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[Josh] Hi TV I'm here at 1071 South Orange Grove
in Pasadena California. The exact location
where famed rocket scientist and occultist Jack Parsons
allegedly blew himself up in a chemical explosion in 1952.
We're here to find out what sex magic, the space program,
and something called moonchild have in common.
Let's investigate and be friends.
[MUSIC]
[Josh] Parsons was a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis
a secret society still in existence today and work closely with
L Ron Hubbard on a magical ritual he called Babylon Working
with the ultimate goal of creating being called a Moon Child
that was inspired by the writings and Alistair Crowley.
[Robert] Well Parsons got involved in this idea the Moon Child from one of
Crowley's novels and the idea is
to a create an
infant who will be born all through the nine months of pregnancy that
will be all these
magical and magical
in quotes
other influences to separate the child from normal, earthly influences
and make them more compatible with life in outer space
because Parsons saw the future humanity as being in outer space.
[Josh] Okay so serious question right now was Jack Parsons really anti-christ?
[Richard] The anti-christ no. An anti-christ,
yes. He set himself up in opposition to
all of Western society basically. He saw himself as an anti-christ and for him he was,
you know. He wrote little later in his life, not that he had like a long life,
but chemistry that sort of thing um,
rocket science was his earthly work.
And that his magic in his will, you know, was like
the great work as they say. [George] His, you know, famous creed was do what thou wilt
should be the whole of the law, and you know, this wasn't really
kind of like a, you know, a phrase which meant you could do whatever you want but it meant
whatever you will, whatever you decide, whatever you put your mind to
you can do, to the fullest extent of your ability.
The O.T.O. - Ordo Templi Orientis you know the members of that at the time
they all lived, you know, in a giant Pasadena mansion, which Parsons
Himself, owned, I know there was a lot of kind of girlfriend swapping, wife swapping. I mean
it was just that kind of
you know not so much free love but it was very much what is going on
in the sixties but happening and in the thirties. [Richard] And so his relationship with
his wife
early on kinda sets the tone for some of the relationships he had later in his life
too. You know he ended up hooking up with her little sister
and she left him for the guy who was running the O.T.O. at the time.
[George] You know and also, the higher up you go in the
O.T.O. in the occult group, the more that sex could actually become a part of
a magical working. So you would actually, you know, ***
or have sex with somebody as part of this magical
performance to kinda, you know, contact people on a higher metaphysical plane
[Norman] Because if I saw scientists saying
I'm *** on a tablet to to try to create a Moon
Child to try to impregnate an inorganic thing
I would for at least the moment think you know, uh,
bipolar our something
[Josh] Yeah, a savant. [Norman] So my guess is that
Parsons was was probably a mental case.
[Richard] And then I mean there's other stuff like, you know make him a really relatable
character, you know, he's really interested in science fiction
Uh, Jack Williamson was his favorite writer and he got a chance to meet him.
Which didn't go exactly how Jack Parsons had planned I guess
he was expecting Jack Williamson to be like "Oh yeah you know what you're doing is
exactly what I'm writing about." And actually, you know, he brought him to the Gnostic
Mass, and he was like totally underwhelmed
[George] Parsons at the time in the late forties in the mid late forties was part of
a big science fiction scene and so he had become friendly with a lot of the
authors he was friendly with a, Robert Heinlein, with Ray Bradbury
with the kinda greats of the Golden Age of science fiction writing.
And uh, you know, one of the great
science fiction writers at the time was L. Ron Hubbard. Um this is before he founded
Scientology or had written Dianetics and
they became actually very close friends. Uh, Hubbard came and
moved in to Parsons house in Pasadena with him, um, in fact
Hubbard came in and took Parsons girlfriend away. Uh, but that was all part
of the house
You weren't meant to feel guilty about that or you weren't meant to feel envious
you know people just swapped girlfriends as they did,
and so Parsons let that go. But then
Hubbard started to help Parsons with his magical workings and that's when
everything gets a little
a kinda confused you could say that,
you know, Hubbard with with Parsons kind of
assistant in these rituals. And you know there are plenty writings from
the O.T.O and from Parsons himself in which he describes performing these rituals with
L. Ron Hubbard, kinda waiting soldier, and a
burning incense, chanting, for days on end. [Josh] In making the graphic novel did you ever
try and have the ceremonies that Jack Parsons performed?
[Richard] Haha, No.
Uhm, I didn't, uh, no I didn't. I read
over them you know quite a few times and I was familiar with
some of the basic sort of Alistair Crowley
stuff you know banishing ritual those kinda things and
you know when i was a kid I dabbled around with that kinda stuff. [George] But then
things went south, you know, Hubbard inveigled himself into
into Parsons life and then for what I can gather
a he took twenty thousand dollars worth of money
ran off with his girlfriend and bought a boat in Florida with that.
If you were thinking about UFO's and so on you have to remember that
Parsons died in 1952 just as the whole kinda of UFO craze was really
taking off, uhm, so he was really just before the UFO
craze really was interested in. I mean he read a lot of
sci-fi and he was interested in stories of other worlds
but I think he was less interested in weather that's life out there, he wanted
to be the life out in outer space.
[Robert] Well since then we found out that going into outer space
creates a mutation in consciousness anyway
eighty-five percent the american astronauts on the Soviet cosmonaut so
have all had mystic
quote, mystical experiences and
Parsons was trying to create a child who would be born with that kinda
consciousness and never be dragged down by
the, uh, I cant help calling Timothy Leary again, "Gravity is the enemy,
levity is the Salvation"
Levitate, to go higher. Don't get pulled down
dragged down. Don't be too grave, don't be too serious
and uh, Parsons understood that. Where it's time for us to get use to outer space
and it's happening whether Parsons was responsible
or not. Some people think his Mojave
Venus working a was not completed properly and that's why we're having all these
weird UFO phenomena. Whether that's true or not
we are getting ready for outer space just by the simple fact
that so many millions of people believe they've had outer space contacts. So already that
turning into Moon Children
in the Parsons' sense.
[MUSIC]