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Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

wired.co.uk

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Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#11

Post by jonnathanson »

h1karu wrote: post #6

I wonder why Wired magazine has been wading into "deep politics" more and more recently. I mean the German and Occult underpinnings of NASA is a significant can of worms for a publication with a mainstream readership to be opening.

In fairness, Parsons's occult history isn't particularly new, shocking, or politically dangerous ground in 2014.

It's not mainstream knowledge, by any means. And I'm sure a lot of folks are reading about it in Wired for the first time. But Parsons's backstory has been covered pretty extensively -- most recently as a significant side chapter (or two) in "Going Clear," the NYT-bestselling book about L Ron Hubbard and Scientology. Prior to that, Parsons figured prominently into "Barefaced Messiah," another Scientology history, written in the late 1980s.

For the record, "Going Clear" and "Barefaced Messiah" are fascinating reads. I recommend them. It's unfortunate that Parsons, a man of legitimate and numerous accomplishments, has been so thoroughly overshadowed by the con artist L Ron Hubbard. But Hubbard had a much better knack for publicity.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#12

Post by rdl »

There are a fair number of tech people I've encountered (mainly in the device driver and security subcommunities) who are part of OTO, Temple of Set, or other "left hand path" type occult groups or practices; a lot more who are just "pagan". Not too far off from any mainstream religions in concentration, which is way different from the general population.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#13

Post by ebiester »

rdl wrote: post #12

There are a fair number of tech people I've encountered (mainly in the device driver and security subcommunities) who are part of OTO, Temple of Set, or other "left hand path" type occult groups or practices; a lot more who are just "pagan". Not too far off from any mainstream religions in concentration, which is way different from the general population.

Temple of Set is still around? I remember reading about that as a kid.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#14

Post by debt »

MisterMashable wrote: post #2

That's a shame really. Recording history shouldn't be motivated by politics and other peoples' sensibilities being offended. Regarding Aleister Crowley being 'The Wickedest Man on Earth', not even close. If you've ever read M. Scott Peck's 'People of the Lie', then you know what I mean.

So much rich history is likely lost because it deviated too far from the dominating narrative of the time.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#15

Post by runjake »

ebiester wrote: post #13
rdl wrote: post #12

There are a fair number of tech people I've encountered (mainly in the device driver and security subcommunities) who are part of OTO, Temple of Set, or other "left hand path" type occult groups or practices; a lot more who are just "pagan". Not too far off from any mainstream religions in concentration, which is way different from the general population.

Temple of Set is still around? I remember reading about that as a kid.

Yes, in virtually name and PO box only.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#16

Post by violiner »

rdl wrote: post #12

There are a fair number of tech people I've encountered (mainly in the device driver and security subcommunities) who are part of OTO, Temple of Set, or other "left hand path" type occult groups or practices; a lot more who are just "pagan". Not too far off from any mainstream religions in concentration, which is way different from the general population.

As one of those OTO tech people I was excited to see this here, but a little disappointed that there wasn't any description of what Thelema is about - basically (elevator speech explanation follows) a religion of discovering who you are and being that person. The references to hedonism and the 'darker side of magic' without the context that these are means of self discovery and acknowledging the darker side of existence comes across as sensationalist, at least to me.

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#17

Post by api »

nsxwolf wrote: post #8

In today's atheistic science culture I'm not even sure who is offended by this.

On the contrary, there's a certain thread of the skeptic movement that attacks anything that isn't "scientific" enough. It's basically a kind of fundamentalism. Fundie positivism?

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#18

Post by GuiA »

rdl wrote: post #12

There are a fair number of tech people I've encountered (mainly in the device driver and security subcommunities) who are part of OTO, Temple of Set, or other "left hand path" type occult groups or practices; a lot more who are just "pagan". Not too far off from any mainstream religions in concentration, which is way different from the general population.

Interesting- I only know a handful of hardware people, and that includes a pagan microchip designer. Is there a reason for those beliefs being more prevalent in those communities?

Re: Jack Parsons: Occultist involved in early rocketry

#19

Post by mturmon »

jonnathanson wrote: post #11
h1karu wrote: post #6

I wonder why Wired magazine has been wading into "deep politics" more and more recently. I mean the German and Occult underpinnings of NASA is a significant can of worms for a publication with a mainstream readership to be opening.

In fairness, Parsons's occult history isn't particularly new, shocking, or politically dangerous ground in 2014. It's not mainstream knowledge, by any means. And I'm sure a lot of folks are reading about it in Wired for the first time. But Parsons's backstory has been covered pretty extensively -- most recently as a significant side chapter (or two) in "Going Clear," the NYT-bestselling book about L Ron Hubbard and S…

Prior discussions of the Parsons story are not confined to Scientology history.

It was covered (in 2 or 3 pages IIRC) in Mike Davis's 1990 book "City of Quartz". This book was widely reviewed and widely discussed, and was re-issued a couple of years ago.

That's where I first read the Parsons story, and I've seen it a few times since then.

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