Geir Corneliussen (corneliu@online.no) wrote:

: Exile49 wrote:

: > I have an idea that this book is so stupid, so inane and simply nuts
: > that the CoS would do anything to prevent anyone from publishing it or
: > putting it online. It would make the whole of Scientology look worse than
: > it is.
: > Remember, Hubbard had not by this time firmed up the parameters of his
: > fraud. I would expect to find wholesale contradictions with later work
: > contained in this book. It is too bad we don't have a copy, a lot of fun
: > could be had I think.
: > Hello,This is my first posting in this very amusing and active newsgroup.
: > I have some questions on EXCALIBUR.

: Does anybody know if this book really exists?I remember from reading
: BARE FACED MESSIAH,that Ron talked about this book in his typical maniac
: manner for quite some time.Just to make people curious, telling stuff
: like;It is hidden away in a bankbox etc etc..because it's very dangerous
: etc etc.,.If I don't remember wrong.Now,knowing what a big liar Ron
: was,I have never belived that this book really existed.I always thought
: it was just another way to make himself 'popular',:)Are there any proof
: on existence?Have I missed something?
: I am really curious about this.

Yes, it exists and I read it when I was sent to the Armstrong archives as part of a USGO project in 1981. (Gerry also read them.) I really need to get to that point in my memoir as there is a long story about it (there are actualy three versions of it) and Hubbard.

But you'll find a too-short but accurate account in Jon Atack's "Piece of Blue Sky." It is true that Hubbard was coming off nitrous oxide when he started it so what you really have is a "drug trip," a guy who suddenly has (as if on LSD) a major insight into the secrets of the universe, who throws them down onto paper and the only problem is that ... it's a drug trip. But such experiences have profound effects on the drugged person and it had such an effect on Hubbard. He stayed "up" (from the drug) for weeks - in his words, he was "up a pole" - fully convinced that he had seen it all but really - hate to disappoint everyone - it is a rambling text about ...everything. But then, looking back on it, what do you expect from someone on drugs and alcohol? That's the other thing he did while writing it, according to his diaries, was he drank around the clock. He ate nothing, he was so "up." This went on for days. No food. Just booze. So between the booze and the drugs, this may explain why it never sold. But he could not give up that he had seen it all. (And see Atack's book on the aftereffects. That was when he started to claim he would be immortalized and be more famous than any US president etc. The drugs/booze really did have an effect on his mind and he kept thinking it was the "secret.")

Me, I read it when I was in awe of the man and I was ready to be blown away by the secrets and I remember so well sitting there thinking, this is it? This is the Great Secret? To take a line from him in "Dianetics 55," the Big Secret is that there is no secret and that is exactly the "secret" of "Excalibur."

Quite frankly, his diaries about writing it and some letters - which I also read - were a LOT better than it! (laugh) But then I always thought that his best writings were in his diaries, when he wasn't writing for anyone else but himself.

The COS won't publish "Excalibur" for several reaons. First, copies DID slip out and the "editing" that would be needed to turn this into readable prose is so extensive that it would not hold up against a copy of the original(s). Second, Scientologists would be horribly disappointed by the original(s) after all the hype for years by Hubbard (the Russians wanted it, only copy being stolen, it drives people crazy, it has the OT sections in it, it was locked in a safe, it was destroyed by him blah blah blah - he created more stories about the fate of this book than he created medals he had won in the war and some - not surprisingly - conflict with each other). What they will do is try to find little snippets in it that they can toss out and, typical of Hubbard, you can always find a snippet to toss. We did it all the time. (laugh)

But there is one way they could do it. A great marketing scheme would be to create something, make one copy and put it on the "Freewinds" for people to come read after they do OT8 for, say, $10,000 an hour. There would be only the one copy and no one could compare and the high level of OT needed to read it would be perfect PR. Hubbard would love the idea! And you know what? There are some people who would do it because if they swallow OT8, they will swallow anything. (Hey guys, if you do this, do I get a percentage?) (laugh)

I'll try to write more about it later.

Robert Vaughn Young
writer@eskimo.com