July 25, 2017 ▸ People, Science

Episode 217: Jack Parsons: Sex Magician Rocket Scientist!

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we tell the truly unbelievable life-story of the founder of Jet Propulsion Laboratories, the rocket scientist and occultist named Jack Parsons. We’ve bumped into Parsons in several episodes in the past because he has some crazy ties with everything from Aleister Crowley to Scientology to Operation Paper Clip and Wernher von Braun. If we made this story up, it wouldn’t be as wild as the truth.

Parsons was born to a wealthy family, but his mother divorced his father after she found out he was sleeping with hookers. As a result, Parsons was raised by his mom and wealthy grandmother, and at a young age was fascinated with early science fiction stories and fantasy such as the Arthurian Legends. This lead to his burning desire to build rockets to get humanity into space and a love of the Occult that was so profound he even tried to summon the devil when he was in high school.

Parsons and his good friend Edward Foreman started building home-made rockets in 1928, when such a thing as rockets barely existed. They got so good at the mechanics and chemistry of it, that they were soon having long phone conversations with von Braun and other rocket pioneers around the world (though they were both still in high school!). Eventually, Parsons got a job at a gunpowder factory and learned even more about the chemistry and craft.

Over the years, this self-taught genius became the father of American rockets. He started to land major contracts with the US Military and eventually started the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during World War Two. But this is the tame stuff. Because this is also when Jack Parsons started to practice sex magic.

This led him to sleeping with his wife’s 17 year old sister as a matter of religious principle. It also lead to him staring an occult residence called The Parsonage where people could come and learn about sex magic (and rockets) in his mansion. And this leads to even crazier stuff. For example, L Ron Hubbard moved in and took notes while Parsons masturbated on magical tablets.

So, how did a scam that L Ron Hubbard pulled on Jack Parsons lead to the seed money for Scientology? What did Parsons do to “magically” keep Hubbard from escaping Miami on a yacht bought with Parsons’ money? What was the Babylon Working Ritual, and how did it help Parsons summon an elemental bride who would someday usher in a virgin birth of Thelemite magic? How did Parsons die, and was it a suicide, an assassination attempt by Howard Hughes, or a failed attempt to summon a homunculus? All three are equally likely. Like I said, we can’t make this stuff up. Tune in for a wild ride.

Cool Article on Parsons: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vvbxgm/the-last-of-the-magicians