News of a shocking propaganda move to deflect the growing influence of Chaos Magick™ has come to my notice. On one level this is hardly surprising given the wide ranging freedoms from various cultural traps that practice of CM allows; however I felt it was necessary to speak out now, so that we can take appropriate action.

You may have noticed over the last few years that several commercial establishments, such as supermarkets, retail outlets, and now McDonalds, have begun to use winter festival decorations which are snowflakes, but, with eight ‘branches’ rather than the six of classical snowflake representation. As anyone who has actually looked at snowflakes knows, in reality they tend to have a wide diversity of shapes, the symmetrical six only arising under certain crystallisation conditions high in the clouds.

Real photograph

Viewing this perfected model as a ‘real snowflake’ does not bear up to scrutiny.  The six way symmetry is a result of the molecular form of ice crystals, so happens under ideal conditions, however most snow does not form like this; and even the sixfold patterning often gives rise to non-dendritic structures without branches, and more like solid arrangements of triangles.

“The most common snow crystals by far are the irregular crystals.  These are small, usually clumped together, and show little of the symmetry seen in stellar or columnar crystals.” Kenneth Libbrecht http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/class/class.htm

Sketchy snowflakes

However, leaving inconvenient facts to one side for a while, six is the proper symbolic way to construct a giant plastic snowflake for your shop, so why have so many companies switched to eight?!

The answer is obvious.

The snowflake shape now gaining popularity has eight pointy bits, like a chaos star. However, a snowflake has terminals which act as an inward pointing arrowhead, the antithesis of the chaostar, demonstrating that their true purpose is to negate any CM activity in the area! Given the success that many magicians have with using magick to influence the prices of their favourite items at this time of year in particular, it is small wonder that Big Business has decided to invest in anti CM charms in their premises…

Superficially, these shapes resemble Icelandic rune charms such as the Helm of Awe. However, even a slim amount of knowledge of the lore allows one to see that these commercial patterns have no deeper meaning than a few trivial strokes, their shallow nature has no message other than to point away from the spirit of Yule as a time of celebrating through feasting on hearty meals created within the home, for one’s kith and kin.

Snowflakes recently blanketed the Middle East, providing picturesque photo opportunities of the pyramids, and Jerusalem. Children who have never seen snow make snowmen, and try out sledging for the first time. Other consequences occur too: The  snowflakes release stored water as they melt, causing flooding, which can be exacerbated when the local infrastructure does not assist in reliving this calamity.

In the past many occultists/natural philosophers were fascinated by the subject of snowflakes, amazed as lenses allowed a glimpse into the intricate structures that can form. Drawing these precise symmetrical patterns became hugely popular, while the more common irregular snowflake crystals were not documented. As with so many areas of life, the unusual perfect became accepted as the norm due to over-representation. Complex irregular shapes are less aesthetically appealing, harder to pin down to a two dimensional sheet of paper, so the fact of their vastly more numerous occurrence remains largely unrecorded.

So the next time you enter a building designed to take your money, be aware of the ‘fluences at work. Maybe carry a chaos star on your person to ward off the anti-magick vibes, and to give yourself the best chance of picking up a bargain. Look with your own eyes, not at the distractions They want you to look at.

(N.B. Other outlets for obtaining/distributing food and drink are available.)

Merry Yulemass!

NW