Jack Parsons
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John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons (October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952), (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons), was an American rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Aerojet Corporation. He was also an enthusiastic occultist.
Parsons' rocket research was central to the United States rocket program in the 1930s and 1940s, notably in the development of solid space-capable rocket fuels and the invention of JATO units for aircraft.
He is less well known than Wernher von Braun or Theodore von Kármán in the rocket program and the origins of JPL. Nonetheless, von Braun remarked that Parsons, and not he, should be regarded as the father of the American space program. [1].
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[edit] Parsons and the Occult
Parsons was also an avid practitioner of the occult arts, and a follower of Thelema. He saw no contradiction between his scientific and magical pursuits: before each rocket test launch, Parsons would invoke the god Pan.
He was chosen by Aleister Crowley to lead Agape Lodge, the Thelemic Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) in California in 1942 after Crowley expelled Wilfred Smith from the position.
Sarah Elizabeth Northrup (aka 'Betty'), began living with Parsons after his wife (Sarah's half-sister) Helen Northrup left with Wilfred Smith. Sarah Elizabeth Northrup later married L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology and sometime magickal partner of Parsons. Parsons and Hubbard participated in a ritual known as the Babalon Working which is famous in occult circles — loosely, it was an attempt to summon a living goddess and change the course of history.
In January of 1946, Parsons, Betty, and Hubbard started a boat dealing company named Allied Enterprises. Parsons put in a large sum of approximately $21,000—Hubbard put in $1,200, and Betty nothing. Hubbard eventually abandoned Parsons and their business plans, leaving a port in Florida with the boat and Betty. It is said Parsons retreated to his hotel room and summoned a typhoon in retribution. Legend or not, Hubbard and the ship were washed ashore in a freak storm the same day. A Florida court later dissolved the poorly contracted business, ordered repayment of debts to Parsons and awarded ownership of the boat to Hubbard.
Parsons set out to find another partner, his so called "scarlet woman", a magickal partner with whom he could sire a "Moonchild." The Moonchild is traditionally the incarnation of a God, as prophesied in Crowley's channeled script 'The Book of the Law' (The creation of this Moonchild was covered in Crowley's novel of the same name).
When Parsons met artist and poet Marjorie Cameron, he regarded her as the fulfilment of his magical rituals. This same year he resigned his leadership of the O.T.O.
The Hubbard/Allied relationship lasted until 1947, when Hubbard defrauded Parsons of a sum of money and ran off with Sarah Northrup. Hubbard used much of this money from Allied Enterprises to promulgate and publish his book Dianetics, which later evolved into and was superseded by Scientology.
Jack Parsons has an appearance in Anthony Boucher's murder mystery Rocket to the Morgue (1942) as the character Hugo Chantrelle. The book also includes L. Ron Hubbard as D. Vance Wimpole.
[edit] Death
Jack Parsons died on June 17, 1952 in an explosion of Fulminate of Mercury at his home laboratory which is generally regarded as accidental — he stored many volatile chemicals and compounds in the lab. Though gravely injured, he survived the explosion, only to die of his wounds hours later. Unsubstantiated rumors have suggested that Parsons' death might not have been accidental. A rumor that keeps circulating[citation needed] was that Parsons was trying to create a homonculus based on Aleister Crowley's notes. Supposedly, Crowley's books on spells and rituals are rife with "alchemical" booby traps. Considering Parsons' scientific expertise, it's considered suspicious[citation needed] that he would make such a careless mistake of mixing mercury with another compound known to be explosive.
Distraught, Parsons's mother killed herself not long after he died.
The Parsons crater on the far side of the Moon has been named after him.
[edit] References
- Carter, John (2000). Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons. Feral House. ISBN 0-922915-56-3.
- Pendle, George (2005). Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Harcourt. ISBN 0-297-84853-4.
- Rowlett, Curt (2006). Labyrinth13: True Tales of the Occult, Crime & Conspiracy, Chapter 2, The Strange Case of John Whiteside Parsons. Lulu Press. ISBN 1-4116-6083-8.
