I have included some graphs in the essay which will not appear in this post. I can email the essay to anyone so they can see the essay in totality if they like. I believe that the concepts contained in the graphs are explained well enough that the essay will still make sense.

Have you ever known something would happen before it did? Chances are, you have. Everyone experiences intuition in one way or another during their life time. Have you ever heard of the placebo effect with medication? This of course would be called healing magic. Would you like to refine these abilities? I don’t think one person exists who would say no. Through the adverse practice of Chaos Magic, one can develop these abilities beyond the normal scope. Chaos magic analyzes techniques from many different spiritual doctrines, models and paradigms, strips away the unnecessary dogmatic elements or connotations, and leaves the simple procedures necessary to achieve results with magical operations. The operator has the ability to utilize any symbolism they desire for magic works so long as the necessary ritual elements accompany it. The chaos magic Current began in the late 1970’s with the authors Peter J Carroll and Ray Sherwin. These two practitioners set out to discover what components of magical ritual were necessary to achieve results and threw the rest of the unnecessary symbolism and superstitions out the window. In this light, chaos magic acts as the supreme vehicle of utilitarianism. Since then, many authors have sprung up on the scene. Chaos magic draws from Buddhism, A.O Spares’s sigil technique, Kabala, Neuro linguistic programming, Enochian magic, H.P. Lovecraft’s Horror Writings, and any other symbolic system the operator chooses to use. Although most people do not think themselves capable of magic, countless magicians exist who do.

Peter J. Carroll has written, “It only takes one belief to make a magician, the belief that belief is a tool, not an end in it self.” What the author has spoken of here is the phenomenon of meta-beliefs, or beliefs used to describe beliefs. Through the use of meta-belief we can free ourselves from the pit of dogma and return ourselves to the arena of freedom of belief and in effect, broaden the realm of action we find ourselves capable of. Peter J. Carroll and Ray Sherwin have attempted to refine the procedures involved in Chaos magic and leave the aspiring magician with a frame work of elements necessary to achieve result. These elements are a statement of intent, a means to achieve gnosis, (gnosis acts as an extraordinary state of consciousness or single pointed awareness.) A symbol set of any kind which acts as a way for the conscious mind to communicate the intent with the sub conscious mind covertly, and analyzing the elements of circumstance in order to create a medium through which the intent may manifest.

Chaos magic differs from other systems of magic because it does not rely on a dogmatic belief structure to achieve results. The system of magic called Thelema which Aleister Crowley created in 1904 relies on continued belief in the system and strict adherence to the moral doctrine in order for the aspiring magician to achieve results using it, this system sets up a limiting field of action for the magician. The same circumstances bind other magical systems to dogma such as the Norse, Druidic, or New Age Pagan paradigms. In these systems, the magician’s power comes from their belief in the system. Without the systems, the magician would cease to have power which creates a dependence on the system on the magician’s part. These constricting paradigms cause an identity to evolve based on the magicians involvement with the system. Chaos Magic theory, or CMT, does not come equipped with any moral philosophy for the magician to uphold and thereby find identity. It also does not place any necessary beliefs on the magician save the meta-belief that belief exists as a means to an end, not an end itself. (Peter Carroll, 1987) In this light, chaos magic should be considered an attitude which is adopted by the magician as opposed to a full blown magical system. With this belief, the Chaos magician has the freedom to fill in the void of symbolism with anything they desire. Subsequently, no two Chaos magicians will exhibit the same beliefs at any given time.

Chaos Magicians will at times draw from the symbolism of the Thelemic, Norse, Druidic, or New Age Pagan paradigms in order to achieve results with magic; they may also draw from the symbolism of out right fictitious systems such as the Lovecraftian Chuthulu mythos. The fact that a system has no valid proof does not concern the Chaos Magician so long as the belief invested in it reaches a high enough pitch to cause a paradigm shift which acts as a change in the magicians world view. Peter Carroll, who many consider the father of Chaos Magic, said something along the lines of, “Chaos Magician’s cares not if they have to temporarily believe that something other then their selves caused the event to occur so long as the desired result manifests.” This says a lot about the philosophy of the Chaos Magician. Beliefs, when held for a small amount of time in order to achieve a result and then abandoned become a tool.

Any paradigm, even those of the Chaos Magician’s devising have potential for utilization and manipulation as a symbol system by which the magician achieves results. The basic tenets of Chaos magic rely on shifting beliefs or assumptions about the world in order to manifest coincidence. Many mediums or tools exist through which the Chaos magician can utilize their craft. These tools center on sleight of mind techniques by which the magician tricks their mind into performing magic. Sleights of mind techniques are necessary because the conscious mind must be bypassed in order to allow the sub conscious to act magically. Figure 1 demonstrates the necessary state called gnosis which the Chaos magician exploits in order to manifest desire. The state of gnosis does not contain the whole of the art, but it instead acts as a state which transcends normal functioning of the organism and creates a conversation between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Many tricks exist which will bring about this state. Adepts of the magical arts have used sound and image concentration, the contemplation of paradox and contradiction, extreme pain, yoga, and many other tools to achieve this state. One may enter Gnosis through any of the four other states. Extreme focus of the attention on abstracted forms of desire will cause a state of gnosis just as the art of lucid dreaming can act as a door way to it. Extreme fear or Elation can function as a medium for gnosis which would center on the attention drive. Chaos magician will also exploit their robotic functions and use habitual acts as symbols of desire, this practice centers around forcefully associating the desired outcome with the habit. Once the association has taken place, the habit acts as an anchor for the desired outcome and passes unnoticed into the subconscious mind.

Fig. 1

Before the state of Gnosis can act in a magical way, the magician must devise a sigil or mantra which acts as an abstract form of desire. Peter Carroll said, “There are three parts to the operation of sigils. The sigil is constructed, the sigil is lost to the mind, the sigil is charged.” The art of sigils relies on developing a desire in sentence form, deleting all repeating letters, creating a glyph out of the remaining letters and then charging it by means of gnosis after losing the meaning to the conscious mind. If an adapted practitioner of magic has mastered the ability of not thinking, then the process of losing the meaning of the sigil to the conscious mind does not have to take place over a long period of time. All things in magical, religious, or spiritual practice rely on this technique. Take for example how most ancient pagan religions only summoned their gods for distinct purposes, the god form acts as a sigil for the intent with which devotion, emotion and belief all become invested in.

Figure two illustrates how the Chaos Magician has free belief potentially invested in all things with a bit of humor added to the equation. The percentages to the left illustrate the amount of belief necessary for the practitioners of the Christian, Muslim and Chaote belief structures must invest in order to exist within their paradigm. Anything reaching higher then one hundred percent would represent religious fanaticism where in the world view of the person becomes completely dependant on the belief structure.

Fig. 2

By using this graph, an illustration will be made of how a Chaote would go about structuring their freestyle ritual magic when using Santa Claus. For this type of working which is commonly called evocation, the magician desires to call forth the spirit and gain its favor. Chaos Magicians have identified four basic models of how magic works. These are the spiritist model, the energy model, the psychological model, and the cybernetics model. (Hine, 1993) For this working, we will utilize the spiritist model. According to the spiritist model, all entities (Gods, goddesses, demons, elementals, angels, servitors, etc.) are real, and have a separate existence from those of us who would dare to deal with them. (Phil Hine, 1993) One thing we must consider paramount when structuring a magical ritual is the atmosphere of the ritual room. By paying close attention to the atmosphere, we can tailor a rooms theme to that of the theme of the ritual. For a working with Santa Claus, we would want to design the room to communicate an atmosphere of Christmas. Wreaths, a Christmas tree, missal toe, Christmas lights could all be hung around the room, eggnog could be drank as a sacrament in honor of the Jolly spirit. Now that we have tailored our atmosphere, we must worry about the intent of the ritual. For this type of entity, it would be unwise to use it for things which are not germane to its nature such as divining the future, malicious intent, or causing a change in ones self through the act of magical illumination. We will make the statement of intent for the ritual “I will receive a copy of Liber Null as a gift.” This sentence would then undergo the sigil technique and possibly be placed inside of a box wrapped in Christmas paper to be opened at the end of the rite or kept hidden in the closet after the ritual as a psychological reinforcement of the desired outcome. A calling or invocation of the spirit of Santa Claus is then tailored in the magicians own words. The element of gnosis can also be induced using a method which fits the atmosphere. Using the song jingle bells as a mantra and ringing a hand full of bells will cause a trance state after continued repetition. The banishing ritual acts as a means for the magician to trace a magical barrier about themselves, exercise unwanted psychic phenomenon, and to ready the magician for greater mental focus. Banishing rituals are traditionally performed before and after more intense rituals. Many banishing rituals exist in many forms and can be found on the internet in all forms. Chaos magician use laughter as a banishing when performing ritual magic. Laughter is used because it has the tendency of causing a state of no mind. A banishing ritual devised by the performer is the best place to start. After the magician has considered the elements necessary for the evocation, they decide when to perform it. The ritual can be broken down into 8 steps, memorized and then performed.

1. Banishing ritual
2. Statement of intent
3. Gnosis is entered by means of Jingle bells mantra and bell ringing whilst focusing on the sigilized version of the intent
4. Invocation to the spirit of Santa Claus is delivered
5. Eggnog is drank as a sacrament of the spirit
6. The present is opened in a the fevered pitch of gnosis and the sigils material base is then destroyed
7. Banishing ritual
8. Forget you ever performed the ritual and move on to the next thing which interests you

Chaos magic does not exist devoid of slogans. The statement nothing is true, all is permitted sums up the whole of Chaos Magic and illustrates a unique quality. Practitioners of Chaos magic deny any belief in ultimate reality, some things may be held true for a certain time if useful, but are just as vulnerable as anything else if the magician decides to take their work in another direction. The statement “nothing is true, all is permitted” should also be taken to mean that everything is inherently false and without absolute validity unless the magician decides to give it meaning in their life. The slogan, “fake it, till you make it,” underlines the very technique of Chaos Magic. This statement means that we should treat belief as though it were capital, with a large enough investment; the belief will become a staple of our world view and allow us to use it for our own gain.

Different organizations exist within the chaos current such as the Discordian’s, the Illuminates of Thanateros and the Autonomatrix. The mission of the Discordian’s, or lack there of is emphasized by the Greek Goddess of Chaos Eris. This goddess is famous for instigating chaos at a party held by Zues, which she was not invited to because of her reputation for chaotic behavior. Outraged by this gesture, Eris threw an apple into the party which read Kallisti, which means, to the prettiest one. This of course caused dissention among all of the goddesses present who claimed the apple for themselves and a fight ensued. Discordians are known for their value of humor in ritual magic, this is apparent in their Grand Invocation of Harpo Marx who is associated with the God of silence Harpocrates. The aim of the write is to promote laughter by exposing the perils of self importance. (Phil Hine, 1993) The person performing the rite ridicules all present while beeping a horn in the fashion of the silent film star. All members of The Church of Eris can declare themselves popes because in the Erisian church’s eyes, “Every man, woman, and child on this earth is a genuine and authorized pope.” (Steve Games, 1994) This practice emphasizes the belief that religious or spiritual authority’s power over us is illusory. The Illuminates of Thanateros were founded by Peter Carroll and Ray Sherwin in the late 1970’s. This order represents the more traditional aspects of Chaos Magic. Carroll wrote in Liber Null and Psychonaut, “Thanateros takes its name from the god of sex, Eros, and death, Thanatos. Apart from being humanities two greatest obsessions and motivating forces, sex and death represent the positive and negative methods of attaining magical consciousness. There is no formal Hierarchy in the IOT, there is a division of activity depending on ability as it develops” The symbolism of the name the Illuminates of Thanateros encompasses the illumination of the dual principle which human kind exists between. The Autonomatrix exists as a magical guild conducting their business on line. The manifesto of the guild states, “The Autonomatrix is a network chaos guild of those striving to discover, rejuvenate and disseminate magical ideas and technical skills with success as the only key to validation.” (Autonomatrix, 2009) Members post their rituals on the website and communicate through a Yahoo group to discuss their practices.

Chaos Magicians do not place much emphasis on achieving such things as Enlightenment or conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel like practitioners of Buddhism or Thelema. Chaoism does at time resemble Gnani Yoga. “Gnani Yoga is a philosophical system of meditation by which individuals change their belief system.” (Simpkins, Simpkins, 1996) The idea of the higher self does not usually come into play when practicing Chaos Magic unless the magician in question has decided to work with a Thelemic paradigm or any paradigm which stresses this belief. The idea of true will seems laughable when considering the philosophy of Chaoism and the out right denial of ultimate truth within the system. Chaos Magic has set out to discover the bare essentials of achieving results and thrown the rest out the window. When a person aspires to become a Chaos Magician, they learn technique first, and then have the chance to mask their art in whatever symbolism they desire. The shear offhand attitude of the Chaote allows them to experiment with beliefs as opposed to up hold them.
If the topic discussed in the essay has sparked an interest in you, I recommend you purchase a copy of Liber Null and Psychonaut by Peter J. Carroll. In the book you will find a training program necessary for any results with magic. Through the training program you will learn how to use sound and image concentration, how to use sigils, and many other practices which pertain to Chaos magic. The bottom line with Chaos magic is to have fun, experiment often and learn what works for you. Magic is a very personal art without the necessity of Gods towering over you demanding moral adherence to spiritual laws. A practitioner of magic can change any aspect of themselves through metamorphosis which they see fit because they realize they do not consist of a personality, but instead have developed one as a result of their existence.

Throughout this essay we have discussed the necessary components of magical operations, the attitude which Chaos magicians take toward magic in order to use intuition deliberately and the comparison between dogmatic systems and chaotic ones. We have learned the mental states needed to make magic work. We have learned how to use beliefs instead of allow them to decide the course of our lives. We have at this point of our evolution realized through materialism and the unfounded queries of philosophy that life has no inherent meaning or set course but rather selects the most probable outcome. In a world that is going nowhere in particular, should we not thieve from the super market of belief? In the famous words of Fredrick Nietzsche when he announced the arrival of nihilism, “God is dead.” And from a Chaoist’s perspective, long live the gods as we invest belief in whatever seems useful at the moment.

Carroll, P. J. (1987) Liber Null and Psychonaut
Hine, P. (1993) Prime Chaos
Simpkins, A.M. (1996) Principles of Meditation
Games, S. (1994) Principia Discordia
Autonomatrix, (2009) Autonomatrix, Guild of Chaos Magic