ANGELS, ORGIES & UFOs
Following is an excerpt from my upcoming book “The Devil in Dreamland.” You can listen to part of this excerpt at the link above. For the full excerpt, continue below . . . .
Just before the pandemic officially hit, I found myself very sick. I thought it was the typical winter flu that makes the rounds starting in October each year and going through the winter months. It was late January of 2020. I had the worst headache, and nothing but nothing would take it away. I found out later that many others had had a similar illness that winter, and many of us came to believe we’d had COVID-19 before it hit the headlines here in the U.S. At any rate, it was during that time that I started watching a lot of YouTube channels that focused on religion and spirituality, especially regarding the occult. And it was during this time that, for the first time, I really began to learn about the life of Aleister Crowley.
As someone involved since high school in the study of secret societies, religious history and parapsychology, I knew the name well, but I had never taken any real dive into what Crowley actually did. I knew he was into “sex magick” and drugs, and that he fancied himself some kind of great occult master. I used to talk about Crowley on the ghost tours I hosted in Chicago, because there’s a little tavern in Lincoln Park which some claim was a meeting place for a chapter of some 1920s Crowleyan club. But I didn’t know anything specific. It was during the winter of 2020 that I learned about a lot of the things that Crowley di vid, in particular about the one big thing he did—in his infamous house in Scotland—and the other big thing he did—right here in the United States. I also learned about a pair of very influential Americans who counted themselves among his followers. Above all, I learned about the connection of all of it to the UFO enigma.
It may be a ridiculous understatement, but Aleister Crowley lived a rather strange life—a life which ended on December 1st, 1947. As we’ve learned, this was the same year the modern-day UFO era began. Crowley was born in 1875 in Leamington, England. The son of great wealth, he inherited a vast fortune while still in his early 20s. With his every care met—at least at first--he spent the majority of his time probing the depths of the occult. In 1898, after leaving Cambridge University, he was initiated into the Order of the Golden Dawn, which included Bram Stoker and W.B. Yeats as members. Crowley soon found himself on the outs with many of his esoteric associates, who believed sobriety and self-control were crucial to the practice of arcane rituals. Crowley, however, had a voracious sexual appetite, seeking out sex with women, men and even animals. He later engaged in sex acts with his infant daughter. He would say that his first mystical experience was during a homosexual encounter--that the act had summoned some kind of deity. This belief led him to what would become an obsessive pursuit of spiritual growth through sex.
In just a few short years, Crowley had burned bridge after bridge, because he did not care for rules, boundaries or any institution or person that told him what to do. (The satanic creed, “Do What Thou Wilt” comes from Crowley.) In particular, Crowley tussled with Yeats. Rumors flew that Crowley was using black magic on the poet, and some said Yeats responded with his own. Crowley was forever embroiled in some kind of conflict; even among freaks of the forbidden, he didn’t fit in.
And so, in 1900, Crowley left it all behind and bought a house on the shores of Scotland’s Loch Ness. He was just 25 years old. Crowley called the place Boleskine House, and he chose it for a specific purpose. He planned to hunker down in the remote fortress and attempt one of the most ambitious and dangerous rituals known in the occult world: the Abramelin. The ritual would take six months and result, he hoped, in the summoning of Crowley’s “holy guardian angel”—in occultism, that’s not a God-given protector but one’s “higher self.” The ritual includes evoking the 12 Kings and Dukes of Hell—including Satan, Leviathan and Belial—in order to bind them. Many experts in Crowley’s life belief he originally meant well: to bring these demons under his control and force them to do good.
That’s not what happened.
Before beginning the ritual, Crowley sharpened his skills as an occultist, engaging in all manner of ritual practice. He reportedly summoned a number of angels, demons and other beings while “warming up” for the big one. In fact, some believe the Loch Ness Monster was conjured up by Crowley during his time in the house.
After much preparation, Crowley began the Abramelin. But after months of rituals, during which he claimed to see—according to plan-- demonic beings assembling at Boleskine, Crowley was called away from the house by the Golden Dawn. A schism had broken out in the organization, and Crowley had summoned demons—and left the door open wide. Many believe this is why Crowley’s life took such a deep dive into evil in the years that followed. Some believe the impact of Crowley’s unfinished ritual would actually impact the wider world.
It was on his honeymoon that Crowley finally contacted what he called his “holy guardian angel”: a mysterious being who said its name was “Aiwass.” Over three straight days the entity dictated to Crowley what he called “The Book of the Law.” The book would be the basis for Crowley’s Thelema religion, and included a motto that would underly countless Luciferian religions and organizations to come:
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
TRANSATLANTIC
Crowley later relocated to the East Coast of the United States. One favorite retreat was Esopus Island, located in the Hudson River. Here, Crowley reportedly camped for 40 days and 40 nights, engaging in all manner of rituals and incantations. But it was in his own apartment in New York City that the aspiring magus performed one of his biggest “magick” tricks—when he reportedly summoned a strange, diminutive figure which he called “LAM.”
Crowley was so enthralled by this character that, in one of his many altered states, he drew up a sketch of the being--a sketch which would later appear on the cover of Crowley’s commentary of The Voice of the Silence, a book by written earlier by Madame Blavatsky, founder of the New Age.
The sketch, drawn many decades before the modern UFO era, looks astonishingly similar to the entity of UFO lore known as a “gray alien.” Alistair Crowley’s LAM has that same bulbous, inverted teardrop-shaped head, large eyes, diminutive holes for a nose and a slit for a mouth. Crowley did not refer to the entity as an extraterrestrial, of course, since such terms were not in vogue at the time. He called LAM a “preternatural intelligence.” Interestingly, since many current UFO researchers--and even some government officials—have taken to using the term “non-human intelligence” in referring to the beings encountered in UFO/UAP experiences. Famously, Crowley said of the many entities he encountered in his supernatural travels:
“Today they call them angels and demons; tomorrow they’ll call them something else.”
Call them demons, interdimensional beings, Crowley’s preferred preternatural intelligences—or whatever you wish to call them. But Crowley in his later life was dedicated to making contact with them.
And so too was his most apt American pupil.
tHE BEAST & THE ROCKET MAN
If you recognize the name “Jack Parsons” you likely have some familiarity with the aeronautic wizardry of JPL, which Parsons was instrumental in founding. Indeed, although the official interpretation of JPL is “Jet Propulsion Laboratory,” some have suggested that it really should be “Jack Parsons Laboratory” since he played such a pivotal role in shaping it into what it would ultimately become.
Born on October 2nd, 1914, Marvel Whiteside Parsons—Parssons led a privileged life prior to his public service. He was a bit of a whiz kid growing up, dabbling in science experiments from a young age. Parsons’ professional career can be traced back to the 1930s, when he was hired on as a chemical engineer for the Gugenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, under the umbrella of the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH). It was after he became associated with CALTECH that the U.S. Army became interested in his unique skillset, for use in the development of what was then termed “jet assisted” aircraft: rockets.
The term “jet” was often interchangeable with “rocket” in those days, since the latter, sounded a bit too sci-fi for the tastes of the top military brass. Parsons, though a noted eccentric, was viewed as a valuable contributor to the field. He certainly wasn’t the only scientist known for unusual behavior. Fellow CALTECH alum Theodore von Karman, for example, claimed he had an ancestor who had successfully created a “golem”: a mythical, animated creature from Jewish folklore. Robert Oppenheimer was another eccentric genius. He wsas known for his fascination with Eastern religion, and he quoted lines from the Bhagavad Gita when the first atomic bombs were being tested. The eccentricities of Parsons, then, were initially humored about as well as anyone else’s in the field.
It's all taken as a big lark by most, but JPL was founded on Halloween night, 1936, one of the many occult “circumstances” that surrounded its inception and operation. Unlike the founding date, other facts can’t be so easily dismissed. It was in 1938, just a couple of years into the lab’s existence, that Parsons began attending gatherings of Aleister Crowley’s “Ordo Templi Orientis” in Los Angeles. Parsons quickly distinguished himself as a keen protégé, and some believed Parsons might eventually even succeed Crowley himself. Parsons, in turn, adored Crowley.
Among his esoteric peers, Parsons was a bit of a star. His good looks and rogue swagger led some to call him the “James Dean of the occult.” Even Crowley had to admit an admiration for his student though he worried about the young man’s reckless nature.
Parsons had set up what served as an OTO satellite headquarters in a large house in Pasadena. Anyone could move into this sort of luciferian boarding house—provided they didn’t believe in God. It was here that all manner of strange goings on and wild parties would be reported. On occasion, alarmed neighbors called the police, but the charming Parsons (with a smile and a wave of his credentials) was typically able to brush off any inquiries.
It was while operating this depraved hostel that Parsons met an aspiring writer and fellow occultist named L. Ron Hubbard, future founder of the Church of Scientology. Later, some would claim that Hubbard, who was a Naval officer himself, was actually acting on the part of the U.S. Navy, who’d sent him to spy on the group. Whatever the case may have been, Hubbard decided to join in with what was happening at Parsons’ unholy B&B.
Hubbard and Parsons became close friends. After some minor occult misadventures, they decided to embark upon some major conjuring. First, however, Parsons insisted he needed a kind of mystical muse he referred to as an elemental. Specifically, he sought out a “female magical partner with red hair and green eyes.” The pair reportedly attempted to summon this “woman” by conducting “sex magick” rituals in the Nevada desert. Parsons would masturbate while Hubbard recited incantations designed to manifest Parsons’ ethereal bride. Legend has it these sessions were held in the vicinity of the later Area 51. Parsons would write that the pair had returned to Pasadena to find a woman at the door—a woman named Marjorie CameroIt was then that this unholy trinity began to engage in supposed “sex magic” through a ritual Crowley called the “Babylon Working,” The ritual’s aim was to manifest a collection of interdimensional entities, including the Whore of Babylon. ?? Part of the process supposedly involved the so-called “Enochian calls” that had been used by the mystic and seer of the Middle Ages—John Dee. The Enochian calls were allegedly devised by Dee, when in a state of intense meditation.
Dee claimed that it consisted of the language of the angels and allowed him to communicate with interdimensional entities from beyond. The Babylon Working was aimed at opening up an interdimensional portal, so that these entities could not only communicate from the other side, but actually traverse into our reality themselves.
Crowley didn’t approve of these activities, and actually warned of the danger of engaging in them. Prior to Parsons banging on the interdimensional gates, Crowley himself had supposedly opened a small rift in time and space by his summoning of LAM. While he’d had a jolly good time with LAM, he’d learned, from both that experience and from the mess he'd made at Boleskine, to responsibly close the door when he was done with it. It was the irresponsibility of Jack Parsons, then, that an older and wiser Crowley apparently feared.
But Parsons didn’t listen.
He began the the Babylon Working.
a tURN FOR THE WORST
As obsessed as he had been to begin it, Parsons apparently grew bored of the ritual very quickly, and he and Cameron turned their attention to more worldly affairs. They began a racket of buying and selling yachts to wealthy patrons. It was while this pair was distracted by these dealings that Hubbard and Parson’s then wife—Betty—withdrew a large amount of Jack’s cash and fled to Florida. Parsons tried to put a spell on the pair’s boat, and he later had Hubbard arrested and reclaimed some of his cash, but Hubbard would keep Betty. Together they would found the Church of Scientology.
According to UFO researcher Nick Redfern who explored the connections between Roswell, Crowley, and Parsons in his book Final Events, the story gets even stranger. Redfern spoke with an alleged insider who told him that military intelligence was aware of many of Parsons’ occult activities and had interviewed him about his rituals. During these interviews, Parsons made an extraordinary claim, taking responsibility for opening up an interdimensional portal in 1947: a rift in space and time through which the infamous first wave of modern UFOs had emerged.
Jack Parsons died suddenly and violently in a fiery lab explosion in 1952--some say without ever closing that door he’d opened through the Working.
Writer and Crowley researcher Adam Gorightly was one of the first to make the connection between the UFO phenomenon and Jack Parsons. He knew all about Parsons’ shenanigans, and later went on the record to state:
After the Babylon Working, UFO sightings began to be reported en masse, as if a devil’s floodgate had been opened, and into the Earth realm flew powers and demons from beyond, much like an H. P. Lovecraft tale, unleashed upon an unsuspecting human populace.
Many decades after Parsons’ death, the connection Gorightly had claimed would seem to be verified through a truly bizarre story chronicled by paranormal journalist Nick Redfern.
The story of the Collins Elite.
AN EXPLOSIVE STORY
According to “Duke” (the anonymous name he gave Nick Redfern), the name “Collins Elite” began as a lark. One of the members hailed from the old Quaker town of Collins in Upstate New York. This guy had once mentioned something about his hometown being known only for folks that made cheese. Someone then cracked a joke about how since he hailed from the “cheese town” of Collins, yet didn’t make cheese, he must be elite. Thereafter the whole outfit was dubbed the “Collins Elite” in reference to this joke.
In his controversial book, Final Events and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife, paranormal journalist Nick Redfern broke the reputed existence of this covert association of fundamentalist Christian, government agents who’d been watching the modern UFO enigma—particularly Jack Parsons’ involvement in it--from the start.
They’d had their work cut out for them. For along with his bothersome occult activity, Jack Parsons was suspected—as Crowley had also been--of engaging in espionage, so it’s not at all surprising that he himself might have been under some sort of surveillance. What’s most interesting in all of this, however, was that Duke and his colleagues claimed to know something others did not: that Jack Parsons was an associate of Kenneth Arnold, the pilot whose sightings in the summer of 1947 are credited with igniting the modern UFO era. Such a connection was also made by conspiracy theorist John Judge, who stated, during an interview in 1989, that Arnold and Parsons were “flying partners,” a claim I haven’t been able to verify or debunk.
Duke told Redfern that, in the aftermath of the UFO wave, Parsons was sat down by the government and asked some pretty serious questions about it. Reportedly, Parsons openly reported that the craft being witnessed were likely entering into our reality by way of an interdimensional portal. But that wasn’t all. He also claimed he had opened it himself--through the Babylon Working.
On July 17, 1952, shortly after this admission, Parsons would turn up dead by way of the tragic lab accident. another UFO wave broke out shortly thereafter. This time, it wasn’t over remote parts of the West Coast, but in the skies of Washington, D.C., when a swarm of UFOs appeared there over two straight days from July 19th through July 20th. Was the “accident” in the lab the result of one of his crazy rituals? Had Parsons jus opened that interdimensional rift a little wider, killing himself in the process?
Duke informed Redfern that it was just a week or so after Jack Parsons perished that the Collins Elite officially came together. They were a loose association of government agents tasked with getting to the bottom of the UFO enigma and its ties to the occult. Far different than popular ideas about no-nonsense “G Men,” the group was reportedly comprised of fundamentalist Christians. As they pondered all that had transpired and dug deeper into the mystery, they slowly began to piece together a strange puzzle--one that connected what appeared to be extraterrestrial visitors with supernatural forces from an old, familiar source . . .
The Bible.
Or as Duke put it to Redfern:
“the Pentagon was ready to fund what was, really, a study on if the disks had devil beginnings.”
Thanks so much for reading this excerpt from my upcoming book, The Devil in Dreamland: Occult Origins & Engines of the UFO Enigma, debuting in Spring of 2024. To get notified when it drops, be sure to sign up for the Supernatural 411 newsletter here!
In the meantime, be sure to pick up Nick Redfern’s Final Events and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife. It is completely insane, deeply disturbing and a must-read for anyone interested in UFOs, the occult, demonology and Christianity.
God bless and remember to #prayforghosts!
URSULA