During one ... session Ron began to relate some of his own adventures. He had been in the United States Marines for seven years, he had been an explorer on the upper Amazon for four years, he'd been a white hunter in Africa for three years... after listening for a couple of hours, I said, "Ron, you're eighty-four years old, aren't you?" He let out a yelp, "What the hell are you talking about? You know I'm only twenty-six."

Hubbard was actually twenty-three. Gruber had been taking notes throughout:

"Well, you were in the Marines seven years, you were a civil engineer for six years, you spent four years in Brazil, three in Africa, you barn-stormed with your own flying circus for six years... I've just added up all the years you did this and that and it comes to eighty-four years .... " Ron blew his stack.

***

The next day, Hubbard once more acted as Babalon's medium, and gave instructions for the second and third rituals. During the second ritual, Parsons was to gaze into an empty black box for an hour when a "sacred design" would become apparent which he was to reproduce in wood. Then, robed in scarlet ("symbolic of birth") with a black sash, Parsons was to invoke Babalon yet again.

The third ritual was to start four hours before dawn. Parsons was to wear black, and to "lay out a white sheet." Hubbard's instructions continued:

Place upon it blood of birth, since she is born of thy flesh, and by thy mortal power upon earth .... Envision thyself as a cloaked radiance desirable to the Goddess, beloved. Envision her approaching thee. Embrace her, cover her with kisses. Think upon the lewd lascivious things thou couldst do. All is good to Babalon. ALL .... Thou as a man and as a god hast strewn about the earth and in the heavens many loves, these recall, concentrate, consecrate each woman thou hast raped. Remember her, think upon her, move her into BABALON, bring her into BABALON, each, one by one until the flame of lust is high. Preserve the material basis .... The lust is hers, the passion yours. Consider thou the Beast raping.

***

In May, OTO member Louis T. Culling wrote to Crowley's deputy, Karl Germer, suggesting that Parsons should be "salvaged from the undue influence of another." He spoke of a partnership agreement signed by Parsons, Hubbard and Sara Northrup "whereby all money earned by the three, for life, is equally divided."

There was disquiet in the Ordo Templi Orientis. In a cable to his U.S. deputy, dated May 22, Crowley said, "Suspect Ron playing confidence trick, Jack evidently weak fool obvious victim prowling swindlers." On the 31st, he added, "It seems to me on the information of our Brethren in California that (if we may assume them to be accurate) Frater 210 [Parsons] has committed... errors. He has got a miraculous illumination which rhymes with nothing, and he has apparently lost all of his personal independence. From our brother's account he has given away both his girl and his money - apparently it is an ordinary confidence trick."

***

"In olden days the populace was much afraid of demons
And paid an awful sky high price to buy some priestly begones ....
Oh now here is why that makes the world an evil circus
No demons at all but just the easily erased evil purpose."
-- L. Ron Hubbard

"A Piece of Blue Sky," by Jon Atack