The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/misc/chaos.txt

Text File | 1991-04-13 | 18KB | 316 lines

                                DEFINING CHAOS

                                 by Mark Chao


                                 Introduction


   Chaos, according to the `Oxford English Dictionary' means:

1. A gaping void, yawning gulf, chasm, or abyss.

2. The `formless void' of primordial matter, the `great deep' or 'abyss'
   out of which the cosmos or order of the universe was evolved.

   There are a couple of additional definitions, but they are irrelevant to
this discussion.  When chaos is used in magic,  there  is no place for con-
fusion or disorder.

   Chaos is the creative principle behind all magic.  When a magical ritual
is performed,  regardless of `tradition' or other variables in the elements
of performance,  a  magical  energy is created and put into motion to cause
something to happen.  In his book, `Sorcery as Virtual Mechanics',  Stephen
Mace cites a scientific precedent for this creative principle.

   I quote:

   "To keep it simple,  let  us  confine our example to just two electrons,
the pointlike carriers of negative charge.  Let  us  say they are a part of
the solar wind--beta particles,  as  it were--streaming out from the sun at
thousands of miles a second.  Say  that  these  two  came close enough that
their negative charges interact, causing them to repel one another.  How do
they accomplish this change in momentum?

   "According  to  quantum  electrodynamics,  they  do  it  by exchanging a
"virtual" photon.  One electron spawns it, the other absorbs it,  and so do
they repel each other. The photon is "virtual" because it cannot be seen by
an outside observer, being wholly contained in the interaction.  But  it is
real enough,  and the emission and absorbtion of virtual photons is how the
electromagnetic interaction operates.

   "The question which is relevant to our  purpose  here  is where does the
photon come from.  It does  not  come  out of one electron and lodge in the
other,  as  if  it  were  a  bullet  fired  from one rock into another. The
electrons themselves are unchanged, except for their momenta.  Rather,  the
photon is created out of nothing by the strain of the interaction.  Accord-
ing to current theory,  when  the  two electrons come close their waveforms
interact,  either cancelling out or reinforcing one another.  Waveforms are
intimately tied to characteristics like electric charge,  and we could thus
expect the charges on the two electrons to change. But electron charge does
not vary; it is always 1.602 x (-19) coulombs.  Instead the virtual photons
appear out of the vacuum and act to readjust the system.  The stress spawns
them and by their creation is the stress resolved".

   Austin Spare  understood  this  principle in regard to magical phenomena
long before scientists discovered photons or began  experiments in the area
of chaos science.


                        Austin Osman Spare-some history

   Austin Spare was born at midnight,  Dec. 31st,  1886  in a London suburb
called Snow Hill.  His father was a London policeman, often on night duty.

   Spare showed a natural talent for drawing at an early age,  and in 1901-
1904 left school to serve an apprenticeship in a stained-glass  works,  but
continued  his  education  at  Art  College  in  Lambeth.  In 1904 he won a
scholarship to the Royal College of Art.  In that  year he also exhibited a
picture in the Royal Academy for the first time.

   In 1905 he  published his first book, `Earth Inferno'.  It was primarily
meant to be a book of drawings, but included commentaries that  showed some
of his insight and spiritual leanings.  John Singer Sargent hailed him as a
genius at age 17.  At  an  unspecified  time  in his adolescence, Spare was
initiated into a witch cult by a sorceress named Mrs. Patterson, whom Spare
referred to as his "second mother". In 1908 he held an exhibition at Bruton
Gallery.  In  1910  he  spent  a short time as a member of the Golden Dawn.
Becoming disenchanted  with  them,  he  later  joined  Crowley's  Argentium
Astrum.  The  association  did  not  last  long.  Crowley  was said to have
considered  Spare  to be a Black Magician.  In 1909 Spare began creation of
the `Book of Pleasure'.

   In 1912 his reputation was growing rapidly in the art world.  In 1913 he
published the `Book of Pleasure'. It is considered to be his most important
magical work, and includes detailed instructions for  his system of sigili-
zation and the "death postures" that he is  well  known  for.  1914-1918 he
served as an official war artist.  He was posted to Egypt which had a great
effect on him.  In  1921,  he  published  `Focus of Life',  another book of
drawings with his unique and magical commentaries.  1921-1924  Spare was at
the  height  of  his  artistic  success,  then,  in  1924  he published the
`Anathema of Zos',  in which he effectively excommunicated himself from his
false and trendy artistic "friends" and benefactors.  He  returned to South
London and obscurity to find the freedom to develop his philosophy, art and
magic.

   In 1947 Spare met Kenneth Grant and became actively involved  with other
well-known  occultists  of  the  period.  In  1948-1956  he began work on a
definitive Grimoire of the Zos Kia Cultus,  which  is  referred  to  in his
various  writings.  This  is  unfinished and being synthesized from Spare's
papers by Kenneth Grant, who inherited all of Spare's papers.  Much of this
information was included in `Images  and  Oracles of Austin Osman Spare' by
Kenneth Grant,  but  there  are some unpublished works which Grant plans to
publish after completion of his Typhonian series.

   References for this section are mostly from Christopher Bray's introduc-
tion to `The Collected Works of Austin Osman Spare' and from `Excess Spare',
which is a compilation  by  The  Temple  Ov  Psychic  Youth  of photocopied
articles about Spare from various sources.


                        The Magic of Austin Osman Spare

   Spare's art and magic were closely related. It is reputed that there are
messages in his drawings  about  his  magical  philosophy.  One  particular
picture  of  Mrs.  Patterson  has  reportedly  been  seen to move; the eyes
opening and closing.  Spare  is  best known for his system of using sigils.
Being an artist, he was very visually oriented.

   The system basically consists of writing down the desire,  preferably in
your own magical alphabet, eliminating all repeated letters, then forming a
design  of  the  remaining single letters.  The sigil must then be charged.
There is a variety of specific ways to do this,  but  the key element is to
achieve a state of "vacuity"  which  can be done through exhaustion, sexual
release or several other methods.

   This creates a `vacuum' or `void' much  like  the condition described in
the introduction to this discussion,  and  it  is filled with the energy of
the magician.  The sigil, being now charged,  must be forgotten so that the
sub-conscious  mind  may work on it without the distractons and dissipation
of  energy  that  the  conscious mind is subject to.  Spare recognized that
magic comes from the  sub-conscious mind of the magician,  not some outside
`spirits' or `gods'.

   Christopher  Bray  has  this  to say about Spare's methods in his intro-
duction to `The Collected Works of Austin Osman Spare':

   "So in his art and writing, Spare is putting us in the mood;  or showing
by example what attitude we need to adopt to approach the `angle of depart-
ure of consciousness' in order to enter the infinite.  What pitch  of  con-
sciousness we need to gain success.

   "One must beware making dogma,  for Spare went to great pains to exclude
it as much as possible to achieve success in his magic; however a number of
basic assumptions underpin chaos magic.

   "Chaos is the universal potential of creative force, which is constantly
engaged in trying to seep through the cracks of our personal and collective
realities.  It is the power of Evolution/Devolution.

   "Shamanism is innate within  every  one  of  us  and can be tapped if we
qualify by adjusting our perception/attitude and making  our being ready to
accept  the  spontaneous.  Achieving  Gnosis,  or  hitting  the  `angle  of
departure of consciousness and time', is a knack rather than a skill."

   There are other methods to utilize the same concept  that Spare explains
for us.  Magicians since Spare have written  about  their  own  methods and
expantions of his method quite frequently  in  occult magazines,  mostly in
Great Britain.  Spare  is  certainly  not  the  first  person in history to
practice  this  sort  of  magic,  but  he  is  the  one  who  has dubbed it
(appropriately), Chaos.


                              Chaos since A.O.S.

   Austin Spare died May 15,  1956,  but  his  magic  did not die with him.
There have been select groups of  magicians  practicing  versions  of Chaos
ever since, especially in Northern England and Germany. In the late 1970's,
Ray Sherwin  was  editor  and  publisher  of  a  magazine  called  `The New
Equinox.'  Pete  Carroll  was  a  regular  contributor to the magazine, and
together, due to dissatisfaction with the magical  scene  in Britain at the
time, they formed the `Illuminatos Of Thanateros.' They advertised in  `New
Equinox' and a group formed. Part of the intention of the group was to have
an Order where degrees  expressed  attainment  rather  than  authority, and
hierarchy beyond just organizational requirements was non-existent.

   At some point, about 1986, Ray Sherwin "excommunicated himself"  because
he felt that the Order was slipping into the  power  structure  that he had
intended to avoid with this group,  and  Pete  Carroll  became known as the
leader of `The Pact.'  The IOT continues to thrive and is identified as the
only international Chaos organization to date.  The  IOT has also spread to
America, and has headquarters in Encino, California and Atlanta, Georgia.

   There are smaller groups of Chaos practitioners,  as well as individuals
practicing alone.  Chaos  since  Spare  has taken on a life of its own.  It
will always continue to grow, that is its nature.  It was only natural that
eventually  the  world  of  science  would  begin  to discover the physical
principles underlying magic,  although  the scientists who are making these
discoveries still do not realize  that  this is what they are doing.  It is
interesting that they have had the wisdom to call it chaos science...


                                 Chaos Science

   Modern chaos science began in the 1960's  when  a handful of open-minded
scientists with an eye for pattern realized that simple  mathematical equa-
tions fed into a computer could model patterns every bit  as  irregular and
"chaotic" as a waterfall. They were able to apply this to weather patterns,
coastlines,  all  sorts  of  natural phenomena.  Particular equations would
result in pictures resembling specific types of leaves,  the  possibilities
were incredible. Centers and institutes were founded to specialize in "non-
linear dynamics" and "complex systems."   Natural  phenomena,  like the red
spot of Jupiter, could now be understood.  The common catch-terms that most
people have heard by now; strange attractors, fractals, etc.,  are  related
to the study of turbulence in nature.  There  is  not room to go into these
subjects in depth here,  and  I  recommend that those who are interested in
this  subject  read  `Chaos:  making  a  new  science'  by James Gleick and
`Turbulent Mirror' by John Briggs & F. David Peat.

   What we are concerned with here is how all this relates to  magic.  Many
magicians,  especially  Chaos  Magicians,  have  begun  using  these terms,
"fractal" and "strange attractor", in their everyday conversations. Most of
those who do this have some understanding of the relationship between magic
and this area of science.  To put it very simply,  a successful magical act
causes  an  apparantly  acausal  result.   In  studying  turbulence,  chaos
scientists have realized that apparantly acausal  phenomena  in  nature are
not  only  the  norm,  but are measurable by simple mathematical equations.
Irregularity  is  the  stuff life is made of.  For example, in the study of
heartbeat rhythms and brain-wave patterns,  irregular patterns are measured
from normally  functioning  organs,  while  steady,  regular patterns are a
direct  symptom  of  a  heart  attack about to occur,  or an epileptic fit.
Referring  back  again  to "virtual" photons,  a  properly executed magical
release of energy creates a  "wave  form"  (visible by Kirlian photography)
around  the  magician  causing  turbulence  in  the  aetheric  space.  This
turbulence  will  likely  cause  a  result,  preferably as the magician has
intended. Once the energy is released, control over the phenomena is out of
the  magician's  hands,  just  as  once  the equation has been fed into the
computer, the design follows the path set for it.

   The scientists who are working in this area would scoff at this explana-
tion,  they  have no idea that they are in the process  of  discovering the
physics behind magic.  But  then,  many  common  place  sciences  of today,
chemistry for example,  were once  considered  to  be magic.  Understanding
this subject requires,  besides some reading, a shift in thinking.  We  are
trained from  an  early  age to think in linear terms,  but  nature and the
chaos within it are non-linear,  and  therefore require non-linear thinking
to be understood.  This sounds simple, yet it reminds me of a logic class I
had in college. We were doing simple Aristotelian syllogisms. All we had to
do was to put everyday language into equation form.  It  sounds simple, and
it is. However,  it  requires  a  non-linear  thought process.  During that
lesson over the space  of  a  week,  the  class  size  dropped from 48 to 9
students.  The  computer programmers were the first to drop out.  Those  of
us who survived that  section went on to earn high grades in the class, but
more  importantly,  found that we had achieved a permanent  change  in  our
thinking processes.  Our  lives  were  changed  by that one simple shift of
perspective.

   Chaos science is still in the process of discovery,  yet  magicians have
been applying its principles for at least as long as they have been writing
about magic.  Once the principles of this science begin to take hold on the
thinking process, the magician begins to notice everything from the fractal
patterns in smoke rising from a cigarette to the patterns  of  success  and
failure in magical workings,  which leads to an understanding of why it has
succeeded or failed.


                             Defining Chaos Magic


   Chaos is not in itself, a system or philosophy. It is rather an attitude
that one applies to one's magic and philosophy.  It  is  the  basis for all
magic,  as  it  is  the  primal  creative force.  A Chaos Magician learns a
variety of magical techniques,  usually as many as s/he can gain access to,
but sees beyond the systems and dogmas to the physics  behind  the  magical
force and uses whatever methods are  appealing  to him/herself.  Chaos does
not come with a specific Grimoire or even a prescribed  set of ethics.  For
this reason,  it has been dubbed "left hand path" by some who choose not to
understand that which is beyond their own chosen path.  There  is no set of
specific spells that are considered  to  be  `Chaos Magic spells'.  A Chaos
Magician will use the same spells as those of other paths, or those of his/
her own making.  Any and all methods and  information  are  valid, the only
requirement is that it works.  Mastering the role of the sub-conscious mind
in magical operations is the crux of it,  and the state called "vacuity" by
Austin Osman Spare is the road to that end.  Anyone who has participated in
a successful ritual has experienced  some  degree  of  the `high' that this
state induces.

   An understanding  of  the  scientific  principles  behind magic does not
necessarily require a college degree in physics  (although it wouldn't hurt
much, if the linear attitude drilled into the student  could be by-passed),
experience in magical results will bring the necessary understanding.

   This series is directed toward the increasing numbers of people who have
been asking,  "What  is  Chaos  Magic?"  It  is  very basic and by no means
intended to be a  complete  explanation  of  any of the elements discussed.
Many of the  principles  of  magic  must be self-discovered, my only intent
here is to try to define and pull  together the various elements associated
with Chaos Magic into an intelligible whole.  For  those  who wish to learn
more about this subject,  I  have prepared a suggested reading list for the
last section, however,  I must emphasize that there are always more sources
than any one person knows about,  so  do  not  limit yourself to this list.
Chaos has no limits...


   For Further Reading:

   `The Book Of Pleasure' by Austin Osman Spare
   `Anathema Of Zos' by Austin Osman Spare
   `A Book Of Satyrs' by Austin Osman Spare
   `Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare' by Kenneth Grant

   `The Early Work of A.O.S.'
   `Excess Spare'
   `Stations In Time'

   These three are collections available through TOPY.

   Available from most bookstores (at least by special order):

   `Chaos: making a new science' by James Gleick
   `Turbulent Mirror' by John Briggs & F. David Peat
   `Liber Null & Psychonaut' by Peter J. Carroll
   `Practical Sigil Magick' by Frater U.D.


                                   -oOo-