Jack Parsons
Encyclopedia
John Whiteside Parsons better known as Jack Parsons, was an American
rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology
. He was one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and the Aerojet Corp
. He was also an occultist and one of the first American
s to take a keen interest in the writings of English
author and Thelema
's founder Aleister Crowley
. In this capacity, he joined and eventually led an American lodge of Crowley's magical order, Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)
.
. When he was a teenager his father walked out on his mother and him. Parsons landed a job with the Hercules Powder Company while still a senior in high school
. The following year, he entered Pasadena Junior College and spent two years at the University of Southern California
, although he did not graduate.
Parsons and Helen Northrup were married in April 1935.
(GALCIT) of the California Institute of Technology
, where he worked for Frank Malina
and Theodore von Kármán
in Pasadena.
While his formal education was limited, Parsons demonstrated tremendous scientific aptitude and genius, particularly in chemistry
. His rocket research was some of the earliest in the United States, and his pioneering work in the development of solid fuel and the invention of JATO
units for aircraft was of great importance to the start of humanity's space age. The noted engineer Theodore von Kármán
, Parsons' friend and benefactor, declared that the work of Parsons and his peers helped usher in the age of space travel
. Parsons co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
, commonly referred to as JPL. According to von Kármán, Parsons' work in solid fuel research "... made possible such outstanding rockets as the Polaris
and the Minuteman
.
It was in 1942, the same year Parsons was appointed as head of the Agapé Lodge by Aleister Crowley (who himself had studied chemistry), that Parsons made the crucial breakthrough in the development of rocket solid fuel. Following intuition, Parsons switched from black powder to asphalt
and potassium perchlorate
.
Compared with Peenemünde, the contemporary German army research facility, America was finally in the race for rocket propulsion with solid fuel for the space age.
. In 1942 Parsons was chosen by Aleister Crowley
to lead Agapé Lodge of OTO in California
following Crowley's expulsion of Wilfred Smith from the position.
Sara Northrup
(aka "Sarah Elizabeth" or "Betty" Northrup), began living with Parsons and Parsons' wife, Sara's half-sister Helen Northrup; later, Parsons and Sara became involved in an affair, which caused strife with Helen and eventually led to Helen leaving with Wilfred Smith. Sara Northrup went on to marry author L. Ron Hubbard
, who served as the occasional magical partner of Parsons, and who would later found the Church of Scientology
.
, had read in the fantasy
pulp magazine
Unknown
the 1940 original shorter version of Jack Williamson
"Darker Than You Think
". Parsons had identified the redhead
ed female love interest of the protagonist
with Babalon
or the "Scarlet Woman", who Crowley had prophesied would help to fulfill the Aeon of Horus and announce to the world the end of the Aeon of Osiris represented by Christianity
and other patriarchal religions and social institutions. In 1946, Parsons and Hubbard (whose works Fear and Typewriter in the Sky
, among others, had actually appeared in Unknown) participated in a work of ceremonial magic
known as the Babalon Working
. In simple terms, the Babalon Working was a ritual to summon this Scarlet Woman. Paul Rydeen writes:
Crowley, who lived in England at this time and had little say over the matter, disagreed strenuously. Though he had never met him, Crowley had no love for Hubbard and considered him a con artist with plans to abscond with Parsons' money and current girlfriend.
Almost immediately he met Marjorie Cameron
right in his own home, and regarded her as the Scarlet Woman and the fulfillment of the ritual. Parsons, Hubbard, and Cameron then proceeded to the next stage of the Babalon Working in which Cameron acted as Parsons' magical sexual partner
with whom he could sire a Moonchild. The creation of this Moonchild had been previously covered in fictional form in Crowley's novel Moonchild. Parsons ended the ritual by declaring it successful. A physical child was not conceived, but this did not affect the results of the ritual, as Parsons and Cameron soon married.
In January 1946, Parsons, Sarah Northrup, and Hubbard began a boat dealing company named Allied Enterprises. Parsons put in the sum of approximately $21,000 of which Hubbard contributed $1,200. Just as Crowley had predicted, Hubbard eventually abandoned Parsons and their business plans, leaving for a port in Florida with the boat and with Sarah. Parsons retreated to his hotel room and attempted to summon a typhoon in retribution (viz., with an evocation of Bartzabel — an intelligence presiding over the astrological forces associated with the planet Mars). A squall developed at sea and ripped the sails from the boat, forcing the ship back to port where Hubbard and Sarah were detained by the U.S. Coast Guard. A Florida court later dissolved the poorly-contracted business, ordered repayment of debts to Parsons, and awarded ownership of the boat to Hubbard. Parsons resigned his leadership of the Agapé Lodge in 1946.
, a member of the original Aerojet team, disliked Parsons, and described him as a "dangerous man". This pronouncement would prove prophetic, at least for Parsons himself. On 17 June 1952 Parsons was killed by an explosion of fulminate of mercury at his home laboratory. Though gravely injured, he survived the immediate explosion, but he died of his wounds a few hours later. Distraught, Parsons' mother killed herself just hours after he died.
Unsubstantiated rumors of suicide
, murder
or a magical ritual gone wrong have attempted to explain Parsons' death. However, Parsons did store many volatile chemicals and compounds in his laboratory and had been working to finish a contract for a special effects firm.
, which had been founded in 1904 by the English occultist Aleister Crowley
following a spiritual revelation that he had in the city of Cairo
, Egypt
, when - according to Crowley's own accounts - a spirit being known as Aiwass
dictated to him a prophetic text known as The Book of the Law
.
On July 31, 1945, he gave a speech to the Agape Lodge in which he attempted to explain how he felt that The Book of the Law could be made relevant to "modern life." In this, which was subsequently published under the title of "Doing your Will", he examined the Thelemite concept of True Will
, writing that:
He identified four obstacles that prevented humans from achieving and performing their True Will, all of which he connected with fear
: the fear of incompetence, the fear of the opinion of others, the fear of hurting others, and the fear of insecurity, but he insisted that these must be overcome. He wrote that "The Will must be freed of its fetters. The ruthless examination and destruction of taboos, complexes, frustrations, dislikes, fears and disgusts hostile to the Will is essential to progress."
He went on to criticise many aspects of contemporary American society, including the police
, whom he felt "are little more than the agents of a corrupt political machine… [for whom] the collection of revenue and the terrorization of opposition is of far greater importance than the suppression of crime." Believing that "The police mind is usually of a sadistic and homicidal trend", he noted that they carried out the "ruthless punishment of symbolic scapegoats in the form of prostitutes, derelicts, Negroes, radicals, drunks, and other helpless and insignificant members of the nation indivisible" under the pretence of a country that had "liberty and justice for all."
Parsons was interested in socialism
and communism
, but he was sceptical of the ideas of Marxism
and how they had been put into action by Marxist governments of the time, sarcastically writing that "The dictatorship of the proletariat
is merely temporary - the state will eventually wither away like a snark hunter, leaving us all free as birds [this is a Marxist concept of how a communist society would hypothetically develop]. Meanwhile it may be necessary to kill, torture and imprison a few million people, but whose fault is it if they get in the way of progress?" He was also wary of integration of Marxian ideals into Western governments, prefacing his essay Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword with the warning: "The golden voice of social security, of socialized "this" and socialized "that," with its attendant confiscatory taxation and intrusion on individual liberty, is everywhere raised and everywhere heeded." He was critical of the socialist policies instituted in the Soviet Union
by the Communist Party
under the leadership of Joseph Stalin
at the time, believing that like the fascist
leaders Benito Mussolini
and Adolf Hitler
, they led to the "establishment of concentration camps, the murder and torture of free citizens, and the annihilation of all freedom." He was also a zionist, and was supportive of the early creation of the State of Israel, making plans to emigrate there when his military security clearance was revoked due to his leftist beliefs and/or for passing technology to Israel, but his attempt to emigrate was prevented by his death.
In order to help bring about a freer society, Parsons believed in bringing about a liberalisation of sexual morality, which at the time was largely constrained by the dominant socially conservative attitudes within the United States. He believed that "The advent of psychonautical sciences and the publication of the Kinsey Report" into sexual diversity had an impact on western society that was "comparable to that of nuclear physics
and the advent of the atomic bomb" and that in the future the restrictions on sexual morality within society should be abolished in order to bring about greater freedom and individuality.
Although he commented primarily upon the situation of civil liberties
and individual freedoms in his native United States, he believed that such things were of worldwide importance, and that:
's murder mystery Rocket to the Morgue
(1942) under the guise of Hugo Chantrelle. In the same book, a fictional version of L. Ron Hubbard
appears as a character named D. Vance Wimpole.
Parsons' relationship with Hubbard also appears in Feral House
's Apocalypse Culture, Paradox
's Big Book of Conspiracies, Alan Moore
's Cobweb
story in Top Shelf
Asks the Big Questions, and in the Jon Atack nonfiction book A Piece of Blue Sky
. He was one of the characters in Craig Baldwin
's collage film Mock Up on Mu. A character named Zachary Carsons, based on Parsons, appears in the 2001 film The Profit
. Parsons also was the main vilain of the Atomic Robo
short story "Rocket Science is a Two-Edged Sword," wherein Robo prevents Parsons from attaining godhood through a system of magick infused with science.
He is referenced in Philip K. Dick
's novel Dr. Futurity
, in which the protagonist is named Jim Parsons. A play about Parsons, Babalon, by Paul Green, was performed in London in December 2005 by Travesty Theatre. There is an entry dedicated to Parsons in The QI Book of the Dead
by John Lloyd
and John Mitchinson
. A stage play about Parsons by George Morgan, Pasadena Babalon, premiered at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 2010. It was directed by film and TV actor Brian Brophy.
Through close examination of his life, one can conclude that the marvel character known as Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark(iron man) is loosely based on Jack Parsons.
on the far side of the Moon is named after him.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
. He was one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
and the Aerojet Corp
Aerojet
Aerojet is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange, Gainesville and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet is owned by GenCorp. They are the only US propulsion company that provides both solid rocket...
. He was also an occultist and one of the first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
s to take a keen interest in the writings of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author and Thelema
Thelema
Thelema is a religious philosophy that was established, defined and developed by the early 20th century British writer and ceremonial magician, Aleister Crowley. He believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, based upon a religious experience that he had in Egypt in 1904...
's founder Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
. In this capacity, he joined and eventually led an American lodge of Crowley's magical order, Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...
.
Youth
Parsons was the only child of a rich but dysfunctional familyDysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
. When he was a teenager his father walked out on his mother and him. Parsons landed a job with the Hercules Powder Company while still a senior in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. The following year, he entered Pasadena Junior College and spent two years at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, although he did not graduate.
Parsons and Helen Northrup were married in April 1935.
Parsons and the Space Age
In 1936, Parsons joined the Guggenheim Aeronautical LaboratoryGuggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory
The Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology , was a research institute created in 1926, at first specializing in aeronautics research. In 1930, Hungarian scientist Theodore von Kármán accepted the directorship of the lab and emigrated to the United States. Under...
(GALCIT) of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, where he worked for Frank Malina
Frank Malina
Frank Joseph Malina was an American aeronautical engineer and painter, especially known for becoming both a pioneer in the art world and the realm of scientific engineering.-Early life:...
and Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Karman
Theodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization...
in Pasadena.
While his formal education was limited, Parsons demonstrated tremendous scientific aptitude and genius, particularly in chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. His rocket research was some of the earliest in the United States, and his pioneering work in the development of solid fuel and the invention of JATO
JATO
JATO is an acronym for jet-fuel assisted take off. It is a system for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets....
units for aircraft was of great importance to the start of humanity's space age. The noted engineer Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Karman
Theodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization...
, Parsons' friend and benefactor, declared that the work of Parsons and his peers helped usher in the age of space travel
Spaceflight
Spaceflight is the act of travelling into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft which may, or may not, have humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station...
. Parsons co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
, commonly referred to as JPL. According to von Kármán, Parsons' work in solid fuel research "... made possible such outstanding rockets as the Polaris
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
and the Minuteman
LGM-30 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2010, the version LGM-30G Minuteman-III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
.
It was in 1942, the same year Parsons was appointed as head of the Agapé Lodge by Aleister Crowley (who himself had studied chemistry), that Parsons made the crucial breakthrough in the development of rocket solid fuel. Following intuition, Parsons switched from black powder to asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
and potassium perchlorate
Potassium perchlorate
Potassium perchlorate is the inorganic salt with the chemical formula KClO4. Like other perchlorates, this salt is a strong oxidizer and potentially reacts with many organic substances...
.
Compared with Peenemünde, the contemporary German army research facility, America was finally in the race for rocket propulsion with solid fuel for the space age.
Parsons and the occult
Parsons saw no contradiction between his scientific and magical pursuits. Before each rocket test launch, Parsons would chant Crowley's hymn to the Greek god PanPan (mythology)
Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
. In 1942 Parsons was chosen by Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
to lead Agapé Lodge of OTO in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
following Crowley's expulsion of Wilfred Smith from the position.
Sara Northrup
Sara Northrup
Sara Elizabeth Bruce Northrup Hollister was the second wife of L. Ron Hubbard, from 1946 to 1951, and wife of Miles Hollister from 1951 to her death in 1997...
(aka "Sarah Elizabeth" or "Betty" Northrup), began living with Parsons and Parsons' wife, Sara's half-sister Helen Northrup; later, Parsons and Sara became involved in an affair, which caused strife with Helen and eventually led to Helen leaving with Wilfred Smith. Sara Northrup went on to marry author L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
, who served as the occasional magical partner of Parsons, and who would later found the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
.
Babalon Working and Marjorie Cameron
Parsons, a science fiction fanScience fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
, had read in the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Unknown
Unknown (magazine)
Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and...
the 1940 original shorter version of Jack Williamson
Jack Williamson
John Stewart Williamson , who wrote as Jack Williamson was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death in 1988 of Robert A...
"Darker Than You Think
Darker Than You Think
Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson, originally a novelette, was expanded into novel length and published by Fantasy Press in 1948. The short version was published Unknown in 1940...
". Parsons had identified the redhead
Redhead
Redhead may refer to:* A person with red hair* Redhead , an album by Bleu* Redhead , a North American duck, Aythya americana...
ed female love interest of the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
with Babalon
Babalon
Babalon—also known as The Scarlet Woman, The Great Mother, or the Mother of Abominations—is a goddess found in the mystical system of Thelema, which was established in 1904 with English author and occultist Aleister Crowley's writing of The Book of the Law...
or the "Scarlet Woman", who Crowley had prophesied would help to fulfill the Aeon of Horus and announce to the world the end of the Aeon of Osiris represented by Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and other patriarchal religions and social institutions. In 1946, Parsons and Hubbard (whose works Fear and Typewriter in the Sky
Typewriter in the Sky
Typewriter in the Sky is a science fiction novel written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The protagonist Mike de Wolf finds himself inside the story of his friend's book. He must survive conflict on the high seas in the Caribbean during the 17th century, before eventually returning to his...
, among others, had actually appeared in Unknown) participated in a work of ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by...
known as the Babalon Working
Babalon Working
The Babalon Working was a series of magic ceremonies or rituals commenced on March 2, 1946 by author, pioneer rocket-fuel scientist, and occultist Jack Parsons, essentially designed to manifest an individual incarnation of the archetypal divine feminine called Babalon, as well as to catalyze the...
. In simple terms, the Babalon Working was a ritual to summon this Scarlet Woman. Paul Rydeen writes:
The purpose of Parson's operation has been underemphasized. He sought to produce a magickal child who would be a product of her environment rather than of her heredityHeredityHeredity is the passing of traits to offspring . This is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause some species to evolve...
. Crowley himself describes the Moonchild in just these terms. The Babalon Working itself was preparation for what was to come: a Thelemic messiah.
Crowley, who lived in England at this time and had little say over the matter, disagreed strenuously. Though he had never met him, Crowley had no love for Hubbard and considered him a con artist with plans to abscond with Parsons' money and current girlfriend.
Almost immediately he met Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel was an artist, occultist, actress, and wife of rocket pioneer and occultist Jack Parsons. Cameron played a major role in the 1946 Babalon Working ritual.-Biography:...
right in his own home, and regarded her as the Scarlet Woman and the fulfillment of the ritual. Parsons, Hubbard, and Cameron then proceeded to the next stage of the Babalon Working in which Cameron acted as Parsons' magical sexual partner
Sex magic
Sex magic is a term for various types of sexual activity used in magical, ritualistic or otherwise religious and spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using the energy of sexual arousal or orgasm with visualization of a desired result...
with whom he could sire a Moonchild. The creation of this Moonchild had been previously covered in fictional form in Crowley's novel Moonchild. Parsons ended the ritual by declaring it successful. A physical child was not conceived, but this did not affect the results of the ritual, as Parsons and Cameron soon married.
In January 1946, Parsons, Sarah Northrup, and Hubbard began a boat dealing company named Allied Enterprises. Parsons put in the sum of approximately $21,000 of which Hubbard contributed $1,200. Just as Crowley had predicted, Hubbard eventually abandoned Parsons and their business plans, leaving for a port in Florida with the boat and with Sarah. Parsons retreated to his hotel room and attempted to summon a typhoon in retribution (viz., with an evocation of Bartzabel — an intelligence presiding over the astrological forces associated with the planet Mars). A squall developed at sea and ripped the sails from the boat, forcing the ship back to port where Hubbard and Sarah were detained by the U.S. Coast Guard. A Florida court later dissolved the poorly-contracted business, ordered repayment of debts to Parsons, and awarded ownership of the boat to Hubbard. Parsons resigned his leadership of the Agapé Lodge in 1946.
Death
Fritz ZwickyFritz Zwicky
Fritz Zwicky was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California Institute of Technology in the United States of America, where he made many important contributions in theoretical and observational astronomy.- Biography :Fritz Zwicky was born in Varna, Bulgaria to a Swiss father....
, a member of the original Aerojet team, disliked Parsons, and described him as a "dangerous man". This pronouncement would prove prophetic, at least for Parsons himself. On 17 June 1952 Parsons was killed by an explosion of fulminate of mercury at his home laboratory. Though gravely injured, he survived the immediate explosion, but he died of his wounds a few hours later. Distraught, Parsons' mother killed herself just hours after he died.
Unsubstantiated rumors of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
or a magical ritual gone wrong have attempted to explain Parsons' death. However, Parsons did store many volatile chemicals and compounds in his laboratory and had been working to finish a contract for a special effects firm.
Religious beliefs
Parsons adhered to the religion of ThelemaThelema
Thelema is a religious philosophy that was established, defined and developed by the early 20th century British writer and ceremonial magician, Aleister Crowley. He believed himself to be the prophet of a new age, the Æon of Horus, based upon a religious experience that he had in Egypt in 1904...
, which had been founded in 1904 by the English occultist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
following a spiritual revelation that he had in the city of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, when - according to Crowley's own accounts - a spirit being known as Aiwass
Aiwass
Aiwass is the name of the being who Aleister Crowley claimed dictated The Book of the Law, the central sacred text of Thelema, to him on April 8, 9, and 10th in 1904.-The dictation:...
dictated to him a prophetic text known as The Book of the Law
The Book of the Law
Liber AL vel Legis is the central sacred text of Thelema, written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in the year 1904. Its full title is Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII=418 to DCLXVI, and it is commonly referred to as The Book of the Law.Liber AL vel Legis contains three...
.
On July 31, 1945, he gave a speech to the Agape Lodge in which he attempted to explain how he felt that The Book of the Law could be made relevant to "modern life." In this, which was subsequently published under the title of "Doing your Will", he examined the Thelemite concept of True Will
True Will
True Will is a term found within the mystical system of Thelema, a religion founded in 1904 with Aleister Crowley's writing of The Book of the Law. It is defined at times as a person's grand destiny in life, and at other times as a moment to moment path of action that operates in perfect harmony...
, writing that:
- The mainspring of an individual is his creative Will. This Will is the sum of his tendencies, his destiny, his inner truth. It is one with the force that makes the birds sing and flowers bloom; as inevitable as gravity, as implicit as a bowel movement, it informs alike atoms and men and suns.
- To the man who knows this Will, there is no why or why not, no can or cannot; he IS!
- There is no known force that can turn an apple into an alley cat; there is no known force that can turn a man from his Will. This is the triumph of genius; that, surviving the centuries, enlightens the world.
- This force burns in every man.
He identified four obstacles that prevented humans from achieving and performing their True Will, all of which he connected with fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
: the fear of incompetence, the fear of the opinion of others, the fear of hurting others, and the fear of insecurity, but he insisted that these must be overcome. He wrote that "The Will must be freed of its fetters. The ruthless examination and destruction of taboos, complexes, frustrations, dislikes, fears and disgusts hostile to the Will is essential to progress."
Politics
Politically, Parsons was a staunch and vocal social libertarian, believing strongly in the personal freedoms of the individual. This was in keeping with his religious adherence to Thelema, which holds to the ethical code of "Do what thou wilt." In his article, Freedom is a Lonely Star, he championed the libertarian social views of some of the founding fathers of the United States, which were enshrined in the American constitution, claiming that by his own time these had been:- sold out by cheap and venal politicians, by benevolent authoritariansAuthoritarianismAuthoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
, by "loyal" party men, by shrewd and greedy capitalistsCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, by wise guys and smart guys that know all the answers. It has been sold out by the great middle classMiddle classThe middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
that prefers its false security and false freedom, by the labor leaders that put power first, and the little man who prefers - at last with at least a decent reason - a full belly, or the promise of a full belly, to freedom turned dangerous and hungry. - It has been sold out by America, and for that reason the heart of America is sick and the soul of America is dead.
He went on to criticise many aspects of contemporary American society, including the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, whom he felt "are little more than the agents of a corrupt political machine… [for whom] the collection of revenue and the terrorization of opposition is of far greater importance than the suppression of crime." Believing that "The police mind is usually of a sadistic and homicidal trend", he noted that they carried out the "ruthless punishment of symbolic scapegoats in the form of prostitutes, derelicts, Negroes, radicals, drunks, and other helpless and insignificant members of the nation indivisible" under the pretence of a country that had "liberty and justice for all."
Parsons was interested in socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, but he was sceptical of the ideas of Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and how they had been put into action by Marxist governments of the time, sarcastically writing that "The dictatorship of the proletariat
Dictatorship of the proletariat
In Marxist socio-political thought, the dictatorship of the proletariat refers to a socialist state in which the proletariat, or the working class, have control of political power. The term, coined by Joseph Weydemeyer, was adopted by the founders of Marxism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in the...
is merely temporary - the state will eventually wither away like a snark hunter, leaving us all free as birds [this is a Marxist concept of how a communist society would hypothetically develop]. Meanwhile it may be necessary to kill, torture and imprison a few million people, but whose fault is it if they get in the way of progress?" He was also wary of integration of Marxian ideals into Western governments, prefacing his essay Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword with the warning: "The golden voice of social security, of socialized "this" and socialized "that," with its attendant confiscatory taxation and intrusion on individual liberty, is everywhere raised and everywhere heeded." He was critical of the socialist policies instituted in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
by the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
under the leadership of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
at the time, believing that like the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
leaders Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, they led to the "establishment of concentration camps, the murder and torture of free citizens, and the annihilation of all freedom." He was also a zionist, and was supportive of the early creation of the State of Israel, making plans to emigrate there when his military security clearance was revoked due to his leftist beliefs and/or for passing technology to Israel, but his attempt to emigrate was prevented by his death.
In order to help bring about a freer society, Parsons believed in bringing about a liberalisation of sexual morality, which at the time was largely constrained by the dominant socially conservative attitudes within the United States. He believed that "The advent of psychonautical sciences and the publication of the Kinsey Report" into sexual diversity had an impact on western society that was "comparable to that of nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
and the advent of the atomic bomb" and that in the future the restrictions on sexual morality within society should be abolished in order to bring about greater freedom and individuality.
Although he commented primarily upon the situation of civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
and individual freedoms in his native United States, he believed that such things were of worldwide importance, and that:
- We are one nation but we are also one world. The soul of the slums looks out of the eyes of Wall StreetWall StreetWall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
, and the fate of a Chinese coolie determines the destiny of America. We cannot suppress our brother's liberty without suppressing our own and we cannot murder our brothers without murdering ourselves. We will stand together as men for human freedom and human dignity or we will fall together, as animals, back into the jungle.
Parsons in popular culture
Before his death, Jack Parsons appeared in science fiction writer Anthony BoucherAnthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
's murder mystery Rocket to the Morgue
Rocket to the Morgue
Rocket to the Morgue is a 1942 American locked room mystery novel by Anthony Boucher .- Plotline :Now-dead author Fowler Foulkes and his creation Dr...
(1942) under the guise of Hugo Chantrelle. In the same book, a fictional version of L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
appears as a character named D. Vance Wimpole.
Parsons' relationship with Hubbard also appears in Feral House
Feral House
Feral House is a book publisher owned and operated by Adam Parfrey. The publisher itself describes the books it sells as "pure information", and says the topics of the books are "forbidden"....
's Apocalypse Culture, Paradox
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...
's Big Book of Conspiracies, Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's Cobweb
Cobweb (comics)
The Cobweb is a comic book heroine co-created by famed writer Alan Moore and veteran underground artist Melinda Gebbie. Cobweb's only apparent powers were allure and the ability to make an entrance...
story in Top Shelf
Top Shelf Productions
Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia, Portland, Oregon, and New York City, New York....
Asks the Big Questions, and in the Jon Atack nonfiction book A Piece of Blue Sky
A Piece of Blue Sky
A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, published in 1990, is an examination from a critical perspective by former British Scientologist Jon Atack of the history of L. Ron Hubbard and the development of Dianetics and the Church of Scientology...
. He was one of the characters in Craig Baldwin
Craig Baldwin
Craig Baldwin is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses “found” footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that...
's collage film Mock Up on Mu. A character named Zachary Carsons, based on Parsons, appears in the 2001 film The Profit
The Profit
The Profit is a feature film written and directed by Peter N. Alexander. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2001. Distribution of the film was prohibited by an American court order which was a result of a lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology, although the filmmaker...
. Parsons also was the main vilain of the Atomic Robo
Atomic Robo
Atomic Robo is a comic book series depicting the adventures of the eponymous character, created by 8-Bit Theater writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener.-Publication history:...
short story "Rocket Science is a Two-Edged Sword," wherein Robo prevents Parsons from attaining godhood through a system of magick infused with science.
He is referenced in Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
's novel Dr. Futurity
Dr. Futurity
Dr. Futurity is a 1960 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. It is an expansion of his earlier short story "Time Pawn", which first saw publication in the summer 1954 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories....
, in which the protagonist is named Jim Parsons. A play about Parsons, Babalon, by Paul Green, was performed in London in December 2005 by Travesty Theatre. There is an entry dedicated to Parsons in The QI Book of the Dead
The QI Book of the Dead
The QI Book of the Dead is the fourth title in a series of books based on the intellectual British panel game QI, written by series-creator John Lloyd and head-researcher John Mitchinson...
by John Lloyd
John Lloyd (writer)
John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...
and John Mitchinson
John Mitchinson
For the English tenor, see John Mitchinson .For the Bishop, see John Mitchinson .John Mitchinson is the head of research for the British television panel game QI, and is also the managing director of Quite Interesting Limited. He is co-writer of the QI series of books with the show's creator John...
. A stage play about Parsons by George Morgan, Pasadena Babalon, premiered at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 2010. It was directed by film and TV actor Brian Brophy.
Through close examination of his life, one can conclude that the marvel character known as Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark(iron man) is loosely based on Jack Parsons.
Honors
The crater ParsonsParsons (crater)
Parsons is an impact crater on the battered far side of the Moon. It is located to the west-northwest of the crater Krylov, and to the east of Moore. Parsons is roughly circular in shape and the rim has undergone some erosion. There is a smaller, cup-shaped crater laid across the southeastern rim,...
on the far side of the Moon is named after him.
External links
- JPL Early History
- Aerojet corporation
- Cameron-Parsons Foundation website
- Thelemapedia entry on Jack Parsons
- Kaos Magazine 14, dedicated to Jack Parsons and Babalon Working.