The Blog of Baphomet

There have been various attempts to provide a history of chaos magic; to describe the genesis and development of Current 23.

Chaos magic (CM) emerges initially in the British Isles, also the birthplace of Wicca, Neo-Druidry and Thelema. A nice description of the origins of CM can be found in Philip Carr-Gomm & Richard Heygate’s The Book of English Magic and of course there is various material available online (ranging from the broadly accurate, through to the ranty and occasionally bonkers end of the market). More useful background history can be found in The History of British Magic After Crowley by Dave Evans which also contextualises the rise of CM at a time when Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth was at its most active. However the most up-to-date reflections on CM, and in particular the origins and work of The Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), can to be found in a recent lecture by Dave Lee. This presentation was made to a packed house at the wonderful Treadwell’s bookshop in London (where, incidentally, I’m running a workshop in September).

Bill & Dave’s excellent adventure

In common with many other esoteric organisations the initiatory oath of the IOT requires members to be circumspect when discussing the group with non-members. This oath of secrecy aims to ensure that individuals do not have their membership revealed, without their express consent, to non-members. (While the situation in Britain is much better than it was in years past there are still contexts in which ‘coming out’ as an occultist may cause difficulties for people.) The other reason for ‘keeping silent’ is to ensure that the inter-personal processes arising within a group magical context are contained in a safe, supportive and respectful space.

With all that in mind Dave provides a very candid personal account. He manages to respect confidences, maintain a generous spirit towards those who were there at the inception of the current, and to describe in detail some IOT workings that have been ‘declassified’. This interview is both a fascinating tale of an individual practitioner’s journey into magic, and an important overview of the story of CM thus far.

Enjoy!

Words fail us sometimes. I hear people telling me of their failings, how they cannot make progress with their life or career. (We have all found ourselves here, on some level.)

Listening to them, I see a person not only unable to choose the next move, but unable to even consider they might have options to change their circumstances, change the person that they are/have been. They appear stuck, frozen helplessly by the mantras of the past.

Linguistically, they describe a situation, and then (even if supplied with a helpful response), their next statement is predictable: “…I can’t”. Occasionally, this is followed with a qualifying reason as to why, but more often than not they simply stop, and look down.

Biologically, feelings of depression and other forms of anxiety force us to pay attention to our immediate surroundings. Something IS wrong, so we MUST solve the current crisis before moving on. Which, as a survival strategy, makes sense. However when anxiety lasts for months or years, we can get trapped into habitually seeing no further than our now, our here.

Looking up and away from the ground beneath our feet when we feel as if at any moment we will sink into quicksand, takes courage. If, that is, we can even remember to think of looking ahead, while it takes all our concentration just to stand!

Thanks for teh memes, interwebz! 🙂

A ritual, for those who can’t even…

Standing with your arms by your sides, look at your feet. This is where you are.

Repeat continuously, aloud if possible, “I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even … I literally cannot even …”.

Would you like to move?

“I cannot even … I cannot even … I cannot even … I cannot even …”

Look a short distance ahead.

“I cannot … I cannot … I cannot … I cannot …”

Take a step.

“I can … I can … I can … I can …”

While doing this, take a plenty of time at each stage to take stock of your internal state; using at least three adjectives, describe how you feel, physically. Paying attention to our body gives clues to our elusive subconscious emotional status.

For a more magickal experience, do the ritual inside a magic circle, with yellow candles to represent the importance of ego magick, incense which matches the intention to expand awareness, and holding a sword to signify your decision making ability.