Chaos Magick: A Beginner’s Guide

What is Chaos Magick?

Chaos Magick is a difficult concept to define. On one hand, it is the culmination of Magickal works up until the mid to late-twentieth century. On the other hand, it is a completely homegrown practice anyone can do, but it is not Folk Magick. You see how it seems self-contradictory?

The “official” birth of Chaos Magick comes from the occultist Austin Osman Spare. In reality, the practice dates back much further—or, at least, pieces of the practice date back much further. What Spare did was combine all these different aspects of grass roots Magick into a practice, which almost creates a tradition all on it’s own. Almost.

Remember, Chaos Magick celebrates the power of the individual more than almost any other practice. Individually, tradition cannot exist. Otherwise, it becomes a set of actions passed down. Then it becomes a sort of Folk Magick that may eventually evolve into a traditional practice.

To put it succinctly before moving on, Chaos Magick is a set of simple practices that uses belief in forces of consciousness to create a desired outcome.

How Do You Perform Chaos Magick?

I have a blog post on sigil creation, which is the most popular form of Chaos Magick. So read that for a more detailed explanation on how to practice sigil Magick.

Chaos Magick is all about picking and choosing from other traditions to create a Frankenstein’s monster of a unique practice. The more devout practitioners of Chaos Magick believe that the Magickal Traditions are long “dead”. I do not share that belief, personally, but I do know that drawing from other cultures and traditions is a great way to spice up your practice, hence I occasionally practice Chaos Magick.

Because we live in a world where almost every form of Magick and its tenets can be accessed through the internet free of charge, it is easy to find things you like or dislike about certain practices to create one of your own. For example, you may like the Nordic Runes of Norse Seidr, but you also work with Djinn as a spirit keeper. You can use those runes and their elemental representation to provide your Djinn with energy.

It really is as simple as taking a little from there and somewhere else and combining it into something useful.

How Do I Use “Belief” to Create a Desired Outcome?

Most Magick functions in this same way, but Chaos Magicians take this staple to another level. They believe that totems or Magickal tools hold no value in and of themselves, but is is belief that gives them their value. To put it more simply, it is almost a secular form of Magick, which is why I believe it is so popular at the moment.

In most forms of Chaos Magick, belief is used as a tool to get what you want. So, you place importance on items that would otherwise have no importance. For example, look around your room and find an object. It can be anything—an old book, a wadded up shred of paper, or a piece of dog food that your pet forgot to eat. You can place as much importance on that object as something like the U.S. Constitution has in the minds of Americans. When you do that, you are using your belief as a tool in your practice.

You could say that piece of dog food is now your lucky charm. You could put it in your pocket. Then go do something. Once you are successful, you have practiced Chaos Magick.

Keep in mind, that prior example is an elementary, boiling-down of the complexities within the Chaos Magick process. This is written for people who have no idea what Chaos Magick is. If you do know and practice it, keep those people in mind as you read.

What is Gnosis?

Gnosis is a term that describes the state of being one must inhabit to properly imbue items (like that piece of dog food) with belief. Gnosis literally means “knowledge of the spirit”. In Chaos Magick it is an altered state where you are focused on a single point, where all you do is imbue something with meaning. You are literally pushing your belief into something physical.

Some people equate this state to a meditative state, but I think most would disagree based on their knowledge of meditation. In fact, I would disagree, too. It is more of a mindless state, rather than mindful, thus equating to more of a ritual rather than meditation.

Gnosis is used in sigil work as well. When you create your sigil, you imbue it with belief. Then you go through the process of forgetting about it or firing it. It can take some time to master the Gnostic State, but once you get there it is easy to tap into moving forward. I guess in that way it is similar to meditation.

How is Chaos Magick a “Results-based” Practice?

Chaos Magick is performed with a goal in mind. I believe most Magick is performed this way, especially rituals, but Chaos Magick is even more so. The goal is the directive of creating a sigil. The goal is the directive of imbuing belief into an object. Those are both the main parts of Chaos Magick, aside from the Cut-up Technique which I will describe in a separate post.

Some may scoff at the notion of only practicing Magick for a specific result rather than making Magick a lifestyle. I really don’t care, either way. Any way you incorporate Magick into your life will make it better, so practice at your heart’s content.

You may be thinking, “All Magick is focused on achieving a result.” I think you are mostly right, but where Chaos Magick differs is that it is focused on specific results.

Is Chaos Magick Dangerous?

Well, I’m not going to say it isn’t. With Magick, you are seeking to bend the laws of reality to your whim. And when you use Chaos Magick, you are seeking to specifically bend the laws of reality in a specific way. Get what I mean?

While trying to alter nature to fit your needs, you may have noticed that nature alters you back. That is normal and I think everyone should expect it. But with Chaos Magick, because you are being overtly specific about what you want and you are using tools from various cultures and practices, it can get a little… wild.

I have never experienced any of these things myself—maybe because I am quite careful—but many people report “odd” things happening to them when they overdo it with their Chaos Magick. An example: one man told me he was practicing Chaos Magick to try to get a very specific and difficult to get job (which he did in the end), but through that entire period awful things were happening around him. One day a truck exploded on the highway in front of him. Another day a bridge across from his apartment collapsed. And on another day, his waiter at a restaurant passed out on his table in front of him. While none of these things affected him personally, he was seeing reality bend back after it bent to let him achieve his goal.

So, keep in mind that the bent always needs to straighten back.

Love + Blessings

Laci

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