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The following first appeared in the private email list IVy-subscribers,
which is available to all those who subscribe to the
printed magazine, International Viewpoints.
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Just between us entities (or identities)
by Phil Spickler
1 May 00

        I was personally very pleased, nay, gratified, that Claus B. Hansen
was good enough (with a straight face) to ask the question as to what's the
difference between an entity and an identity.  Well, the first difference is,
and this could be considered a self-evident truth, that the two words are
spelled differently; and in spite of that they are said to have different
meanings.

        One answer, I believe, claimed that "entity" referred to what might be
called a thetan or a being or a spiritual being or a soul or a disembodied
ghost or something of that sort that's supposed to be an immortal; and that
an "identity" is just one of the various disguises or personalities that an
entity might either construct or steal or hide behind or within in order to
play a game or to avoid playing a game.

       The funny thing about all this is that an entity can be an identity,
namely, the identity of an entity -- that only sounds like doubletalk!  But
let's face it -- when viewed from the 8th Dynamic, or from that point that L.
Ron Hubbard mentioned in the Philadelphia Lecture Series, namely the point of
origin of everything, which is where everybody really is all the time anyway,
  but has to work as hard as possible not to know it since nothing's really
happening at that point (some call it the Still Point, but give it any name
you want, it isn't anything, it's not a something).  Well anyway, from that
point of view, everything that runs around calling itself an entity is really
just another identity constructed by the 8th Dynamic.

        I could say a lot more about this, but it would be an utter waste of
words.  In the meantime, I'm going back into my fortified shelter, a
double-strengthened leftover Titan 2 missile site near Tucson, buried deep in
the desert, and hope to avoid any of the fallout that this posting is bound
to occasion.  I shall resurface when my friend Sehlene informs me that the
coast is clear.

        In closing, I'd like to say also that the Service Facsimile contest
that I originated some months ago only had two entries that were consciously
and specifically posted to the contest.   (I have not taken what other people
have been posting as involuntary entries to that contest.)  But anyhow,
Sehlene and Christian were declared the two winners, and their prizes are as
follows: a check is on its way to Sehlene on behalf of Christian for a
one-year subscription to the wonderful IVy magazine, which Christian can use
for himself or award to anyone he wishes.  The other prize at this time is a
secret, and I will send it by snail mail to Sehlene once she's good enough to
let me know her new mailing address.  I can only say that it came from a
museum in San Francisco, and that's the last hint.

        Love and best wishes to all, and happy Dianetic birthdays also -- as
ever,
       Phil