Sex and Rockets
The first in-depth look at the life of John W. Parsons, January 20, 2000Reviewer: A reader from London
The first in-depth look at the life of John Whiteside Parsons -
pioneering rocket scientist, and ardent disciple of the
notorious magus, Aleister Crowley - is finally available
courtesy of Feral House in Sex and Rockets by John Carter. The
release of this book, in my opinion, is an event long overdue,
as I see in Parsons one of the most fascinating and important
figures of the late 20th century; a man of great promise, who
somehow fell short of his staggering potential. What makes this
book all the more fascinating is the shift in focus that takes
place throughout, as the author demarcates between "John
Parsons" the brilliant rocket engineer, and "Jack Parsons" the
failed magician, who in his attempt to cross the Abyss, fell
into it instead, fulfilling a fiery destiny, which Parsons
himself prophesied. Parsons, in many ways, possessed two
separate selves - rocket scientist and magician - and this
literary device is used throughout Sex and Rockets to illustrate
the many contradictions that personified the life of a truly
gifted, though equally flawed human being.
For those not in the know, Jack Parsons was a founding member of
Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) back in the late 30's, and one
time head of the California branch of the magical order the
Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientalis (O.T.O.)...
Going back to the original documents, Carter outlines Parsons'
numerous technical achievements, and his key role in the pre-
NASA development of space technology. This, in itself, makes Sex
and Rockets an invaluable resource for those interested in a
broader historical perspective of John Whiteside Parsons.
Starting in late 30's, Parsons was an early pioneer in Rocket
Engineering, a member of a group funded by the Guggenheim
Aeronautical Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
(GALCIT), which later evolved into JPL. This group's
contribution to the war effort - as Carter points out - cannot
be overlooked; nor can their early efforts in rocket
engineering, which provided much of the impetus for later NASA
projects in the late 50's and 60's, and the eventual landing of
men on the moon. Although Parsons has been memorialized by his
peers with a statue at JPL - as well as the singular distinction
of having a crater on the moon named after him (on the dark
side, no less) - he still remains an obscure figure in the halls
of academia. (In a recent discussion with an aeronautical
engineer, I mentioned the name 'Jack Parsons', and he had no
clue as to whom I was referring!)
In Sex and Rockets, Carter brings a measure of much needed
clarity to the life and times of the enigmatic Parsons; an
enigma that has been compounded over the years by varying
degrees of misinformation and exaggeration as to just who
Parsons was, and exactly what he was trying to accomplish with
the Babalon Working rituals, performed in part with L.Ron
Hubbard, the future founder of Scientology. The end result of
the Babalon Working was to birth an elemental being; a
'Moonchild' that - as Crowley stated in his Book of the Law -
would be "mightier than all the kings of the Earth."
According to Thelemic legend, in 1918 Aleister Crowley came into
contact with a interdimensional entity named Lam, who by the way
is a dead ringer for the popular conception of the 'alien grey '
depicted on the cover of Whitley Strieber's Communion. From this
purported encounter, some have inferred that the industrious Mr.
Crowley intentionally opened a portal of entry - through the
practice of a magick ritual, The Amalantrah Working - which
allowed the likes of Lam and other 'alien greys' a passageway
onto the Earth plane. Furthermore, this portal may have been
further enlarged by Parsons and Hubbard in 1946 with the
commencement of the Babalon Working, thus facilitating a
monumental paradigm shift in human consciousness. In Sex and
Rockets, Carter quotes Crowley successor Kenneth Grant, who
wrote, "The
Working began...just prior to the wave of
unexplained aerial phenomena now recalled as the 'Great Flying
Saucer Flap'. Parsons opened a door and something flew in."
Carter also suggests it might have been the atomic bomb that
opened this door between dimensions. He then further illustrates
the importance of the year 1947, which ended the first stage of
the Babalon Working, as Parsons and Hubbard parted ways amidst a
cloud of turmoil. 1947 was the year that the Dead Sea Scrolls
were discovered. In that very same year, Israel became a nation
state, the transistor was invented and the sound barrier broken.
Last, but certainly not least, the Modern Age of UFO's flew into
view with the Kenneth Arnold sightings, followed not long after
by the alleged saucer crash in Roswell, New Mexico. 1947 was
also the year the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley died.
CONTINUED...
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