Chapter Eleven
Dianetics.
1951-1955
Charlie has taught us that only 4 out of every 10 people can be hypnotized. (This was later proved to be a misconception.) On the other hand, Dianetics is claimed to work on everyone. So we abandon The Auckland Hypnotic Club and form a new oraganization, consisting of half the original group and a few new people. We now practise Dianetics on one another and are encouraged to get together in groups of three, where A works on B, B works on C and C works on A. This lessens the chances of two people avoiding one another's hang-ups.
Albert Benfell and I teem up together but we couldn't arrange a third therapist, which Ron Hubbard calls an Auditor. Subjects are called Pre-clears and are believed to have Engrams, caused by moments of unconsciousness. These Engrams are said to be the cause of our anxieties. The process is to Clear these Engrams by reliving them during a state of Reverie. The ultimate aim is to create a Clear, that is someone who has cleared all their Engrams.
We run the Dianetics group for about six months and get a lot of satisfaction from it, but then Ron Hubbard brings out a new book called Scientology which supersedes Dianetics. This Scientology doesn't appeal to me at all, so I return to hypnosis.
I meet Colin Watson and he and I go on my motorbike to see Dad, who has now remarried. Dad and Lettie have bought some land in Waitakere, which is covered in manuka. (tea tree) Dad asks us if we would like to cut and sell the tea tree as a way of clearing his section. We agree and I leave my job and become a mini lumberjack (J34).
As we work, we discuss philosophy and how we are going to save the world. We cut lots of tea tree and pile it up in great heaps. We sell some of it but then the man from the timber yard gets his tractor stuck in the mud. After two days, he gets it free again but won't come back for the rest of our tea tree. We decide to cut our losses and walk away from what is left.
Colin and I get a job at Crown Lynn Potteries (J35) in New Lynn, making cups. What a boring job, just standing in the