Scientology Terminology

Scientology terminology consists of a complex assortment of jargon used by Scientologists in conjunction with the practice of Scientology and in their everyday lives. It is difficult if not impossible to understand Scientology without understanding its terminology the way Hubbard defines it.

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, created a large number of jargon terms or Scientologese to refer to various concepts in Scientology and the related practice of Dianetics. By the time he died in 1986, he had devised a thicket of language or nomenclature by means of which one and all are indoctrinated in Scientology religious lore.

Hubbard's Scientology terminology consists of two types of terms:

• Existing English terms given an additional Scientology definition. For instance, the word valence has various existing meanings in chemistry, linguistics, psychology and mathematics, generally referring to the capacity or value of something. Hubbard redefines it to mean "an identity complete with bank mass or mental image picture mass of somebody other than the identity selected by oneself." Thus the new member is immersed in the new doctrine and gradually placed under control with the help of a new vocabulary in which the terms are exactly defined with no shades of grey allowed or personal interpretations as is usual in ordinary language.

• Neologisms. Hubbard invented many wholly new terms, such as thetan to refer to his conception of a spiritual being.

Scientology terminology is defined in the Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary (ISBN 0-88404-037-2) and Modern Management Technology Defined (ISBN 0-88404-040-2). The latter is known colloquially within Scientology as the "Admin Dictionary". Between them, the two volumes reportedly define over 3,000 Scientology terms in over 1,100 pages of definitions.