In 1946, rocket scientist Jack Parsons and science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard carried out a series of occult rituals in Pasadena, California, that became known as the Babalon Working.

Parsons was already deeply involved in Aleister Crowley’s Thelema and the Ordo Templi Orientis, but the Babalon Working pushed his occult practice into much stranger territory. He believed Babalon, the Scarlet Woman of Thelemic tradition, was a real spiritual intelligence that could be contacted and ultimately brought into physical manifestation.

The operation began with Parsons attempting to summon an “elemental mate” who could serve as his Scarlet Woman. Over the following days, Parsons recorded violent winds, unexplained knocking, strange lights, apparent physical disturbances, and alleged spiritual communications. Then, shortly after declaring ...