, 1976).
Today, clear status can be conferred only by high ranking ministers of the church, and clears are not presented for examination by outsiders. Clears are discouraged from demonstrating paranormal abilities even for lower ranking insiders. Persons taking the clearing course are enjoined from communicating about it to anyone other than those directly in charge of it (Hubbard, 1968b: 112). Attainment of new status, however, is marked by triumphant ceremony, especially in the case of clear. Each new clear is given a unique international clear number, engraved on a silver bracelet, awarded a "beautiful Permanent certificate," and "joyously announced" in a Scientology newspaper. Clears have higher status than the many preclears below them, whether or not their individual abilities have increased.
Scientology does not recognize claims to status of members of rival groups, such as Jack Horner's schismatic Dianology movement, which also attempts to produce clears (Horner, 1970). Thus, clear has become a status within the social system of Scientology, rather than an objective state of being. Aside from the social power it confers within the cult, it is a compensator. Within the limits of the cult, it is not vulnerable to challengers from outsiders.
[ Next section ]
[ Contents ]