Enthetan
Master of Disaster
The occultist rocketeer of the real-life Suicide Squad
Although the Suicide Squad is best known today as a movie about a fictional group of supervillains drafted by the government to undertake dangerous missions in exchange for commuted sentences, there was a real-life Suicide Squad at Caltech in the 1940’s. As I read about the original Suicide Squad, I became fascinated with the life and death of its strangest member, Jack Parsons.
Jack Parsons (2 October 1914-17 June 1952) was an explosives aficionado who worked at the rocketry research lab at Caltech, who also helped establish Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Parsons’ devised rocket fuels that were the predecessors for the fuel that powered the NASA space shuttles, and made advancements in rocket propulsion, or jet propulsion, at a time when rockets were more likely to be written about in science fiction novels than studied at any university.1 During his short life he also testified as a forensic explosives expert, was deeply involved in occult magic, tried to conceive a supernatural child through a series of sex Magick rituals, and befriended L. Ron Hubbard.
In 1952, Parsons died at the young age of 37 from fatal injuries he suffered from an explosion at his home laboratory. Although officially deemed an accident, some believed the explosion could have been set on purpose, either by Parsons to end his life or by an unknown assassin.
(snip)
In 1945 Jack met and befriended a young sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, who would eventually found the Church of Scientology. From January to March of 1946 Parsons and Hubbard conducted a series of sex magick rituals, called the Babalon Working, that were meant to conceive and incarnate the Thelemite goddess, Babalon.
After Parsons and Hubbard completed the Babalon Working, Hubbard ran off with Jack’s girlfriend. Jack wouldn’t be heartbroken for long.
(snip)
In 1949 Parsons started work with the Hughes Aircraft Company to design and construct a chemical plant. The next year, Hughes reported some confidential documents missing that were related to its rocket program. After an investigation by the FBI, investigators suspected that Parsons was involved with the theft and had planned to submit the files to the Israeli government in return for a job.7 Parsons was fired from Hughes, his security clearance was revoked, and he was permanently banned from working on classified projects. The only reason he was not arrested for espionage was that the documents were not considered state secrets.
For the next few years Jack had to work odd jobs, some of which involved mixing explosives in his home lab. On June 17th, 1952 Parsons was mixing and packing explosives for a trip to Mexico when a blast ripped through Parson’s Pasadena home.
Although the Suicide Squad is best known today as a movie about a fictional group of supervillains drafted by the government to undertake dangerous missions in exchange for commuted sentences, there was a real-life Suicide Squad at Caltech in the 1940’s. As I read about the original Suicide Squad, I became fascinated with the life and death of its strangest member, Jack Parsons.
Jack Parsons (2 October 1914-17 June 1952) was an explosives aficionado who worked at the rocketry research lab at Caltech, who also helped establish Aerojet and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Parsons’ devised rocket fuels that were the predecessors for the fuel that powered the NASA space shuttles, and made advancements in rocket propulsion, or jet propulsion, at a time when rockets were more likely to be written about in science fiction novels than studied at any university.1 During his short life he also testified as a forensic explosives expert, was deeply involved in occult magic, tried to conceive a supernatural child through a series of sex Magick rituals, and befriended L. Ron Hubbard.
In 1952, Parsons died at the young age of 37 from fatal injuries he suffered from an explosion at his home laboratory. Although officially deemed an accident, some believed the explosion could have been set on purpose, either by Parsons to end his life or by an unknown assassin.
(snip)
In 1945 Jack met and befriended a young sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, who would eventually found the Church of Scientology. From January to March of 1946 Parsons and Hubbard conducted a series of sex magick rituals, called the Babalon Working, that were meant to conceive and incarnate the Thelemite goddess, Babalon.
After Parsons and Hubbard completed the Babalon Working, Hubbard ran off with Jack’s girlfriend. Jack wouldn’t be heartbroken for long.
(snip)
In 1949 Parsons started work with the Hughes Aircraft Company to design and construct a chemical plant. The next year, Hughes reported some confidential documents missing that were related to its rocket program. After an investigation by the FBI, investigators suspected that Parsons was involved with the theft and had planned to submit the files to the Israeli government in return for a job.7 Parsons was fired from Hughes, his security clearance was revoked, and he was permanently banned from working on classified projects. The only reason he was not arrested for espionage was that the documents were not considered state secrets.
For the next few years Jack had to work odd jobs, some of which involved mixing explosives in his home lab. On June 17th, 1952 Parsons was mixing and packing explosives for a trip to Mexico when a blast ripped through Parson’s Pasadena home.