John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons on October 2, 1914 died June 17, 1952), was an American rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Corp.. He was also an enthusiastic occultist, and one of the earliest American devotees of Aleister Crowley.

Parsons was also an avid practitioner of the occult arts, and a follower of “Thelema”. He saw no contradiction between his scientific and magical pursuits, and before each rocket test launch, Parsons would invoke the Greek god Pan.

Parsons was chosen by Aleister Crowley to lead the “Agape Lodge”, the Thelemic “Ordo Templi Orientis” (“O.T.O.”) in California, in 1942, after Crowley expelled Wilfred Smith from the position.

Sara Northrup (aka “Sarah Elizabeth” or “Betty” Northrup), began living with Parsons after his wife, Sara’s half-sister Helen Northrup, left with Wilfred Smith. Sara Northrup later married L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology and sometime magical partner of Parsons.

Parsons and Hubbard participated in a ritual known as the Babalon Working which is famous in occult circles — loosely, it was an attempt to summon a living goddess and change the course of history.[citation needed] They were aided in this work by Sampson Bennetts of the Rosicrucian Order and his wife Sara Melian Gabriel, a spiritualist from India.[citation needed]. Almost immediately after Parsons declared the ritual successful he met Marjorie Cameron right in his own home. Parsons regarded Cameron as the “Scarlet Woman”, the fulfillment of the ritual.

Parsons and Cameron then began the next stage of Babalon Working, with Cameron acting as Parsons magickal partner with whom he could sire a “Moonchild”. The Moonchild is traditionally the incarnation of a god, as prophezied in Aleister Crowly’s channeled script “The Book of the Law”. The creation of this Moonchild was also covered in Crowley’s novel “Moonchild”. A child was not conceived, but this did not affect the results of the ritual to that point. Parsons and Cameron soon married.

In January 1946, Parsons, Sarah Northrup, and Hubbard started a boat dealing company named Allied Enterprises. Parsons put in the sum of approximately $21,000— and Hubbard put in $1,200. Hubbard eventually abandoned Parsons and their business plans, leaving a port in Florida with the boat and with Sarah. It is said Parsons retreated to his hotel room and summoned a typhoon in retribution (viz., with an evocation of “Bartzabel”[2] - the so-called “intelligence” supposedly presiding over the planet Mars). A Florida court later dissolved the poorly-contracted business, ordered repayment of debts to Parsons, and awarded ownership of the boat to Hubbard.