Chaos magic
Chaos magic is an occult magical tradition in which magical paradigm shifts and rituals without the use of paraphernalia are preferred and the will is supposed to overcome wakeful consciousness through various techniques . The followers of this magic of chaos describe themselves as "chaos magicians", often also "chaoists" (occasionally also "chaots"), and believe that they can magically influence reality.
history
In the years following the death of Aleister Crowley , the magic practiced by Britain's still thin occult scene became more experimental, more personal, and broke away from the magical traditions of established magical orders. The main reasons for this are possibly the publication of further books on magic, in particular in the works of Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardies , the radically unorthodox magic of Austin Osman Spares "Zos Kia Cultus", the growing popularity of magic and the success of the Wicca cult the use of hallucinogenic drugs.
The term chaos magic appeared for the first time in printed form in the book "Liber Null" (1978) by Peter Carroll . In it, Carroll formulated various ideas about magic that were radically different from what had been called magical mysteries in Aleister Crowley's day. This book, together with “Psychonaut” (1982) by the same author, is still the most important foundation of this movement.
Carroll was also, together with Ray Sherwin, one of the founders of the "Magical Pact of the Illuminati of Thanateros" (short: " Illuminati of Thanateros ", or "IOT", "Illuminates of Thanateros") in 1986, a magical order , who continues the teaching and development of chaos magic to this day. Most writers and other well-known Chaos magicians mention a collaboration. Aside from this order, however, Chaos Magic is one of the least organized areas of magic. Carroll's leadership of this order ended around 1990, the disputes that take place are referred to within the scene as the “ ice magic war ”, and so the order has since had to do without its founder.
The name "Chaos" and the associated symbol, the eight-pointed star (also called "Chaos Star", "Chaos Ball" or "Symbol of the 8") was apparently borrowed from Carroll from a fantasy novel: Michael Moorcock's "Elric von Melniboné - The Sage." from the end of time ”. However, Carroll nowhere referred to the origin of its symbolism.
Carroll later remained true to the tradition of borrowing from fantasy books: In his later work "Liber Kaos - Das Psychonomikon" (German 1994) he presented an eightfold system of magic, which was based on Terry Pratchett's "The color of magic" (1983 ) is ajar. This time he referred to the origin in a footnote and the bibliography.
Magical paradigm shift
Perhaps the most striking feature of Chaos Magic is the concept of the magical paradigm shift. The technique arose to arbitrarily change one's own magic model (or paradigm), which became a basic idea of chaos magic. An example of a magical paradigm shift would be to first perform a ritual from the “ Necronomicon ” and then perform a rune spell . These two magical paradigms are very different from one another; however, while the Chaos Mage uses one of them, he is completely convinced of it. This implies that all other magical paradigms (which are often mutually exclusive) are ignored at this moment.
The Gnostic State
Another basic idea is the Gnostic state, a state of consciousness that is created by Chaos Magic practitioners to perform most forms of magic. In this way, the theurgical invocations of God, pacts with the devil or related ideas that were necessary in older magic traditions are replaced by a “magical” state of consciousness. A precursor to this idea is the way in which Aleister Crowley interpreted the Buddhist concept of samadhi . Comparable approaches, but without references to yoga, should also be found in the works of Austin Osman Spare.
The gnostic state is to be achieved by focusing consciousness on a single point, thought or goal and excluding all other thoughts. The aim should be to switch off everyday and discursive consciousness and thereby gain access to the subconscious. The techniques that lead to gnosis can be divided into two broad categories suggested by Peter Carroll:
- Attenuation gnosis ("inhibitory gnosis")
- These techniques work with calming or switching off the senses. These include, for example, all kinds of (active) meditation , prayers , drugs, concentration on only one sense or the so-called "death position", in which the magician tries to blindfold, with earplugs, closed nose and mouth with empty lungs (exhaled State) to remain in bed for as long as possible until the survival instinct of his body takes control and he gasps for air more or less in panic - at that very moment, the waking consciousness is switched off (it's all about survival), and gnosis is reached.
- Erregungsgnosis ( "excitatory gnosis")
- These techniques attempt to turn off the waking consciousness by overstimulating the senses. Such as: Loud music, ecstatic dancing, intense physical training. Here, too, the overstimulation of the senses creates a state that switches off the waking, thinking consciousness and opens the gate to the subconscious. In these moments you follow your instincts and ignore disturbing physical signals such as pain or pleasure. Concentrating only on the goal, without thinking about possible consequences, it is as if you were “guided by a foreign power”.
A third category of gnosis technique suggested by Phil Hine is:
- Indifferent emptiness ( "indifferent vacuity")
- It is achieved when the intended effect of the spell is to a certain extent bored, “in passing”, visualized or brought into character form ( sigil ). It is important here - as with all other magic techniques - to forget or suppress as quickly as possible that you have performed a magical activity at all.
Chaos Mages each develop their own methods of achieving these states. All these methods are based on the view that a simple thought or simple instruction is experienced in the Gnostic state and is quickly forgotten afterwards, enters the unconscious and is implemented there by means of abilities that are not accessible to conscious thinking.
Chaos Mage
Those who practice chaos magic try to stand outside of all categories. Worldviews , theories, beliefs, opinions, habits and even personalities are only tools for the chaos magicians that can be chosen at random in order to understand and shape the world that they see and create around them. Chaos magicians are often described as funny, extreme, and very individualistic . They also consider themselves extraordinarily tolerant, because in their opinion all things that one could argue about are only opinions and are therefore freely interchangeable. Important representatives of chaos magic are or were: Peter Carroll, Jan Fries , Jaq D. Hawkins and Ray Sherwin.
Symbols and deities
Chaos magic differs from all other magical traditions in that it does not give any symbol or deity special meaning. Wicca and Thelema, for example, are inconceivable without the goddess or without Aiwass . In contrast, Chaos Mages can freely choose ideas or ideas that they worship, invoke, or evoke . The "Baphomet", an animal-human hybrid being known since Eliphas Levi, is worth mentioning.
A chaos magic approach is the use of colors to systematize the forces behind the “gods” used in the ritual. This color allocation is based on the allocation to the Hermetic Kabbalah tree of life used by the Golden Dawn and other organizations . In Liber Kaos , Peter Carroll presents this assignment as follows:
- Violet or Silver: Sex Magic
- Green: love magic
- Orange: thinking magic
- Yellow: egomagic
- Red: war magic
- Blue: fortune magic
- Black: death magic
- Oktarin: Pure magic
The color octarine is assigned to the planet Uranus and understood as a "personal note", which corresponds to the nature of the practicing magician. The remaining seven colors, which correspond to the seven planets of classical astrology, are supposed to stand for the influence of the environment and culture.
True to the idea that everything can have meaning and magical power, there are chaos magic rituals around concepts as diverse as the color octarine (see: Discworld ), worn socks or Harpo Marx . In some cases, these ritual uses have evolved into short-lived but complex cults that can be seen as parodies of more orderly magical traditions or of order in general. In addition, traditional deities associated with chaos such as Tiamat , Loki, and Hun Dun are popular, as are the beings described in the Necronomicon.
The eight-pointed chaos star, originally taken from the fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, is often used by chaos magicians. However, this preference is not shared by everyone and may only arise from the semi-official use of this symbol by the "Illuminati of Thanateros". Most Chaos Mages regularly create new magical symbols for personal use - see: Sigil Magic .
Chaos Magic in Pop Culture
In the 1990s, chaos magic was occasionally mentioned in Marvel comics and Buffy , as the “chaos magician” Grant Morrison portrays in his comic book epic The Invisibles .
In the role-playing games and tabletop games Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 brought out by Games Workshop , chaos magic also plays a role; followers of chaos often wear chaos stars on armor, weapons or tanks. Here, however, chaos magic is fundamentally reprehensible because it deforms the user mentally and physically over time. There are also 4 primary (and some lesser) antagonistic deities of chaos, namely Khorne (war), Nurgle (decay), Slaanesh (debauchery) and Tzeentch (change).
literature
- Peter J. Carroll: The Apophenion: A Chaos Magical Paradigm. Red Dragon Edition, 2012. ISBN 3-939459-37-2
- Jaq D. Hawkins: Chaos Magic. Basics and background. Edition Esoterick, 2nd edition 2009. ISBN 978-3-936830-32-3
- Peter J. Carroll: Liber Null & Psychonaut. Edition Ananael, 2005. ISBN 3-901134-21-2
- Peter J. Carroll: Liber Kaos. The psychonomicon. Edition Ananael, 1994. ISBN 3-901134-05-0
- Brother 717: Manual of Chaos Magic. Bohmeier Verlag, 1992. ISBN 3-89094-257-1