Now and then you will get a protest from preclears about “floating needles”.

The preclear feels there is more to be done yet the auditor says “Your needle is floating.”

This is sometimes so bad that in Scientology Reviews one has to Prepcheck the subject of “Floating Needles”.

A lot of by-passed charge can be stirred up which ARC Breaks (upsets) the preclear.

The reason this subject of floating needles gets into trouble is that the auditor has not understood a subject called END PHENOMENA.

END PHENOMENA is defined as “those indicators in the pc and meter which show that a chain or process is ended”. It shows in Dianetics that basic on that chain and flow has been erased, and in Scientology that the pc has been released on that process being run. A new flow or a new process can be embarked upon, of course, when the END PHENOMENA of the previous process is attained.

Floating needles are only ONE FOURTH OF THE END PHENOMENA in all Dianetic auditing.

Any Dianetic auditing below Power has FOUR DEFINITE REACTIONS IN THE PC WHICH SHOW THE PROCESS IS ENDED.

1. Floating needle.

2. Cognition.

3. Very good indicators (pc happy).

4. Erasure of the final picture audited.

Auditors get panicky about overrun. If you go past the End Phenomena the F/N will pack up (cease) and the TA will rise.

BUT that’s if you go past all four parts of the end phenomena, not past a floating needle.

If you watch a needle with care and say nothing but your R3R commands, as it begins to float you will find:

1. It starts to float narrowly.

2. The pc cognites (What do you know — so that’s…) and the float widens.

3. Very good indicators come in. And the float gets almost full dial, and

4. The picture, if you inquired, has erased and the needle goes full dial.

That is the full End Phenomena of Dianetics.

If the auditor sees a float start, as in 1, and says, “I would like to indicate to you your needle is floating,” he can upset the pc’s bank.

There is still charge. The pc has not been permitted to cognite. VGIs surely won’t appear and a piece of the picture is left.

By being impetuous and fearful of overrun, or just being in a hurry, the auditor’s premature (too soon) indication to the pc suppresses three quarters of the pc’s end phenomena.

All this also applies to Scientology auditing.

And all Scientology processes below Power have the same end phenomena.

The 0 to IV Scientology End Phenomena are:

A. Floating needle.

B. Cognition.

C. Very good indicators.

D. Release.

The pc goes through these four steps without fail IF PERMITTED TO DO SO.

As Scientology auditing is more delicate than Dianetic auditing, an overrun (F/N vanished and TA rising, requiring “rehab”) can occur more rapidly. Thus the auditor has to be more alert. But this is no excuse to chop off three of the steps of end phenomena.

The same cycle of F/N will occur if the pc is given a chance. On A you get a beginning F/N, on B slightly wider, on C wider still and on D the needle really is floating and widely.

“I would like to indicate to you your needle is floating” can be a chop. Also it’s a false report if it isn’t widely floating and will keep floating.

Pcs who leave session F/N and arrive at Examiner without F/N, or who eventually do not come to session with an F/N have been misaudited. The least visible way is the F/N chop, as described in this session. The most obvious way is to overrun the process. (Running a pc after he has exteriorized will also give a high TA at Examiner.)

In Dianetics, one more pass through is often required to get 1, 2, 3, 4 End Phenomena above.

I know it said in the Auditor’s Code not to by-pass an F/N. Perhaps it should be changed to read “A real wide F/N”. Here it’s a question of how wide is an F/N? However, the problem is NOT difficult.

I follow this rule — I never jolt or interrupt a pc who is still looking inward. In other words, I don’t ever yank his attention over to the auditor. After all, it’s his case we are handling, not my actions as an auditor.

When I see an F/N begin I listen for the pc’s cognition. If it isn’t there, I give the next command due. If it still isn’t there, I give the 2nd command, etc. Then I get the cognition and shut up. The needle floats more widely, VGIs come in, the F/N goes dial wide. The real skill is involved in knowing when to say nothing more.

Then with the pc all bright, all end phenomena in sight (F/N, Cog, VGIs, Erasure or Release, depending on whether it’s Dn or Scn), I say, as though agreeing with the pc, “Your needle is floating.”

Did you know that you could go through a picture half a dozen times, the F/N getting wider and wider without the pc cogniting? This is rare but it can happen once in a hundred. The picture hasn’t been erased yet. Bits of it seem to keep popping in. Then it erases fully and wow, 2, 3 and 4 occur. This isn’t grinding. It’s waiting for the F/N to broaden to cognition.

The pc who complains about F/Ns is really stating the wrong problem. The actual problem was the auditor distracting the pc from cognition by calling attention to himself and the meter a moment too soon.

The pc who is still looking inward gets upset when his attention is jerked outward. Charge is then left in the area. A pc who has been denied his full end phenomena too often will begin to refuse auditing.

Despite all this, one still must not overrun and get the TA up. But in Dianetics an erasure leaves nothing to get the TA up with!

The Scientology auditor has a harder problem with this, as he can overrun more easily. There is a chance of pulling the bank back in. So the problem is more applicable to Scientology as a problem than to Dianetics.

But ALL auditors must realize that the END PHENOMENA of successful auditing is not just an F/N but has 3 more requisites. And an auditor can chop these off.

The mark of the real VIRTUOSO (master) in auditing is his skilled handling of the floating needle.

[This HCO B is referred to in HCO B 21 March 1974, End Phenomena, Volume VIII, page 272.]