This story is about how to avoid mind control, and what food is best for someone who is in urgent need of nutrition. There's even a touch of divine intervention.
What you will learn
- what kinds of people can be drawn into religious sects
- the subtle language that can hide mind control and other sinister aims behind what a course promises to teach you
- the biggest principle behind food that helps shape your body
At the end of this episode I'll share with you a food that you can use not only to gain weight, but to lose weight too. How bizarre is that? But for now...
On with the story
Living in Paris, France
In the previous episode I shared with you what happened after a bomb literally went off (see
Episode 8). I also mentioned that because of the Scientologists, I almost didn't get my resident card, which I was desperate to have so that I could continue to live and work in Paris.
Which brings me to today's story, which will close the chapter of my life with Scientologists. I moved on to other exciting things after that, such as a famous French hard rock guitarist and his vampire mom, but that's another story.
So let me explain how the Scientologists messed with me getting my resident card. The main reason is that they had brainwashed Dave and he started acting crazy. But I think I need to explain how that can happen, so I'll do that briefly.
Living in Montmartre
Before Dave and I got married, so before the crazy Italian (which I talk about in
Episode 3), we were living together for a while in a gorgeous apartment in the center of Paris, near Montmartre. In addition to going to restaurants and all that other romantic stuff you can do in Paris, Dave and I had been reading about the principles of Scientology, because we found some of them can be quite useful. One of them is how you can help people get over a past trauma, which I've already talked about in
Episode 7. Even if in my case it led to a bunch of pumpkin heads.
But - and this is a big but - the problem with Scientology is that you don't see the scary stuff until you're already pretty deeply embedded in their world. I'll get to an example of what I mean by scary stuff in a minute, but how do people get caught? And why do they stay? Here's what happened to me and Dave, anyway.
We'll take care of everything!
The Scientologists told us from the beginning that they could help us with just about anything. And over time, if you're a bit vulnerable like Dave was, you get sucked into their world. They tell you that you're part of their community, that you don't have to face the world alone, that you'll be able to handle anything that life throws at you...as long as you're with them.
You start to become totally drawn in by the feeling of being protected, being looked after and cared for, in a safe world that won't change too much, where there are people who are there to watch over you. And after a while, once you get deep enough into Scientology, you just can't leave. That is, if you're vulnerable. And that's what happened to Dave.
Now I love the idea of community. But fortunately for me, I've also got a pretty strong character. And even though I did learn some useful things, I'll never forget the moment when I came across a phrase that led me right out the door. I shared it with Dave, but by then it was too late for him.
Mind control? No thanks
I was sitting in the Scientology library reading coursework. I forget what course it was, but I'd been going there for a few weeks by that time with Dave where we took classes. We didn't live there, but we were there pretty much all day (and for me a lot of that was because they fed us too if I licked some stamps which I talk about in
Episode 7).
By the way when I say coursework, I don't mean Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics which I'd already read. I'm talking about private materials that they don't share with the public. They do things gradually, after all, so as not to scare anyone away. So I'm reading these lessons, and suddenly I read this sentence:
"This technique is the first step towards influencing the minds of others to get them to do what you want".
I had to read it a few times because I was like "Surely they can't be talking about mind control. That can't be right". But it was. The course promised further techniques and strategies to influence the people around you so that they would act how you wanted them to.
This wasn't about sales, this was about brainwashing.
A very strange course
Now before writing up this episode, I took a sneak peek at the UK Scientology website to see if I could find the name of the course that I was taking. I figured now that they had internet, it would be there.
I didn't manage to find it - it wasn't for the public, after all - but I did manage to find an example of some more subtle, only slightly freaky stuff. And I can share it with you because it's public knowledge. It's right there on their website for anyone to see. I'll link to it in the show notes so you can read it for yourself if you want to.
This is how subtle mind control can be
The text doesn't mention mind control per se, remember they don't want to scare people away. But here's what it does say to suck in unsuspecting people. This is from the description of an online course they call The Emotional Tone scale:
"How often have you heard someone say, "I don't understand him"...There has never been a workable method to invariably predict human behavior — until now.
"L. Ron Hubbard developed just such a method, and it is applicable to all men, without exception."
(I have to interject here to remind Scientologists that women too live on this planet. Just saying.)
"With this data, it is possible to accurately predict the behavior of a potential spouse, a business partner, employee or friend—before you commit to a relationship. The risks involved in human interaction can be avoided entirely or minimized when you can infallibly predict how people will behave...You'll know who to associate with, who to avoid...Imagine knowing, after a very short time, how people will behave in any given circumstance. You can. Each and every time."
Well, isn't that just wonderfully reassuring. I can learn their techniques to make sure I don't run the risk of becoming friends with someone who doesn't behave in a certain way, rather than just listen to my own heart.
Anyway hopefully you see what I mean when I say that these people have a rather different set of morals and values. And they are very good at hiding their cards.
A red flag to a bull
So let's go back to their Paris library. Having read that I too could learn the science of mind control, I stood up to leave. But rather than just sneak out the door, I wanted to confront the Scientologists and tell them why I was leaving. Dave wasn't there because we did different things at different times, but I figured I'd see him at home and tell him what I'd found out and then that would be that.
I went into the office of one of the people in charge. I have no idea what her name really was, but I'll call her Giselle. Please don't be offended if this is your name, I'm just picking a name out of a hat. I could call her Cruella but that would make this sound like a Disney film, and it was not a children's fantasy story, it was very much a real life experience.
Anyway I went to Giselle and I told her I was leaving, and why. Her next words amazed me and confirmed that I was really making the right choice, because these people had nothing more to offer me and they were deeply disturbing individuals.
I told her that mind control wasn't something I wanted to do, and that I was leaving immediately. Here's the first and only thing she said - because after that I was long gone:
"But Barbara, you know you'll never make it if you leave Scientology".
Well! Clearly Giselle didn't know me very well, because that was like a red flag to a bull. I was out that door faster than you could say 'brainwashing'.
And if Giselle could see me now, I wonder what she'd say. Especially if she managed to see what I've achieved all by myself, without Scientology. Sigh.
We'll get him...no matter what
Anyway I left, and I went straight back home and waited for Dave. I couldn't wait to tell him what I'd learned, because I knew that he was a good person, so he'd feel as I did. And sure enough, when he came home I told him what I'd read, I told him what I said to Giselle and what she said. He was quiet for a minute, and he then said, "Yes you're right. That's not right. We won't go back."
I thought everything was going to be fine then. A few days later, the phone rang and surprise surprise, it was the Scientologists, looking for Dave. Not for me. They knew I was no longer a prospect. I told them to leave us alone and that Dave wasn't going back there and that they had to respect his choice.
Well unfortunately for me (and more so for Dave), the Scientologists didn't give up. When I was home I'd hang up on them, but they kept calling. Eventually they managed to call when Dave was home on his own. I was working part-time doing something (I lose track of what because I had so many different random jobs before I got my resident card). They talked to Dave, and I came home to discover that he'd left to go to them for some course or other.
The losing battle...that ended in marriage
Thus began a bit of a battle between me and Dave and them. I kept trying to get Dave to see why you really wouldn't want to be associated with people who use mind control, but they were really clever. They'd found a way to spin their brainwashing thing in a way that Dave accepted, I guess. They probably just told him they didn't mean it.
Whatever they said, he just got more and more wrapped up in their world. He was totally one of those vulnerable people that I mentioned before. His family didn't really support him, and I was there for him, but I guess somehow that wasn't enough.
This was actually a big part of why we got married - I naively thought that we could then build a life together without interference and that I could somehow keep him away from them. Pretty dumb, I know, but there you go.
Anyway I've already talked about us getting married, going to a disastrous pseudo-honeymoon in Corsica, me meeting the crazy Italian of
Episode 3...so I'll fast forward to the moment when I saw Dave acting really crazy. This was about 2 years later. It was when I saw that the Scientologists had taken just about everything from him.
Lying outrageously to get a great job
I was working in a translation office with a great bunch of girls. We had SO much fun it was ridiculous, and I was single (not technically, but you know) and happy. I had lied my way big time into getting the job. My strategy was telling them that yes not only did I know the software I was going to be using (which I didn't know at all), but that I actually taught it to others. Not very subtle, I know.
To this day I have no idea why I chose such an outrageous lie. But fortunately for me, I was quick enough to learn what I needed to do, so my employers kept me. This happened in so many different jobs that I wanted to get despite having no experience that it kind of became a questionable habit.
And my translation office job was really great. I didn't do any translating - we were audio typists. Because the work required a lot of concentration and speed, we got to take lots of breaks. This was quite fortunate because one day in the middle of a break, much to my surprise Dave walked into the office. (It wasn't a public office, I have no idea how he got in).
Dave had been calling me for months to get the divorce proceedings started, and I'd been putting him off because I wanted to get my resident card first. I knew I was just a few short weeks away from getting it, but time kept dragging on with no card in the mail. So Dave kept getting more and more insistent on the phone.
Enter the walking dead
Anyway when I saw Dave walk into the office, I almost fell out of my chair. What had been a vibrant, happy and attractive young guy was now a gaunt, grey, hunched and clearly stressed man who looked like a strong wind would blow him over. I mean I wanted to take him to the hospital, that's how bad he looked. His eyes were sunken, the stress was so palpable that it looked like his arms could snap like twigs at any moment.
I was absolutely horrified. He said, "Can we please start the divorce proceedings? The Scientologists are telling me that I'm living a lie and I have to let it go." Well I couldn't say no. Even feeling angry that it was because of the Scientologists that he was in that state to begin with.
Here's how our conversation went:
Me: "You look awful. Who's looking after you?"
Dave: "Oh I'm living at my mentor's house" (Dave was working for a successful business in Paris, and the owner was his mentor).
Me: "What happened to your apartment?"
Dave: "I sold it".
Me: "So where's the money?" (He'd had a nice apartment in the center of Paris).
Dave: "I gave it to the Scientologists".
So he was now broke, with no apartment and on the verge of a physical collapse. I was grateful that his mentor was looking after him, but I was worried for him as you can imagine.
I agreed to start the divorce proceedings. And even though I was stressed thinking that I might not ever get my resident card, I figured I was way better off than Dave. Mostly though, I wanted to at least put his mind to rest for something.
Divine providence
Now this is where divine providence comes into the story. We were given an appointment to go to the judge to get the divorce in 2 months' time. And every day I'd check my mailbox to see if my card had arrived. I was hoping that the divorce proceedings hadn't tipped someone off who could then decide to stop the whole procedure and everything I'd tried to do for for the past 2 years. Because that could happen any day.
The days passed and still no card. And one sunny October morning, it was time to go to the tribunal to get the divorce. No more stalling. Dave came by to get me and there was no turning back. I walked downstairs, opened my mailbox...and the resident card was inside. Just in the nick of time.
I cried with relief. Two years of waiting and appointments and phone calls and paper pushing were finally over.
After about 5 minutes (I recovered quickly because they were happy tears), I dried my tears, went to the tribunal, got divorced, and never saw Dave again.
A happy ending
I actually never knew what had happened to Dave, until I wrote this story!
Thanks to the internet, I can happily say that Dave did manage to eventually leave Scientology. I've seen his picture online and he's no longer the walking dead. He looks fit, healthy and happy.
I think he escaped them thanks to his amazing mentor who took him in when he'd been left destitute. His mentor was clearly able to do what I couldn't, and I imagine that Dave was smart enough to see for himself by that time that being with the Scientologists hadn't exactly brought him fulfilment.
Dave is now very successful. I won't say in what field because he's got lots of followers, but I am glad and relieved for him, to say the least. So it's a crazy story with a happy ending.
A great food to boost your strength
Now what food could I have given Dave when he walked into my office looking like the walking dead?
Well, it would need to be a food that is very high in nutrition. It would need to be a food that helps you gain strength and muscle mass. This particular food can help you not only gain weight, but lose it too. So it will have to be...
Dark leafy greens! Surprise!
Benefits of dark leafy greens
Dark leafy greens are packed with all 8 essential amino acids that we need to get from our food. (The remaining 14 amino acids are made by our bodies. Cool, right?)
How to use them for best results
For best results, if you want to beef someone up, you want to eat these leafy greens with healthy fats.
The reason for this is the fat helps us absorb the amino acids and minerals from the greens.
So a dark salad with olive oil and avocado not only tastes good, but it helps deliver great nutrition to the body.
Now before you think "Oh no, I eat a lot of salads and I want to lose weight", don't worry.
The main principle behind controlling your weight - whether you want it to go up or down - is all about two things:
- putting the right nutrients into the body, and
- making sure you can absorb them
If you give the body what it needs, your weight will tend to stabilize itself.
I know about greens and weight control because of my studies with raw food expert David Wolfe, but I couldn't find a decent article online that explains all of this. David talks about it in his books, but that's it. You may have heard people use the argument that gorillas eat greens all day, and look how strong they are, but that really isn't the full story. I'll have to write an article myself.
In the meantime though, I will link in the show notes to a post from David Wolfe in a French forum that talks about how you can eat to manage your weight, using greens and good fats. It's just a simple post and it's in English. It's very short, but the information he gives can be valuable to some of you if you want to know more about this.
Anyway, I've got lots of delicious recipes that use dark leafy greens in all kinds of creative ways in my
5-Minute recipe ebooks that I'll link to in the shownotes for this episode.
Have YOU got a story to share?
If you've got a crazy, true story to share - with or without mind control! - and you'd like to know what food could have saved the day in your situation), I'd love to
hear from you!
Got a question, or a comment?
Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen 'on the go' in
iTunes,
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Tunein.
I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now!
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