Terminology

Previously, I have explained some terms such as auditing, the Sea Org, going clear, E-Meter, and reactive mind. However, these are not all of the important Scientology terms. In this blog post, I will attempt to explain a few more essential terminology as best as I can. A couple of these words are associated with Scientology, but may not represent a true aspect of their beliefs and practices. While most of these terms are agreed upon in definition, some are still controversial, as are many things related to Scientology. There will be two parts to this Terminology.

Dianetics:

I touched on Dianetics in my post about L. Ron Hubbard, but never defined it. Scientologists define Dianetics as “what the soul is doing to the body” since the Greek roots are dia, meaning “through”, and nous, meaning “mind”. Dianetics deals with treating psychosomatic illnesses, or “physical illnesses caused by the soul… when the mind adversely affects the body”. This is all according to this site. Dianetics is supposed to uncover the source of negative emotions and trauma and deal with the human spirit in effectively releasing these by erasing the reactive mind. This is the core belief behind all of Scientologist practices, created by Hubbard.

Engram:

Engrams are the main things Scientologists try to rid through Dianetics and auditing. Engrams consist of the effects of subconscious memories and traumas. According to Scientologists, they are the complete recording of every perception that occurs when a person is unconscious. The example which they give on their website is:

“the pain of the kick equals the pain of the blow equals the overturning chair equals the passing car equals the faucet equals the fact that she is a faker equals the fact that she is no good equals the fact that she changes her mind equals the voice tones of the man who hit her equals the emotion equals a faker equals a faucet running equals the pain of the kick equals organic sensation in the area of the kick equals the overturning chair equals changing one’s mind equals…”

A simpler example that Hubbard has previously used is when a child is told to “bend over” and then is subsequently caned, “the bad experience that follows causes a short period of unconsciousness during which an engram is created. When they hear the phrase “bend over” again in later life, the experience of being caned is ‘restimulated’ and may cause lower back pain”.

Basically, engrams are the mental images, including all experiences and perceptions, relating to a traumatic event that are kept in the reactive mind throughout one’s life, even when the person has no memory of it. These engrams become problematic when an individual encounters an element that triggers a negative action. To become Clear in Scientology, one must get rid of all of their engrams.

Engrams in Scientology is different from the engrams in psychology. In psychology, engrams are theorized to be how memories are stored.

Thetan:

A thetan is an immortal soul or human spirit which is inherently good and in which each person possesses. This soul is what is reincarnated and thetans are apparently responsible for the existence of the world. The person is believed to be the spirit, who has a body and mind. They believe that one does not have a spirit but is a spirit. One way to think of this is an activity mentioned in this article. “First, you close your eyes and think of a cat. You should actually get the picture of the cat, with its colors and details. The next step is to ask yourself, “who looked at the cat?” Well, it obviously was not your body, because there was not a physical cat there between your eyes and your eye lids. So it was you, the thetan, looking at that picture of the cat”. The author then goes on to describe how these explain two parts of man, the thetan and the body. The third part of man is the mind, which contained the image of the cat. This is an interesting theory as I can see the appeal of it as well as the flaws. The official explanation of thetans from the church can be found at this site.

There are a couple versions of thetans. An Operating Thetan is one in which the person is free from all engrams and is fully conscious. Another type of thetan, which is a controversial topic in Scientology, is a body thetan. Body thetans are adamantly rejected by Scientologists, but are reportedly what upper-level Scientologists aim to release themselves of. As lower-level Scientologists hope to release their engrams, higher levels work to rid their body thetans. Body thetans are rumored to be alien souls who are stuck to your thetan, which truly cause all of your discomforts, illnesses, and engrams. Body thetans are not mentioned in lower levels, so most Scientologists do not know that they exist, or at least are rumored to exist.

The next blog post will round up the most important terms associated with Scientology.

Further Reading:

An interesting forum about body thetans can be found here.

A controversial explanation of the beliefs of the religion and thetans can be found here.