Walking in Ron’s Footsteps: “Pilgrimage” Sites of the Church of Scientology

Abstract

This article contends that a number of ecclesiastical and historical centers associated with the Church of Scientology can be considered and analyzed as pilgrimage sites. Although the notion of pilgrimage is not explicitly taken up by Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), his Bridge to Total Freedom is intended to provide church members with a distinct spiritual path leading to the states of Clear and Operating Thetan (ot). In order to walk this spiritual path, individual Scientologists must physically journey to a series of Scientology churches (organizations) where auditing (spiritual counseling) and auditor training levels are delivered in a gradient fashion. In addition, the church has established L. Ron Hubbard Landmark Sites for members (and interested outsiders) to tour key sites in the development of Dianetics and Scientology. These spaces have no direct soteriological value but are educationally and spiritually significant because they allow visitors to “walk in Ron’s footsteps” and retrace the Founder’s research into the nature of the mind and spirit as later systematized and streamlined in the Bridge to Total Freedom.

L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology Studies

“…The third monograph was my own Among the Scientologists: History, Theology, and Praxis (Westbrook 2019), based on fieldwork and interviews conducted with church members in the United States for PhD research at Claremont Graduate University. I have also published work in recent years on Scientology's "pilgrimage" sites (Westbrook 2016), intellectual history (Westbrook 2017b), evolving public relations (PR) strategies (Westbrook 2018), Gnosticism (Westbrook & Lewis 2019), and systematic theology (Westbrook 2015), including features of its antipsychiatric theology (Westbrook 2017c). The fourth and most recent monograph is Aled Thomas's Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion, based on his interviews and fieldwork conducted at Church of Scientology sites and especially among schismatic or independent Scientologists who have broken away from the church and in some cases were never members in the first place (Thomas 2021).…”

Scientology Studies 2.0: Lessons learned and paths forward

“…Since then, he has produced several important contributions to Scientology studies, such as his work on the Sea Organization (the church's priesthood and senior management; culminating in Melton, ) and the introductory volume The Church of Scientology (Melton, ). James R. Lewis, an American at the University of Tromsø, is another monumental presence in the field, having produced numerous works, including two edited volumes (; with Hellesøy, 2017) and journal issues in Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review () and Numen (). In recent years, Lewis and some of his graduate students in Norway have shifted attention away from the Church of Scientology and toward “independent” Scientologists who disaffiliate from the church yet remain committed to their own interpretations of Hubbard's philosophy and practices (Hellesøy, ; Lewis, ).…”

“…The third monograph was my Among the Scientologists : History , Theology , and Praxis (), based on fieldwork and interviews conducted with church members in the United States for PhD research at Claremont Graduate University (, ). I have also produced work in recent years on Scientology's “pilgrimage” sites (), intellectual history (), evolving PR strategies (), Gnosticism (Westbrook & Lewis, ), and systematic theology (), including features of its “anti‐psychiatric theology” ().…”