I have often been asked how I possibly woke up after being in a Cult for 30 years. By the nature of a group who runs with such rules as Scientology, there are always things that are "odd" and don't feel quite right. However, Hubbard was clever and early on gets people feeling they Must Keep Scientology Working, and that in itself is quite a trap.

Here are a few things that helped me, over all.

1. I always kept reading what Scientology calls "Other Practice" books. Mostly these were books about Self Improvement that actually went along with Scientology pretty much, but just staying in touch with others helped.

2. Refusing to totally buy ALL of the BS helped. If someone said or did something that felt bad, I would either ask them, or if they were quick to "show me the reference"...I'd note what Hubbard said, "If it isn't true for you, it isn't true".

That statement actually helped me greatly as I kept true to what I believed, even if L. Ron Hubbard had said so. (And again, that may seem like no big deal to outsiders, but it was huge for me).

Scientologists always ~say~ they only do what THEY believe in, however if that were true, they'd be able to come over and visit with me, wouldn't they? Sure your "Creed" says "Man has the Inalienable right to free speech"

however IF that were true, you and your "church" wouldn't be trying to cancel things off the Internet daily, would you all?

3. I've always been a people person so I enjoy talking to all kinds of different types of people. I think this helped me stay connected. I've talked with people in the Entertainment Industry to gang members to business people to bums to housewives to children of all ages. I love hearing their stories and this alone really helped me, I'm sure.

4. I was a ~very~true believer ....so besides those things, I was almost 100% "on board" ..until I got onto OT 7 and it didn't work. That began my real waking up process. Here I continued to tell them, "This doesn't work for me". Over and over and over. I stayed on it for 7 years...because I honestly believed it ~must~work, and it must just be ME. Finally, I began realizing I wasn't the only one in this boat. In fact, many people I knew were not doing well on OT 7.

5. As the C of S got weirder with DM taking over, and the new regime taking over, I took note. As the "Golden Age of Tech" came in, I really noticed how robotic people seemed. I remember thinking,"Don't ~ever~ do these courses as they turn people into robots. Now this was when I was still way in..

6. Having worked at 4 different WISE companies, and each one screwed me, I had noted THEY were criminals...period.

7. Having worked in OSA>>>>well, you all know ~that~story.

If you're new here, go see http://www.torymagoo.org and read up. Alot of it's there.

8. About one year before I left, I had really looked at how Scientology treats their people. Over and over I'd see them spit people out if they were ill, or ran out of money. I had even told my husband at the time, "We ~have~ to stop worrying about getting back onto OT 7" (as Flag was calling us every single week). I reminded him that we had N O T H I N G and when we ran out of money, were they going to be there to help US? Hell no~! He knew I was right, so we had begun our own program to get financially viable. DUH!

This of course to the average person seems so obvious. However I know there will be people reading this who will go "Honey.....read this!!! This is exactly how ~we~are". It's amazing how when you're "in the Scio/Truman show"...you are so caught up in the "church"

activities that obvious things people spend their lives doing ---we didn't.

Again, when I was "in" I would read that last line and laugh and say to myself, "Well sure..who needs to do "normal' stuff. We're saving the planet."

9. Listening to Talk Radio and hearing other people's views on things helped me greatly.

10. Listening to music was a huge help for me. Music is amazing as it isn't threatening at all, yet someone can sing to you things you need to hear but can't hear any other way. For me, a group called The Counting Crows were amazingly helpful.

His songs felt like they'd not only been written for me, but they'd been written that week that I began to wake up!

11. Of course family are great. Mine were quite a bit on hold, as they'd been 'antagonistic' since the beginning. However, I never forgot some of the questions they'd asked me. The biggest help for me was my brother as he never really put down Scientology, he just never supported it.

He'd also always talk to me of cool things he was doing.

The negative of this (and something that totally didn't work for me) was my mother sending me articles against Scientology.

For me, I couldn't take that at all...so it was totally ineffective. I still say a much better way is to ask people basic questions:

How ~do~ you feel about Free Speech? Do you believe in it:?:

Here's where the post on Contradictions is great, which is at the Tory/Magoo web site.

Anyways, hope that helps. Please add any Wake up methods you may have experienced or heard of that may help others.

The most important thing is don't feel hopeless or alone. There are TONS of people here on the Internet who will talk with you, help you, and answer questions. It may feel quite lonely as you wake up, but once you do....it's like a spring day up in the Fresh Mountain Air :)

My best to all ~~

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