The occult ritual that linked Aleister Crowley, L Ron Hubbard and a rocket scientist
Imagine building a magical and philosophical legacy around living authentically, pursuing transcendence and giving yourself to your community, then turning around and finding out one of your supposed followers has gone on to become best buds with L Ron Hubbard? I don’t think I could show my face in public again, but if there was one thing that Aleister Crowley didn’t do, it was shame.
That attitude was very much put to the test in 1946, however. Up until then, Jack Parsons had been one of the jewels in Crowley’s cum-stained crown. A follower of his teachings who had infiltrated NASA and become one of the most prominent American rocket scientists of the age. To be clear, this went a lot further than just having weird sex and dressing in black; Parsons lived by the word of Thelema and tried to spread it as far as it could go.
His bond with Crowley got so deep that Parsons was given the go-ahead to open the Agape Lodge, the California branch of Ordo Templi Orientis, Crowley’s religious and fraternal group.
He opened up the lodge to all who were interested, and one of the most interested was a charismatic, charming science-fiction writer by the name of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. The two became very close friends and began working on a series of black magic rituals to incarnate the Thelenic Goddess Babalon, a project that they called the Babalon Workings.
Parsons told Crowley about all of this, expecting his mentor to be over the moon about it, but Crowley himself could already see that this would end in tears. You see, Crowley was already aware not only of Parsons’ impulsive streak, but also his naivety. He knew that Parsons could fall for a charismatic showman who claimed to have all the answers, probably because he was a charismatic showman who claimed to have all the answers.
Possibly because it takes one to know one, Crowley was also deeply suspicious of Hubbard. He felt that something was up with him and warned Parsons against working with him too closely. Parsons took this advice to heart by letting Hubbard have sex with his partner, Sara Northrup, as part of the rituals associated with The Babalon Workings. These rituals didn’t incarnate a Goddess; instead, they did something so much worse.
They made Sara infatuated with Hubbard. Something that Parsons should have been absolutely chill with, right? After all, she was just living by the principles of Thelema. Pursuing her divine purpose of building her community. If anything, Parsons should have been honoured by the whole thing. Unsurprisingly, he was jealous enough to put the kibosh on the whole thing, but then, Sara and Hubbard did it for him. By running from Parsons, eloping and stealing a large chunk of his life savings in the process.
This betrayal destroyed Parsons personally and financially. He disappeared further into black magic both as a way of cursing Hubbard and Sara and, rather pathetically, as a way of trying to find a new romantic partner. It’s also worth mentioning at this point that, in true polyamorous, Crowley-esque fashion, Parsons had been married the entire time. To Sara’s older half- sister Helen.
Honestly? Crowley said it best in a letter to a friend of his when discussing the friendship between Hubbard and Parsons: “I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts.”