Editing Jack Parsons (section)

===Religious beliefs===
{{quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=lightblue|align=right|quote=[Parsons] treated magic and rocketry as different sides of the same coin: both had been disparaged, both derided as impossible, but because of this both presented themselves as challenges to be conquered. Rocketry postulated that we should no longer see ourselves as creatures chained to the earth but as beings capable of exploring the universe.

Similarly, magic suggested there were unseen metaphysical worlds that existed and could be explored with the right knowledge. Both rocketry and magic were rebellions against the very limits of human existence; in striving for one challenge he could not help but strive for the other.|source= —George Pendle{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p=18}}}}

Parsons adhered to the occult philosophy of [[Thelema]], which had been founded in 1904 by the English occultist [[Aleister Crowley]] following a spiritual revelation that he had in [[Cairo]], Egypt, when—according to Crowley's accounts—a spirit being known as [[Aiwass]] dictated to him a prophetic text known as ''The Book of the Law''.{{sfn|Beta|2008|pp = x–xi}} Prior to becoming aware of Thelema and Crowley, Parsons' interest in esotericism was developed through his reading of ''[[The Golden Bough]]'' (1890), a work in [[comparative mythology]] by Scottish [[Social anthropology|social anthropologist]] [[James George Frazer]].{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 171}} Parsons had also attended lectures on [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] by philosopher [[Jiddu Krishnamurti]] with his first wife Helen, but disliked the belief system's sentiment of "the good and the true".{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 146–147}} During rocket tests, Parsons often recited Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" as a [[good luck charm]].{{sfn|Pendle|2005|p = 238}} He took to addressing Crowley as his "Most Beloved Father" and signed off to him as "thy son, John".{{sfn|Carter|2004|pp = 106–107}}

In July 1945, Parsons gave a speech to the Agape Lodge, in which he attempted to explain how he felt that ''The Book of the Law'' could be made relevant to "modern life". In this speech, which was subsequently published under the title of "Doing Your Will", he examined the Thelemite concept of [[True Will]], writing that:

{{blockquote|The mainspring of an individual is his creative Will. This Will is the sum of his tendencies, his destiny, his inner truth. It is one with the force that makes the birds sing and flowers bloom; as inevitable as gravity, as implicit as a bowel movement, it informs alike atoms and men and suns.

To the man who knows this Will, there is no why or why not, no can or cannot; he ''is''!

There is no known force that can turn an apple into an alley cat; there is no known force that can turn a man from his Will. This is the triumph of genius; that, surviving the centuries, enlightens the world.

This force burns in every man.{{sfn|Parsons|2008|p = 67}}}}

Parsons identified four obstacles that prevented humans from achieving and performing their True Will, all of which he connected with fear: the fear of incompetence, the fear of the opinion of others, the fear of hurting others, and the fear of insecurity. He insisted that these must be overcome, writing that "The Will must be freed of its fetters. The ruthless examination and destruction of taboos, complexes, frustrations, dislikes, fears and disgusts hostile to the Will is essential to progress."{{sfn|Parsons|2008|pp = 69–71}}

Though Parsons was a lifelong devotee to Thelema, he grew weary of and eventually left Ordo Templi Orientis—the religious organization that began propagating Thelema under Crowley's leadership from the 1910s—which Parsons viewed, despite the disagreement of Crowley himself, as excessively hierarchical and impeding upon the rigorous spiritual and philosophical practice of True Will, describing O.T.O. as "an excellent training school for adepts, but hardly an appropriate Order for the manifestation of Thelema". In this sense Parsons was described by Carter as an "almost fundamentalist" Thelemite who placed ''The Book of the Law''{{'}}s [[dogma]] above all other doctrine.{{sfnm|1a1 = Carter|1y = 2004|1pp = 160–169, 189|2a1 = Pendle|2y = 2005|2pp = 284–285}}{{sfn|Carter|2004|pp = 158–163}}