When you hear the term “rocket scientist,” you might think of a meticulous, white-lab-coated engineer hunched over calculations in a sterile lab. When you hear “occultist,” you might picture a robed figure in a candlelit room chanting arcane verses. Jack Parsons was both — a man whose story defies categorization and sounds almost too bizarre to be true.
A pioneer in American rocketry, Parsons helped lay the groundwork for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the technology that would eventually put men on the Moon. Yet outside of his engineering achievements, he was deeply involved in the world of ceremonial magic, sex cults, and esoteric experiments inspired by British occultist Aleister Crowley. His life was a whirlwind of genius, scandal, and mystery — and his death in 1952 was as dramatic and strange as his life.
This is the extraordinary tale of John Whiteside “Jack” Parsons: the rocket man who sought to bridge the gap between science and the supernatural.
Early Life: A Boy Fascinated by Fire and the Stars
Jack Parsons was born on October 2, 1914, in Los Angeles, California. His parents divorced when he was a child, and Jack grew up with his mother in Pasadena. By all accounts, he was a bright and imaginative boy who became fascinated early on with science fiction, space travel, and pyrotechnics.
His obsession with rocketry began in his teenage years when he started conducting homemade experiments in his backyard, often using improvised explosives. This interest only grew stronger during the 1920s and 1930s, when the idea of space travel still belonged more to pulp magazines than to serious science. Parsons devoured books on chemistry and propulsion and even corresponded with pioneers of rocketry like Robert Goddard.
It was this fearless curiosity — and a willingness to blow things up — that would propel him into history.
Founding the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
In the late 1930s, Parsons connected with two other young men who shared his passion for rocketry: graduate student Frank Malina and mechanical engineer Ed Forman. Together, they began conducting rocket experiments on the grounds of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Their trials were risky and explosive — earning them the nickname “The Suicide Squad” among amused faculty members.
Despite the danger (and frequent near-disasters), their work caught the attention of the U.S. military. World War II created an urgent need for advanced propulsion systems, and Parsons and his colleagues were contracted to develop solid-fuel rockets. This effort eventually evolved into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, today a part of NASA.
Parsons’ contributions to solid rocket fuel technology were revolutionary. He helped develop a new type of propellant that was both more stable and more powerful, enabling rockets to travel farther and faster. Without his early work, America’s space program might have taken decades longer to get off the ground.
Yet for all his brilliance in the lab, Parsons’ personal life was about to take a turn into realms far stranger than science.
Discovering the Occult
Around the same time he was making breakthroughs in rocketry, Parsons developed a deep interest in the occult. In 1939, he joined the Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an esoteric order led by followers of Aleister Crowley, the infamous British occultist who styled himself “The Great Beast 666.”
Crowley’s philosophy, known as Thelema, was centered on the idea of “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” For Parsons, Thelema’s focus on personal liberation, mystical knowledge, and sexual freedom resonated deeply. He quickly rose in the ranks of the Agape Lodge and became its leader in California.
Under his direction, the group transformed a mansion in Pasadena into a headquarters for magical rituals and communal living. The atmosphere was a mix of intellectual debate, ritual magic, and sexual experimentation — something that scandalized their conservative neighbors.
The Sex Cult in Pasadena
By the early 1940s, the Agape Lodge was known locally as a “sex cult,” although its members would have described it as a magical order pursuing spiritual enlightenment through Crowley’s teachings. Parsons hosted elaborate rituals, sometimes in full ceremonial robes, sometimes naked, invoking deities and spirits while mixing astrology, alchemy, and Thelemic magic.
The lodge was also a place where artists, writers, and bohemians gathered — including science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who would later found Scientology. Hubbard and Parsons became close friends and magical collaborators, but their relationship ended in betrayal. In 1946, the two men embarked on what Parsons called the “Babalon Working,” a series of rituals intended to summon a goddess or “moon child” that would help usher in a new age of spiritual awakening.
Shortly afterward, Hubbard absconded with Parsons’ girlfriend and a large sum of his money, investing it in a yacht business. Parsons tried to get his money back, but the damage was done — both financially and emotionally.
The Babalon Working and Occult Experiments
The Babalon Working remains one of the most famous episodes in Parsons’ occult life. Drawing from Crowley’s writings and other magical traditions, Parsons aimed to invoke Babalon, a goddess figure representing the liberated feminine spirit.
Accounts of the rituals vary, but they reportedly involved chanting, incense, astrological timing, and sexual magic. Parsons believed he succeeded in summoning an elemental spirit that later manifested in the form of Marjorie Cameron, a fiery-haired artist who became his lover and magical partner. Parsons and Cameron viewed their relationship as both romantic and mystical, seeing themselves as participants in a divine mission.
To outsiders, these activities looked like dangerous delusions. To Parsons, they were as real and important as his rocket work.
Clash of Worlds: Science vs. Security Clearance
Parsons’ involvement in the occult did not sit well with the U.S. government, especially during the tense years of the Cold War. By 1944, he had left JPL due to conflicts with other members and to work as a contractor. But his security clearance came under scrutiny when authorities learned about his membership in the O.T.O., his sexual activities, and his associations with people considered politically suspect.
In 1948, Parsons was accused of sharing classified information with Israel — a charge that cost him his clearance. Although he was not convicted of espionage, he was effectively barred from working on top-secret government rocket projects.
Cut off from the field he helped pioneer, Parsons turned increasingly to his magical studies and to freelance work in pyrotechnics for Hollywood films.
The Final Explosion
On June 17, 1952, Jack Parsons was working in his home laboratory in Pasadena, reportedly preparing for a new job in Mexico. At 37 years old, he was still as fearless and experimental as ever. But that day, something went catastrophically wrong.
A massive explosion tore through his garage lab, critically injuring Parsons and destroying much of his home. Witnesses described him as conscious and talking when paramedics arrived, but with severe injuries to his arm and face. He died a short time later in the hospital.
The exact cause of the blast remains a mystery. Some believe it was a tragic accident involving unstable chemicals; others suspect suicide or even assassination. Given Parsons’ history and the secrecy surrounding some of his work, conspiracy theories have flourished.
Legacy: Between the Stars and the Shadows
Jack Parsons left behind a legacy that is still debated and dissected today. In the realm of science, he is remembered as a foundational figure in American rocketry. His innovations in solid rocket fuel were instrumental in the development of missiles and space exploration. NASA even named a lunar crater after him.
In the realm of the occult, Parsons is seen as one of the most colorful and devoted disciples of Aleister Crowley’s Thelema in America. His writings, especially Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword, reflect a belief in personal liberty, mystical exploration, and the merging of science and spirituality.
Yet his life also serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of living at the intersection of extreme ambition, unorthodox beliefs, and volatile relationships. Parsons was a man who wanted to touch the heavens — both through the fire of rocket engines and the fire of ritual magic — and in pursuing both, he burned brightly but briefly.
Why Jack Parsons Still Fascinates Us
Parsons’ story endures because it defies easy categorization. He was a scientist and a dreamer, a rebel and a visionary, a man of equations and incantations. In an era when most scientists were steering clear of anything mystical, he tried to unite the cold precision of engineering with the ecstatic chaos of the occult.
It’s a combination that makes him one of the most intriguing figures of the 20th century — a reminder that history is full of people who can’t be neatly placed into a single box.
Jack Parsons didn’t just build rockets. He built myths, legends, and a life story that still sparks curiosity decades after his untimely death. Whether you see him as a tragic genius, a reckless eccentric, or a man ahead of his time, one thing is certain: Jack Parsons was aiming for the stars, in every possible sense.