05.01. Chaos Magick? p2
Description
This article is from the Magick-Chaos FAQ, by AShdeamoNium ashton@netcom.com with numerous contributions by others.
05.01. Chaos Magick? p2
From: "Joseph Max.555" <max@atticus.com>
Chaos Magick is currently the cutting edge of modern Ceremonial
Magick. It largely grew out of the work of Austin Osman Spare, though
it has been fractalized into many forms over the last 10 or so years.
Chaos Magick emphasizes a personal, experimental approach to magickal
practice, de-emphasizes "traditional" approaches (ie. GD, OTO, et al)
especially as regards "secret knowledge", male/female dichotomies and
order hierarchy; what can be learned from Masters or Gurus is far less
important or effective than what a dedicated researcher can discover
for hirself. As such, shamanism is incorporated more directly than
such historical approaches as Kaballa, though most Chaotes are quite
adept at examining traditional systems, incorporating what works and
discarding that which holds no personal appeal.
Chaos Magicians look at Magick as being a _living_ art rather than an
_antique_ one. They regard the various belief structures of magick as
being the _means_ rather than the _end_, and the most adept can alter
their belief-state as easily as they change clothes. Chaos Magick
recognizes no particular system of theology as having any more
"reality" than any other, and most Chaotes (like Jung) approach dieties
as being no more than archtypical constructs of the subconscious mind.
Therefore they are far less concerned with having any (in their eyes)
arbitrary moral system pounded into their skulls before getting to
actually put magickal techniques into practical use than "Old Aeon"
systems like the GD's or Abra-Melin.
Chaos Magick propounds no particular dogma or moral system, beyond
it's most common identifier:
"Nothing is True, and Everything is Permitted."
I have yet to meet, however, any adept Chaos Magician who doesn't
have a strong sense of personal ethics and subscribe to it feverently.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: locklin@phyast.pitt.edu (Lupo the Butcher)
"Chaos Theory" is generally concerned with making more complex
physical predictions, sometimes based on a "chaos/order" measurement.
"Chaos Magick" may or may not be concerned with utelizing paradigms of
"chaos theory" to exert change in accordance with ones telos
(in my case it would certainly be the former)...
"Chaos Magick" may also be the latest attempt to appeal to the
testosterone junkie set of the magickal community via their
lust of destruction, much as other LHP groups
(Satanists & sinister Pagans) do in other ways.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
from Benjamin Rowe
I have received several complaints about my published rituals
recently. Some complain that they are too elaborate, others that they
are too simple, and some question whether they really qualify as
magickal rituals in the traditional sense. There is some justice in
all these, and they should be addressed with respect to the work
presented here.
The complaints of over-elaborateness stem from the fact that it is
impossible to perform any significant part of the works in a single
session. This is perfectly correct, and is done deliberately. My
experience has been that the rewards given to the magician by the
"angels" of the Enochian system are very precisely gauged to the
amount of care and effort the magician puts into the work. Works that
are planned, rehearsed, and carried out over a period of weeks or
months are much more likely to produce significant initiations than
any number of single-session efforts. The present work was designed
to be performed in stages, with the expectation that each stage will
be performed until the powers invoked achieve a self-sustaining
presence in the magicianAs temple before he passes on to the next
stage. It can be expected that the rewards will be commensurate with
the effort involved.
Complaints of excessive simplicity derive from lack of the pompous
verbiage typically found in formal rituals, and the dearth of advice
concerning symbols, implements, and materiel that would help to fire
the imagination of the magician. There is a decidedly bare-bones feel
to the descriptions. This is perhaps an expression of my own character
as a magician; I find that complex pomp and ceremony put me off rather
than enhancing the work. I have complete faith that every magicianAs
imagination and intuition will provide him with enhancements
appropriate to his or her own character and style, and so see no need
to provide more than the minimum schema necessary to accomplish the
work successfully.
[from _COMSELHA: A spiritual excercise for Enochian magicians]
Continue to:
My Books
