Phil Hine

Philip M. Hine, more commonly known as Phil Hine, is a British writer, book reviewer, and occultist. He became known internationally through his written works Pseudonomicon, Condensed Chaos, and Prime Chaos, as well as several essays on the topics of chaos magic and Cthulhu Mythos magic.

Biography

Growing up in Blackpool, Hine became involved with chaos magic theory in West Yorkshire in the 1980s. This was after he "picked up the fabled white edition of Liber Null by Peter J. Carroll at Sorcerer's Apprentice."[1] Hine subsequently published a series of booklets on urban shamanism, and a magic primer that has since been titled Condensed Chaos. This book has been described by William S. Burroughs as "the most concise statement of the logic of modern magic."

He was a founder and co-editor of Pagan News in partnership with Rodney Orpheus,[2] and is a former editor and contributor to Ian Read's magazine Chaos International. He has facilitated workshops and seminars on modern magical practice in America and Europe and contributed to a wide range of occult journals, being most active in the period 1986–1996.

As of 1997 he resides in South London.[1]

Hine is bisexual[3] and has written many articles on this topic within occultism.

Books

His earliest popular work was a small pamphlet now called Oven-Ready Chaos (formerly Condensed Chaos, a title that has been appropriated since for one of his full length books) which outlined a brief and simple "definition" of magic(k), a brief history of the school of practice called chaos magic and an outline of some of its basic approaches, which presented a number of simple techniques.

Condensed Chaos is a full length expansion of this pamphlet focusing on basic techniques and the style of doing magic that has become associated with chaos magic. It was later joined by a second companion volume Prime Chaos, which focused more on the construction and uses of more formalised ritual techniques.

Hine's approach

Phil Hine is widely considered one of the most practical, down-to-earth, and accessible authors on the subject of occultism. Unlike the more complex writings of authors such as Aleister Crowley, his works are considered highly successful at taking the mystical jargon out of magical writing.

Definition of magic

Hine seems reluctant in his works to pin down a concise definition of magic. Instead he suggests that magic is both an encompassing, living force, and a mode of consciousness. This consciousness can be experienced as gnosis but also part of everyday life. "Magic is a set of techniques and approaches for extending the limits of Achievable Reality" is probably the most concise definition of Hine's approach to magic.

Another definition is "a state of openness to a more expansive reality and the application of this state in one's life".

He finds that the definition of "black magic" has been convoluted by people who define practices that they disapprove of as "black magic".[4]

Method

Phil Hine repeatedly stresses, probably strongly influenced by Peter Carroll, Robert Anton Wilson and Neuro-linguistic Programming, that the metaphysical frameworks used by certain schools of magic and their attendant goals for the practitioner are not inescapable absolutes, but, to the chaos magician, matters of style and practicality. Rather than giving metaphysical explanations of why something should work, he outlines a few basic techniques for altering states of consciousness, and insists that the only way to find out about magic is to try it yourself. He generally conforms to the opinion that certain forms of magic are executed in a state of gnosis, but does not do so rigidly.

Ritual style

Following his suggestion that magic should be fun and based on whatever works, Hine shifts from semi-traditional Qabalistic ritual, to meditating on computer-programming-inspired flowcharts, to seemingly absurd Discordian rites. The thrust of his advice is for the magician to be creative with that which they find inspiring, and to modify it according to their needs.

Written works

Books

Contributions to anthologies

Out of print

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gyrus (October 1997). "Chaos and Beyond: An Interview with Phil Hine". Dreamflesh. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  2. ↑ Hine, Phil. "Occult magazine publishing". Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  3. ↑ Hine, Phil. "Breeding Devils in Chaos: Homosexuality & the Occult". This essay was written in 1991 as part of a presentation for the Talking Stick discussion forum in London – at the time I was identifying as being Gay, and have since settled on identifying as Bisexual.
  4. ↑ Jesper Aagaard Petersen (2009). Contemporary religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 220. ISBN 0-7546-5286-6.

External links

Articles

Reviews