What is chaos magic?

[wanderer]

Explain. Thanks.

[daecon]

Chaos magic is a philosophical theory of how magic works.

The "chaos" part of it is the original Greek Χάος, the unformed void that existed before the gods created the world. It's seen as a metaphor for magic. Magic is the unformed chaos of possibility and it's the magician's function to impose his own order through the use of a spell. He does this by constructing a paradigm, a mental universe where reality conforms to his will. This isn't as difficult as it sounds. Most paradigms already exist within a culture, so they will resonate with the common shared reality that we call the "real world."

Chaos magic is highly experimental and individualistic, and many XM's tend to confuse "chaos" with "anarchy." Still, there are a couple of techniques that are so common that nearly all XM's know them. The first is the Sigil. The sigilization technique of Austin Osman Spare involves encoding a desire into a graphic form, then systematically removing it from the real world so it exists only in the True Will. The second is the creation of a servitor, a magical servant that can exist independently of the magician. Depending on the paradigm, it can be a summoned daemon or a being formed of raw magic.

[S33k3R]

Best to ask yourself....

What is chaos magic...not.

Within the answer lies the answer.

That being....Nothing.

;)

[Mirfalan]

Best to ask yourself...What is chaos magic...not.

This is a great point. Chaos magic is not rigid structuring, unless it is completely crafted by the individual. To have overarching, codified systems defeats the purpose of chaos magic as it incorporates too much order. Though I understand that sigils and severitors are very important to chaos magic, limiting oneself to masturbating on symbols and summoning servants will not really increase one's magical abilities. Chaos magic is about experiment. Avoid any formalized strains and find what works for you.

[Gazeeboh]

Chaos Magick is

[ThisIsNecessary]

The simple answer?

Chaos magick = Belief is nothing more than a tool. Belief is a means to an end, not an end itself.

Take any paradigm that exists, and employ that childhood talent we all used on a daily basis without even thinking about, and Fake-Believe your way through their practices to meet your specifc end, and then forget it all the next day, laugh it off.

Chaos magick tosses aside the unnecessary parts of practice and gets straight to the point...and the point is, the mind is capable of magick no matter what system you use, you've just gotta do it right, which is not the easiest thing, it takes practice. I am reminded of Peter Carroll's chapter of "Random Belief" in Liber Null, he suggests taking dice and ascribing each side a different paradigm of belief, and rolling it each day to choose a different frame of mind. A bit extreme? Maybe, but itll get you off of your ass to start excercising your mind.

[Crom]

a psychological paradigm that gets to make fun of all the idiots who practice 'serious' magic and actually believe any of that nonsense

[zero]

to make something out of nothing, with no one to answer to but yourself.

to plunge into a rapid river of mana.

taking reality an bending it upon itself, creating a new reality.

the only answer is the question.

[ghost]

i have a question of my own what does the symbol of chaos mean or stand for


http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p53/antichrist5/chaos_symbol.jpg

[Knight]

Warhammer Compass, I think. That little symbol in the lower right is from the Warhammer line of games, and that main image looks like a compass, with an Eye of Horus knockoff placed on it. Maybe since the eye is looking away from all the directions possible, that is chaos, because it can't see where it is going..though, that would defeat the purpose of being an Eye of Horus knockoff.

[daecon]

The Symbol of Chaos, (AKA the Chaos Star, Chaos Wheel, Arrows of Chaos etc.) was created by author Michael Moorcock for his eternal champion books. It shows arrows pointing in all directions, as opposed to the symbol of order, one large arrow pointing straight up. It represents a Cartesian axis in four dimensions. The circle, eye and gothic spikes in this particular version are artistic embellishments and not integral to the symbol.

[Tanemis]

Daecon is right that symbol is just a play on the actual "chaos magick" symbol and I forget who said it earlier but they are also correct that is a Warhammer version of the Chaos symbol. That being said, it is definitely a cool version of the symbol. If you look up Warhammer artwork there are a lot of occult symbols that have been made to look very aggressive since they are carried in the game and lore as battle standards for the different armies in the game. Theres a lot of Egyptian symbols in the Eldar, Runic symbols in the Chaos and Terra armies (Terra encompasses the Space Marines, Imperial Guard, etc.).

[zero]

here is a original version
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/Xaos.png

a derivative
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/eternity.png

another derivative
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/egg2.png

chaos is not to be determined but to be followed without direction. what is your path? the path we follow; where it leads is but a contingency. Find and you fail, follow and you become. within is the way, yet without is the means. to be without means and way, one becomes that which is...

[daecon]

Actually the original version had all the arrows the same size. The random sized arrows are another variation. Moorcock said he started with a compass rose, N-S and W-E and added two more arrows. The symbol itself is much older, but Moorcock was the first to use it specifically for chaos.

The chaos star is probably the most recognizable symbol for chaos, but there are others you might come across.

The Golden Apple: an apple labeled "kallisti" or in Greek, καλλίστῃ. This is from a story in The Illiad, when Eris, the goddess of discord, brings an apple labeled "for the most beautiful" to a party attended by several gods and goddesses. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all compete for the honor, triggering the Trojan War. The Apple of Discord is often used by Discordians as an icon for Eris.

The hand of Eris: Two arrows pointing to each other, or an X superimposed on a line. -X- -><- =><= or )|( Signifies forces in opposition, dynamic equilibrium and balance or contradiction.

The Sacred Chao: found only within Discordianism, it resembles a yin-yang with the Golden Apple and a pentagon replacing the opposing dots.

The Monad: A circle with a dot in the center. If you read Dan Brown's new book, you know that this simple icon has hundreds of different meanings. In this case, it signifies the chaos itself, the undifferentiated godhead before order has been created. The concept of chaos magic lies in the magician imposing his own order upon the Monad, bending the universe to his Will.

[zero]

interesting, the battle of chaos and order.

indeed it seems the symbol was used before but not a symbol for chaos.

apple of conflict nice...

The hand of Eris same symbol

speaking of pentagams here are some interesting uses of intertwining pentas.

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/1.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/2.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/4.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu125/dagion/5.jpg