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. |
Chaos Magic is a relatively new form of
ritual and empty-handed
magic. Practicioners use mind altering techniques, they call "
gnosis," including, but not limited to,
meditation,
chanting,
spinning,
dancing,
drug use,
pain or
orgasm. Practitioners hold that they can shape reality using this form of magic.
Austin Osman Spare was initially involved with the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn tradition, and its offshoots such as the
O.T.O and
Aleister Crowley's
Argenteum Astrum 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 may regard Spare as the original chaos magician.
Following the death of
Aleister Crowley (and the then-obscure Spare),
magick as practised by the still somewhat sparse
occult subculture in
Britain tended to become more experimentalist, personal and a lot less bound to the magickal traditions of established
magical orders. Reasons for this might include the public availability of previously
secret information on magick (especially in the published works of Crowley and
Israel Regardie), the radically unorthodox magick of
Austin Osman Spare's
Zos Kia Cultus, the influence of
Discordianism and its popularizer
Robert Anton Wilson, and the increasing popularity of magick caused by the success of the
Wiccan faith and the use of
psychedelic drugs.
The term
chaos magick first appeared in print in the widely influential
Liber Null by
Peter Carroll, first published in
1978. In it, Carroll formulated several concepts on magic that were radically different from what was considered magical mysteries in the days of Crowley. This book, along with
Psychonaut (
1981) by the same author, remain important sourcebooks. Magicians who align themselves with these ideas call themselves Chaotes, Chaoists or sometimes Chaosites.
Carroll also co-founded with
Ray Sherwin the Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros, or in short form
Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT); an organization that continues research and development of chaos magic to the present day. Most authors and otherwise well-known practitioners of chaos magick mention affiliation with it. However, chaos magick in general is, unsurprisingly, among the least organized branches of magick.
Perhaps the most striking feature of chaos magick is the concept of the magical paradigm shift. Borrowing a term from philosopher
Thomas Kuhn, Carroll made the technique of arbitrarily changing one's model (or
paradigm) of magick a major concept of chaos magic. An example of a magickal paradigm shift is doing a
Lovecraftian rite, followed by using a technique from an
Edred Thorsson book in the following ritual. These two magickal paradigms are very different, but while the chaote is using one, he believes in it fully to the extent of ignoring all other (often contradictory) ones. The shifting of magickal paradigms has since found its way into the magickal work of practitioners of many other magickal traditions, but chaos magick remains the field where it is most developed.
One of the most frequently cited tenets of Chaos magick 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 "there is no such thing as objective truth, so whatever you want to do is good and just for you." 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.
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
magick theory is what is necessary for working most forms of magick. This is a departure from older concepts which described energies, spirits or symbolic acts as the source of magickal 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 magick 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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
Traditional deities associated with
chaos, such as
Tiamat,
Eris,
Loki and
Hun Tun are also popular, as are the entities described in the
Necronomicon.
The eight-pointed chaos star (or chaosphere), originally taken from the fantasy novels of
Michael Moorcock is frequently used by chaos magicians. 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.
Chaos magic has had name checks in such places as DC Comics,
Marvel Comics (See:
Scarlet Witch), and
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 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.
*
Illuminates of Thanateros*
Magick*
List of magical terms and traditionsEthos,
Austin Osman Spare, ISBN 1-872189-28-8
The Book of Results, 1978.
Ray Sherwin, ISBN 1-4116-2558-7
Liber Null & Psychonaut, 1987.
Peter Carroll, ISBN 0-877-28639-6
Liber Kaos, 1992.
Peter Carroll, ISBN 0-87728-742-2
Prime Chaos, 1993.
Phil Hine, ISBN 1-56184-137-4
Condensed Chaos, 1995.
Phil Hine, ISBN 1-56184-117-X
Seidways, 1997.
Jan Fries, ISBN 1869928-369
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1]
*[
2]
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Chaos Magic*
Chaos Magic texts*
Chaos Matrix*
Chaos Current*
Friends of Hekate*
Chaostatic*
Labirinto Stellare 
