Dianetics and the founding of Scientology

Record summary

L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book Dianetics introduced a system of auditing, engrams, and mental purification that developed into Scientology, formally organized through a church structure in the early 1950s. The movement is relevant for comparing ritualized counseling, initiatory knowledge, technological language, and contested claims about spiritual beings and past lives. Its documentary record includes Hubbard’s publications, organizational histories, court materials, and critical investigations. Terminology, chronology, and institutional development should be checked against primary and scholarly sources.