Rotherham-Ghosts

The Conception of Chaos

Chaos magick may well have been born in the late 1970's but it owes its birth to the late Austin Osman Spare. Spare, an artist and magickian, whose own form of magick did not require complex systems and unlimited paraphernalia, but simply pen and paper on which he used to mark out sentient letters and sigils recognised that magick came from within the sub-conscious mind of the

magickian and not from outside influences. This has become one of the main principles at the heart of the chaos theory. Another fundamental influence at the core of chaos magick is the subsequent use of different states of euphoria, which where heavily popularized by Aleister Crowley during his magickal career and further more by Spare.

 

In the 1970's, Peter Carroll, who had previously written articles on the fusion between ceremonial magick, thelema, Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism and other such influences, including parapsychology, in the new equinox publications, bust onto the scene. It was in his book entitled 'Liber Null' that the term 'Chaos Magick' was first coined. It was while Carroll was writing for the new equinox that he joined forces with its editor, Ray Sherwin, who like Carroll had become disillusioned with the so called magickal scene and formed the Magickal Pack of the Illuminates of Thanateros.

 

The IOT (Illuminates of Thanateros) began to integrate quantum mechanics with the occult and paranormal and through its ever increasing numbers of followers developed it further, widening the appeal of this new and radical form of magick.

 

Chaos magick had now reached puberty and was being made accessible to all. Its lack of boundaries and undogmatic approach was just want the 'doctor' ordered and chaos was fast becoming an attitude one applied to magick and not just a system which had become the normal format. Groups' believing this was the way forward for magick began to emerge and it was looking as if the magickal revolution was about to begin.

 

Towards the middle of the 1980's the trend towards this new form of magick went off the boil. Because of its so called unethical use of so many other systems it was seen as 'magickal anarchy', even being viewed by some as sinister. Certain magazines and publications announced that chaos magick was dead. The back biting and in-fighting had begun. The revolution would have to wait.

 

In1986 Ray Sherwin ex-communicated himself from IOT because he feared that within the group a power structure was beginning to form. A power structure that when he and Carroll had formed the IOT they wished to avoid at all costs. A power structure that was the back bone of so many time honoured magickal systems and one that Sherwin felt did not fit with this new magickal revolution.

 

By 1987 Peter Carroll and chaos magick had begun to break free from all prior distractions and he set about reorganizing the IOT and bringing about the revolution. IOT temples where set up in America and Europe as well as in the UK .

 

From here on in chaos caught the imagination of up and coming magickian's and made its self right at home in the modern world of magick. This experimental, open minded and at times, disorganised form of magick had now come of age. For many it fits in well with how we live our lives today, no time for hierarchy, order, or time honoured rituals and techniques but an, 'if it works why not use it approach' to magick.

 

So what makes Chaos so different?

 

An undogmatic approach.

 

Chaos magick is unlike any other form of magickal system in that it has no system so to speak of. Instead, the chaos practitioner is free to burrow from, amalgamate and infiltrate other magickal or belief system to achieve their chosen goal. There is no restraint on how they do this, no wrong or right way to do it and definitely know one to say that it can not be done. Mix and match is the name of the game and it is ok to get it wrong sometimes. What's wrong with learning from your mistakes, just as long as no one is unduly hurt in the process?

 

Making up one's own mind. 

 

Chaos magickian's don't take the word of those who have gone before them to whether certain ideas and magickal recipes work, they try them for themselves. The chaos magickian is his own master, his own teacher and his own student. He or she chooses to learn through their own personal experiences and not through those of others. They are not afraid of asking the antiquarian world of magick, difficult and intimidating questions because they do not take the said word of others at face value. They need to see and witness it for themselves. 

 

An onwards and upwards journey. 

 

Just because chaos has a "mixed up approach" to magick does not mean that the practitioner should have the same "mixed up mindset" when performing it. All rituals and magickal workings must be rigorously assessed at every opportunity. He or she must continually strive to improve on technique, not sit back and let their magick stagnate.

 

Unshackled views. 

 

Because of its eclectic use of so many different belief systems and magickal formula it is necessary to have an open view on all that is being used. To have constraints and fixed attitudes towards these and other such influences will only hinder the outcome in the end. Being free form all conditioned views enables the chaos practitioner to twist and manipulate all the different techniques and information that is available to them into a very personal form of magick. One that can be continually altered without fear of religious boundaries or cultural confinement.

 

 

Altered states of mind.

 

A major player in being able to perform chaos magick that ultimately works is the ability to alter your state of consciousness when desired. To reach these intense states of Gnosis certain techniques are employed. Yoga, meditation and sensory deprivation will induce inhibitory states of altered consciousness while such activities as chanting, dance and sexual stimulation while bring about excitatory states of altered consciousness.

 

D.I.Y magick. 

 

Chaos is all about adding and subtracting from existing systems of magick and dividing it with some of your own. A bit like a recipe. A table spoon of this, with a 100grms of that, mixed with a pinch of the other. This is what makes chaos magick so personal. No set rules as such and the only confinements as to what can subsequently be achieved are those in the mind of the practitioner. It is not important that the system you develop can be used or understood by anybody else; chaos is all about the individual. This D.I.Y approach does not have to stop at ritual alone, it can be used to mix and match all the components used within magick, enrolling the kabala, some sigils, runes, the tarot and what ever else takes your fancy. The possibilities are endless. Why stop there, why not incorporate some science into chaos. How about a bit of astrology, alchemy or even some quantum physics. What is important after all is achieving the desired end result.

 

In conclusion

 

Chaos is all about having no parameters. A non-traditional and wild approach to magick. An everything to gain and nothing to be lost attitude ' but' , and this is a big but, magick really works , so making sure things don't get out of hand, you can deal with what you create and people don't get hurt along the way are the number one priorities here. My own personal view on chaos magick is, although it may look new and sound a pretty radical form of magick, all it really does is use what was already known to have worked and give it a fresh lick of paint'.