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Jack Parsons - Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword BOOK REVIEW

Better Than Food

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SOURCES:
Atrocityguide Jack Parsons Doc: Master of the Temple: The Tragedy of Jack ...

Kenneth Anger's "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome": Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome 1954

Aleister Crowley's "Hymn to Pan":
https://www.luminist.org/archives/hym...

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pa...

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20 Comments

@TheEnderBand 4 months ago

I find Jack Parsons and the whole history surrounding Thelema fascinating. It makes me wonder how many other people involved in cutting edge science are also occultists. I have a feeling it's more than we might think

@wafflegay7073 4 months ago

Must be said, if my man was chanting hymn to pan as he was setting off rockets, he absolutely without a doubt was in on the phallic rocket jokes lol

@jasonmorgan5004 4 months ago

"It was all very tiring I imagine." 🤣🤣🤣

@ericgrabowski3896 4 months ago

The other part of the Thelemite maxim: "There is no law beyond do what thou wilt; Love is the law; Love under will."

@feanor7080 4 months ago

Even our real life druids aren’t safe from the Mossad

@Alex.K.Hyphen 4 months ago

There's a whole biography on Marjorie Cameron called Wormwood Star—also a wild read

@DrSleep00 4 months ago

Reading and drinking coffee in a sauna 👌

@TraceCrutchfield 4 months ago

as hinted in the comments there is a biography, "Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons" by George Pendle, which is quite the ride.

@maxpowerproductions23 4 months ago

Parsons is an insane story. Recently read a bit about him in "Apocalypse Culture", which also feels like something you'd enjoy Cliff.

@pnptcn 4 months ago

Jack Parsons has been a personal hero for a very long time, along with Austin Spare. Something interesting about Parsons is his influence on Robert Heinlein. Everyone gets caught up in the misadventures of Elron and misses this.

@bjwnashe5589 4 months ago

There is a whole secret occult history of California that has only been partially written in bits and pieces during the past several decades. Jack Parsons is a key figure in this history, which includes the film and music industry, military intelligence, the aerospace and defense industries, and various secret societies engaged in occult magic.

@Sliced_cheese98 4 months ago

He summoned demons into his mind for KNOWLEDGE on rocket tech

@Hythlodaeus69 4 months ago

Waddup Cliff! I’ll edit once I watch the actual review, just wanted to say yo and I hope you and your wife are doing well.

@MK.TUMULTRA 2 months ago

Fucked by disinterest in actual fucking... instant subscription, loved the review

@Ranch-s2z 4 months ago

“ Strange Angel” is a jack parsons biography is audiobook form on Spotify premium. I just finished listening to it. Pretty good. There’s also a series that went for two seasons based on it. CBS all access. Haven’t checked that out yet.

@4000Wiggins 4 months ago (edited)

What a fantastic review. Thanks so much, Cliff. You never fail to turn me onto something i never would have found on my own. I absolutely loved this, and can’t wait to learn more about Parsons. Damn, i wish i had a prof like Cliff in college.

@SmallSpaceCorgi 4 months ago

I think I'd first heard of Parsons in the Re/Search series from the 1980s--- a series of books on "underground" culture and "apocalypse" literature. (Re/Search did volumes on J.G. Ballard, on Cabaret Voltaire and other industrial/darkwave bands, on lots of underground art). I think you'd like the series.

@ElectricBlue_Campfire 4 months ago

Quite a challenge to summarise the life and creeds of "one of the most interesting people that ever lived". You did it so very well in a short space. Wasn't aware of this collection of his essays. Become aware of Jack during the screenings of Twin Peaks: The Return. One of the many theories was that parts of of it were connected to Parsons and his magik sex rocket rituals - resonated with me. He sure was "Something Else!"

@kurts4867 4 months ago

Look at him What a rogue!! Only in America 🇺🇸

@EarldeRuin 4 months ago

I recently read Jake Arnott's The House of Rumour, published in 2013. The book has a hodgepodge of fictional and non-fictional characters: Ian Fleming, Aleister Crowley, L Ron Hubbard, Rudolf Hess, Jim Jones...By far the most interesting character in the book is Jack Parsons; wow, what a life! The book is a bit like Parson's life, bonkers but brilliant. One critic ended his review with the following; "It may be the ideal holiday read for those who like to take their brains with them on vacation." Couldn't agree more. Thanks Cliff.