Chaos magic

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The chaos star (called a 'chaosphere' by some practitioners) is the most popular symbol of chaos magic. Many variants exist.
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The chaos star (called a 'chaosphere' by some practitioners) is the most popular symbol of chaos magic. Many variants exist.

Chaos magic (also referred to as chaos magick) is a form of ritual magic, first formulated in West Yorkshire, England in the 1970s [1], with which practitioners claim they can shape reality. Although there are a few techniques unique to chaos magic (such as some forms of sigil magic), practices can be highly individualistic, borrowing liberally from other belief systems; in this light, chaos magic acts as a metabelief. Some common sources of inspiration include such diverse areas as ceremonial magic, scientific theories, mathematics, science fiction, world religions, and individual experimentation.

Chaos magic is not necessarily syncretic; that is to say, practitioners do not always try to fit together these different ideas so that they make sense. Rather, they temporarily assume the truth of parts of particular systems in order to accomplish their goals. Although chaos magicians differ widely, they often sympathize with the psychonaut counterculture (Terence McKenna and Robert Anton Wilson are particularly influential) and chaotic aspects of particular religions (including Taoism and Discordianism).

Chaos magic can be conceptualized as a mixture of post-modern art and thought with esoteric magick.

Contents

[edit] Pre-History

Artist and mystic Austin Osman Spare was initially involved with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn tradition[citation needed], and its offshoots such as the O.T.O and Aleister Crowley's Argenteum Astrum [citation needed]but later broke with them to work independently. He would develop theory and practices which would, after his death, profoundly influence the Illuminates of Thanateros. Specifically, Spare developed the use of sigils, and techniques involving states of ecstasy (see gnosis below) to empower these. Spare also pioneered the development of a personal sacred alphabet, and was a talented artist who used images as part of his magical technique. Most of the recent work on sigils recapitulates Spare's work; the construction of a phrase detailing the magical intent, the elimination of duplicate letters, and the artistic recombination of the remaining letters to form the sigil. Though he did not originate the term and might not have sympathized with it, some have regarded Spare as the original chaos magician, due to his rejection of established magical systems in order to form his own methods.

Following the death of Aleister Crowley (and the then-obscure Spare), magic as practised by the still somewhat sparse occult subculture in Britain tended to become more experimentalist, personal and less bound to the magical traditions of established magical orders. Reasons for this might include the public availability of previously estoteric information on magic (especially in the published works of Crowley and Israel Regardie), the radically unorthodox magic of Austin Osman Spare's Zos Kia Cultus, the influence of Discordianism and its popularizer Robert Anton Wilson, and the increasing popularity of magic caused by the success of the Wiccan faith and the use of psychedelic drugs.[1]

[edit] History

In 1978, Peter Carroll published Liber Null, which explicated a new perspective on magic, now known as chaos magic. Liber Null, along with Psychonaut (1981) by the same author, remain important sourcebooks. Magicians who align themselves with these ideas often call themselves Chaotes, but the terms Chaoite, Chaoist and Chaosite are sometimes used as well.

A meeting between Peter J Carroll and Ray Sherwin at Sorcerer's Apprentice in 1976 has been claimed as the birthplace of chaos magic.[2] Also, in 1978, Carroll and Sherwin founded the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), [3] an organization that continues research and development of chaos magic to the present day. Many authors and otherwise well-known practitioners of chaos magic mention affiliation with it. However, chaos magic in general is, unsurprisingly, among the least organized branches of magic.

[edit] Magical paradigm shifting

Perhaps the most striking feature of chaos magic is the concept of the magical paradigm shift. Borrowing a term from philosopher Thomas Kuhn, Carroll made the technique of arbitrarily changing one's world view (or paradigm) of magic a major concept of chaos magic. An example of a magical paradigm shift is doing a Lovecraftian rite, followed by using a technique from an Edred Thorsson book in the following ritual. These two magical paradigms are very different, but while the individual is using one, he believes in it fully to the extent of ignoring all other (often contradictory) ones. The shifting of magical paradigms has since found its way into the magical work of practitioners of many other magical traditions, but chaos magic remains the field where it is most developed.

One of the most frequently cited tenets of Chaos magic is that "Nothing is True and Everything is Permitted," a quote attributed to Hassan I Sabbah and used by Friedrich Nietzsche in his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Like Crowley's "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the law," this phrase is often mistakenly interpreted in its most literal sense to mean that there is no such thing as objective truth, so people are free whatever they chose. However, "Nothing is True and Everything is Permitted" is more widely interpreted to mean "there is no such thing as an objective truth outside of our perception; therefore, all things are true and possible."

The idea is that belief is a tool that can be applied at will rather than unconsciously. Some chaos magicians think that trying unusual, and often bizarre beliefs is in itself an experience worth having and consider flexibility of belief a form of power or freedom in a cybernetic sense of the word.

[edit] The Gnostic state

A concept introduced by Carroll is the gnostic state, also referred to as gnosis. This is defined as a special state of consciousness that in his magic theory is what is necessary for working most forms of magic. This is a departure from older concepts which described energies, spirits or symbolic acts as the source of magical powers. The concept has an ancestor in the Buddhist concept of Samadhi, made popular in western occultism by Aleister Crowley and further explored by Austin Osman Spare.

The gnostic state is achieved when a person's mind is focused on only one point, thought, or goal and all other thoughts are thrust out. Users of chaos magic each develop their own ways of reaching this state. All such methods hinge on the belief that a simple thought or direction experienced during the gnostic state and then forgotten quickly afterwards is sent to the subconscious, rather than the conscious mind, where it can be enacted through means unknown to the conscious mind.

[edit] Chaos magicians

Practitioners of chaos magic attempt to be outside of all categories - for them, worldviews, theories, beliefs, opinions, habits and even personalities are tools that may be chosen arbitrarily in order to understand or manipulate the world they see and create around themselves. Chaos magicians are frequently described as funny, extreme or very individualistic people. They also may consider themselves exceptionally tolerant, remarking that whatever one might disagree over is merely an opinion, and hence interchangeable, anyway.

For a list of notable chaos magic practitioners, see Category:Chaos magicians.

While chaos magic has lost some of the popularity it had in the UK during the 1980s, it is still active and influential. Its ideas can be found to leak into modern shamanism in particular, and are common in occult Internet forums. Proponents assert that the growing individuality of occultism in informal, often Internet-based surroundings is a direct result of the success of chaos magic, while critics argue this informal occultism often lacks a well-developed understanding of gnosis and paradigm shifting and is therefore not rightfully called chaos magic.

[edit] Symbols and deities

Chaos magic is unique among magical traditions in that it does not attribute significance to any particular symbol or deity. Wicca and Thelema, for example, could not be what they are without the Mother goddess and Horus, respectively. In contrast, chaos magicians may (or may not) pick any concept or set of concepts to worship, invoke or evoke. Traditional deities associated with chaos, such as Tiamat, Eris, Loki and Hun Tun are also popular, as are the entities described in the Necronomicon.

Following the tenet that anything can have significance and hold magical power, chaos magic rituals have centered around symbols as diverse as the color Octarine, a single worn sock, random-found street debris, or Harpo Marx. In some instances these uses have developed into temporary, but elaborate cults that may be seen as parodies of more fixed magical traditions, or of "fixedness" in general.

The eight-pointed chaos star (chaosphere or chaos wheel), originally taken from the fantasy novels of Michael Moorcock, is frequently used by chaos magicians and is today seen as a symbol of chaos magic's "infinite possibility." It is a spoked device with eight equidistant arrows radiating from a central point. The current rounded shape was devised by author and chaos magician Peter Carroll. However, this preference is not shared by all and may be argued to root solely in the symbol's semi-official use by the Illuminates of Thanateros. Most chaos magicians routinely create magical symbols for themselves - see Sigil.

[edit] In pop culture

Chaos magic has had name checks in such places as DC Comics, Marvel Comics (See: Scarlet Witch), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Undine, and Breathe (sequel to Undine), but beyond name-dropping, their actual practices had nothing in common with Chaos magic (some of the uses predating the usage described in this article). The name "Chaos" and the chaosphere are also used to represent the ever-present evil in Games Workshop's line of miniature games Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 (which resulted somewhat ironically in some chaotes adopting terminology from those games).

Real life chaote Grant Morrison has afforded the theories of chaos magicians and their practices a dramatic portrayal in his comic book epic The Invisibles.

[edit] Well-known Chaos magicians

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Condensed Chaos, 1995. Phil Hine, ISBN 1-56184-117-X.
  2. ^ Lancaster University Pagan Society, 'Chaos Magic: A brief introduction' by Jez.
  3. ^ 'Chaos Magick' by Ray Sherwin.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

[edit] Communities

[edit] Books

[edit] Articles

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