Technological Exorcism, Body Thetans, and Scientology’s Secret Mythology

Abstract

When applying the category of “mythology” to a contemporary new religious group like the Church of Scientology (CoS), one has to choose from among several different categories of narratives which could be regarded as mythological. If we set aside the body of tales surrounding L. Ron Hubbard, CoS’s founder (which could arguably be classified as mythology), one of Scientology’s key stories is the so-called Xenu narrative (also referred to as the ot-iii teachings). Although this story is only revealed after one has tread the “Bridge” for some time, it is arguably a foundational myth, which sets the Scientology enterprise into a cosmological framework. While the present article will focus on the Xenu story, it also discusses Hubbard’s self-mythologizing, including his “discovery” of Incident Two (the Xenu narrative) as a hero myth.