7 replies to this topic

[anasuya]

I've seen people look at this from both ends of the spectrum. Some think it's completely bunk, that it's a role-players escape from reality... too much Dungeons and Dragons and such. Others view it as a valid practice which is tried and true.

The basic premise is this: Chaos magicians take from every tradition, religion or spiritual practice only the things that work while disgarding the rest. For instance, they might take the meditation techniques of Buddhists, while considering the spiritual implications of this religion as useless. And this means that every chaos magician will practice differently. They do not practice white or black, although there is a color distinction that I'm not yet familiar with (still researching it).

If any of you have had any familiarity with this practice, let me know what you think of it.

BB, Ana

[Vampchick21]

hmmm...I've never looked into Chaos Magick myself, although many websites that I visit have a section for it....it's just not been what I was looking into at any given time.  So I'd be very interested in what anyone here might have to say about it, since my own understanding and knowledge of it is extremely limited to say the least

[Yosei]

The basic premise sounds like my own way of doing things( a little Shinto, a little Wicca, a dash of Spiritualism and a few other things I find that make sense to me or correspond with my own experience), but to give it a name of its own seems like defeating the purpose in a way, and it does seem like a lot of the people into it as such are just kind of neurotic (no offense to anyone out there who may consider this their own path, just the particular people I run into).

[Ectoplazzum]

Quote

I've seen people look at this from both ends of the spectrum. Some think it's completely bunk, that it's a role-players escape from reality... too much Dungeons and Dragons and such. Others view it as a valid practice which is tried and true.

The basic premise is this: Chaos magicians take from every tradition, religion or spiritual practice only the things that work while disgarding the rest. For instance, they might take the meditation techniques of Buddhists, while considering the spiritual implications of this religion as useless. And this means that every chaos magician will practice differently. They do not practice white or black, although there is a color distinction that I'm not yet familiar with (still researching it).

If any of you have had any familiarity with this practice, let me know what you think of it.

BB, Ana

Chaos magick is a favorite of non-Pagan or non-witchy types, and I've found the majority of Chaotes to be men in my own experiences.  They prefer to call themselves mages, and they have taught me an awful lot about magick that I can apply to my own spells as well, even though I'm not what I would consider a Chaote.  

Here's a couple of really great links that explain Chaos magick understandably.  In my opinion, it has a lot to offer, even if one only borrows things from it, such as how to get into your state of gnosis.  

http://www.chaosmatr...brary/chaos.php

http://www.grant-morrison.com/mag.htm


Elle

[anasuya]

I checked out the sites, thanks for providing them. Now, my question would be regarding the spells link on chaosmatrix.org. If chaos magick is the art of taking anything that works for a particular person and digarding the rest, wouldn't it stand to reason that every spell would differ from person to person as we are all individuals? The page owner lists a great deal of spells that have apparently worked for him/her, yet by the very basis of this belief system  it's likely to not work for anyone else. Of course, that's how I've understood it from the bit of reading I've done. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I wonder though, do Chaotes practice a religion, or is it all just magick?

Ana

[Ectoplazzum]

Quote

I checked out the sites, thanks for providing them. Now, my question would be regarding the spells link on chaosmatrix.org. If chaos magick is the art of taking anything that works for a particular person and digarding the rest, wouldn't it stand to reason that every spell would differ from person to person as we are all individuals? The page owner lists a great deal of spells that have apparently worked for him/her, yet by the very basis of this belief system  it's likely to not work for anyone else. Of course, that's how I've understood it from the bit of reading I've done. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I wonder though, do Chaotes practice a religion, or is it all just magick?

Ana

Not being a Chaote, I don't know how to explain this without it becoming even more confusing.  I have a friend who is a Chaote that I will ask about this and see if I can get a clear, concise answer for you.  From what I know, with Chaos magick, the main thing that differs from person to person is the gnosis part.  That's the gist of the whole thing, but I'm not sure how to explain what you asked in a way that makes that clear.  I'll be sure to find out for you.

With regard to the religion part, Chaos magick is not related to any religion, and, in fact, it seems that many who practice it are either agnostics or atheists for some reason.  It doesn't matter what religion you are though, as to whether you practice it or not, unless you're a Christian, and that's not just because it's Chaos magick in particular, it's just generally thought among Christians that any kind of magick is an abomination.

I was reading one of the links in ChaosMatrix though, and I was completely appalled at the misinformation that was presented in it.  I'm thinking of making another post just about that article because it goes to show that just because someone writes an article about something doesn't mean that the information contained within is true, or in this case, anywhere NEAR true.  The article in question is "An Introduction to Chaos Magick" by Adrian Savage.  Take what it says with a grain of salt.

Elle

[Yosei]

Quote

I checked out the sites, thanks for providing them. Now, my question would be regarding the spells link on chaosmatrix.org. If chaos magick is the art of taking anything that works for a particular person and digarding the rest, wouldn't it stand to reason that every spell would differ from person to person as we are all individuals? The page owner lists a great deal of spells that have apparently worked for him/her, yet by the very basis of this belief system  it's likely to not work for anyone else.

Ana

Isn't that kind of true for all spells generally, though?  I mean we are usually advised to write our own and just use the others we read about as a rough guideline or starting point...

[Ectoplazzum]

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Isn't that kind of true for all spells generally, though?  I mean we are usually advised to write our own and just use the others we read about as a rough guideline or starting point...

That's a very good point.  One of the most important parts of doing a spell is reaching the state of gnosis or raising energy.  If you're following someone else's spell, and they say to reach gnosis by meditating on blue M&Ms, but you can only reach gnosis by thinking about weeping willow trees, naturally if you follow their spell to the letter their spell isn't going to work for you, because you could meditate on blue M&Ms till the cows come home and still not reach gnosis.

Elle