The Occult #5: Jack Parsons

It's undeniable that there was an explosion of mass interest in occultism during the 60s and 70s.  But why it occurred still is up for debate.  An anonymous commont left on an earlier post offered another explanation - one I didn't know about:

U.S. interest in the occult bubbled to life in the hands of rocket scientist/occultist Jack Parsons in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

While Parsons was single handedly discovering the powers of jet propulsion and creating the concept of space travel, Parsons was a full blown Pasadena sex sorcerer, teaming up with the notorious L.Ron Hubbard in his reckless magickal activities.

This was a heavy sci-fi beat era enterprise, creating a fascinating cross section of U.S. military heavy hitters and not-kidding-around occult artists (such as 'scarlet woman' Marjorie Cameron).

The results of their bizarre interests bubbled back to life in the hedonistic, sinister late 60's, with the heavy bad chi producing antics of Anton LaVey, Sammy Davis, Jr, Michael Aquino, Jay Sebring and others. Definitely a creepy, fascinating time period - the jet black Jungian shadow of the pastel colored sixties dream....

An epic comment. I didn't know any of this stuff!  I did a tiny bit of reading on this guy, and he sounds like quite a character - he developed rocket fuel, has a moon crater named after him, and was an avid Crowley disciple.  Who is this "scarlet woman" mentioned in the comment? I'd like to know more about these mysterious individuals supposedly responsible for the occult craze of the seventies. Anyone have some info?


  1. OK, Gilligan I've been a lurker for many months now and you have finally come full circle on me
    First off I Love your page and visit it almost every day.
    Secondly I cannott believe that you have not heard of this before as you strike me as the all seeing eye type.
    But alas you have hit a subject that I have studied alot.
    JAck seemed to be a great guy just caught up in his own demise. A true visionary who took it a little bit too far,.
    As the world struggles to bury this for the sake of "scientology" One can only imagine the thoughts and duelality that this person must have struggeled with .
    I could point it all out to you but I think it best if you draw your own conclusions about the man,his work,his passions and what he "could" have become. If not for his early demise he'd prolly been a staunch proponent to the likes of Michael Aquino,LRH, etc in his mid life to old age.
    I believe the he was a man caught up in his own timeline.And in best right could have,should have ben one of the great minds of out history had it been allowed.

  2. BTW I have studied alot about his life the past few years.
    If one begins to put the peices together it gets a little interesting in the way that the story has connections thru various celeberties well into the 70's. Try googling Marjori Cameron and look into her associates after Jack's death. All well known occultists and entertainers,very strange ,many questions.

  3. Yes, many weird connections surrounding this dude. Definitely warrants further research.

    My omnipotent all seeing eye (much like Sauron, but friendly) I'm sad to report is a bit rusty in the area of Hocus Pocus. All this occult stuff just seems like a clever way for guys to get laid.

  4. I know virtually nothing about Parsons, but Michael Aquino wrote an absolutely MASSIVE history (from his much-disputed POV) about the Church of Satan and his eventual break from it. Jane Mansfield & Sammy Davis are mentioned, along with a mind-boggling amount of other details. The link is -
    - but don't try to download it unless you have broadband.

  5. I found this on wikkipedia about Marjorie Cameron.. She was a wierd woman indeed


  6. Strangenge Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons by George Pendle

    It's a great book, JWP help found the Jet Propulson Lab but was basically ousted by not having a college degree


  7. Also jack Parsons was also involved with SF fan society in LA & hung around with quite a few writers in SF