P R I M E C H A O S ===================== FOREWORD This book is a state-of-the-art report on Chaos Magick. It is written with an overview of magick which has grown out of many years of practical work, in a variety of magickal groups and orders, including the Pact of the IOT. The author's creative and experimantal involvement with magick shows in the originality of the material. Think of an influential magickal book: how long ago was that picture of magick conceived? Less than 50 years? Phil's book represents the nearest thing to live magick I've seen in print. It contains work which is still being tested. This is a window an the world of the working magickian, a mysterious flask of distillate hauled from the laboratories of the mind, still smoking suspiciously. One of the great strengths of the book is the section on groups. Chaos Magick has drawn most of its current incalculable influ- ence from the work of groups. In a world where transaction has replaced duty as an imperfect method of achieving social coherence, it is astonishing that virtually nothing exists on the practical dynamics of the non-religious magickal group. What Liber Null did for the solo magician, this essay does for the magickal group, in summarizing the results of years of experience in such alliances. Informed as it is by the spirit of postmodernism, the book does not try to achieve closure. It does not present a system, but supplies the reader with powerful strategic and magickal tools for this stage of the Pandeamonaeon. The mood of the book ist of being profoundly at home in the accelerating shift and fragmantation of daily life. Connoissuers of late 20th century demotic will be delighted by the thefts of phrase. As we see fractal T-shirts, popular images from chaos, and chaos sigils fired out of our TV screens, the reciprocal process is occurring too, and magickal symbolism is growing out of fractal shards of culture. In opening up the magickal demensions of the work of Burroughs and Gysin, Phil introduces to the experimental sorcerer two particulary valuable ideas: the use of cut-up, the sliding and dislocation of words, as a magickal technique, and the concept of wordvirus, aka meme. As in pre-literate societies, magick becomes the core of language, as we weave spells from spelling. This pulls our magick into the heart of everyday life, the Chaos of the Normal, which is where it belongs. Dave Lee W H Y C H A O S M A G I C K ? There's basically two kinds of magick. There's puff's magick, and git `ard Magick. Chaos is git `ard Magick. Mick McMagus. Leeds, 1987 As our world changes, so too do our magick. Throughout history, the way in which magick is described and understood changes, from its beginnings in proto-shamanism, to the great 'Occult Revival' at the turn of this century. Chaos Magick sets the pace for our entry into the next century. There have been revolutions in science, literature and art. Chaos Magick is the first revolution in the field of Magick. Previous (and many existing) magical philosophies have been rooted in a connection to the past - be it the past of the ancestors, or in historical (or romantic) tradition. Althrough much of what is emerging as Chaos Magick builds on what has magically gone before it stresses change, rather than continuity, as the only constant. We live in a world that is rapidly changing, a world where the application of high technology and media saturation enables us to mix styles endlessly, where elements of the past present, and possible futures are conjured up in most aspects of everyday life from the clothes we wear, to the beliefs we adopt. While other magical systems promise stability, an anchor into fixed time and ordered universe neatly encapsulated into bite-size take-home pieces, Chaos Magick moves with the fusion and fluidity of modern life. Chaos Magick began to surface in the late 70s as punk rock arose to threaten the complancency of the establishment. Now we see Chaos Theory move from an obscure branch of mathematics into an accepted 'new' science. We have watched computer-generated fractals become high fashion, the mandalas for a new generation. Chaos has become fashionable. We do not reject modern culture, we embrace it. So how is Chaos Magick different from the other Magical Systems which are on special offer in the modern world ? Firstly, Chaos Magick is a paradigm rather than a system in itself. It is an approach or overall view, wherein each individual, ulti- mately, creates his own magical psychocosm. Rather than 'following' a path, the Chaos Magician weaves his own path out of individual experiences, and what works best for him. The Chaos Magician has, from the very beginnings, the option to be as eclectic as he desires, selecting beliefs and techniques from any magical system, indeed anything which ha believes will be useful - from the past, present, or possible futures. From literature, art, science, pseudoscience, technology or fantasy. The revolutionary impact of Chaos Magick was that it emphasized practical experience. What matters is hands-on experience - rather than accommodating second-hand beliefs or long lists of corres- pondences. There are no Chaos teachers, 'holy' books or traditions that dictate belief an behaviour. The Chaos Magician is free to act first, and choose his questions ans answers later. It is the Chaos Magician rather than some guru or teacher, who is respon- sible for development, experience, creativity, and the results of his actions. Magick has always been a way of creating islands of order out of what Austin Spare called 'the chaos of the normal'. As society became more complex, it seems that 'magical' realities became increasingly abstract and relatively simplistic. The otherworld of tribal shaman is a fair reflection of his everyday world, whereas the 'innerworld' of the twentiethcentury Cabbalist bears little resemblance to consensus reality, as he ascends Jacob's Ladder away from the Earth into cosmic abstract spaces. the general view of Chaos Magick is that any islands of order we create are at best temporary enclaves; that belief itself is a tool, rather than a set of limitations that can quickly become a stagnant dogma. Thus a Chaos Magician may choose to adopt a Cabbalistic belief-system as a temporary measure, just as he may given enough time, determination and effort redesign his personal belief which govern any aspect of his behaviour or attitudes. "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted" is one of the few Chaos slogans. No wonder that some occultists react to Chaos Magicians as through they are militant anarchists. As we move towards the twenty-first century, a number of concepts which, until fairly recently (and from certain belief-system remain so), appeared stable and understood have been called into question. Pete Carroll, in his seminal work Liber Null (the premier grimoire of Chaos Magick so far), described the 'death' of these concepts as - the Death of Spirituality, the Death of Superstition, the Death of Identity, the Death of Belief, and the Death of Ideology. These concepts are no longer fixed and rigid, and reality becomesa playground for those with the will to enjoy and make it so. One of the immediate concerns to be voiced about Chaos Magick was an implied lack of an ethical basis. Most other occult systems have clearly-stated (sometimes over-stated) ethical stances concerning what the practitioner must not do. The Chaos paradigm rejects the necessity of this attitude and instead tends towards the view that personal morality grows from within - that is, it up to each individual to define and uphold his own ethical standards, rather than them being imposed by some outward agency. Having said this, Chaos Magick is generally pro-life and pro- freedom of expression. Magick tends to be portrayed as being separate or beyond our everyday existence. Chaos Magick, howerver supports the proposition that magick works best when it is responsive to our life situations. The Chaos approach is that of becoming more flexibel and adaptive to the world through which we move, to take a wide-angle, rather than one-directional view of the world, and to seek and embrace new possibilities. To find the most appropriate position and perspective to act from, and than act decisively. Magick becomes not so much what we 'do', but the 'way' we live. This book is but one viewpoint into the Choas Perspective. Magick stagnates when it becomes trapped into set formulations and pro- cedures. Look beyond what you 'know'to be magick, and go further. Enjoy. - Phil Hine, January 1993. P A R T O N E A C H I E V A B L E R E A L I T Y One of the first questions that a non-magician asks the practitioner of magick is Why do you do it ? A number of answers may be offered. One may speak of a desire to unterstand the universe, of finding a way of 'spiritual' living, a means to personal transformation, self- evolution - of course, much depends on the belief-system that has been adopted. Spiritual Living implies the belief that there is something about life which isn't 'spiritual'; Personal Trans- foramtion keeps things nicely psychological; and Self-Evolution has a Darwinian ring to it. For now through, let's cast the net fairly broadly and answer that Magick is a set of techniques and appoaches that can be used to extend the limits of Achievable Reality. In the Chaos paradigm, the emphasis is placed on realizing magick work into Consensus Reality. Success is not measured through context dependent 'spititual' grades, nor by a slow, imperceptible plodding along a course which was laid down by someone else, but by visible results by which the magician demonstates to himself that he can do things which, a short time ago, never entered his mind as possibilities. Some Chaos Magicians tend to the view that Magick is a means of adapting oneself to one's environment. Through Magick, one can redesign oneself, enabeling greater freedom of movemnt within the environment and, where necessary, seek to adapt and redesign the environment to allow a greater degree of posibilities. Adopting this stance requires the ability to evaluat one's circumstances without recourse to the safety-net of delusions which aspiring magi often weave about themselves. Gone too, are the cosmic cop-out clauses which, on the one hand, allow a magician to believe that if a spell 'worked' it's because he is a good magician but if it didin't, it's because the tides/karma/fates weren't 'right'. The responsibility for the failure or success implies a greater responsibility than failure, as successful magicks lead to change, and change is not generally easy to cope with. GUARDIAN OF THE THRESHOLD The very act of doing magick itself threatens the magicans established limit of Achievable Reality, even if one is practising the entry-level BodyMind Exercises, Mind Control and simple Sorceries which are available through the plethora of magical workbooks (Chaos or otherwise) now available. Probably the most formidable opponent the magician will encounter is his own inertia, or resistance to change. Embarking on any training or work schedule automatically invokes this demon, and magicians may be surprised time and time again at the ingenuity 'it' shows in manufacturing excuse which justify the delaying of a practice 'until tomorrow'. The demon of Inertia is the Guardian of the Threshold of Achievable Reality, and the only way to over- come it is through determination, effort and sheer bloody- mindedness: themselves useful qualities for the would-be magician. BASIC PROCEDURE One may consider magick to be an art, science, or somewhere inbetween, but it remains true that before one assumes the pose of being a magical Dali or Heisenberg, some basic procedures must be established. Just because Chaos Magick semms to imply that all the 'rules' of other magical systems can be cast aside, doesn't mean that there is a total absence of self-discipline. Well begun is half done, and establishing basic procedures of practice go a long way in moving back the borders of Achievable Reality. STAGES OF LEARNING When learning any new skill, there are three key stages which it is well to be awere of. Firstly, there is the initial stage of practice which if fulled be high levels of enthus- iasm and motivation, and so the results of learning are fairly immediate. So far, so good. However, at some point in the practice, one enters a 'dry' stage - the Guardian of the Threshold has caught on to what is happening and suddenly, the practice becomes BORING. Out come the excueses and delaying tactics. This is the 'hump` experienced by students and people on long training courses, and is the point where many people give up. This is the time when one has to conquer the Guardian by being equal to its wiles. Once this stage has passed, one frinds that the effort that was being diverted into resisting the practice is available for further progression; that there is now little effort involved in the practice, and its benefits may be reaped. A great deal of early learning follows these stages, and learining magical skills is similar, exept that one is not only establishing new patterns, but changing established patterns. TIME SCHEDULING Learning new skills requires time - a commodity that one often not willing to redistribute and which not everybody has to the same degree. Many magical workbooks insist that set exercises be diligently performed at the same hour each day. This is fine, if one's lifestyle allows such rigorous structuring of personal time, but others find it near-impossible. When setting a Time Schedule, it is essential to be realistic. Making up unrealistic schedule often means the one is unlikely to stick to it, which ultimately strengthens the Guardian of one's Achievable Reality. A Time Schedule should be difficult, but not impossible, lest one sets oneself up for failure at the beginning. THE MAGICAL DIARY Keeping a Magical Diary of practice, ideas, weird experiences, and dreams is essential. It becomes not only a record of work done, but also a depository of ideas and insights arising out of one's magical work. It is also a valuable tool for self-assessment. Just as it is all too easy for aspiring magicians to see themself as the best thing since Solomon's wand, so too is it easy to deny that one has made any progress at all. When there is no guru, teacher or master to give support, then there remains only oneself. The Magical Diary is the place where strenghts and weaknesses are acknowledged, and changes over time effort can be discerned. MAGICK WORKS Magick, like sexual intercourse, needs to be experienced to be fully understood. Similary, the fist few times that one tries it, it might not live up to preconceived expectations. It might even be a dismal failure, but that shouldn't put you off forever, right? However, the Guardian lurks in a corner of the psyche, armed with justifications, rationalizations, excuses - all the embedded cultural programming which says that magick is super- stition, fantasy, and something that can't 'really' happen. The fact that much of what passes for Consensus Reality is based on superstition, fantasy and things which defy rational explanation is neither here nor there. To overcome the Guardian, the would- be magician has to prove to himself that MAGICK WORKS, and the only way to do this is by trying it out. Proving that Magick Works, even in a small way, begins the process of pushing back the boundaries of Achievable Reality. Suddenly, nothing is as clear-cut as it formerly seemed. Keep 'doing' Magick for long enough and it becomes an embedded part of personal reality - as familiar as the sky, earth, and buildings seen every day. At this point one ceases to believe in magick as something 'seperate' from the rest of one's familiar world. Rather, the world is becoming magical. T H E D Y N A M I C S O F S O R C E R Y Orthodox magical systems make a distinction between 'Low' Magick (Sorcery) which is concerned with bringing about change in one's immediate circumstances, and 'High' Magick which in concernd with 'Spititual' Evolution. The Chaos Paradigm generally rejects this distinction, as it implies a philosophy which rejects the physical world as being somehow inferior to a 'spirituality' which is somehow above the world. Also, this distinction is not an accurate reflection of magical experience. Being able to see the results of Sorcery workings (even in small ways) shift the boundray of Achievable Reality and successfully embeds the fact that magick works. It also raises one's confidence in both personal abilities and the techniques them- self, and leads to a more expansive outlook. Also, success with Sorcery techniques requires that one develop the ability to assess self-performance, and critically examine desires, which in self leads to change. Bringing about direct changes in the world necessitates that the magician pay close attention to what he is about. Sorcery, with its emphasis on pragmatic techniques and observable results, directs attention to the world as it is experienced, rather than some simplistic idea that has hitherto been accepted as 'real'. Reality is more complex than many people generally like to think. The dynamics of socery are fairly simple, and there is a wide variety of techniques available. Also it's not difficult to devise personal techniques which are unique to oneself. The application of Sorcery, too, is very wide. 1. INTENTION Most acts of Sorcery begin with the Statemant of Intent. This is a simple declaration of what one is about to do, and for what final purpose. Since vague intentions tend to give rise to, at best, vague results, the magician should formulate a Statament of Intent which is as precise as possible, without becoming overly verbose. Two techniques which may be of assistance here are: (I) DIVINATION SYSTEMS The surface desire for change may well not be the best point from which to work. This is where Divnation Systems such as Tarot, I Ching, Runes, Astrology, or self-created systems can be brought in. For example, a Sorcerer is desirous of obtaining employment - 'getting a job' is desire. However, using a divination system to examine the components of the situation, he finds that a key element which 'blocks' his desire is lack of confidence. so he performs a working where improving self-confidence is the main focus of the Enchantment. Divination system can also be used when examining a situation which involves other people. It may occasionally be useful to examine one's motives for intervening in a situation involving other people, and also looking for 'hidden' factors which may be immediately apparent. (II) COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING There is often a good deal of difference between what we think we 'ought' to be doing, and what can realistically be achieved. This difference is often a contributing factor to work and life stresses. Magicians often have high ideals, but may sometimes find that it is difficult to bring those ideals down to earth. It can be useful, in this regard, to take an overall intention and break it down into smaller stages, each of which is more readily realised than the overall objective. Rather than trying for a sudden 'push' of Achievable Reality threshold, it may by more realistic to attempt this in stages. SORCERY EVENT SERIES A Sorcery Event Series (S.E.S.) is a series of linked Sorcery operations. A long-term goal is broken down into smaller, related steps. As one results manifests, the momentum of success carries the magician into the next working in the series. This sets up a condition where each single event concluded in the series, increases the probability of the overall intent manifesting. The S.E.S. is a particularly useful tactic for work- ing with establishing long-term projects. The effect can be likened to setting up a line of dominoes, and then pushing the first domino into its neighbour. 2. PROBABILITY PATHWAYS Contrary to popular opinion, magical results do not pop up out of thin air, and it does help enormously, with Sorcery workings if there is a 'pathway' through which the desired result can manifest. This can also be examined in terms of probabilities. A Sorcerer who performs a ritual to ensure that he passes an exam, but who does not any revison or cramming, is not creating a situation where there is a reasonable probability that he will pass with flying colours. If he does study, however, the probability of success is likely to be higher. Sorcery does seem to achieve the best results when the probability factor is at least fractionally higher than zero. To take another example, when planning workings for financial gain, it is useful to have a number of projects on the go, any of which many results in increased funds - and hence the sorcery working is more likely to yield some kind of positive result. 3. TIMING Timing is an important yet often underrated factor in practical magick. A good example of how timing can critically affect the outcome of a working is that of Healing. If a client has a long- term, progressive may be more successful at an early rather than a late stage in the course of the illness. Complex life situations can be examined for the purposes of Sorcery as unfolding event series. In the early stages of a developing situation, there may be more fluidity and flexibility than at a later stage, where it is less easy to influence probable out- comes. Events which can be perceived are macroscopic changes which have been brought about by the unseen interaction of microscopic fluctuations. In other words an avalanche can be seem, but not the very small factors which brought it about. Developing strategies that allow the identification of small changes, and then influencing them so that they lead to change which fulfils the cordinations of one's statement of intent, can therefore be useful for Sorcery working. In other words, learn to 'nudge' a situation at the right moment. Paying close attention to what is happening in a given situation is useful, and using Divination systems can also help here. SORCERY OPERATIONS - BASIC PROCEDURE Once a Statement of Intent has been formulated, and any other relevant factors taken into account, the next general step in any Sorcery operation is to move into a Free Area. In orthodox magical systems, this tends to involve ritual procedures for setting up a magical Circle, making any psychological adjustments for magical work, or assuming particular postures. In the Chaos Paradigm, a Free Area is any space which has been redefined as a zone where normal Consencus Reality is suspended, and Magical Reality is operant. Thus a Free Area may refer to a previously- prepared Temple, a space in which ritual is to be performed, or a state of Consciousness. Within the Free Area, the magician uses any offered technique/ trick deemed appropriate to clear his awareness of anything but the impending magical act. This can range from full ritual procedure - performing a Banishing ritual, setting up an altar, ect.,to merely closing one's eyes and concentrating. The techniques used to define a Free Area often depend upon: I) Circumstances II) Available Time III) Necessity IV) Individual Perference Following the defination of, and entry into the Free Area, the next stage is to move towards a stage of consciousness known in condition of one-pointed consciousness wherein awareness is emptied of all save object of concentration; where will is given both intentionality and vector. The main routs to Gnosis are threefold: Excitatory - anything which stills the BodyMind, such as passive meditation, slow chanting, hypnotic agents, or slow breathing; and Indifferent Vacuity - a state of no-mind, or Non-Interest/Disinterest where the object of desire flickers briefly in a mind emptied of all content - no emotional attachment to the desire. Upon entering the 'peak' of Gnosis, the desire in its chosen repredentative from - a sigil, for example - is projected forth, towards its target or into the void of the multiverse. It is then banished from awareness, that is to say forgotten. Following projection of the desire, the Free Area is closed using any preferred method, such as manic laughter, a Banishing Ritual, or a hand gesture. The Magician then moves onward, having set up the conditions whereby his desire will manifest accordingly. It should be noted that a key to Sorcery is that, on completion of a working, it should be considered - at least on a magical level - to be finished with, and nothing more in the way of magical work needs to be done. The deep certainty that one's Sorcery will yield the desired result will only come through continued practice, effort, and refinement of technique, but it is not unusal for advanced practitioners to claim a 'succes' rate with the kind of magick of around 80-90%. The above description of General Sorcery working, from a three- hour group ritual involving prolonged dancing, druming and chanting, to an act of 'Empty-Handed' magick which can be performed anywhere, and need only last a few seconds. In general, magicians tend to proceed from the former to the latter type of working. As one continually shifts the boundary of Achievable Reality, the definations of 'what' constitutes a magical action tend to become fairly fluid. At the beginning of magical practice, it is usual to perceive magical operations as being 'seperate' to everyday experience. Later how- ever, acts of magick becomes a part of everyday experience, as one makes the transition between inhabiting a Consensus Reality which is gradulally widening to admit the possibilities of magick to creating a personal Magical Reality - a Psychocosm. E V O L V I N G A P S Y C H O C O S M In becoming familiar with magical ideas, reading books, learning symbol systems and correspondences, one comes to learn the 'game rule' of magick. Like any other game, the rules define the frame- work of the activity. For a game to be wortwhile, its rules must be flexible, open to different interpretation, and allow for different needs and situations. Involvement with magical practice shows that the game rule of Consensus Reality are more flexible, and have more loopholes than one may originally through. Developing a magical Psychocosm is slow process, as one pathers momentum in magical practice, shifting from the 'beginner's mind' of having read a few books and probably having set up preconceptions as to what magick is 'about', to beginning to practice magical techniques in earnest. One of the strengths of Chaos paradigm is that experience is stresses over pre- experiential beliefs. Do it first then consider which beliefs and concepts seem to be most appropriate, in the light of personal experience. In modern culture, there are hundreds of magical paradigms available, with more being discovered, recovered and invented every year. Beginners in magick often adopt a paradigm which reflects their core self-beliefs and ideas, or, as is some- times the case, the first system that is encountered or made accessible. Since few people get anything from an approach they are not even remotely interested in, it is usually best to choose a magical system that is attactive, for whatever reasons. ENGLAMOURMENT All magical paradigms have their attendant glamours, and these may be changed as a paradigm develops. The earliest editions of Liber Null, for example, did not mentation the term Chaos. Early on in its development, Chaos Magick required the glamour of being some- how 'sinister' or 'Satanic' which, while inaccurate, has doubtless drawn quite a few people to become interested in it. Some magical systems have strong quasi-religious overtones, and for practitioners of these systems, the glamours can become faiths. Elements of glamour include not only beliefs and concepts, but styles of writing, narrative content, images, overall presentation buzz-words, and occasionally the participation of charismatic figureheads. Often, the attractiveness of a glamour for an indi- vidual reflects personal tastes in literature, music, or other fashions. For Chaos Magicians, the power of glamour becomes yet another technique to be unterstood and utitized. For example, successfully weaving the glamour of being a shaman will signi- ficantly alter other people's reaction to the magician, as would successfully weaving the glamour of being a Satanist. Indeed, it is possible for a magician who is adept in the projection of glamours to be perceived as both (by different sets of people), when in fact neither glamour is particularly true. PARADIGM SHIFTS A well-documented feature of post-traumatic reaction is the tendency amongst some individuals to shift towards major lifestyle changes. Witness, for example, the number of people who embrace religion following bereavement, accidents, or over-use of hallucinogenic agents. A core technique in Chaos Magick practice is the conscious attempt to make periodic Paradigm Shifts. The aim here is to loosen one's personal web of beliefs and attitudes; to gain an Ego-complex that is adaptive to new situations and attitudes. Shifting into a new paradigm or world-view is instructive, not only in terms of empathy - understanding another persons' outlook on life - but also by bringing about a deliberate change which occurs across different strata of one's life, the magician undergoes a process of egofracturing and remoulding. It should be understood that making a paradigm shift is not easy. It is not merely a matter of deciding one day to be a hedonist, and the next, a medieval ascetic. Merely playing around with beliefs and attitudes in the safety of one's own handspace is little more than mental masturbation. Paradigm Shifts are rarely effective unless they are enacted fully within Consensus Reality. Thus it is one thing to convince oneselfe of being a Born-Again Christian, another to convince family and peers that such is the case, and another thing still to convince other Born-Again Christians. Entering any particular paradigm as an ego- deconstructive exercises implies a stance of total involvement and embtace of any associated beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. This process takes time. It takes time to establish oneself comfortably within a particular paradigm; time to exerience Consensus Reality totally within that worldview, and time to withdraw from that paradigm and evaluate the experience. Some paradigm are easier to enter and leave than other. It is relatively easy, for example, to shift from being a fanatical follower of a religion to a fanatical exponent of a magical system. All that a person has changed, in this example, is the surface content of the beliefs. The embedded patterns of behaviour and attitude have remained intact, and it is these 'embedded' befiefs and behaviours which are at the root of the more conscious responses to situations and life-changes. The sense of being a uniaue individual - the Ego - is maintained by a pattern which basically makes a divide between what it 'is' and what which it is 'not'. An individuals' attitudes beliefs and allegiance to various ideologies and social groups reinforce the sense of selfhood, against the projected other. These structures are very much responsible for maintaining one's preception of the way things 'are' - the embedded perception of consensus reality, echoed back through all aspects of one's life, so that there is little sense of reality being fragile or unstable (exept at times of stress). One's worldview literally becomes the World - embedded and reinforce, so that its limitations and parameters are experienced unreflexively, as self-evident 'truths'. The first stage of moving into a Paradigm Shift is made when one begins to question the validity of these self-evident truths - to begin to experience Consensus Reality as fragile, where one's own individual beliefs are seen a prop as those held by others. A great many people do this as a matter of course and, as this proccess leads to anxiety and alienation, seek to resolve the inner conflict by embracing an ideology which gives them the illusion of 'solid ground' - meaning participation, and a secure place to be. Many religious and quasi- magical cults recruit their members by deliberately targeting individuals who have begun to question their participation in Consensus Reality. Individuals with a rigid ego-complex tend to react to any perceived 'threat' to their world-view by suppressing, denying, or attaching the source of dissonance. The more 'loose' one's ego-complex, the more adaptive and tolerant the individuals is to new ideas, change, understanding another person's viewpoint, and - perhaps most important - the ability to interact with others across a wide social range, without requiring a complex consensus of attitude and belief. EGO MAPPING In deliberately setting out to enter into Paradigm Shift, the magician is preparing to assault the fortress of his own identity. A ground plan of the area is therefore useful. Ego Mapping requires the articulation and unravelling of one's own beliefe and attitudes: ideologies that the magician is attracted to or, equally , is repelled by: perceived strengths and weaknesses, fears, ego-propping fantasies, desires, dreams, nightmares. The magician writes an account of himself, as he is, how he would like to be, and how he things other see him; he trawls back through his personal history, attempting to identify major turning-points, success, incidents of failure, embarrassment, blunders, traumas and ecstasis. An account of himself in the third person may be useful, as might be an obituary, written in the present, or ten yeas in the future. As the process gains momentum, there comes the understanding that one's worldview, which may well have been tacitly sccepted as 'true' so far, is merely one of many, in a bewilderingly complex, expanding culture. An initial choice of Paradigm Shift may be the movement into a paradigm which is diametrically opposend to a belief-system which one has invested a good deal of time, energy, and self-esteem into. A change of political ideology is a good example, as it requires a radical transition towards embracing and experiencing a worldview which has been, for years, the 'opposition'. Here, the magician may have spent years viewing a particular ideology through stereotyped 'others'. by deliberatly becoming one those 'others', he challenges the 'truth' of his pervious worldview. Of course, this is risky, especially as it will affect every spect of one's lifestyle, particularly interactions with family, friends, peer group, etc. SUB-PARADIGM SHIFTS The kind of Paradigm shift examined so far is very broad in its scope. It can also be instructive, from time to time, to make occasional sub-paradigm shifts within a specific context. The symbolic and ontological sub-paradigm that make up occult belief systems come within this category. Compared with manking Paradigm Shifts within one's Social World, shifting between magical paradigms is relatively easy. Magicians do tend to move between magical paradigms in the course of their offer different degrees of explanatory strength, freedom of expression, personal meaning and working within its parameters until they are experienced as 'true' and then moving to another paradigm, is instructive. One example of such concept of subtle body energies. By studying, and heance embedding the symbolism and layout of standard western set of chakra-points, a magician will eventually come to have expirience which accord with that particular overly of internal subtel energies. Shift into a different system of power- points, and one can again experience phenomena which are consonant with the new system. Such experience tends to lead to the conclusion that magical belief systems are not necessarily 'true' descriptions of the territory, but merely structures for organizing assimilating, and integrating experience. To do this successful requires that the magician works with any chosen system over time. Thus magical models becomes themselves tools, rather than rigid parameter. Some tools are likely to be better for some types of exploration than other, and Chaos Magick tend to the view that it is more efficient to have a wide range of conceptual weapons to choose from, rather than be limited to one paradigm that cannot possibly account for everything. Tools however, can be subtle traps. A magical model which at first appears liberating, yielding new insights, informating and experiences can become, in time, restictive. The inability to move beyond the limits of one's chosen dominant paradigm seriously hampers one's ability to be adaptive to life- changes, and the exploration of new possibilities. A strength of the chaos approach to magick is the freedom to draw inspiration, creativity, and structure from any area of human endeavour, and not be restricted to what is usually perceived as 'magick'. Hence a rising interest in cybernetics, science-fiction, biology, communications, non-linear dynamics, and other diverse contributions to contemporary culture. Rather then attempting to accommodate ideas within existing paradigms, Chaos Magick creats new paradigms based on current ideas and possible futures, rather than continually attempting to rewrite and recycle the past. The cumulative effects of Paradigm Shift, practised on all possible levels, are: the deep unterstanding that all beliefs are relative, that one can consciously adopt a particular stance and successful weave a projective glamour (both for self and others) from it; that one is able to accept new information and ideas without perceiving them as a threat; that one can live comfortably within many differnt roles and selves. All individulas are free to make contradictory statemants, be wrong occasionally, and admit to errors in judgement, without suffering a serious blow to the ego. This transition is known as shift from Ego-centric behaviour, to Exo-centric behaviour. That is, the process of movement from a position where a stable sense of self has to be maintained at all costs, to a position where a multitude of selves is acknowledged, which a continual sense of engagement towards those selves which are, as yet, unknown. Further, it requires the identification and acceptance of that which the magician has previously found fearful, distasteful and unacceptable - the demon-selves which, having been faced and bound, become routes into power. This practice is not easy, as it requires the ability to move freely eithin one's Social World, and the continual reassessment of on's Personal World. USEFUL GAMBITS Going Away Travelling not only broadens the mind, it also provides a useful opportunity to adopt Paradigm Shifts in a social space where few other are likely to be familiar with one's 'normal' identity. Self-Observation Here, the magician develops the ability to observe himself dispassionately, so that he becomes aware of how he creates projects, and maintains a distinct identity. Awareness of the dynamics of identity Maintenance is essental when attempting to alter that than projection at will. It is also important to be able to observe how other people react to willed identity projetion. Self-Observation becomes a continual meditation. It is also instructive to pay attention to how others maintain and project different identities. Shock Tactics It is a natural tendency for individuals to attribute their own behaviour to situational factors, yet at the same time, attribute the behaviour of other to their personality, the process of labelling other on the basis of their dress, peers, and given opinions can become a subtle trap. Knowledeg of this tendency can be turned to the magician's advantage. If, for example, he knows that another person has tagged him as holding generally liberal views on various issues, then choosing the appropriate moment to make a comment which implies the opposite view, is likely to give the other person a considerable shock. Such tactics may used to enhance personal power, or to appear to collude with another, whilst maintaining a hidden agenda. The above might promot the question 'Do Chaos Magicians ever remain in one paradigm or sub-paradigem for any length of time?' Of course. The practice of making Paradigm Shifts allows the magician to move between paradigms, so that he develops, over time, a web of personally significant paradigms, based on developing personal and ethical stances, embedded beliefs, a mobile sense of identity, and whatever magical models are being used at any one time. This sounds complex, but is experience as simple, or self- evident. The Chaos Magician is more likely to accept that his paradigm-web is likely to change, and that he is quite likely to find himself doing things which were previously outside his know repertoire of experiences. THE MAGICAL SELF Creating a Magical Self is a process of deciding what qualities, abilities and skills the magician wishes to acquire, and creating a role which is the encapsulation of these projections. The Magical Self is a persona-mask which the magician 'wears' each time he performs any act of magick. It may be associated with a particular symbol, item of adornment, clothing. Each act of magick reinforces the role. A related practice is that of adopting magical names. Some magicians choose a name or motto which reflects their magical aspirations. Such names are usually chosen due to association with particular magical concepts. The magician identifies himdelf with the name - thereby invoking his Magical Self. As the magician develops, so may his name change. An example of a magical name is PACHAD - a Heberw word which can be translated as 'Fear'. It is also a title of the Cabbalistic Sephiroth GEBURAH, which corresponds to the planet Mars. This name might thus be adopted by a magician who wishes to identify his magical self with a martial curent. There is little point however, in designing a magical persona which merely reinforces qualities that the magician already possesses in abundance. The Magical Self is an invocation of future otherness - a self which one might sense the need of, but has not yet developed the requisite abilities and powers of. Initially, the Magician Self is a mask which one adopts when moving from Consensus Reality to Magical Reality. But, over time and experience, the 'everyday' selves assume the function of masks and Magical Selves become dominant. CHAOS IDENTITIES Entering a magical universe is an attempt to impose order onto chaos. Magical universe are based in Mythic or eternal time - linking into the past through symbol, image, and a sense of continuity. An escape route, whereby one can gain a breathing space a sense of order and permanence. There can identity be stabilised and rooted into a structure. The magical revival is powered by two related undercurrents. Firstly, the search for a personal and collective past, and secondly, the need for escape routes from the perceived tyranny of Consensus Reality. The desire to uncover and preserve the past is part of the impulse to preserve the self. Without knowing where one has been, it is difficult to plot a clear future. The concern for recovering the past, through museums, ruins, etc has been growing since the nineteenth century. The past is seen as the foundation of personal and collective identity. It offers the sense of continuity, of eternal time. But history is no longer true. The past is being re-written, re-forged in a new image to feed dreams of Golden Ages, or National Boundaries, of Agelss Wisdom. History has turned into commodity, a growth industry; the preoccupation with roots has grown rapidly since the 1970s, ever more so due to widespread insecurity in areas nominally seen as stable - labour, credit, technology, skills. Magical universe offer the promise of a meta-theory through which all things may be represented. This runs contrary (hence its power) to the spirit of the age, which turns away from global projections; where a meta-narrative is illusory. The sciences are suddenly uncertain; no longer able to chart the void through mathematics, they find smaller and smaller worlds to discover. The one-world dream of the Enlightenment is fragmenting into worlds colliding and worlds apart; individuals do masks to enter the different reality- games, the social worlds layered through the eyes of strangers; existences which may only be guessed at refracted through the media never-web of stereotypes and labels. Images flicker across screens and into minds. Working, living and acting within a magical psychocosm, one discovers that the sense of identity becomes inextricably interwoven with one's magick. There is a graduated progression from magick beeing something that one is interested in, to something that one is engrossed by, to being a magician more or less full time. In terms of the Chaos approach, this implies continual change modification of identity, entering different paradigms of belief and behaviour, learning new skills, and shedding life-patterns which have outworn their usefulness. There is thus a shift from a core Ego which is based on differences, the self-other divide, to Exo, the self in a continual progrss of engagement. As one continues to expand and develop the personal psychocosm, the size of the social group which reinforces that sense of identity grows smaller. SELF LOVE The aim of the progress is to reach the point where identity is countinually being deconstructed - when a measure of fluidity of expression is attained and one is released from the necessity of seeking self-validation from others. This is what Austin Osman Spare referred to with his doctrine of Self Love. This is no narcissistic basking in the glamours of the ego, rather, it is the discovery of the void at the core of an indentity which is freely able to move into any desire set of social relations, without becoming trapped or attached to them. As the core of the sense of self is 'Self-Love', rather than any limitated label, one attains a state of great freedom of movement and expression. Self Love does not necessarily imply alienation or withdrawal from Consensus Reality. Modern culture is saurated with escape routes by which one is encouraged to resist the routines of reality. Drugs, sex, fantasy scripts, social enclaves, ideologies, therapies, mindscapes, the past, utopia - all well-signposted escape routes that, ultimately, reveal themselves to be dead-ends. This is especially true of so-called revolutionary escape routes - political, alternative lifestyles, magical endeavour. They support rather than threaten, consensus reality, whilst feeding the illusion of escape. Many of these escape routes require a change in social scripts and masks and do little more than create fragile enclaves within consensus reality, which inevitably are recaptured recuperated, and commodified into fashion and trends. Magick is the 'great' escape route to the edge. Through its practice the magician may project himself into Mythic Time, make place and space sacred, project future benign or otherwise. Whilst political ideologies focus on changing the structure of social relations, magical scripts focus on changing identity, so that the structure might one day follow. All transient individuals, magicians dream new towers from the buildings of consensus reality. The difficult comes in attempting to find others who will share and personal identity has been rendered fluid, ephemeral, and endlessly open to the exercise of will and imagination. This may be liberating. It may also, of course, be deeply unsettling and stressful. Nostalgia for common values becomes a cultural force, as much from the counter-culture as the establishment. As the spatial and temporal worlds become increasingly compressed, so the response increasingly becomes that of denial, cynicism or a blase attitude - sensory screening, the yearning for a past forever lost, and the simplification of representation. The search for escape routes vieds yet another market of commodities. There is no escape from Society of the Spectacle. The Chaos appoach to the deconstruction of identity can be understood by examining the tactics of Aleister Crowley, who has left a good deal of useful materiel for exploring the boundaries of identity. Crowley's life can be understood as a continual battle between himself and consensus reality - a battle to create a personal enclave for himself beyond the limits of conventional morality. Crowley sought to escape the Society of the Spectacle by becomming himself Spectacular. He used his lovers, pupils and writings to create a free area from which he could give free reign to the myriad selves which he had uncovered through his magical living. Crowley's approach to the problem of identity was an extrem one, and part of his drive towards the extrems of experience may have come from his desire to inaugurate a new society. The scheme may have begun as a deliberate projective glamour, but there are indications that Crowley became trapped within his own glamours which, though they provided meaning and support, may have also, at times, seemed to be crushing weights. Through he deliberatly created tensions and stresses within himself he used these to fulfil his task - to perturb - and he countinues to do so. The Chaos Magician may occasionally resort to extreme stances, but is less likely to be concerned with projecting his personal visions onto anyone else. Chaos future dreams are not, as yet, guided by one overall meta-vision. Instead, there is the Pandemonaeon - a future which sewthes with possibilities, any of which may become manifest, according to individual will and powers, rather than overall schema. Matter is my playground. I make and break without though. Laugh and come UNTO me. Eris, the Stupid Book Modern society has exalted the notion of individualism almost to a pathological degree. Within this urge to be individual are the continual exhortations to find 'real','higher' or 'true' selves. But if 'Nothing is True' and 'Everything is Permitted', one may come to discover that there is nought but a whirling void behind the social masks and personas necessary for moving through social reality. The Chaos approach offers the choice of becomming many individuals, and to finde a sense of freedom not through attempting to resist consensus reality,, or to create an enclave beyound it, but to embrace it joyfully. While the majority of magical paradigms seek to reject consensus reality in favour of 'higher' states of being, the Chaos approach masks consensus reality into a playground for the phenomenizing of will desire. By experience consensus reality from the basis of Self Love, the magican may begin the long and fascinating process of bringing to earth those shards of the Pandaemonaeon - and whatever my lie beyound it - which engage attention. This is, by definition, the activity of an Elite group, since few have the drive, stamina, and determination to continually strip away the skins of identity, in favour of freedom of movement. For the Chaos perspective, the sence of selfhood is an emergent property of continual movement through zones of social dynamics - there is no 'core' behind the masks. As one gradually moves away from dependence on social groups to reinforce a sense of identity; when one ceases to label one-selves on the basis of a few dominant behaviours or identifications; the magician becomes able to establish experimental 'beachheads' into the nascent possibilities of the future round the corner. Freedom lies in remaining mobile, elusive, and relaxed. Rather than resisting the chaos of the normal, the magician joyfully hurls his-selves into it, never quite sure what will emerge. When there is no need to be anchored in a stable past or present, the possibilities of any future that one might care to dream about are there for the taking. Thus, by extending the limits of Achievable Reality, it becomes possible to mutate and re-design the human entity for explorations into future spaces. P A R T T W O M A G I C A L D Y N A M I C S RITUAL MAGICK Ritual Magick is one of the most powerful (and glamorous) approaches to practical magical work. In the present context ritual may be defined as a structured sequence of events, performed with the intent of bringing about magical effects. This defination is necessarily broad, as there are many different forms and styles of ritual; from full-blown ceremonial magick utilizing robes, banners, and props cerefully arranged to represent a particular magical system, to on-the-spot improvisation. The latter may be just as effective as the former; power resides in the ritualist, not the words, gestures or symbols. A magical ritual is more than the sum of its parts. Ritual has elements of performance, and its own psychology; yet it would be a mistake to consider ritual to be merely psychodrama. Ritual can be broken down into the arrangement of sensory cues, voice technique, gesture, visualization, movement, symbolism, role- shifting and trance induction, yet it is more than any of this. Unaccountably, rituals, when performed, create an atmosphere - a space - in which something mysterious and wonderful may happen. If nothing else, ritual demonstrates how little we know of our potential, of ourselves, and the world through which we move. In the pervious section, the 'Circle' of traditional magick was redefined as a 'Free Area'. The space in which all normal limitations on the barries to what is 'possible' are swept aside. A space in which we are reminded of all that is mysterious and awe-inspiring, if only momentarily. A space where we might conspire with gods or dance with demons. CORE ELEMENTS OF RITUAL Rituals are processes in themselves, where different elements combine to help the participant create the Free Area where magick becomes vibrant and alive. To understand the ritual process is important, so that rather than slavishly following someone else's written sequence, the magician may create his own. 1. FAMILIARITY V RISK Rituals usually contain some elements which are familiar to the participants, and some elements which are new, and therefore place them at risk. Familiar elements include 'warm-up' exercises such as a Banishing, or techniques which the participants have used before. Risk elements include anything which is being tried out for the first time, and anything which requires improvisation, or freedom of action from participants. A script can only be followed to a certain point. After that point is passed, the perticipants must be on their toes, for anything might (and often does) happen. The ritualist must be responsive to each moment as it happens. For example, a ritual might be desigend to invoke a particular deity into a chosen person, for purposes of oracle or inspiration. It can happen that the chosen vehicle for the deity does not achieve the required state - but someone else participating might. In this example (and it is by no means uncommon), a group of ritualists who cannot move beyond their script are likely to struggle onwards, unaware of what is happening within the ritual process. A responsive and observant group, however, will be able to improvise, adapting to the new situation as it changes. This is largely a matter of confidence and hands-on experience. To learn ritual magick, like anything else, requires that the safety of the familiar be challenged with the necessity of taking risk. Of course, any rituals involves risk. The first time that one performs a ritual, one expects something 'strange' to happen if, somehow, one does it wrong. After one has done the same ritual a hundred times, one may be lulled into a sense of complavency, which is equally risky. For strange things happen just as often when they are not expected, as when they are. The risk of ritual is part of its glamour, and part of its power. 2. BELIEF SHAPES THE POWER OF RITUAL Veractiy of belief is a cornerstone to ritual magick. This has several levels to it. The core belief, that 'Magick Works`, can only become embedded through experience. Another level - how far, and how much magick can work - very much depends on one's dominant explanation of how magick works. Choas Magicians have identified four basic models of how magick works. These are the Spirit Model, the Energy Model, the Psychological Model, and the Cybernetics Model. Eech model has different strenght and weaknesses when it comes to explaining magical effects and phenomena. Each model also tends to develop its own terminology and frames of reference. Different systems of magick can be seen to have varying degrees of each model, and since magick, like any other field of human endeavour, follows general trends in thinking, there are different trends in magical models. Until fairly recently, the predominant model of magick was the Spirit Model. According to the Spirit 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. Humans and other- world entities have a reciprocal relationship with each other. The Energy Model arose, in the West, with the new discoveries of science - electrictiy, magnetism, and so forth - and the Wertern imports of the Eastern philosophies such as Tantra. The Energy Model might explain the discrete entities of the Spirit Model in terms of subtle energies which take the form of entities when viewed by limited humen senses. So they are not separate beings with their own existence and purpose, but energies which we have clothed in form, so as to work with them. The Psychological Model grew out of the rise of Psychoanalysis, particularly the work of Carl Gustav Jung, and has come to be the dominant model for explaining magical phenomena. In the Psychological Model, the gods, elemantals, demons etc., have no existence beyond the human mind - they are merely symbols or archetypes of deep parts of the human psyche. The Cybernetics Model is just beginning to creep in as magicians begin to speculate about the natur of magick as revealed through the lens of Information Sciences. As yet, it remains incomplete, but a cybernetics-based view of magical entities might say that there are information systems which have the capacity to be self- organizing, and which arise out of our participation in a complex web of systems - including personal belief, group belief, environmental systems, and the very fabric of reality itself. But enough of theory. When within the Free Area of ritual, it is best to believe that the elements that one is working with, be they gods, guardian spirits, allies etc., are real within their system. In this respect, it may be useful to ask oneself which model gives the greatest glamour of being a magician. Sending forth calls thundering through time and space to bring oneself to the attention of some mighty, ancient being, or performing a sequence of actions which allow a latent aspect of Self to rise into awareness ? Which sounds more risky and exciting ? If the entive being summoned is a part of the self, can much go awry ? If on the other hand, it is a being with all the powers, will, and regality of ancient Goddess or Spirit, then how much more important is it that the ritual be performed to the height of one's ability -with style, respect, and awe ? Choosing the most appropriate glamour will produce a concordant emotional intensity and Choas Magicians tend to the view that ritual should be intense, else all is merely play-acting. And remember, the models we create to explain the mysterious are just that - models, not the territory itself. Models cannot adequately contain the mysterious, and ritual, for all the explantations written, remains at the heart a space where the mysterious may into our lives. 3. DRAMATIC AWARENESS This term is used to draw a parallel between Ritual and performance. Together, the performers and audience of a masque or play can build up an atmosphere which can be felt by all present. The audience listen to what is happening on stage, empathize and react. This reaction is communicated to the actors, which in turn affects their performance. Thus an atmosphere of Dramatic Awareness - a shifting of awareness towards the mysthic arena of experience - can quickly be generated. If the audience is familiar with the myths or struggles being displayed on stage, then the experience may be cathartic for all concerned. Something very similar occurs during a magical ritual, particularly in Group rituals, where the participation of all those within a Free Area contributes towards each individual's experience of the ritual. In ritual time, all senses are heigh- tened, and small microscopic changes in a participant's behaviour - for example, voice tone, body language, or postural shifts - may be obviously apprehended, but nevertheless contribute to shifts in awareness for the entire group. Very subtle cues create profound changes in consciousness. It has been observed that ritual participants who become (to varying degrees) possessed by an entity display varying degrees of postural change, vocal alteration, and also, most significantly, small changes in the way that the facial muscles create the overall 'character' that is usually associated with a particular personality. If, for example, a group of ritualists are observing another person move into this state, these small signals will heighten the overal sense of Dramatic Awareness throughout the group. Within a ritual, participants can learn to move with a quality of deliberate to all their movements. Another analogy between rituals and theatre can be drawn - actors make their movements with the deliberate intent of communication something to the audience. In a ritual space, the audience can be considered to be any participant who is not engaged in activity. On a 'greater' level, the audience may be the entities which the ritual is designed to stir forth. 4. COORDINATION OF TECHNIQUE Rituals often require the participants to simultaneously employ different techniques. For example, etching a pentagram in the air may require the coordination of gesture, visualization, breathing, and colour projection, as well as the implicit beliefe that doing so will bring about some change within the ritual space. The successful coordination of different techniques to carry out an action within the ritual space contributes towards changes in consciousness. Coordinated movement, together with breathing and visualization, directed by the intention of bringing about a specific result, creates a shift into an emotional state which a magician learns, through practice, to identify as being appropriate for that action. Emotion acts as a support to belief, and when the magician feels himself move into the appropriate state of awareness he undergoes a subtle belief shift towards the tacit 'reality' of the ritual process. STAGES IN RITUAL PROGRESSION This is a basic model for ritual design which identifies five different stages in the ritual process. These stages follow the general shift in ritual awareness towards the actualization of the intent that the ritual is based around, and then back out towards post-ritual consciouness. 1. Preparation. 2. Warm-up. 3. Core. 4. Wind-down. 5. Debriefing. 1. PREPARATION It is not always easy to say what point a ritual begins or ends, since the preparation to perform a ritual can itself be very elaborate - cleaning the area to be used, bathing, relaxing and meditating can be as much part of the ritual as the main event. Fasting and self-deprivation (give up habits and addictions) are also time-honoured methods of focusing awareness towards a particular task or goal. Especially effective are those preparations which produce changes in somatic awareness, such as dieting, sleep deprivation or reducing one's normal intake of stimulants. If one is working within the parameters of a specific magical system, then Preparation is likly to involve assimilating the attributes, symbols, and concepts of that system. When working with a particular entity, it may be deemed useful to have had some of the ritual participants (if not all) acquire a knowledge of the behaviour, attributes, and qualities associated with the entity. Preparations also involves the pre-ritual briefing of participants to ensure that everyone has some idea of what is being attempted, and why. 2. WARM-UP The warming-up elements of ritual consist of techniques that serve to raise energy and enthusiasm, and focus awareness towards the task in hand. These include drumming, dancing, meditation exercises background music and coordinated breathing or chanting. Not only do these techniques sever to focus awareness, they also have powerful physiological effects as well. The kind of warm-up techniques used in a ritual will help create the appropriate mood for participants. Obviously fast drumming and energetic dancing will create a very different ritual atmosphere than slow-moving steps, sonorous chanting and solemn music. A Banishing or Centering ritual is a standard warm-up precursor to moast rituals, of which, more later. 3. THE CORE The Core stage of ritual involves the techniques which implement the main intention of the rituals so far, which is powered by all the energy and enthusiasm generated during the rite. The content of the core stage depends on the general aim of the ritual, such as invocation - calling a specific entity into one or more of the participants; evocation - calling forth (or creating) a physical manifestation of an entity; the projection of a specific intention from the ritual space into the multiverse; the enactment of a specific mythic event; the enactment of a psychodrama designed to bring about a specific shift in awareness; or the celebration of some historical, mythic, or social event. 4. WIND-DOWN This stage of ritual marks the beginning of return to post-ritual awareness, the return being facilitated by, for example, another performance of a Banishing ritual. This serves to prevent the energy and emotions generated by the ritual from spilling over into everyday life. Occasionally, light-hearted games may be used to relax participants and to discharge tension. The magical role is shed, and the mythic world bidden depart, as the participants prepare to return to everyday awareness. It is generally the case that the more intense the ritual, the more thorough the Wind-Down should be. It should be noted that not all individuals return from intense trance states simultaneously, and that careful observation of participants' return from intense ritual consiousness is often necessary. It should also be noted that when rituals are designed to bring about an intense shift in consciouness the effects are likely to linger on afterwards. One of the strengths of magick is that it provides the individual with a framework within which to explore and assimilate shifts in awareness. It is not un- konwn for rituals to bring about long-term changes in an individual's awareness and life. Indeed, to do so is one of the aims of ritual. 5. DEBRIEFING This stage concerns the recording of impressions and insights, to be enterd in the Magical Diary. The importance of this cannot be over- stressed. It is surprising how quickly impressions of what transpired during a ritual can become distorted or forgotten. The magical diary is essential for the self-assessment of progress, and recording experiences for future reference. This stage also includes self or group assessment of performance on a technical level - identifying which parts of the ritual process had the most effect, and which, in retrospect, did not deem to work as well. Magicians do not, in general, enjoy having their performances criticized, but this is as much a part of the continual process of learning and refining ritual technique as any other. E X A M P L E S O F R I T U A L S BANISHING RITUAL A Banishing Ritual is one of the first practical exercises that a magician learns. It is also sometimes known as Centering, which in many respects, is a more accurate term for the exercise. A Banishing has three aims. The first is that it acts as a warm-up - a preparation for doing further ritual, meditation, enabling the magician to put aside everyday thoughts - "what's on TV later ?", ect. It allows the magician to shift into his 'magician-self' role, and to place himself in the metaphysical universe - the axis mundi. Secondly, Banishing sets up the space being used for working as 'sacred', so that the loft, bedroom, basement or whatever becomes, temporarily, a Free Area. Thirdly, a Banishing clears the atmosphere of the area being used from any emotional undercurrents that one usually (unconsciously) associates it with. A Banishing can be a magical equivalent to tidying up (which should be done before working). Since most people are not fortunate enough to have a room which can be used soley for magical work, areas which are used for day-to-day living often have to be used as ritual spaces. This creates an atmosphere which can be sensed through unconscious cues, which it is well to Banish before starting focused magical work - or they might well disturb the ritual. Similarly, after a working, one needs to dispel particular atmosphere that has been created, or one might well find that is clashes with the everyday atmosphere that is normally associated with the room. On this point, it can be useful to Banish a room if there's been a particularly bad argument in it (the tension lingers), or if some- one has spent a period of illness or depression there. Most Banishing rituals have three basic components: 1. A section to focus awareness on the BodyMind. 2. A section which demarcates the main zones, gates, quarters or dimensions of the chosen magical universe - of which the magician is at the center. 3. An identification with a chosen source of inspiration - merging the macrocosm (total psychocosm) with the microcosm (self). EXAMPLE BANISHING There follows an example Banishing ritual that illustrates these three sections. OCTARINE Pure Magic RED ÛÛ BLACK War Magic ÛÛ Death Magic ÜÛÜ ÛÛ ÜÛÜ ßÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ORANGE ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ BLUE Thinking Magic ßßßßßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßßßßßß Wealth Magic ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛÜ PURPLE or SILVER ßÛß ÛÛ ßÛß GREEN Sex Magic ÛÛ Love Magic ÛÛ YELLOW Ego Magic OCTOMATIC BANISHING This is a banishing sequence based on the Eight rays of the Chaosphere as facets of self/magical expression, showing eight different areas of magical activity (see Liber Chaos by Pete Carrol for a further exposition of these themes). Follow the sequence in the diagram above. The direction of Pure magick can be taken as East. 1. Begin facing East and stand, arms by your sides, head tilied slightly upwards, breathing slowly and regularly. Clear your mind of thoughts. Reach upwards with your right hand breathing in, pause, and then bring it down the center line of your body whilst breathing out, visualizing a beam of white light passing down throught your body, from above your head to below your feet. Next, turn your head to the left and point with your left hand, then turn to your right and stretch your right arm out, forming a Tau Cross - breath in, hold, and breathe out, visualizing a ray of white light running across your body, from left to right. Then, whilst breating in, bring your arms across your body so that they are stretched out in front of you, with hands reaching out at chest level. Exhale, and visualize a circle of light around your body. Then, inhale, bringing your hands backwards and fold them across your chest. Breathe out, and visualize a sphere of white light expanding around yourself. Feel yourself to be supercharged with energy, yet at the same time, calm and ready for further action. This completes the first stage of the Banishing, serving to direct attention to one's BodyMind and internal states. 2. Establish the 8 directions of magick. For the first ray, breathe in, and on exhalation, snap fingers or clap hands, visualizing a chaos thunderbolt (or dorje) flashing forth, and declare: 1. Pure Magick - making an appropriate gesture and hurling it outwards. Continue until you have established all 8 'rays': 2. Death Magick 3. Wealth Magick 4. Love Magick 5. Ego Magick 6. Sex Magick 7. Thought Magick 8. War Magick This section severs to establish the 8 directions, demarcating the sacred space, and placing the magician at its center. Then, facing East, raise armes in gesture of invocation and declare: These are my weapons Expressions of my will I grasp them lightly I stand poised, at the centre The Universe dances for my pleasure. To close, run throught the sequence again - but with each inbreath visualize the thunderbolt returning to you. for greater effect, each thunderbolt may be given its appropriate colour. Also, each thunderbolt could 'evolve' into a chaosphere, or a personal servitor-entity which is emblemeatic of that power for you. If you wish to experiment with this Banishing, you should develop it into a form which works best for you. This final declaration is the magician informing himself (and any other who may be listening in) that he is at the center of his magical universe - separate, yet connected. When working, Chaos Magicians traditionally choose one direction as metaphysical east, as the beginning point of any ritual which involves a progression throught a series of directions. PRACTICE A chosen Banishing can be done daily - on awakening, and before retiring. It should be used to open and close any magical activity. In time, one will find that the ritual can be done almost on 'autopilot', and the associateed feelings arise without conscious effort. It should be taken as an encourageing sign if one starts having dreams about Banishing. RITUAL MASS The key element which is shared by both a religious (i.e. Catholic) Mass and a Mass performed by a magical group is the calling into the Free Area of the power of an entity, and the sharing of the power of the entity by all participants. In a Catholic Mass, the focus of the ritual is the 'miracle' of transubstantiation - the conversion of host and wine into the body and blood of Christ, which the participants consume. In a magical Mass, the modus for sharing the power may be much wider. The chosen entity is invoked into a chosen priestess, who then becomes that entity (with varying degrees of possession). The entity may then deliver a litany, which can be scripted, or be an improvised oracle. The entity may be questioned by those attending, and may answer in any way it chooee fit. It may choose to lead the participants into acts which it sees as appropriate, or empower a prepared sacrament with its energy so that all may partake of its power. Or it may choose to share its power with those present inother ways. In a Mass, it is often useful to have ritual officers who are aware that it is their task, should it be found to be necessary, to banish the entity from its chosen host. It is not unknown for entries to resist departing from a space that they have been called into. When an individual has become deeply possessed, it is some- times necessary to restrain them, and recall them to waking consciousness by forcefully banishing the possessing entity and making the host recall their own identity and whereabouts. In extrem cases, a lustration of water may be necessary to bring them out of the possession trance. I N V O C A T I O N Invocation basically involves calling upon an entity and thereby identifying oneself with it, to the level that one merges with it. This technique can have profound effects, both emotionally and physically, and like any other powerful magical technique, it can be dagerous if not given due care and attention. WHY INVOKE ? For what reason might one desire to bing a goddess, god, or other mythic entity down into oneself ? The multible entities found within polytheisti and pantheistic systems each encapsulate different attributes and qualities. Thus one might desire to invoke Baphomet for inspiration; Pan for ecstasy and heightened sexual arousal; one of the Nornir, for knowledge of the future; Ra-Hoor- Khuit to give a hawk's-eye view of a situation; or Kali, to consume some aspect of self which one wishes to loosen from one's ego-complex. Throught invocation, one might make modifications to one's selves, seek inspiration, or specific knowledge about a certain event or item; develop powers of heightened perception, or feel oneself charged with power which can be used for further magical tasks. Invocations are usually verbal, but are often aided by other symbolic media such as smell, colour, music, lightnig and gestures. All of these are arranged to enable the paticipants to focus awareness upon the subject of the invocation. Invocation tend to result in an ecstatic state, whereby the recipient is so passionately swept up into trance, that some quality or attribute associated with that entity manifests in the person - such as enhanced oracular perception or knowledge of 'hidden lore'. While this ability may be developed by anyone who practises magick, most people don't do it, and thus a magical practitioner may be asked to act as the incarnation of a particular entity as part of an event - or to bring about a similar experience in another person - 'invoking upon someone', as it is known. Invocation serves to heighten dramatic awareness to the exent that the magican, who is identifying with (or being identified as) the mythic figure in question, gains both access to abilities associated with that figure, and temporarliy is able to perform acts beyond his or her normal capacities. Actors often reports a similar experience of becoming so caught up in the character they are portraying, that they find they can sing, dance or perform feats of agility which, while appropriate for that particular character, are beyond their own normal range of ability. It seems that, given appropriate conditions, we are capable of much more than we usually allow ourselves. DESIGNING INVOCATIONS Source books of Magick abound with examples of invocations, but for now, it is the processes underlying invocations which are to be considered. Firstly, it is essential to build up a framework of symbols which can be employed to focus awareness onto the subject of the invocation. This is where the symbolic media and tables of correspondences mentioned earlier come in useful. If, for example a magician wished to invoke Star Trek's Mr. Spock, the first thing to do would be to research Spock's mannerisms, gestures, posture and Vulcan inscrutability, and adopt these as part of the ritual. As a further aid, a pathworking could be devised based around the image of Spock walking throught the corridors of the USS Enterprise until the magician felt sufficiently composed as Spock to under- take an appropriate task - such as debugging a computer program, which often requires unswerving logic, patience and calm - all qualities for which Mr. Spock is well-konwn. When designing verbal invocations, it is important to consider Delivery. The way we speak is a powerful way of projecting our intensions. The delivery of a speech quickly transmits to both self and audience one's degree of confidance. A fine invocation may be written, but can quickly be rendered ineffective if it is read out in a deadpan voice and punctuated by ...ers and ...ums. Words can be paced, so that speech can excite or relax the listener - which can be oneself or others. (Good delivery of an invocation serves to raise dramatic awareness in both self and others. If you think of it in terms of a feedback loop, then the more enthralling the speech, the more intense the degree of dramatic awareness, and the more people will become caught up into the ritual atmosphere. When one person, for example, is performing an invocation, others present may temporarily become the 'audience' - and participants can shift between active and passive involvement throughout a ritual. The key to remember is that, if such be your intent, everything that happens inside the ritual space can be used to enhance the atmos- phere. Try exploring the effect of pacing your speech, deliberately breathing louder, and, upon reaching the climax of the invocation, becoming breathless and adding a bit of tremble. You don't have to shout - a whisper can be just as effective (if not more so) than a loud voice. If you can successfully use your voice to project emotional tones - such as awe, reverence or passion - then those listening, both yourself and others, will pick up on the emotive undertones and become drawn into the atmosphere you are generating. As people enter different stages of trance, their voice pattern changes. Others present perceive this, if only unconsiciously, and so the atmosphere of dramatic awareness is generated. In a ritual sequence all speech can be used to project appropriate feelings which generate the group atmosphere. This is performed best when the people speaking are confident and relaxed about what they are saying. Hence the problem with (a) reading from textbooks and (b) using very long speeches. If possible, it is preferable to either learn a speech so that one dosen't need to look at bits of paper, which tends to be bothersome (especially when reading someone else's writing in a dark room or wind-swept moor) - or one person to act as vessel or channel for a mythic figure, and other participants to take on the role of celebrants (or congregation). However, in other cultures it is not unknown for several people at once to become possessed by the same deity. In Haiti, there was once a celebrated case of about 300 people all possessed simultaneously by the god Legba, who marched in protest of the political situation to the presidential residence ! In western magick, people tend to stick to one approach - usually what they've been taught in a group or coven. This is often a pity, because there are often good alternatives to be found in, for example, the study of drama or oratory. One useful element to look at is the idea of Status Shifts. We move through status shifts as a consequence of social interactions, along a scale of low to high Status transactions. These transactions also occur during rituals. During a vocal invocation, you might begin with the status position of a supplicant reaching up to a deity, and eventually act with the status of that deity, whilst others will (or should) regard you appropriatly. This often leads to a confusion of-roles, as some people find it hard to distinguish between the role someone might within a ritual setting, and how they behave outside of it. Some- one who becomes a goddess within a ritual should not be treated like one after the ritual has been concluded ! Hence the prime danger in identifying oneself with Mythic figures is one of blowing up one's ego to massive proportions. If you continually identify with a figure who reinforces some idea which you have about yourself, all you will do is imbalance yourself towards those particular tendencies. I have known at least three people become quite seriously disturbed because they worked exclusively with lunar, oracular figures who accentuated their already-present tendency to slip into passive, oracular trance states. As in all practices, an understanding and continual assessment of one's self in terms of strengths, weaknesses, and ego-identifications is necessary - especially if you are working with others in a teaching or group leader role. It's fair to say that the more that is put into an invocation, the more intenses the effect will be. There are more elements to consider, such as the use of gestures to reinforce speech; the use of lighting and props; smell, test, music and stage-setting. Of course the absence of speech can be as equally effective, as can be the use of grunts, howls and cackles. Having an infectious laugh can be a very useful skill as well - you can literally laugh your way out of some situations. Humour is an important element of ritual, which is often neglected by some of the ever-so-serious people one runs into occasionally. One approach to experimenting with invocations is to assemble a variety of speeches written by other people and try reading them aloud until you hit on a delivery that feels effective. It can be useful to tape such experiments, and even use them as background effects in ritual work. Using approriate music can also be very productive. While it's useful to look at other people's written invocations - so you can grasp the way that structure and rhythm can evolve through the way lines are delivered - it's generally considered better to use your own attempts at invocation. Not only dose this build confidence and give you a good feel for what works and what doesn't, but it allows you to build up a close contact with the figure you are identifing with. Generally, it's easier to invoke human figures than non-human ones. Using the same principles as an approach to shape-shifting, it would be appropriate for you to observe a particular animal - look at its characteristic postures, facial expression, its vocalizations, and characteristic behaviours. You would become the animal by close identification with its characteristics. The intensity of trance would probably very much depend on the degree of abandonment that you allowed yourself to have.