Chapter 7:
- Verse 4: And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed one hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
- One hundred forty-four thousand would be the membership of the Family when, in Helter Skelter's aftermath, it would emerge from "the bottomless pit" to rule.
- Tex Watson said this growth in the Manson Family would be a result of procreation, while Paul Watkins stated that it would result from the release of the Family's album, which would draw other people to the group. Watkins also said that the Family would acquire babies made homeless in Helter Skelter. Several decades were to pass before the Family would at last depart the Bottomless Pit; the group would live there in miniaturized form.
Chapter 9:
- Verses 2–3: And he opened the bottomless pit.... And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
- locusts refers to the Beatles
- According to Watkins, as the scorpions of the earth have power means the power of scorpion, that is, Manson, a Scorpio, will prevail
- bottomless pit = the underground city in which the Family would ride out the ravages of Helter Skelter. The Family would be lowered into this by means of a gold rope;
- Manson bought gold rope at a Santa Monica sporting-goods store.
- Verses 7–8:... [A]nd [the locusts'] faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women...
- According to Gregg Jakobson: the Beatles are men with long hair
- Verse 17: And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
- Breastplates of fire, according to Brooks Poston = the Beatles' electric guitars. Fire and smoke and brimstone out of their mouths, according to Gregg Jakobson = the power of the Beatles' lyrics. According to Watson, this was the power of their music to ignite Helter Skelter
- Verse 7: And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle
- The horses, Brooks Poston told Bugliosi, were the dune buggies the Family will be riding during Helter Skelter
- In Manson's view, according to Watkins, dune buggies were the ideal vehicles of the apocalypse; they would enable the Family to outrun police in the Bottomless Pit and were light enough that a few of the girls could carry them. During the war, the Family would be making forays from the Bottomless Pit. They would be fitted with machine gun mounts; while the men would drive, the girls would operate the guns.
- Fitted next to the steering wheel of Manson's personal buggy was a metal scabbard. It held a katana with which, in July 1969, Manson allegedly slashed the ear of Gary Hinman. On the buggy's front, wrote Ed Sanders, was a winch that Manson envisioned using to evade police. He would fling the winch's rope up into a tree and then winch himself up out of sight as pursuing officers would drive haplessly by.
- Family member Catherine Share said "Charlie talked about Helter Skelter every night. ... [W]e'd learn to live off the land. We'd live in the desert and come in on dune buggies and rescue the orphaned white babies. We'd be the saviors."
- Verse 15: And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men
- The four angels, according to Gregg Jakobson, were the Beatles. In the vision, Watson would state in his autobiography, they were prophets, preparing the way for Jesus Christ, i.e., Manson, to lead the chosen people away to safety
- slay the third part of men, according to Jakobson, meant "one third of mankind ... the white race," which would die in Helter Skelter.
- Verse 16: And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
- two hundred thousand thousand horsemen, according to Brooks Poston referred to Straight Satans motorcycle gang-members Manson was attempting to recruit into the Family
- The Straight Satans were to be the Family's "needed military wing". According to Watkins the bikers and the Family would cruise through Helter Skelter in the manner of a flock of birds, all turning in one direction or another without even a sound from their leader.
- Verse 4: And it was commanded [that the locusts] should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
- not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree meant only humans, not nature, will be destroyed in Helter Skelter according to Watkins
- the seal of God in their foreheads, according to Gregg Jakobson = a mark that would indicate whether someone was on Manson's side or not.In Helter Skelter, those without it would perish, Watson would state, in his characterization of the vision.
- Verse 20: And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass...
- the worship of idols of gold and silver and brass, according to Gregg Jakobson = the establishment's worship of materialism and money
- Verse 1: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
- according to Gregg Jakobson, who arranged a recording session for Manson, the fifth angel is Stu Sutcliffe, one of the original five, not four, Beatles
- according to Watson and Watkins, the fifth angel is Manson
Chapter 10:
- Verses 1 and 2: And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth...
- For about two weeks after their departure from a house in Canoga Park, Family members moved into—or broke into—an unoccupied mansion that had recently been vacated by the rock group Iron Butterfly. In overlooking the sea from the Mulholland Hills, the house, according to Paul Watkins, met Manson's demand, in accordance with these verses, that "[the Family] have access to the sea and to the desert and that the two roads be joined."
Chapter 21:
- Verses 10 and 18: And [an angel] carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city... and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
- Verse 23: And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it
- According to Watkins, the Family's sanctuary under Death Valley would be a city of gold where there would be no sun and no moon.
Chapter 22:
- Verse 2: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month...
- According to Watkins, the city underneath Death Valley would have a tree that would bear twelve different kinds of fruit, a different kind each month.
In relating how Manson would discourse in early 1969, while the Family was in the house in Canoga Park, Paul Watkins would report Manson's words as follows:
In March 1969, Tex Watson, who'd separated himself from the Family after Manson and he first heard the White Album, rejoined the group. By that time, as he would recount in his autobiography, Helter Skelter had captured the group's imagination:
