Editing Thelema (section)

===Jack Parsons===
[[File:Jack_Parsons_2.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Parsons in 1941]]

[[Jack Parsons (rocket engineer)|John Whiteside Parsons]] (1914–1952) was an American [[aerospace engineering|rocket engineer]], [[chemist]], and Thelemite [[occult]]ist. Parsons converted to Thelema, and together with his first wife, Helen Northrup, joined the [[Agape Lodge]], the Californian branch of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] (O.T.O.), in 1941. At Crowley's bidding, Parsons replaced [[Wilfred Talbot Smith]] as its leader in 1942 and ran the Lodge from his mansion on Orange Grove Boulevard.

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."{{sfnp|Parsons|2008|pp=69–71}}

The project was based on the ideas of Crowley, and his description of a similar project in his 1917 novel [[Moonchild (novel)|''Moonchild'']].{{efn|{{harvp|Urban|2006|pp=135–137}}: "The ultimate goal of these operations, carried out during February and March 1946, was to give birth to the magical being, or 'moonchild,' described in Crowley's works.  Using the powerful energy of IX degree Sex Magick, the rites were intended to open a doorway through which the goddess Babalon herself might appear in human form."}} The rituals performed drew largely upon rituals and [[sex magic]] described by Crowley.  Crowley was in correspondence with Parsons during the course of the Babalon Working, and warned Parsons of his potential overreactions to the magic he was performing, while simultaneously deriding Parsons' work to others.{{sfnp|Sutin|2002|pp=412–414}}

A brief text entitled ''Liber 49'', self-referenced within the text as ''The Book of Babalon'', was written by [[John Whiteside Parsons|Jack Parsons]] as a transmission from the goddess or force called 'Babalon' received by him during the Babalon Working.{{sfnp|Pendle|2006|pp=263–271}}   Parsons wrote that ''Liber 49'' constituted a fourth chapter of Crowley's ''Liber AL Vel Legis ([[The Book of the Law]])'', the holy text of Thelema.{{sfnp|Nichols|Mather|Schmidt|2010|pp=1037–1038}}