Self Clearing book - chapter 22

22.1 The E-Meter

The E-meter as used by the Church of Scientology or the equivalent 
devices available in the freezone are simple measurement instruments 
which display the electrical resistance of the human body.

As mental charge is stirred up or released, the electrical resistance 
of the body will reflect these changes.

The changes, however, are subtle and generally too fine to see on a 
simple ohm-meter (a device for measuring electrical resistance). A dial 
which covered the entire possible range at which a body might be found 
would make the interesting reactions too small to be seen in most 
cases.

So instead, a range adjustment is used to focus in on the approximate 
resistance at which a particular body is sitting at the moment and the 
needle dial acts as a window into that precise band of resistance. This 
turns small fluctuations in resistance into large needle reactions 
which are easier to see.

Due to a mistake in early theory, the range adjustment was mistakenly 
thought to reflect the person's emotional tone level and was therefore 
called the "tone arm". Because of this, it was labeled with what are 
now arbitrary numbers from zero to seven which supposedly represented 
emotional tones.

The normal, or unabberated, range on this tone arm is generally between 
two (which is actually 5,000 ohms) and three (which is actually 12,500 
ohms).

Higher resistances (especially readings above 4 or 5 on this tone arm) 
generally indicate that mental "mass" is present. In processing, if the 
tone arm was in the normal range and suddenly begins to soar upwards 
into this high area, it generally indicates that a process has been 
overrun (continued past the point of handling what it was aimed at) and 
is now stirring up things without handling them. The person will often 
feel tired and heavy. The usual handling is to spot the release point 
that has been bypassed.

Excessively low resistance generally indicates that the person is 
overwhelmed. Under too much impact, a person will try to make things 
unreal (disconnecting from reality) to try and get out from under. This 
is reflected in extreme drops in resistance in the body. One remedy is 
to run extremely light things (such as the first process in chapter 
one) until the person comes back to himself.

The reactions of the needle can be quite useful and interesting. These 
show the moment to moment changes and mental flinches or reactions to 
things.

This is specifically useful for probing things that are out of sight 
but accessible.

The meter will not react on things that are deeply buried. And the 
occasional reactions as a person thinks about things or considers a 
question are not of interest because the person can already think in 
those areas. But in-between lies that portion of the mind which is 
slightly hidden but is not out of reach. This is the area that we are 
interested in processing because these are the things that we can reach 
to clean them up. And as this area is handled, more of the hidden areas 
beneath it are revealed and become accessible.

The meter reactions in this band are instantaneous, because the person 
is not thinking about these things but only reacting. Note that for 
this reason, the needle must not be shielded by the usual protective 
circuitry which is often used to protect them against current surges 
because it will obscure the instantaneousness of the reactions.

The meter is at its best when it is used to pin down some mental charge 
that has been stirred up.

For example, if somebody is upset, the meter can be checked as to 
whether the break occurred in affinity, reality, communication, or 
understanding. It will react on the one which triggered the ARC Break 
because that is where the charge lies.

In the 1950s, meters were primarily used for assessing things such as 
this to determine sources of charge. They work well in this regard. 
They do not work well for seeking general answers to cosmic questions 
because they will not react on the deeper areas which are still 
inaccessible to the person. They also do not work well as lie detectors 
because they react to the presence of mental charge rather than 
providing absolute answers.

Assessments can be done solo without the use of a meter simply by 
considering the various possible answers until you settle on one with 
some certainty. But in this case, the meter is a great time saver and 
much easier than swimming around in a charged area trying to figure 
something out.

It is beyond the scope of this book to teach you the details of using a 
meter. There is already a great deal of literature on the subject and 
it is much easier to learn on a course that includes practical drills.

But if you do have one and know how to use it, then do so by all means, 
especially on those things that require assessments.

Do not, however, let the lack of a meter stop you from continuing. It 
is simply a helpful tool rather than a necessity.
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R - NOTE.  We have a FZ friend who is unable to accept Self Clearing
because of a belief that only things which `blow down' on the meter are valid gains.