Chaos Magick In a Nutshell

Hello, dear reader!

These words strung together 'Chaos Magick' may seem a bit unsettling if you are unfamiliar with the term. It isn't as worthy of being startled by as it may first appear.

No, this isn't about inciting a riot. Nor creating chaos of some sort or another. Rather, a conglomeration of elements combined with as vast an array of magical methods at one's disposal as one may imagine.

You can very well say that your imagination is the bounds of your limitless exploration. Instead of suggesting to yourself that 'the sky is the limit,' be like Odin. Reshape the boundaries, or lack thereof.

There! Doesn't seem so scary, does it?

Now that we're off on the right foot, you might even ask what I mean by the word 'magic.'

What is magic, after all? While you might have a good idea, I would be much obliged to explain it a bit more. At least my perception of how I would define magic. Surely some concepts, like love and magic, transcend verbal explanation. Though technically they can be defined with words. Here is my take of magic, or Chaos Magick, in a nutshell.

When people talk about magic, the first things which may come up are the words 'objective' and 'subjective.'

Someone is trying to affect and change either their own subjective world, or the objective world at large.

Nowadays, perhaps objective can be best remembered by someone saying in court the words "I object!" Because once you present your ideas to the outside world, that's precisely what can happen.

Others see your work and they potentially object to it. That's how we learn as humans, though, through trial and error. Once our ideas are challenged, they can make us grow stronger. "No pain, no gain" after all. Dust yourself off, try again.

Subjective could be best remembered as thinking of "my loyal subjects." Hopefully, they are loyal to you, since they comprise your own inner subjective world.

An even easier way to remember is this:

O for outside (Objective)
S for Self (Subjective).

We've all experienced magic.

Beyond just 'dabbling in it,' life itself consists of magic. Perhaps it's best to say that once someone consciously practices magic, they are attempting to reignite the flame of their passion and Wonder.

You may live in a world where magic has seemingly gone missing for far too long. Maybe since your childhood youth. It never escapes your heart completely though,
no matter what your present situation may be.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung said in his article "Wotan:"

"Archetypes are like riverbeds which dry up when the water deserts them, but which it can find again at any time."

Even if your childhood wasn't the best, before someone told you otherwise, your life was full of magic. Even if it's just one memory from your youth.

Surely you may remember something like blowing bubbles and the magic which that activity held for you. Each bubble like a new world floating before your very eyes. Inevitably popping, but always more to follow.

Consider bursting someone's bubble.

You may pop their subjective worldview they're trying to make manifest objectively. That is their self view of the world, existing in their own mind.

Their perception is being shattered when they try to bring it into the outside objective world. You might even shatter someone else's subjective worldview without even realizing it. It dies without so much as a word, nor a sound.

We mustn't let our dreams die, though.

As Edgar Allan Poe says from 'A Dream Within A Dream:'

"Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?"

Like bubbles, subjective worlds can connect to grow larger in scale.

Ever felt like you deeply "connected" to someone else? If only for a moment in time, an eternal moment.

Time isn't quite as it seems, as it is certainly not linear. Does saying that time is cyclical really explain it enough? That depends upon whom you ask and when. Our perception of how we experience time is always different.

Perhaps the best example of this is the movie "Big Fish."

Ewan McGregor's character shows how time stops when he fell in love. Once he realized it, everything sped up rather quick to catch up to the eternal moment where time stood still.

That's kind of how magic works in a nutshell. You must realize I am attempting to verbalize the unexplainable. To define that which ever eludes definition, or fits in a particular form.

It is akin to trying to hold water in your hands with no drops slipping through the cracks in your fingers or being absorbed into your skin. It seems impossible!

I'll refer to Edgar Allan Poe again from the same poem, which carries endless parallels to magic in so many ways.

"...And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!"

How can a poem be so magical to me, but not to the person sitting next to me?

Maybe they have read none of Poe's work. In which case there is no chance of their bubble, their subjective universe, being populated with such Wonders.

Magic is an art form.

Most of you will be familiar with the phrase that art is subjective. I love the band Iron Maiden, you may not. Doesn't mean that I'm wrong or you're wrong. It's a matter of personal taste. That's kind of like magic in a nutshell.

That's also what can make something like Chaos Magick so filled with wonder and infinite limitlessness.

Yes, you study the lore. You learn the rules so that they may be broken 'properly.'

Like Loki. He breaks something or has a magic item stolen. Then he gets sent out on a quest to retrieve it for the same gods that he betrayed. Or else they threaten him with this or that.

With Chaos Magick, one is more free to experiment.

Yes, you may "break" the world. You can fix it too. Disintegrate and reintegrate. Like Odin and his brothers did with Ymir, the giant in Voluspa. That is essentially the Norse creation myth.

You can take a dash of this, and a dash of that. Inspiration from perhaps a dragon named Tiamat. A sprinkle here, laid on liberally. Or cut back conservatively, seasoned to taste. The world is filled with Wonder for those who would not waste!

Don't waste away, realize! William Blake said:

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every
thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite."

May your perception populate plentifully with words so filled with Wonder that you don't have a choice but to be enamored by the intoxicating aroma of undeniable inspiration!

Study the lore deeply about that which you seek. Seek it strongly! Become infinitely intimate with the Goddesses and Gods which you would implore to do your bidding.

Or believe in your own might and main alone, if you dare choose to be so bold!

Dance away like no one's watching, and the night need not be neglected. Don't let it grow old before magic shall unfold. Try something new, listen intensely to tales once told.

Dive headfirst into the manifold of matrix's manifestation. Mending molded mixes of a dash here and splash there.

To others and to yourself, always be true and fair. Always be brave, yet ever with care!

Give Chaos Magick a roll of the dice! Employ whichever device you may favour for Fate's sake, but throw the die! Take your chance, it's never too late!

Sacrifice one eye's attention attentively so that you might not miss the majestic
might of Wonder's delight, which dazzles and dances before your Senses Five!

Truly, becoming alive for the first time. What seems like eternity, blink of an eye!