JACK PARSONS:
THE OCCULT ROCKET SCIENTIST
WHO BUILT NASA
He co-founded JPL. He invented solid rocket fuel. He also tried to summon the Antichrist. NASA gave him a crater. On the far side of the Moon. The side we cannot see.
The FakeX Lodge Intelligence Division has been sitting on this file for some time. We opened it. We closed it. We opened it again. We made a cup of tea. We read the first paragraph. We made another cup of tea. We are now ready to present the findings. The findings concern one John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons — born 1914, Pasadena, California. Rocket scientist. Occultist. Co-founder of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Practitioner of Thelema. Personal correspondent of Aleister Crowley. Housemate of L. Ron Hubbard. Inventor of the castable composite solid rocket propellant that made spaceflight possible. Dead at 37 in a laboratory explosion. Crater on the Moon named after him. On the far side. The side we cannot see. We are noting all of this. We are noting it formally.
"BY AGE 12, THE FUTURE FATHER OF MODERN ROCKETRY WAS CONDUCTING BACKYARD ROCKET EXPERIMENTS. HE WAS ALSO PERFORMING BEDTIME INCANTATIONS TO INVOKE THE DEVIL. HE LEARNED BOTH FROM READING COMICS."
— FAKEX LODGE INTELLIGENCE DIVISION, HISTORICAL OCCULT DESKTHE EARLY YEARS: ROCKETS AND THE DEVIL, SIMULTANEOUSLY
Parsons grew up on Pasadena's "Millionaire's Mile." His father left early — exposed as an adulterer, removed from the family record, name legally excised from his son's documents. His mother and grandparents raised him. He spent most of his childhood alone, reading Jules Verne and pulp science fiction magazines. By age 12 he was building gunpowder rockets in the backyard with his friend Edward Forman. Also by age 12 he was performing bedtime incantations to invoke the Devil. He had learned both from reading comics. We are not sure which comics. We have filed a request. We have not received a response.
His mother, concerned, sent him to the Brown Military Academy for Boys in San Diego — described as "The West Point of the West." Parsons was expelled for blowing up the toilets. He returned home with, by all accounts, renewed confidence. He resumed the rockets. He resumed the incantations. He did not resume the toilets, as far as we know. We are treating that as a positive development.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD: HOW PARSONS BUILT JPL
In 1934, Parsons and Forman met PhD candidate Frank Malina at a public CalTech lecture. The three of them impressed Malina's supervising professor, Dr. Theodore von Kármán, enough to be allowed to conduct experiments at CalTech's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory — GALCIT. The GALCIT Rocket Research Group was formed. This was the blueprint for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Between rocket experiments, the group smoked marijuana, drank to excess, discussed their shared socialist values, and wrote a science fiction screenplay which they pitched to Hollywood production companies. The screenplay did not sell. The rockets mostly exploded. Neighbouring CalTech academics were so alarmed by the frequency and violence of the explosions that the group was nicknamed the "Suicide Squad." This is the group that founded JPL. We are noting this. JPL is still operational. We are noting that too.
In 1938, the group successfully tested a static motor rocket that ran for over a minute. The federal government took notice. With government funding, the group relocated to Arroyo Seco, where, in corrugated iron sheds, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was formally born. There, Parsons invented the first rocket engine to use castable composite propellant — the mixture of fuel that gave rockets enough force to actually reach space. Without Jack Parsons, there is no space programme. Without Jack Parsons, there is no NASA. Without Jack Parsons, there is no Moon landing. We are sitting with this information. We have been sitting with it for some time.
THELEMA, ALEISTER CROWLEY, AND THE ORDO TEMPLIS ORIENTIS
By 1939, Parsons and his wife had fully embraced Thelema — Aleister Crowley's esoteric religious philosophy, incorporating ancient Egyptian deities, sex rituals, Eastern and Western mysticism, and the central ambition of achieving a higher state of existence by pursuing one's "True Will." Parsons became a member of the local California chapter: the Ordo Templis Orientis.
As a Thelemite, Parsons performed ritual magic daily. He banished impure elements with pentagrams. He invocated the power of the "Holy Guardian Angel." He offered daily adorations to the sun. He did all of this while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of rocket science at JPL. The Lodge Intelligence Division has reviewed his daily schedule. It was full. He was a busy man. He was a very busy man with a lot of folders.
LODGE INTELLIGENCE DIVISION — THELEMA ASSESSMENT — REF: PARSONS-OCCULT-001
Parsons was not a casual occultist. He was not a man who read a book about crystals and bought a dreamcatcher. He was a fully committed practitioner of a serious esoteric tradition, personally corresponding with Aleister Crowley — the man the British press called "the wickedest man in the world" — while simultaneously inventing the technology that would take humanity to the Moon. The Lodge Intelligence Division has reviewed both bodies of work. Both are extensive. Both are, in their respective fields, genuinely impressive. We are not sure what to do with this information. We have put it in a folder. The folder is labelled P. P is for Parsons. P is now the most complicated folder we have.
Parsons was eventually forced to choose between pursuing his chemistry degree at USC or dedicating himself fully to Thelema. He chose Thelema. He dropped out of university. He continued building rockets. He continued performing rituals. He did both without a degree. We have noted this in the minutes. The minutes are on the fridge. We have had to add a third page.
L. RON HUBBARD, OPERATION BABALON WORKING, AND THE ANTICHRIST
By 1944, Parsons had been pushed out of JPL. He used the proceeds from selling his stock to purchase a large property at 1003 Orange Grove Avenue, Pasadena — which he converted into a commune for bohemians, artists, musicians, atheists, and anarchists. He rented a room to a U.S. Naval Officer and science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard.
Parsons wrote to Crowley about his new housemate: "He has an extraordinary amount of experience and understanding in Magick. He is the most Thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord with our own principles." Crowley, for his part, was not convinced. He described the pair as "louts." He said he felt "fairly frantic" when he contemplated their idiocy. This is the man who called himself "The Great Beast 666" expressing concern about someone else's occult practices. We are noting this. We have noted it. It is noted.
Together, Parsons and Hubbard embarked on Operation Babalon Working — a series of rituals intended to incarnate the Thelemite Goddess Babalon in the earthly realm. One ritual involved Parsons masturbating onto magical tablets to Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto while Hubbard took notes and explored the astral plane. Another involved the pair attempting to impregnate an anonymous woman somewhere on Earth through immaculate conception with a "magical child" — the messianic embodiment of Babalon. The Lodge Intelligence Division has reviewed the documentation. The documentation is thorough. We are not going to summarise all of it here. We have filed it under B. B is for Babalon. B is now the second most complicated folder we have after P.
"PARSONS AND HUBBARD WENT INTO THE DESERT FOR THREE DAYS TO SUMMON LADY BABYLON. WHEN THEY RETURNED, A RED-HAIRED WOMAN WAS WAITING AT THE HOUSE LOOKING FOR A ROOM. PARSONS CONSIDERED THIS A SUCCESSFUL RITUAL. CROWLEY CONSIDERED THEM LOUTS."
— FAKEX LODGE INTELLIGENCE DIVISION, HISTORICAL OCCULT DESKThe desert ritual produced results — or confirmation bias, depending on your position. Parsons had a vision of a red-haired woman riding a beast. He was convinced this was the person he was meant to be with. After three days in the desert attempting to summon Lady Babylon, he and Hubbard returned to the Parsonage to find a vividly red-haired woman named Marjorie Cameron waiting at the door, looking for a place to stay. Parsons married her. He considered the ritual a complete success. We are not in a position to disagree. We are also not in a position to agree. We have filed it under M. M is for Manifestation. M is also for Marjorie. M is also for Moon. The folder is getting crowded.
HUBBARD STEALS THE MONEY AND INVENTS SCIENTOLOGY
Shortly after the Babalon Working rituals concluded, L. Ron Hubbard ran off to Miami with Parsons' ex-lover Sara and $10,000 of Parsons' life savings. With the money, Hubbard bought three yachts. He then went on to found Dianetics and, subsequently, Scientology. Parsons, single and broke, went back to work. He took a job on the Navaho Missile Program at North American Aviation. He was then stripped of his security clearance during the Second Red Scare due to his sexual "perversions." He was now unemployed, broke, and without clearance to work in American rocketry. He doubled down on the occult practices. He commenced a series of "magical operations" with prostitutes. He attempted to "Cross the Abyss" — a Thelemic practice intended to achieve union with universal consciousness. He wrote an autobiography, an occult text, and a personal essay condemning authoritarianism and censorship. None of them were published. The Lodge Intelligence Division has read all three. They are in the folder. The folder is full.
THE EXPLOSION: ACCIDENT, SUICIDE, OR ASSASSINATION
On June 17th, 1952, while filling a rush order for film explosives in his home laboratory, a fatal explosion gutted the lower half of the building. Parsons suffered mortal wounds. He was pronounced dead 37 minutes after the explosion. He was 37 years old. He and Marjorie Cameron had planned to move to Mexico the following day, where the Mexican government had offered him work establishing an explosives factory. He did not make it to Mexico. He did not make it to the following day. He made it 37 minutes.
THEORY 1 — ACCIDENT
POSSIBLEPasadena Police concluded the explosion was caused by fulminated mercury accidentally dropped on the floor. His friend Forman considered this plausible, noting that Parsons had "criminally sweaty hands." We are noting the phrase "criminally sweaty hands." We have added it to the file.
THEORY 2 — SUICIDE
POSSIBLEColleagues from the Bermite Powder Company described Parsons' work habits as "scrupulously neat." A man described as scrupulously neat does not drop fulminated mercury. The Lodge Intelligence Division is treating this theory as active. It is in the folder under S. S is for Suicide. S also contains our entry on Sigils. They are not related.
THEORY 3 — ASSASSINATION
ACTIVE — UNDER REVIEWParsons had been investigated by the FBI, stripped of his security clearance, and was about to leave the country permanently. He had knowledge of classified propellant technology. He had Lodge connections. He had enemies. The Lodge Intelligence Division considers this theory the most interesting. We have given it its own folder. The folder is red.
THE CRATER: ON THE FAR SIDE. THE SIDE WE CANNOT SEE.
NASA's official history of JPL contains, at most, a vague sentence about "amateur engineers working alongside CalTech researchers." Jack Parsons — the man who invented the propellant that made spaceflight possible, who co-founded the institution that became JPL, who was there at the beginning of everything — is described as an amateur. In a vague sentence. The Lodge Intelligence Division has read the official JPL history page. We have read it several times. We are reading it again now. The sentence is still vague. Parsons is still described as an amateur. We are noting this. We have noted it. It is noted in the minutes. The minutes are on the fridge. We have had to buy a bigger fridge.
The most recognition Parsons ever received from the space industry was a small crater on the Moon named after him. The crater is on the far side of the Moon. The side we rarely get to see. The side that faces away from Earth. The Lodge Intelligence Division has reviewed the crater's location. We have reviewed it carefully. We have reviewed it several times. We are not saying anything. We are simply noting that the man who built the rocket programme was given a crater on the side of the Moon that nobody looks at. We are noting this. We are noting it formally. We are noting it in the minutes. The minutes now require a separate binder.
DID NASA KNOW THEIR FOUNDING ROCKET SCIENTIST WAS A PRACTISING OCCULTIST?
Yes. The federal bodies funding JPL were aware of Parsons' involvement with the Ordo Templis Orientis. They were aware he was donating most of his salary to the organisation. They were aware he was attempting to recruit new members from JPL staff. They were aware of his sexual practices, his drug use, and his correspondence with Aleister Crowley. They funded him anyway, because he was the only person who could make the rockets work. The Lodge Intelligence Division considers this the most important sentence in this entire article. We have underlined it. We have underlined it twice.
IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN PARSONS' OCCULT WORK AND THE SPACE PROGRAMME?
Parsons himself believed so. He wrote extensively about the connection between his Thelemic practice — the pursuit of one's True Will — and his scientific work. He believed that his willingness to pursue what others considered impossible, both in rocketry and in the occult, were expressions of the same fundamental drive. The Lodge Intelligence Division is not in a position to confirm or deny a metaphysical connection between Thelema and the Apollo programme. We are, however, noting that the man who made spaceflight possible was performing daily occult rituals throughout the period in which he made spaceflight possible. We are filing this under C. C is for Coincidence. C is also for Crowley. The folder is thick.
WHY DID NASA PUT HIS CRATER ON THE FAR SIDE?
NASA has not provided an explanation. The Lodge Intelligence Division has sent an enquiry. We have not received a reply. We sent it again. We have not received a reply. We are noting the absence of a reply in the minutes. The minutes are in the binder. The binder is on the shelf next to the fridge. The fridge contains the original minutes. We are running out of storage. We may need to rent a unit.
FAKEX LODGE INTELLIGENCE DIVISION — OFFICIAL POSITION — FOR THE RECORD
Jack Parsons invented the solid rocket fuel that made spaceflight possible. He co-founded the institution that became NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He performed daily occult rituals throughout his career. He attempted to summon the Antichrist with L. Ron Hubbard, who subsequently stole his money and invented Scientology. He was investigated by the FBI, stripped of his security clearance, and died in an explosion at 37. NASA described him as an amateur in a vague sentence and gave him a crater on the side of the Moon that faces away from Earth. The Lodge Intelligence Division has reviewed all of this. We have reviewed it carefully. We have reviewed it several times. We have put it in folders. We have labelled the folders. We have bought a binder for the folders. We have bought a second binder. We are considering a filing cabinet. The filing cabinet will be labelled PARSONS. PARSONS will be the most important filing cabinet we have. It will be locked. We will hide the key. We will not hide it in the same place as the other key. We have learned from that.