Regarding the missing years of Jesus, I very highly recommend The Nag Hammadi Library, edited by James M. Robinson. Even In this Internet age, and much like Hands-On Chaos Magic, this book is worth getting.

Drench

Thanks for the advice, Anomoly. I can feel my tiny mind buckling under the possibilities already. I've long thought of time as non-linear and 'everything' as happening simultaneously, but the (imaginary) experience of entropy is holding me back, I think. Next task - expand my mind to absorb the multiple selves in the multiple dimensions.

No, this hasn't occured to me. Can you explain more?

Thanks for the reading suggestion. A preliminary search for Apocrapha brings up dozens of books not included in the bibble, so i'll get discerning and find the one you're referring to... Sounds like a good read.

Sienna

Ahhh... your previous comment seemed a bit misleading then... by saying it puts you "there" I think most would at least assume you were talking about gnosis. So is it safe to say that "there" is a light trance that occurs before you enter a single pointed state of consciousness? How do you perceive gnosis? Some like to call it single pointedness, such as on a mantra, sigil or no mind. Others see it as nothing more than a state of meditation, an altered state of consciousness.

I don't like the kabbalah. It ate me and it was hard to get rid of b/c I had surrounded most of my meditations around it. I hadn't actually realized the web I was caught in until anomoly pointed it out to me. The system seems a lot less concerned with gaining results and a lot more concerned with figuring out where you are on its arbitrary map. If anything, I would call it a vampire, sucking you into its system of control.

I guess I can see why someone would want to use a monotheistic paradigm, it does draw some benefits. Personally, I just enjoy using more eastern spiritual paradigms, but everyone's different. The only other major benefit I could see is being able to implore the Kabbalistic teachings, which I've found to be very powerful and complete system.

I suppose "there" for me is not gnosis in itself, but a state in which it is more easily attained. Sensory deprivation and or ecstatic dancing is not gnosis either, but a catalyst for it to occur.

abilities obtained from Christianity ... you could invoke lil baby jesus to cast out a demon or exorcise a believer of the christian faith - call forth the arch angels for protection or other abilities they possess - healing through the power of the G.O.D. , the ability to walk around with an undeserving sense of accomplishment, exorcise gay demons out of your butt buddies

... etc.

What is "there" like for you?

What an interesting concept. Christians believe that that the only key to gaining access to heaven is belief and worship of Jesus Christ, and that he died to free us from the weight of our sins. Applying the method of meta-belief, one could sincerely believe in Christianity, while also practicing magic, alongside a horde of other beliefs. What abilities and paradigms could be provided from the adoption of a traditional religion, such as Christianity? I would be curious to hear opinions.

Just as a side note, another great way to achieve gnosis for me has been suspending myself in a body of water. The weightlessness and lessened sensory input really puts me "there".

Sidhe Druid,

After reading your post I see that you are clinging to a linear scale of time and I want to point out that this type of thinking limits the potential for what one can do with this type of ritual work. Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. I reccomend that you adopt a multi dimensional paradigm where in selves of all persuasion can be contacted. Better is a subjective term, the self which you consider lesser or base might consider you to be incompetent. read up on some quantum physics, this paradigm is rich with magical possibility. By using it you will see that you can contact selves which are entirely abstract and have no resemblance to yourself whatsoever, but which might have knowldge and abilities which you might desire. I think that after a careful consideration of the nature of Kia and its integration with quatum conception you will have a much more diverse and rewarding platform to work from. Remember that the self which you parade around as at present merely exists as a mask of the ineffable Kia. Illusion is our way of life and to destroy the illusion means that you have accepted the vast possibility that in some alternate realities you dont even exist. Truth is a subjective term, take heed to not accept something as ultimate reality, this will merely lead you to madness and make others incredulous to you. The untruth of the contradiction you so valently hope to prove on a daily basis will grow until your reality shatters and you are left with an empty void where you carefully crafted universal truth used to reside. I do not say this without sincerety, just consider it advice from someone who has been there.

Has the idea that this is not relevant other than when you are in your ritual space crossed your mind?

Other than all that, check out the Apocrapha, it is one of the books banned by the cousil of Nacea and tells the tale of Christ from when he was twelve till whenever the fuck he supposedly resurfaced, 30 or something. He fights a lot of magician in it. On an entertainment scale, it is a 100 where as the bible is a -3.

Solstice,

No worries love, I look forward to meeting you. I have been reading up on running groups and workshops (mainly hine and sherwin) and I think I want to use an initiatory group format. Initiation is very important where concerning rapport and trust in group work. I do want to be elitist in desiding upon members but I think that the best format for this would be a democratic system, secret ballots and what not. Potentially I want to bring in the serious order for serious chaos magician but I would like to build a solid foundation and put this to a vote before initiating the idea. I plan on keeping tedious records of everyones progress with MMM in case they one day hope to do something with them. If you would like, and I would like it as well, you could come in as a guest speaker with Andrieh or just yourself. I have a core group of individuals whom I am going to approach in the near future and set up a reliable schedule for group meetings. The core group consists of about five or six people. I have never held to the idea that great numbers equals great power, I would rather have a small group of competent individuals able to support each other in ritual than record numbers of followers. I just want to be a practicing member more so than a group leader, but i am sure there will be those who need instruction.

All,

As for the idea of the holy guardian angel, fuck it. This is a horrible term which leads people to do stupid things. Carroll describes the holy guardian angel as a misconception which stiffles the evolution of the magician. This mistake occurs when the magician identifies with some power or ability or spiritual conception and regards it as higher than their pitiful material self in a transcendental sense. beyond this point the magician can make little progress because they have accepted something outside of themselves as greater than the chaotic ineffable void that resides within. In my opinion, people are typically confused by this concept and regard it as a guiding force which has more validity than their own intuition. We need not cling to the spiritist model of magic as a rule of thumb. The misconception which most make about this so called HGA is in actuality the demon choronzon which manifests as an identification and acceptance of the by products of our own genius. Obsession leads to stagnation which ultimately leads to lethargy and static. I say fuck the whole idea. Void Void Void goes the scrap of chaos in mine center, create and leave the creations behind to do as they please. Has anyone heard about these fanatic religious types, apparently they view something outside of themselves as higher and more real than the material world and spend their entire life denying their own needs because it pleases their god whom has more validity than their pitiful mortal struggles.

I tend to think that most systems new and old are to complicated for their own good. Some spend to much time worrying about whether or not their model makes sense and not about whether or not it produces the desirable results. Ever try and work with two contradictory models at the same time? The truth is humans have not created a reliable system since their inception, this explains why there are people challenging all models of reality in all parts of the world. The gretest thinkers were the greatest dreamers offering a break from the ways of old and a new experience for all to entertain themselves with, only now the story tellers have to rely on mathmatic equations to tell their tales rather than myth. Ultimate truth would mean you could not fight agianst it, you could do nothing but accept it or deny it or become an outcast who is regarded as crazy. Everything is a subjective fairy tale. There might just exist a selve out there that lives in a chlorine based universe who has acidic blood.

Does not the term fake it till you make it mean anything to you people? In this statement I/we/Z find freedom and an acceptance of the belief that the universe tends to verify any belief we hold about it. Magic is a collection of techniques, ideas and practices, I feel that the true essence of magic at this time in the universe is to expand the realm of acheivable reality for those who shall replace us and also to expand the acceptable boundries of what others consider magical techniques, ideas and practices.

I think drugs are an excellent gateway to gnosis so long as all parties are experienced and able to hold their own when doing them. I have a tolerance that refuses to dissapear even after years of abstenance from drugs. But that does not mean that they do not loosen the hold of the psychic sensor from time to time so that strange and abstract messages can come crawling through and present themselves as messages from the great beyond or where ever the fuck they are coming from. I recently shapeshifted/morphed into another person and my best of friends did not recognise me from two feet away than made a cop dissapear while fucked up on E. I have witnesses. Not to mention the 5 million or so people I vamped to feed a giant gnosis Anchor above Detroit for three days. I have since fed the baby at concerts and big events, I meanly use this for deep trance and gnostic states when I am in a hurry.

I had deep seeded issues with monotheism and the like until I started parading around calling myself a christian and accepting christ on a daily basis. I changed my speech patterns, habits, emotional attachments and beliefs about the group. Now, I hate them equally with everyone else but apparently I am going to Heaven because I have accepted Jesus into my heart, funny how that worked. I thought about this long and hard and decided that my reservations did not lie with christians alone yet all who consider themselves higher than others because they are christian or muslim or democrat or liberal, this issue goes much deeper than one group, it lies with the tendency of peope to flock to a hive mind perspective which offers them verification that the universe does in fact have a hidden meaning and that they are indeed more enlightened than those who have not accepted this fact. People are fucking stupid. I know relish in this idea though and I hope that more people become christian or muslim or whatever because this keeps me at an advantage magically and also gives me someone to make fun of when the right kind of people are around. i do not want the entire world to be populated by magician, I have the upper hand that most do not. So by becoming what I hated I learned the ins and outs of the system and then became able to compare it to one big flaw that I perceived which i had been simplifying by hating christians. People are the issue because there is no such thing as a christian, merely people who have decided to give their allegiance to group A rather than group B and in effect alianated themselves from groups C, Q, M and R because their message does not fit in with their carefully cultivated bullshit.

Freedom of expression means freedom to make others listen to your senseless crap. The real skill lies in creating something undeniably valid so that the majority accepts it and the rest have no choice but to accept it because no one, no matter who they are, wants to be shunned by everyone. I say valid because there is no such thing as a sound claim, heisenburg proved this many years ago.

Frater Dramaticus Anomalia
Z

P.S. Does anyone want to be involved in a dual invocation of Baphomet and Choronzon? Im just curious to see what would happen, lol. I heard some of the best advice the other day:

If someone says that a magical operation is extremely dangerous, than that should be the first thing you do when you get home. Josh Wetzel AkA Frater Palimpsest

object concentration proves great for gnosis... (meditating on the flame) ... many of the forum members posted some of their preferred methods under the thread " inhibitory gnosis" ... as for me I have preference to inhibitory gnosis. I use sound concentration on a meaningless mantra and I use ear plugs (mostly to drown out all sound from my room mate)

For the charging of sigils I have used the same technique above and others... Sexual Gnois, Dancing, Death Posture (however, i would call it half death posture... I dont actually pass out... But i hold my breath until the point of passing out while chanting or visualizing my sigil) I have found rock concerts to be a great place for excitory gnosis for charging sigils... chemognosis ( more in my past than now ) ... often times I take use of the robotic states of mind while driving or at work to charge sigils as well.. this has proven quite affective. I have also used working out to reach one pointedness, during the last rep of a set when all my will goes into lifting the weight i will visualize or chant my sigil.

I have always had a love of writing, and one of the habits I consciously formed when I began study of the magical and spiritual subjects was to keep a journal of the bulk of my past divinations, dreams, spells, and rituals. It never felt to be too tedious or time-consuming, and I'm glad to now have the records to look back on. It's as if I have a nearly unbroken record of magical evolution in the pages. As for the magical name, I sought one for the purpose of communication with my newest journal, arguably the most powerful tool in a magician's arsenal, in my opinion. I thought that if I adapted a persona to be able to see hidden and intuitive information in the journal, it might become more easily accessible. It's too early to tell whether or not it will lend useful results, and I might as well try it, although my gut is hopeful.

As for my experiences with gnosis, I have achieved it through several different methods, including ecstatic dance, glossolalia, deep rhythmic breathing, and even painting (although only on rare occasion). My favourite and most profound experiences with gnosis (thus far) have been called forth by focusing my being on a single flame, the only source of light in a darkened room, while engaged in a meditative state. Recently this is the only technique I have used. I should probably shake up my practice a bit if I want it to it retain effectiveness. I have also experienced it through the use of psychedelics, although I found the resulting states very hard to control, and often now shy away from chemognosis, unless only aided by a relatively mild drug.

I would be curious to hear other peoples' techniques to achive personal gnosis, if any are willing to share.

Ooh that is a good way to get over an aversion to judeo-christian terminology - I also have this aversion, having been brought up in one of the most pervasive mind-control cults. Reading Abramelin has helped a great deal to see the magickal (rather than religious) aspects of it all. I'm not yet reaching for a copy of the bible for reference though. I was at a hotel in Malawi recently (very christian country) and all the rooms had bibles so I did have a look through. Astoundingly uninteresting. I imagine all the books that were left out at the Council of Nicea are more interesting so I might start with those...

The future magickal selves are presumably a "better" version of us now, so we can access them for just about anything - performing rituals, to get knowledge, to increase psychic ability. The only pitfall with the reasoning is that if I am a pompous ass (or timid wallflower or whatever) now, am I just an even bigger pompous ass (or timid wallflower) in the future? possibly. But I also intend to do lots of work between now and the future to reduce character flaws and get wiser.

Some time-travel stuff does get me tied up in paradoxes but the question of the future selves doesn't, as it happens. It doesn't rely on me needing to perform a corresponding ritual in the future to match the one I'm doing at the time. The reason in my logic lies in the assumption that my futures selves will access the astral plane or whatever you want to call it, maybe through ritual but also through dreaming and other ways that I haven't yet thought of. The ritual of "The Conference of Selves Outside the SpaceTime Continuum" is about asking the subconscious to "invite" the future selves that are most appropriate for me right now while my current conscious self acts as moderator of the selves and the knowledge that they share. There is a paradox here in that once outside the spacetime continuum, my selves have access to ALL knowledge so why would I only want some of that? I haven't fully worked that out yet, except I may have specific things that I want to know right now.

In case you're interested, the ritual involves preparations of displaying conference posters (with the conference objectives, keynote speakers, workshops etc) and sending out invitations to myselves. The ritual itself is pretty simple - burning all the material during gnosis and sending my currently magickal self to the conference. It'll get more sophisticated and interesting each time I do it, hopefully.

In terms of the name thing, I wasn't sure what I was really asking of my future selves here - I equated the future selves with my HGA and everyone else seems to get a name for their HGA. So I was kind of expecting one too. When a name did come to me, it occured to me that if it's my future magickal selves' name then should I take it for my own name, seeing as I plan to become my future self?

Anomaly,

So you essentially take on that other aspect of persona and attain the trance state and just let them 'download' as it were? Sort of like taking on the future 'self' and downloading into your present magical persona/s?

*Chuckle* ;) Yes- you understand the nails-on-chalkboard reaction quite well LOL Let me be clear- in case there is any doubt- I wasn't at all chastising you for the comment- I was more commenting for the sake of others reading that and thinking "gee, I should go be a teacher if I want to really 'get' this shit" - :lol: . From what I know of you- I most certainly would not classify you into my reactionary rant- I was just thinking "Oh shit- no- let's not have all the newbies out there setting out "Magical Teacher Here" signs on their doors! LOL :shock: :? :o

I know what you mean- I too am wary about starting the Cleveland group... Alot of... "challenging" people tend to come out to anything metaphysical-sounding... I got burnt out doing a group before, but after time away I figure even if I only find one other person who is serious about magic- it's worth it. I'll get burnt out with it, and I'll take a hiatus- recouperate and hack at it some more- lather, rinse, repeat... LOL And- this time around, if people want to act like idiots- I'm just going to tell them to take it somewhere else and not come back. Nicely of course ;)

Hello All,

I have no specific rituals for this type of endeavor, I merely assume a specific trance state and allow the information/genius to seep in. Some personalities which I have created have a better ability with this and other styles of magick but I would assume this is apparent.

I understand why you would be irritated by this Solstice, but i count myself as one of the few amoung the many. Most of what I teach is merely speculative at best and proven for myself and others if not. People tend to accept bull shit as truth such as Conway or any random book on vampirism. Suck my fucking cock and to hell with all of them. I have actually struggled to find compitent individuals in my area. I have thought about going to some of the local pagan meetups but I am sure I will run into a slew of the people you mentioned, not to mention those whom want to discuss the right ways of doing magick as opposed to the wrong ways, yet another stupid fucking useless argument which I will have to tell people they are stupid for having. Look what you are doing to me Solstice, Im having a fit.

I hope that the Detroit group turns out to be something worth having. We will see...

Anomaly

Ahh I see... Have you conversed using your magical name with your magical tool yet? What kind of conversations do you have with it? To give it commands or seek information from it? What is it used for? Can I have it? ... j/k

What methods do you use to reach gnosis?

I was actually seeking a name to use in dialogue with one of my magical tools, not an overall umbrella term for my "magical" self. Similar to what Anomaly stated about characterizing one aspect of the self. I did eventually make up my mind on one I could just use for this purpose, after reading your posts and following up with some other enquiries. I also discovered that there are a lot of age restrictions on joining a magically affiliated group, so it may be better to wait a time, continuing to learn more on my own, and working with teachers of spirit. Teachers nonetheless seem to be an important stepping-stone though, so I will be sure to keep my eyes open to the possibilities.

I would also be interested to see what some of these rituals were like Anomaly?

I was raised to practice meditation for many years, and when interest arose in magic, I had the recognition that the deeper levels of trance achieved before were gnosis, in terms of a magician. I do own a copy of Liber Null & Psychonaut, and although I do study material that concerns magic more often than I use it, I have practiced for a few years, engaging in works of sigila, entity creation, and invocation, among others. But thanks for the suggestions; they were good ones.

-Punarbhava

If you have the background/theory/experience to back up the teaching and it's sound teaching-then I've got no 'beef' ;) I don't mean you specifically- just tired of "playgans" who think because they've read something by Conway once upon a time or saw a copy of Bucky's Big Blue on a shelf back in 82 that they can set themselves up as a 'teacher' LOL You know the types, I'll bite my tongue on the rant... :lol:

I -am- curious though- and this is unrelated to the rant... Do you also do academic research on what you pick up via these methods? What methods do you use to 'check yourself'? And- have you ever personally received conflicting information from these sources? ;) *curious as always* :D And hey- if you have any specific rituals you'd care to post on this method- do share... :ugeek:

The best way to ascertain credibility is to ask questions. How long has the teacher/group been teaching? Where did they get their training and experience- or, what is their lineage (and how long have they been initiated/practicing/etc.) What are they all about? What are their practices/beliefs? Do they have an "outer court" (such as public classes/events) where you can get to know them from the outside to get to know them and establish some familiarity and trust? Above all- using common sense and ones intuition are generally the best guides along this line...

Hi Solstice,

I see your beef, I to hate this scenario. I guess I should have spelled it out a little better because I now see your side of the argument but either way it has proven a solid technique for me. I have delved deeper into the scenario than a simple explanation would justify.

I tend to learn more when I am teaching, I did not advise anyone else to use this method I merely pointed out that for me it is a good idea and a gateway to new revelations. But the fact remains that I have ten years of experience and practice to back up my claims and explanation where as some will only have a few authors to quote. I guess that this tendency comes from the possession type experience I evoke when instructing others that puts me into a strange gnosis, one which makes it easier for me to receive answers to questions postulated by my own subconscious. I hear one of the tricks to being a good con man is to believe your own con. Just a thought. I beleive this is called a centric trance state.

Anomaly

solstice, I think anomoly was referring to seeing yourself as a teacher in such a way that we teach ourselves through our own experience, not so much as a teacher to other people. But I'll let him respond to that.

I don't find the magical name to be relevant for me, aside from names given to servitors, magical weapons, sigils etc. From which there name is the sigilized form of their purpose. I have however used magical names I conjured up using glossalia in the past, I just don't see them to be relevant in any of my current work... Though I like anomolys method of naming his multiple magical selves, that could surely prove useful.

Punarbhava, if I were you, i would honestly be less concerned with the importance of a magical name and just practice liber mmm in liber null which consists of the basic techniques you will need to perform magic. An hour of meditation a day will give you much more knowledge and power over yourself than any name you give yourself. I would expect if you give yourself a magical name it will leak down into your mundane self creating an alter ego obsession that will hinder the real work ahead of you. Judging from your posts, I am guessing you have little experience with magic, if you haven't already did so, I strongly suggest you purchase liber null or another book that highlights meditations techniques you will need to learn to achieve gnosis. After you have learned those techs move on to creating an effective banishing ritual. After you have done those two things, you will have opened up a lot of areas of magic in which you can proceed.

The suggestion that having a teacher is magically akin to going to college made a lot of sense. I've never received teaching from another person; most of my friends who are interested in the occult simply read & talk about it, or just work with divination castings. I wonder if that would be a good goal to begin working on. You said it was important to assume instruction from a commendable source; are their specific people or orders that work to focus on advancing people's evolution that are reputable by others? How would one begin that quest?

The danger in a magical name had never come to me, that's a valuable thought. I also have more than one name that has been used to describe my mundane life. It had never come to me when trying to decide on the relevance and importance of a magical name that I already had two! And the cognition of ever-present change in an individual suggests that a magical name is not necessarily a title for life. The sub-conscious pressure anticipating perfection loses some might.

I thought it was interesting both of you confessed rituals to contact future selves in a response to the same question. I've never heard of scrying or performing ritual to contact a future construction of myself. It was made clear you can use one as a teacher or a prognostic source. Are there other uses with this method? I suppose there is never any consequences to these, such as being forced to contact your previous self when the time arrived you were in the time of the person contacted in the past ritual? (A bit confusing, I know.) Again, thanks for all the thought-provoking posts.

ROFL- a toilet brush?? That's hilarious :D :lol: Awesome! Mine is a somewhat obscure Biblical name. I didn't realize it was a Biblical name until after I had looked into it a bit. Guess it might be time to start working on some angelic magic... get over my aversion to judeo-christian terminology and reference LOL

... my main disagreement with that is that there are IMO FAR too many people out there putting themselves onto a teachers pedestal who have read a book or two, but are essentially 'armchair magicians' with no real knowledge or experience. Maybe you meant this in a way that I'm missing, and I'm sure you don't mean to encourage that situation- I just read that and it was like nails on a chalkboard referencing one of my pet peeves LOL :?

Punarbhava,

Teachers/mentors are very useful if you want to learn certain things that are only taught from teacher to student. There are some traditions/orders/etc. that require membership and personal training in order to learn their teachings etc. There are also numerous books and online sources available for one to practice as a solitary for pretty much as long as one would like. Nothing is 'required' as far as magical education is concerned, unless you choose to pursue a path that has its own requirements 8-) Personally I think that learning from a person offers an entirely new facet to ones education and is a valuable addition to ones magical education. Not required, but certainly useful (providing ones has chosen a good teacher, of course).

IMO this is much like the "is a college degree really necessary" question.... The answer being- it all depends on what you want to do :D

Hi Punarbhava. Alan Chapman's book Advanced Magick for Beginners briefly discusses the benefits and pitfalls of magickal names. In summary one's magickal name can reflect your magick - one that is very light hearted might suggest a lack of seriousness about magick, while one that is very pretentious might reflect an over-seriousness. But there are many reasons people might choose either of these, for example, someone that has taken themselves very seriously might go through a process which motivates them to take on a more light hearted approach and name.

When I read your post I immediately assumed that I have several magickal names but on reflection I have several mundane names (I made the first change when I was 12), half a dozen internet monikers and at the moment only one magickal name. My magickal name came to me shortly after a ritual to access my future magickal selves (called The Conference of Selves Outside the Space-Time Continuum) and I subsquently noticed that it's a similar name (same pronounciation different spelling) of a brand of toilet brush - the box of which has been sitting on the top of shelves in the kitchen for some months. The lessons? Maybe I shouldn't take my magickal name too seriously or perhaps it reflects a purgative/cleansing transformation process to come...

When the student is ready the teacher will appear, or so states the old axiom.

I would say that it is of less importance to have a teacher than it is to regard yourself as a teacher. I tend to learn more than my students do during instruction. I remember at the age of fifteen I performed a self written ritual to invoke the spirit of Merlin for instruction. I was working with the Druidic paradigm at the time with a leaning towards wicca. This sent me over the top and I began to have odd experiences.

Having a teacher archetype is more important to me than having a physical teacher. This allows for the person performing the magick to be ridden by the entity and knowledge is capable of flowing through the individual in search of learning. Thoth is a good example of this type of entity as is Merlin and even Jesus. A guide type individual is important when attempting to perform searches of the astral for hidden wisdom or occult information.

Another fun idea is to recruit your future selves or self as a guide. I have have been planning a working which revolves around skrying every week at the same time and attempting to come into contact with my future self doing the same thing the next week. As the morphic field grows it should be easier to communicate with this future self. And as more time elapses we will be able to communicate farther and farther into the future. Cast enchantments at our future selves and aid them if they need help. I am all about psychic support systems.

Anomaly

Intriguing. As an aside note, what you mentioned about a name possibly originating from a magicians teacher, mentor, or group caused me to wonder how important these are? I have been reading and practicing different occult and spiritual material for a time, but have never sought out a teacher. I'm fairly young, but I wonder if acquiring one would aid in my personal magical evolution. How common, as a magician, is it to have had a teacher presently, or in a past time? And are they eventually required or recommended for any solitary practitioner?

You asked how detrimental it was to change names in a short span of time- I don't think it is detrimental, outside of a persons own ability to integrate the self. (With numerous names floating around, some people will find it empowering, others might find themselves feeling "lost"- if that makes sense?) I'd say change names as frequently as your own comfort allows.

As to how one decides on their magical name- there are many methods. For my order name I used glossollalia in a trance state until I settled on one name. My name 'Solstice' I just found a word that I liked and took it on as my name. (More an internet handle turned magical name by association LOL) You can also use pathworkings, dreamwork etc. to find a magical name. Others have them given to them by their order or a mentor.

I wasn't aware that a person could have any number of magical names being used at one point in time, but it does make sense to create different borders and definitions of oneself, giving each fragment an individual name to match. So, how does one decide upon their magical name(s)? How detrimental is it to repeatedly change one's name within a shorter span of time? Thanks for all the explanations.

The magical name serves some very useful purposes. First and foremost, they create a level of seperation between ones mundane and magical space which allows the mind to more quickly/easily get into the space it needs to be in for effective magic. (In effect, it helps get around the inner censor- "Bob the accountant" may not be able to run around half naked screaming in a possessed state, but "Chaomage" has no such hangup...) Secondly, as Anomaly has said, they are effective for working with the self and by naming something, it gives you certain controls over it.

For me, I have a few different names. I have the name I've been known by in metaphysical circles for years (Solstice), the name I took when I took my order oaths, and the one(s) that I use privately.

Another reason for magical names in these supposed orders is so that a level of anonimity can be maintained. People in these orders are known by a magical name and sometimes a number so that when records of the temple are kept, lost and then found, the people reading the records will have no knowledge of the people involved.

silentium est aureum
Fra. Dramaticus Anomalia

Well, to begin, you could ask ten different Chaotes this question and receive ten different answers. The magical name is a custom of the magical order, but some do choose to have one for ritual work. I have eight distinct names for each of my selves and I work with each one differently. I apply different ideas, thoughts, beliefs and even paradigms to these selves. My combat self advocates and uses superstition but my ego self finds superstition to be a ridiculous practice which is merely wishful thinking. my death self loves loves loves the Lovecraftian mythos yet my love self prefers Greek mythology. This question is all about the individual.

Some people would say to choose a magical name carefully just as Frater Stokasticos informed frater choronzon that he might want to choose a different magical name.

Personally, I have found that I tend to change my name during periods of metamorphosis. Luckely I was blessed with a name which has many different expressions. Steve, Stephen, Stevie, Sven, Svendalli, SteveO and many others. A name tends to build the meme plex that is the self, by choosing a different name we can build a different meme plex and there by create another self for expression. I have often felt that Z would be much more sutable than I when makng reference to myself. A collection of I's with an abstracted Z floating through the interim. Just a thought, it gets a laugh when I randomly start refering to I as Z.

The most important part of the magical name in my eyes is the naming of the magical self. Naming something and there by making it different gives it power to evolve and grow.

~Fra. Anomaly~