345 lines
18 KiB
Modula-2
345 lines
18 KiB
Modula-2
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DEFINING CHAOS
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by Mark Chao
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Introduction
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Chaos, according to the `Oxford English Dictionary' means:
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1. A gaping void, yawning gulf, chasm, or abyss.
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2. The `formless void' of primordial matter, the `great deep' or
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'abyss' out of which the cosmos or order of the universe was
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evolved.
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There are a couple of additional definitions, but they are
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irrelevant to this discussion. When chaos is used in magic, there
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is no place for con- fusion or disorder.
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Chaos is the creative principle behind all magic. When a magical
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ritual is performed, regardless of `tradition' or other variables in
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the elements of performance, a magical energy is created and put
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into motion to cause something to happen. In his book, `Sorcery as
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Virtual Mechanics', Stephen Mace cites a scientific precedent for
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this creative principle.
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I quote:
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"To keep it simple, let us confine our example to just two
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electrons, the pointlike carriers of negative charge. Let us say
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they are a part of the solar wind--beta particles, as it
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were--streaming out from the sun at thousands of miles a second. Say
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that these two came close enough that their negative charges
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interact, causing them to repel one another. How do they accomplish
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this change in momentum?
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"According to quantum electrodynamics, they do it by
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exchanging a "virtual" photon. One electron spawns it, the other
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absorbs it, and so do they repel each other. The photon is "virtual"
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because it cannot be seen by an outside observer, being wholly
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contained in the interaction. But it is real enough, and the
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emission and absorbtion of virtual photons is how the electromagnetic
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interaction operates.
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"The question which is relevant to our purpose here is where
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does the photon come from. It does not come out of one electron
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and lodge in the other, as if it were a bullet fired from one
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rock into another. The electrons themselves are unchanged, except for
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their momenta. Rather, the photon is created out of nothing by the
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strain of the interaction. Accord- ing to current theory, when the
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two electrons come close their waveforms interact, either cancelling
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out or reinforcing one another. Waveforms are intimately tied to
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characteristics like electric charge, and we could thus expect the
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charges on the two electrons to change. But electron charge does not
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vary; it is always 1.602 x (-19) coulombs. Instead the virtual
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photons appear out of the vacuum and act to readjust the system. The
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stress spawns them and by their creation is the stress resolved".
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Austin Spare understood this principle in regard to magical
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phenomena long before scientists discovered photons or began
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experiments in the area of chaos science.
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Austin Osman Spare-some history
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Austin Spare was born at midnight, Dec. 31st, 1886 in a London
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suburb called Snow Hill. His father was a London policeman, often on
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night duty.
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Spare showed a natural talent for drawing at an early age, and in
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1901- 1904 left school to serve an apprenticeship in a stained-glass
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works, but continued his education at Art College in Lambeth.
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In 1904 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. In that
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year he also exhibited a picture in the Royal Academy for the first
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time.
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In 1905 he published his first book, `Earth Inferno'. It was
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primarily meant to be a book of drawings, but included commentaries
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that showed some of his insight and spiritual leanings. John Singer
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Sargent hailed him as a genius at age 17. At an unspecified time
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in his adolescence, Spare was initiated into a witch cult by a
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sorceress named Mrs. Patterson, whom Spare referred to as his "second
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mother". In 1908 he held an exhibition at Bruton Gallery. In 1910
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he spent a short time as a member of the Golden Dawn. Becoming
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disenchanted with them, he later joined Crowley's Argentium
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Astrum. The association did not last long. Crowley was said to
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have considered Spare to be a Black Magician. In 1909 Spare began
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creation of the `Book of Pleasure'.
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In 1912 his reputation was growing rapidly in the art world. In
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1913 he published the `Book of Pleasure'. It is considered to be his
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most important magical work, and includes detailed instructions for
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his system of sigili- zation and the "death postures" that he is well
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known for. 1914-1918 he served as an official war artist. He was
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posted to Egypt which had a great effect on him. In 1921, he
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published `Focus of Life', another book of drawings with his unique
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and magical commentaries. 1921-1924 Spare was at the height of
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his artistic success, then, in 1924 he published the `Anathema
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of Zos', in which he effectively excommunicated himself from his
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false and trendy artistic "friends" and benefactors. He returned to
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South London and obscurity to find the freedom to develop his
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philosophy, art and magic.
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In 1947 Spare met Kenneth Grant and became actively involved with
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other well-known occultists of the period. In 1948-1956 he
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began work on a definitive Grimoire of the Zos Kia Cultus, which is
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referred to in his various writings. This is unfinished and
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being synthesized from Spare's papers by Kenneth Grant, who inherited
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all of Spare's papers. Much of this information was included in
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`Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare' by Kenneth Grant, but
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there are some unpublished works which Grant plans to publish after
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completion of his Typhonian series.
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References for this section are mostly from Christopher Bray's
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introduc- tion to `The Collected Works of Austin Osman Spare' and from
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`Excess Spare', which is a compilation by The Temple Ov Psychic
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Youth of photocopied articles about Spare from various sources.
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The Magic of Austin Osman Spare
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Spare's art and magic were closely related. It is reputed that
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there are messages in his drawings about his magical philosophy.
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One particular picture of Mrs. Patterson has reportedly been
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seen to move; the eyes opening and closing. Spare is best known for
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his system of using sigils. Being an artist, he was very visually
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oriented.
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The system basically consists of writing down the desire,
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preferably in your own magical alphabet, eliminating all repeated
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letters, then forming a design of the remaining single letters.
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The sigil must then be charged. There is a variety of specific ways to
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do this, but the key element is to achieve a state of "vacuity"
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which can be done through exhaustion, sexual release or several other
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methods.
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This creates a `vacuum' or `void' much like the condition
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described in the introduction to this discussion, and it is filled
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with the energy of the magician. The sigil, being now charged, must
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be forgotten so that the sub-conscious mind may work on it without
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the distractons and dissipation of energy that the conscious mind
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is subject to. Spare recognized that magic comes from the
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sub-conscious mind of the magician, not some outside `spirits' or
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`gods'.
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Christopher Bray has this to say about Spare's methods in his
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intro- duction to `The Collected Works of Austin Osman Spare':
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"So in his art and writing, Spare is putting us in the mood; or
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showing by example what attitude we need to adopt to approach the
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`angle of depart- ure of consciousness' in order to enter the
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infinite. What pitch of con- sciousness we need to gain success.
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"One must beware making dogma, for Spare went to great pains to
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exclude it as much as possible to achieve success in his magic;
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however a number of basic assumptions underpin chaos magic.
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"Chaos is the universal potential of creative force, which is
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constantly engaged in trying to seep through the cracks of our
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personal and collective realities. It is the power of
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Evolution/Devolution.
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"Shamanism is innate within every one of us and can be tapped
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if we qualify by adjusting our perception/attitude and making our
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being ready to accept the spontaneous. Achieving Gnosis, or
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hitting the `angle of departure of consciousness and time', is a
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knack rather than a skill."
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There are other methods to utilize the same concept that Spare
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explains for us. Magicians since Spare have written about their
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own methods and expantions of his method quite frequently in occult
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magazines, mostly in Great Britain. Spare is certainly not the
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first person in history to practice this sort of magic, but he
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is the one who has dubbed it (appropriately), Chaos.
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Chaos since A.O.S.
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Austin Spare died May 15, 1956, but his magic did not die with
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him. There have been select groups of magicians practicing versions
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of Chaos ever since, especially in Northern England and Germany. In
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the late 1970's, Ray Sherwin was editor and publisher of a
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magazine called `The New Equinox.' Pete Carroll was a regular
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contributor to the magazine, and together, due to dissatisfaction with
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the magical scene in Britain at the time, they formed the
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`Illuminatos Of Thanateros.' They advertised in `New Equinox' and a
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group formed. Part of the intention of the group was to have an Order
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where degrees expressed attainment rather than authority, and
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hierarchy beyond just organizational requirements was non-existent.
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At some point, about 1986, Ray Sherwin "excommunicated himself"
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because he felt that the Order was slipping into the power structure
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that he had intended to avoid with this group, and Pete Carroll
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became known as the leader of `The Pact.' The IOT continues to thrive
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and is identified as the only international Chaos organization to
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date. The IOT has also spread to America, and has headquarters in
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Encino, California and Atlanta, Georgia.
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There are smaller groups of Chaos practitioners, as well as
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individuals practicing alone. Chaos since Spare has taken on a
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life of its own. It will always continue to grow, that is its nature.
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It was only natural that eventually the world of science would
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begin to discover the physical principles underlying magic, although
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the scientists who are making these discoveries still do not realize
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that this is what they are doing. It is interesting that they have
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had the wisdom to call it chaos science...
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Chaos Science
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Modern chaos science began in the 1960's when a handful of
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open-minded scientists with an eye for pattern realized that simple
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mathematical equa- tions fed into a computer could model patterns
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every bit as irregular and "chaotic" as a waterfall. They were able
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to apply this to weather patterns, coastlines, all sorts of
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natural phenomena. Particular equations would result in pictures
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resembling specific types of leaves, the possibilities were
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incredible. Centers and institutes were founded to specialize in "non-
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linear dynamics" and "complex systems." Natural phenomena, like
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the red spot of Jupiter, could now be understood. The common
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catch-terms that most people have heard by now; strange attractors,
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fractals, etc., are related to the study of turbulence in nature.
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There is not room to go into these subjects in depth here, and I
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recommend that those who are interested in this subject read
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`Chaos: making a new science' by James Gleick and `Turbulent
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Mirror' by John Briggs & F. David Peat.
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What we are concerned with here is how all this relates to magic.
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Many magicians, especially Chaos Magicians, have begun using
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these terms, "fractal" and "strange attractor", in their everyday
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conversations. Most of those who do this have some understanding of
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the relationship between magic and this area of science. To put it
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very simply, a successful magical act causes an apparantly acausal
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result. In studying turbulence, chaos scientists have realized
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that apparantly acausal phenomena in nature are not only the
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norm, but are measurable by simple mathematical equations.
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Irregularity is the stuff life is made of. For example, in the
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study of heartbeat rhythms and brain-wave patterns, irregular
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patterns are measured from normally functioning organs, while
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steady, regular patterns are a direct symptom of a heart attack
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about to occur, or an epileptic fit. Referring back again to
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"virtual" photons, a properly executed magical release of energy
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creates a "wave form" (visible by Kirlian photography) around the
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magician causing turbulence in the aetheric space. This
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turbulence will likely cause a result, preferably as the
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magician has intended. Once the energy is released, control over the
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phenomena is out of the magician's hands, just as once the
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equation has been fed into the computer, the design follows the path
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set for it.
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The scientists who are working in this area would scoff at this
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explana- tion, they have no idea that they are in the process of
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discovering the physics behind magic. But then, many common place
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sciences of today, chemistry for example, were once considered to
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be magic. Understanding this subject requires, besides some reading,
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a shift in thinking. We are trained from an early age to think in
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linear terms, but nature and the chaos within it are non-linear,
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and therefore require non-linear thinking to be understood. This
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sounds simple, yet it reminds me of a logic class I had in college. We
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were doing simple Aristotelian syllogisms. All we had to do was to put
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everyday language into equation form. It sounds simple, and it is.
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However, it requires a non-linear thought process. During that
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lesson over the space of a week, the class size dropped from 48
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to 9 students. The computer programmers were the first to drop out.
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Those of us who survived that section went on to earn high grades in
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the class, but more importantly, found that we had achieved a
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permanent change in our thinking processes. Our lives were
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changed by that one simple shift of perspective.
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Chaos science is still in the process of discovery, yet magicians
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have been applying its principles for at least as long as they have
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been writing about magic. Once the principles of this science begin
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to take hold on the thinking process, the magician begins to notice
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everything from the fractal patterns in smoke rising from a cigarette
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to the patterns of success and failure in magical workings, which
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leads to an understanding of why it has succeeded or failed.
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Defining Chaos Magic
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Chaos is not in itself, a system or philosophy. It is rather an
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attitude that one applies to one's magic and philosophy. It is the
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basis for all magic, as it is the primal creative force. A
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Chaos Magician learns a variety of magical techniques, usually as
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many as s/he can gain access to, but sees beyond the systems and
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dogmas to the physics behind the magical force and uses whatever
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methods are appealing to him/herself. Chaos does not come with a
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specific Grimoire or even a prescribed set of ethics. For this
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reason, it has been dubbed "left hand path" by some who choose not to
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understand that which is beyond their own chosen path. There is no
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set of specific spells that are considered to be `Chaos Magic
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spells'. A Chaos Magician will use the same spells as those of other
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paths, or those of his/ her own making. Any and all methods and
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information are valid, the only requirement is that it works.
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Mastering the role of the sub-conscious mind in magical operations is
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the crux of it, and the state called "vacuity" by Austin Osman Spare
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is the road to that end. Anyone who has participated in a successful
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ritual has experienced some degree of the `high' that this state
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induces.
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An understanding of the scientific principles behind magic
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does not necessarily require a college degree in physics (although it
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wouldn't hurt much, if the linear attitude drilled into the student
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could be by-passed), experience in magical results will bring the
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necessary understanding.
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This series is directed toward the increasing numbers of people who
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have been asking, "What is Chaos Magic?" It is very basic and
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by no means intended to be a complete explanation of any of the
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elements discussed. Many of the principles of magic must be
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self-discovered, my only intent here is to try to define and pull
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together the various elements associated with Chaos Magic into an
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intelligible whole. For those who wish to learn more about this
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subject, I have prepared a suggested reading list for the last
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section, however, I must emphasize that there are always more sources
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than any one person knows about, so do not limit yourself to this
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list. Chaos has no limits...
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For Further Reading:
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`The Book Of Pleasure' by Austin Osman Spare
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`Anathema Of Zos' by Austin Osman Spare
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`A Book Of Satyrs' by Austin Osman Spare
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`Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare' by Kenneth Grant
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`The Early Work of A.O.S.'
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`Excess Spare'
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`Stations In Time'
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These three are collections available through TOPY.
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Available from most bookstores (at least by special order):
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`Chaos: making a new science' by James Gleick
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`Turbulent Mirror' by John Briggs & F. David Peat
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`Liber Null & Psychonaut' by Peter J. Carroll
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`Practical Sigil Magick' by Frater U.D.
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-oOo-
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