-= Beloved of Babalon =-
                        ------------------

                 An introduction to J. W. Parsons

                          Part IV of IV


   It is hard to know in greater detail just what did go on at this 
time. I have seen a letter which Crowley wrote in January 1946 - some
weeks prior to the Babalon Working - in which he names someone other
than Parsons as Grand Master of Agape Lodge. Be that as it may, I have
also seen a reference to Parsons being called to account, at a special
Lodge meeting, over certain things with which his colleagues were 
unhappy - such as coming up with a text which purported to be the 
fourth chapter of "THE BOOK OF THE LAW", an act of heresy for which he
was lucky not to be burned at the stake. It is certain that he 
departed the O.T.O. at around this time, though he continued to regard
himself as a member of the A.'.A.'. He remained on friendly terms with
many of his colleagues, and he continued to correspond with Germer
until his death.

   Not so with Crowley, however. Crowley must have been bitterly 
disappointed with Parsons. He had had a high regard for his abilities,
as well as a keen awareness of faults such as impulsiveness and 
recklessness - faults which, as Crowley now saw it, had led to an
inevitable downfall. Two short letter extracts show this disappointment
- both, as it happens, to Louis T. Culling. In the course of a letter
dated October 1946, he said:

 "About J.W.P. - all that I can say is that I am very sorry - I feel
sure that he had fine ideas, but he was led astray firstly by Smith,
then he was robbed of his last penny by a confidence man named Hubbard."

   His last words are in the course of a letter of December 1946:

 "I have no further interest in Jack and his adventures; he is just a
weak-minded fool, and must go to the devil in his own way. Requiescat
in pace."

   Although Parsons and Hubbard went their separate after the court 
settlement, that is not quite the end of the story as far as Hubbard
is concerned. Mention was made above a further parallel between Hubbard
and Kelly. In the course of a letter in January 1950, Parsons drew
attention to an interesting similarity. In the course of the Babalon
Working, the rituals included the Enochian Call of the Seventh Aire.
This was in line with a passage in "LIBER 49", where Parsons was
urged to "...seek me in the Seventh Aire". Parsons continued:

 "I have the text of Dee's skrying in the Seventh Aire, which as he
said "...so terrified me that, beseeching God to have mercy upon me,
I finally answer that I will from this day forward meddle no more
herein". The voice, speaking from Kelly, resulted in a sinister 
dissociation of Kelly's personality. The parallel with my own Working
with Ron, is appalling. After this Kelly robbed Dee, absconded with
his wife, and developed a criminal confidence career. This is the 
voice:

 "I am the Daughter of Fortitude, and ravished every hour from my from
my youth. For behold, I am Understanding, and Science dwelleth in me;
and the heavens oppress me. They cover and desire me with infinite
appetite; few or none that are earthly have embraced me, for I am
shadowed with the Circle of the Stars, and covered with the morning
clouds. My feet are swifter than the winds, and my hands are sweeter
than the morning dew. My garments are from the beginning, and my 
dwelling place is in myself. The Lion knoweth not where I walk, neither
do the beasts of the field understand me. I am deflowered, yet a 
virgin; I sanctify, and am not sanctified. Happy is he that embraceth
me: for in the night season I am sweet, and in the day full of 
pleasure. My company is a harmony of many symbols, and my lips sweeter
than health itself. I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin
with such as know me not. Purge your streets, O ye of men, and wash 
your houses clean; make yourselves holy, and put on righteousness. 
Cast out your old strumpets, and burn their clothes, and then I will
come and dwell amongst you; and behold, I will bring forth children
unto you, and they shall be the Sons of Comfort in the Age that is
to come.

In view of the fact that this MSS was unknown to Hubbard and I, the 
parallelism is really extraordinary. I have found another prophecy in
"KHALED KHAN", which I shall send later..."

   Quite how much of this is true, I don't know. The passage as 
quoted in the letter does differ in some ways from the passage as 
published in Meric Casaubon's selection of the Dee diaries, "A True
and Faithful Relation of What Passed For Many Years Between Dr John Dee
and Some Spirits", published in 1659. For instance, the concluding 
phrase "...in the Age that is to come" does not appear. Also, I have
yet to ascertain how true the account is of Kelly's exit from Dee's 
life and his subsequent career. Nevertheless, it is an intriguing
thought the Hubbard's life could have been disrupted through the 
Babalon Working. After reading the critical biography about Hubbard
("BARE-FACED MESSIAH", by Russell Miller) it seemed to me that the time
with Parsons was a definite watershed for Hubbard. Prior to it, he 
seemed basically a colorful, mendacious eccentric; after it, he seemed
to slide into insanity. There is no sharp dividing line, but the 
difference is clear.

   In 1969, the "Sunday Times" newspaper published an article on the 
lines of "Founder of Scientology involved in Black Magic", in which
they recounted details of the Babalon Working. The article was based
on details gleaned from the Gerald Yorke Collection at the Warburg
Institute, to which the reporters had gained access. Hubbard instituted
legal proceedings for libel, and the "Sunday Times" for reasons of
their own decided not to fight it. Subsequently, Yorke withdrew from
the Warburg those papers relating to the Working. They were 
incidentally, returned some years ago, following Yorke's death, but are
under a 25-year seal. At the time of the action, the Church of
Scientology made a sataement alleging that Hubbard had been sent in 
as an FBI agent to break up a "Black Magic group" which had included
several prominent scientists. The operation had, they continued, 
succeeded beyond the wildest expectations: he rescued a girl that they
were "using", and the group was dispersed and never recovered.

   The activities of Parsons during the next few years are not at all
clear. I have only been able to catch glimpses through letters and the
like. In 1948 Parsons lost his security clearance to perform classified
government defense work, and for a man of his profession this was the
virtual withdrawal of his livelihood. This action was stated to be
"because of his membership in a religious cult... believed to advocate
sexual perversion...organised at subject's home...which had been 
reported subversive". Parsons commented later that he was suspended on
charges of belonging to the O.T.O. and circulating "LIBER OZ". Parsons
defended himself in closed court, and the charges were dropped. In the 
meantime, Marjorie Cameron left him; their estrangement lasted several
years. What lay behind this rift I do not know, but it did seem final
at the time. In the document referred to earlier, "ANALYSIS BY A 
MASTER OF THE TEMPLE", he makes the following allusion - again, he
is speaking in the third person:

 "Candy appeared in the answer to your call, in order to wean you from
wetnursing. She has demonstrated the nature of woman to you in such 
unequivocal terms that you should have no further room for illusion
on the subject.

The suspension and inquisition was my opportunity - one of the final
chains in the link. At this time you were enabled to prepare your
thesis, formulate your Will, and take the Oath of the Abyss, thus
making it possible ( although only partially) to manifest. The exit
of Candy prepares for the final stage of your initial preparation."

   "Candy" is short for Candida, the Magical Name of Marjorie
Cameron. There was a reunion in late 1949 or early 1950, and they
resumed living together as man and wife.

   As mentioned earlier, Parsons still considered himself a member of
the A.'.A.'. In December 1948 he took the Oath of Magister Templi, and
the name Belarion, Antichrist. This oath was taken in the presence of
Wilford T. Smith, with whom he had evidentaly retained some sort of 
relationship. In 1949 he issued "THE BOOK OF THE ANTICHRIST". This is
a short text, and in it he relates how he was stripped of everything
that he was, and then rededicated to Babalon. This was, he considered,
a recharging of the current generated by the Babalon Working. He also
pledged that the work of The Beast 666 would be fulfilled, and he seems
to have seen that the work as being, at least in part, a subversion of
Christian ethics. He further prophesied that within seven years 
Babalon would manifest, so bringing his work to fruition.

   In September 1950 his employment at Hughes Aircraft Corporation
was terminated. He was found to be in possession of a number of
classified documents - several of them, as it happens, being co-written
by him and dating from his days at Cal. Tech. A lengthy investigation
by the State Attorney followed in which the FBI were involved. Parsons
it emerged, was hopeful of finding employment in Israel. To this end
he was seeking to pursuade them of the case for building a 
jet-propulsion factory complex, and had been using the documents for
backround information. It was eventually concluded that there were
insufficient grounds for prosecution, many of the documents containing
information that should by then have been declassified anyway. 
However, there were reprocussions. The Appeals Board, who had 
reinstated his security clearance in March 1949, informed him that in
their view he no longer had the requisite honesty and integrity; 
accordingly, the clearance was again withdrawn in January 1952. This
would have been the end of Parsons' career in that particular 
scientific area.

   From some incomplete essays that survive from this period, it seems
that Parsons was working towards building up some sort of teaching
Order with a Thelemic core, but relating to paganism and witchcraft,
and was preparing papers of instruction for such an Order.
By profession he was now building his own chemicals practice. He had
sold the main part of his property - the mansion itself - for 
redevelopment some time earlier, and occupied the coach-house. The
garage he had converted into a labratory, equipped with chemicals and
equipment. There was a plan to move to Mexico for awhile, both to
pursue mystical and magical research and to further his chemical
practice. He and Cameron had actually vacated the coachhouse, Parsons
went back and forth over the course of several days, moving out his 
chemicals onto a trailer. On one such visit, on the afternoon of
17 June 1952, he dropped a container of fulminate of mercury, a 
highly-unstable explosive. The resulting explosion was powerful and
devastating, destroying most of the coachhouse. Parsons was seriously
injured; horrifically enough, though, he was still conscious when 
rescuers got to him. He died an hour later, in hospital.

   Controversy has remained over his death. Many regarded it as highly
unlikely that a scientist of his experience could so mishandle such
a powerful explosive. During those last days he wrote what was
probably his last letter, to Karl Germer. It is bizarre, and merits
quoting in full, it perhaps casts light on his frame of mind at
the time:

 "No doubt you will be delighted to hear from an adept who has
undertaken the operation of his H.G.A. in accord with our traditions.

The operation began auspiciously with a chromatic display of pscho-
somatic symptoms, and progressed rapidly to acute psychosis. The 
operator has altered satisfactorily between manic hysteria and
depressing melancholy stupor on approximately 40 cycles, and 
satisfactory progress has been maintained in social ostracism, economic
collapses and mental disassociation.

These statements are mentioned not in any vainglorious spirit of
conceit, but rather that they may serve as comfort and inspiration to
other aspirants on the Path.

Now I'm off to the wilds of Mexico for a period, also in pursuit of
the elusive H.G.A. befor winding up in the guard (room) finally via
the booby hotels, the graveyard, or ---? If the final, you can tell
all the little practicuses that I wouldn't have missed it for 
anything."


                                           No one. Once called 210.

   
   The manner of Parsons' death brings to mind the association of
Babalon with flame. The lenghty passage quoted earlier from the 
"THE VISION AND THE VOICE" uses the idea of flame, as did the material
communicated during the Babalon Working. The passage "...for She shall
absorb thee, and thou shalt become living flame befor She 
incarnates..." is particulary haunting. In some of his letters written
in the years after the Babalon Working, Parsons seemed to be expecting
a violent death, and he almost certainly had this similar passages
in mind. A fragment survives from an earlier version of "THE BOOK
OF BABALON", which is interesting in this connection:

 "...because of this mystery BABALON is incarnate upon the earth today,
awaiting the proper hour for Her manifestation. And this my book, that
is dedicated to Her, is preparation and a portent for that time. And
in that day my work will be accomplished, and I shall be blown away
upon the Breath of a Father, even as it is prophesied. And thus I
labour lonely and outcast and abominable, and he-goat upon the muck
heaps of the world. Yet I am content with my lot, since though I am
clothed with barncloth, yet shall I come in power and purple, for of
this also am I contemptuous. Yea, I am."

   Whatever the truth of this matter, Jack Parsons has remained over
the years a figure of fascination to many. I have attempted in the 
course of this essey to summarise the events of the last fifteen or
so years of his life. A more considered evaluation of his life and
work requires a lot more research and experience, and remains a
labour of love for someone. To that person. "BELOVED OF BABALON" is
offered as a foundation.
                        ----------------------


     * Conclusion of "PARSONS.IV", part IV of IV.

 [] The above text, and associated files, were taken from
    a Thelemic publication, "StarFire" magazine.
    The "PARSONS.I - IV" files were authored by Michael Staley.
                              
                                                 - A:E: