The Cycles of Chaos: Deconstructing Initiation by Kalkinath* and Vishvanath. Original article from Phil Hine's old contributions to Chaos International Magazine in digital format. CONTENTS: ...
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Chaos Rituals
Chaos MagicFull description
Witchcraft, occult, Basil Le Croix, Basil CrouchFull description
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A book on occult magicDescripción completa
witchcraft and rituals
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Witchcraft, occult, Basil Le Croix, Basil Crouch
Ariel Motto Anth E300 12/3/15 “Chaos Magic: The Ideologies of Thee Temple Temple ! "s#chic$ %o&th' %o&th'
Introduction
Thee Temple o! "s#chic$ %o&th %o&th (T"%) is a *ritish a!ant+garde collecti!e and magical gro&p formed in the 1,-0s .# . # a gro&p of eperimental artists and m&sicians and lead .# enesis "+rridge (eil Megson) referred to in their tets as “*rother “ *rother enesis' Associated m&sic acts 4ithin the gro&p incl&de "s#chic T Thro..ing ristle and Coil The former 4as esta.lished as the “mo&thpiece for its o4n 6&asi+religio&s gro&p' T"% "+rridge identified as a pagan pag an in the 1,70s and had an interest in “.od# modification and etreme eperiences' The theoretical frame4or$s and school of tho&ght associated 4ith T"% incl&de discordianism chaos magic esotericism occ<&re and post+anarchism 4hile &tili8ing media and aspects of pop&lar c<&re as a platform for epression all of 4hich are merged and inter+related T"% is classified 4ithin the realm of “h#perreal' or fiction+.ased religions .&t the ! er# nat&re of the gro&p9s ideologies .l&r the lines .et4een real/&nreal sacred/profane and art/magic Conception and Ideologies
"s#chic T formed in 1,7, comprised of former mem.ers of of ind&strial o&tfit Thro..ing ristle incl&ding "eter Christopherson Ch ristopherson Cose# anni T&tti and enesis "+rridge The# spa4ned T"% in 1,-1 a magical gro&p referred to .# . # some a scholars as a “h#perreal' religion ;#perreal religions are defined as “religions that mi elements from religio&s traditions 4ith pop&lar c<&re' (illiam >illiam ? *orro&ghs and science fiction 4riter "hillip < @ic$ "+rridge has a.sor.ed principles of “>icca Thelmic
magic$ Ti.etan *&ddhism andB ati!e American traditions' thro&gho&t his life and these ideologies are partl# 4hat laid the frame4or$ for T"% According to Carole M C&sac$ C& sac$ in “@iscordian Magic: "aganism the Chaos "aradigm and the "o4er of "arod#' "+rridge9s perspecti!e is “.roadl# @iscordian in that he has affirmed affirmed the eistence of a conspirac# 4hich he identified 4ith capitalism the class s#stem and Christianit#' (13=) The missions of T"% 4ere largel# largel# to reect con!ention and conformit# and emplo#ed magical practices as a means of personal li.eration !ia ne&romanc# (“implicit po4ers of the h&man .rain') and &se of sigils (“g&itless se&alit# foc&sed thro&gh thee 4ill str&ct&re') (C&scac$ 13,) "ractices of the gro&p incl&de incl&de chaos magic sleep magic se magic (a (a form of esoteric practice that has eisted since the Middle Ages) and ps#chic discipline partl# .orro4ed from and infl&enced .# the olden @a4n and Aleister Cro4le# (e ha!e reached a crisis point >e are a4are that 4hole areas of o&r eperience e perience are missing4e are faced 4ith the de.asement of man to a creat&re 4itho&t feelings 4itho&t $no4ledge and pride of self>e ha!e .een conditioned enco&raged and .lac$mailed into self+restriction self+restriction into a narro4er and narro4er perception of o&rsel!es o&r importance and potential All All this constit&tes a "s#chic$ attac$ of the highest magnit&de Acceptance is defeatDight o4 #o&
ha!e these alternati!es: to remain fore!er part of a sleeping 4orldTo grad&all# a.andon the hopes and dreams of childhoodto .e permanentl# addicted to the dr&g of of the commonplaceor to fight alongside &s in Thee Temple ! "s#chic$ %o&th %o&th Thee Temple ! "s#chic$ %o&th has .een con!ened in order to act as a catal#st and foc&s for the indi!id&al de!elopment of all those 4ho 4ish to each in4ards and stri$e o&t' (
Chaos magic ta$es on an anarchistic 4orld!ie4 and aims to transcend realit#: “The aim of Chaos Magic is no longer simpl# transgression of social and se&al ta.oos no longer an ideal of political li.eration no longer e!en the transgression of the .o&ndaries of the self rather the aim here is the transgression of realit# the shattering of all $no4n conceptions of the &ni!erse and the li.erating ecstas# of infinite transformation' (estern >estern esoteric
tradition 4here rit&als are formal and initiations are hierarchal' (C&sac$ 135) An infl&ence for this frame4or$ is Aleister Cro4le# Cro4le# 4ho according to C&sac$ defined “magic$' “ magic$' as “the art and science of ca&sing change to occ&r in conformit# 4ith 4ill' This frame4or$ is largel# &ninterested 4ith the stat&s of gods/higher po4er(s) and the po4er o f indi!id&al a&tonom# is paramo&nt Imagination and creati!it# are emphasi8ed 4ithin T"% T"% along 4ith challenging notions of tr&th and realit# and dismantling .inarisms s&ch as good/.ad .lac$/4hite etc This .elief is parallel 4ith that of @iscordianism as stated stated in Principia Discordia: Discordia: “all affirmations are tr&e in some sense false in some sense meaningless in some sense tr&e and false in some sense tr&e and meaningless in some sense false and meaningless in some sense and tr&e and false and meaningless in some sense' (C&sac$ 1=1) In addition T"% ehi.its @iscordian tho&ght in its transcendence of fied limitations 4ithin life se&alit# and its conceptions of gender and religion According to C&sac$ it is irrele!ant to @iscordians 4hether the# are a religion or 4hether the# engage in magical mag ical practices In the present this t#pe of “"ost+Cro4le#an' magic has shifted to4ards chaos magic and ideals related to the Feft+;and+"ath of magic This reection of .inaristic restrictions are e!ident thro&gho&t "+rridge9s life one eample .eing in his gender epression/presentation In more recent #ears his spirit&al/artistic &nderta$ing has .een the process of transforming himself into his late 4ife Fad# Ga#e a proect he d&..ed “"androg#n# “"androg #n#'' *efore Fad# Ga#e9s death the co&ple recei!ed matching sets of .reast implants and H200000 4orth of other cosmetic s&rgeries along 4ith hormone therap# The# dressed ali$e and mimic$ed each other9s o ther9s .od# mo!ements and mannerisms as a means to merge their identities and to transcend the limitations of 4hat it means to .e “male' and “female' (C&sac$ 1=0) C&sac$ 6&otes "+rridge:
“Either/r ood/*ad Male/emale and "h#sical/on+"h#sicalThen the 4hole idea intr&ded of 9as a.o!e so .elo4 the smallest is the same as the largest9+a !er# ancient idea And it fits: e!er#thing is a mirror to e!er#thing else no matter ho4 small #o& get no matter ho4 large #o& get+it9s all a.sol&tel# and &ncannil# a mirror of itself If that9s the case then it9s one h&ge or min&te non+ph#sical reflection of itself >hich means 4e aren9t reall# important and 4e don9t reall# eist in the tr&e sense of the 4ord >e are merel# .lessed 4ith a sense of eistence' (C&sac$ 1=0) Interweaving of Popular Culture
ne integral element of T"% T"% as referenced .#
As
4hat helped T"% gain traction and notoriet# "ost+anarchist tho&ght is e!idenced in ;a$im *e#9s .od # of 4or$ d&ring this period incl&ding 8ines s&ch as Kaos *e#9s form of spirit&ali8ed anarchism 4as referred to as “ntological Anarchism' Anarchism' the em.od#ing of metaph#sics and relation of .eing lin$ed to occ<ism (reer 1,-) This .rand of anarchist tho&ght is hea!il# related to the chaos magic mo!ement: “This milie& can most acc&ratel# .e descri.ed as a net4or$ of political se&al and spirit&al non+conformists all of 4hom comm&nicated thro&gh small+circ&lation hand+made maga8ines called fan8ines tho&gh a..re!iated to 8ines as 4ell as taped letters self+recorded m&sic mail+art and 9comi9 sent thro&gh the mail' (reer 170) Motifs of anti+a&thoritarianism anti+censorship and alternati!e se&alities 4ere pre!alent *e#9s ntological Anarchism is inetrica.l# connected to chaos magic in the sense that as reer 6&otes *e# *e # “no 9state9 can eist in chaostherefore that go!ernance of an# sort is impossi.le' and chaos is 4hat defines realit# (177) Moral Panic
>hile the nat&re of T"%9s ideologies greatl# enco&raged indi!id&al interpretation and !ariation of their .eliefs and practices a line 4as dra4n to a certain degree 4hen the# .ecame s&.ect to .latant misrepresentation n e.r&ar# 1, 1,,2 a *ritish tele!ision series Dispatches aired the episode “*e#ond *elief' an eposK eposK on ?atanic c<s and 4hat the# deemed “satanic rit&al a.&se' 4hich is defined .#
4oman' (hat 4as framed as act&al ?atanic c<s engaging engag ing in s&ch a.&se 4as act&all# spliced footage from a performance art film created .# T"% titled First Transmission, Transmission, sho4n completel# o&t of contet ;o4e!er the episode incited a media pandemoni&m and p&.lic o&trage res<ing in acti!e mem.ers of T"%9s homes .eing raided .# the police “L&estiona.le' materials incl&ding personal artistic 4or$s 4ere confiscated This incl&ded the home of "+rridge 4ho 4as o&t of the co&ntr# 4hen the episode aired ollo4ing this .ac$lash "+rridge and his famil# chose not to ret&rn to England and the original incarnation of the gro&p g ro&p <imatel# dis.anded (
irrational fears of mind+control and a.&se ;e references Fe!i+?tra&ss 4ho states c<s are “good to thin$ 4ith' (111) ;e also points to E!ans "ritchard9s “If I 4ere a horse' criti6&e in 4hich on e “insists that people 9m&st ha!e9 tho&ght in s&ch a 4a# or performed s&ch+and+s&ch a rit&al or performed the imagined rit&al for s&ch+and+s&ch a reason or that there 9m&st .e9 s&ch+and+s&ch s&ch+and+s&ch a c< simpl# .eca&se s&ch thin$ing (or rit&ali8ing) 9ma$es sense9' This idea relates .ac$ to that of the indi!id&al go!erning their o4n realit# in a sense li$e discoridanism/chaos magic .&t asserting that to an etent o&r o4n imaginations reconstr&ct or perceptions of realit# First Transmission, Transmission, li$e T"% itself transcended an# .o&ndaries: “itB can .e
s&ccessf&ll# read as a record of a pre!io&s p re!io&s magical act an acti!e and ongoing magic rit&al in its o4n right a tool for indi!id&al magic practice prac tice a piece of performance art*@?M pornograph# pornograph # andB an eperimental !ideo' (hat 4o&ld happen if a roc$ .and too$ its fans serio&sl# and chose to enco&rage them to eploreA%T;I' (
Thee Temple ! "s#chic$ %o&th %o&th transcended all .o&ndaries and dismantled .inaristic limitations .et4een good and e!il .lac$ and 4hite and the sacred and the pop&lar As As
spirit&al ideals to come into fr&ition 4hile also ena.ling their participants to ta$e the role of co+ creators Man# dismissed the gro&p as em.od#ing that of a fiction+.ased or “parod#' religion as the line .et4een 4hether or not it 4as serio&s or irre!erent 4as .l&rred .&t this 4as ar.itrar# The gro&p9s o.ecti!es 4ere achie!ing self+discipline and a strengthened sense of non+ conformit# and indi!id&al a&tonom# 4as la4 Therefore T"%9s philosoph# 4as that each indi!id&al go!erned their o4n interpretations of realit# 4ithin the chaos paradigm >hile .orro4ing and remixing aspects of other theoretical frame4or$s pop&lar c<&re and orthodo # the# prod&ced a po4erf&l &ndergro&nd &nd ergro&nd mo!ement all their o4n Altho&gh the original incarnation of the gro&p dis.anded follo4ing the police raids in 1,,2 man# man # factions of the gro&p still eist toda# and carr# on the legac# legac # of the original fo&nders A statement statement from the c&rrent T"% 4e.site: “Thee Temple o! "s#chic$ %o&th %o&th (T"%) eists to promote a s#stem of f&nctional dem#stified magic$ &tili8ing .oth "agan and modern techni6&es It is a process o! indi!id&al and collecti!e eperimentation and research 4ith no finite ans4ers dogmas or &nchangea.le tr&ths It is for each to disco!er his or her o4n &nderstanding o! thee 6&estions that s&ggest themsel!es and thro&gh that !o#age o! disco!er# to find their personal and tr&e identit# thee Tr&e Tr&e >ill' (
