In fantasy role-playing games
there is a contrast between ‘good’ Lawful magic and ‘evil’ Chaos magic. In real
life the development of magickal systems is somewhat less decisive.
A brief history of Chaos Magick
In the latter half of the
twentieth century, Peter Carroll co-founder of the Illuminaries of Thanateros
(sex and death) published Psychonaut and Libre Null outlining chaos magick
theory and establishing a new system for magickal results that dispenses with
dogma of previous systems such as those of the Hermetic Tradition dating back
thousands of years through classical Greek to ancient Aegyptian. Carrolls
development followed Austin O Spares development of a useful functional
sigilism system after his having had some dealing with Aliester Crowley’s
reinvention of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
Peter Carroll’s youtube videos;
This stuff works. Use of
perception and especially altered perception to change external reality by
focused power of Belief. Rituals are order-of-the-day, utilizing whatever
symbology and concepts are available at the time. This is neither black, nor
white, because it is beyond such polarization. It is about Change.
Venus Satanus youtube videos;
A taste of chaos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDbDtzGPmqk
The philosophy of occult study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxBpR6qfh-U
“Chaos magick affords the
magician the kind of freedom to be able to use anything that is desired in
magick, regardless of its origin or structure. Gnosis in chaos magick is a form
of Intent that creates the path in the mind necessary for the Will to enact
what the magician wants to create. The use of the Will for a formula for
success.” Venus Satanus
By Year Zero (2013ad) the
language used by Carroll is dated. For example, his use of the word ‘desire’
for ‘intent’ has a theological bias at contrast with integration of the
Buddhist related school, wherein desire actively blocks us from true
perception. While this was not Carrolls concern (he discusses the two paradigms
being mutually exclusive and defends it well), it is important as Chaos Magick
theory and philosophy develops. One cannot be a successful psychonaut while
ignoring the importance and validity of the uses and training of mind which the
Zen has to offer, especially since no-mind is the objective of both, as it is
for the Mayan sorcerers pursuit of objective observation.
The problem all practitioners
face is the overwhelming dogma projected by existing group mind, the collective
consciousness. Methods for liberating the mind from attachment to such dogma
becomes the major focus of the practitioner. This relates to what Don Matus
taught Don Carlos about ‘the sorcerers of old’ who would perform any number of
extreme atrocities attempting to achieve results.
“Where Attention goes, energy
flows.”
This blog follows on from previous blog entitled M:tA
and for comparison;
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