The purpose of this book/manual is solely to aid the reader in his/her unfolding/developing/inner growth/individuation. This magickal process must inevitably be accompanied by some pain, doubt and disillusionment. We have endured (but so far SURVIVED!) years of conditioning and repression and to break free from this protective but limiting shell is an act of courage and perhaps for some of us, an act of desperation.
Modern life, as lived by most of us, seems to conspire against our being 'awake'. The robotic self, originally evolved as a necessary/defensive element of human consciousness, has now become almost too efficient, assuming more and more authority and allowing us to sleep far more than is 'good' for us, for instance, to drive a car adequaely whilst engaged in conversation. Difficulties arise when the robot begins to operate where/when it is not necessary/appropriate, undermining free will and narrowing our choice of alternative attitudes/decisions/actions.
It is time we awake to our own ignorance. By injecting energy into our perceptions and learning to assimilate the increased feedback we may confidently expect from such an act of positivity/commitment, we are able to penetrate more deeply/participate more fully in/to living situations.
To always rule, rather than to be ruled by, the robot, to constantly maintain one's high level or attentiveness, is virtually impossible. One split-second of inattention and we may find ourselves floundering once more in habitual/pre-programmed modes of attitude/communication/action. It can prove enormously difficult throughout even one lengthy conversation to never slip into some half-hearted agreement or skate over irksome/uninteresting points until some new/random phrase re-kindles our flagging concentration. When reading books we often selectively skip passages or even whole chapters when the contents fail to stimulate us sufficiently (or fail to confirm our prejudices/mental fore-closures).
These tendencies, though minor in their manifestation, are symptomatic of our incredible reluctance to really PAY ATTENTION - to information around us, to other people, even to ourselves (what our bodies, minds or feelings are trying to tell us) and yet a high level of inner attention is essential for the great magickal work, whether you call the goal of that work enlightenment, liberation or inner growth.
It seems that to achieve this necessary high level of awareness (= balance = being centered) one must have a motive (sincere desire for wisdom/power/freedom), something at stake (sanity/self-esteem/emotional independence) or simply a passion for/an obsession with the unfolding of the self/self-programming/magickal experiences etc. As one enlightened master once remarked, "By passion is the world bound, by passion it may be released." Motive however is not enought - one also needs methods, practical techniques for changing, sharpening and directing awareness. These practiques lead one through various experiences/conclusions to a deeper understanding, a freer creativity and an emotional and mental liberation.
The journey though is not an easy one - many great seekers/warriors/magickians have suffered both mental and physical turmoil as a consequence of their spiritual/sorcerous experimentations - Gopi Sharma, one of the leading exponents of Kundalini Yoga, underwent years of anguish and torment, one of the Merlins, Merlin Wylte, lost and finally regained his sanity. Not for nothing are shamans dubbed "the wounded healers" - many great "travellers" are/become deeply divided beings on the quest for enlightenment/emancipation/individuation.
The quest however, is a glorious one - a path of doubt and faith, disillusionment and joy, ensnarement and freedom, and can ultimately lead to the pinnacle of human achievement - to discover and express the (more) real self/selves.
Chaos magick, when not in the hands, hearts and pens of elitists or those who have exchanged old ideologies and "isms" for a new, equally restrictive set of beliefs and practices (and prejudices), is an eclectic, umbrella term for the sum and total of all magickal endeavor, from so- called primitive shamanic practiques to the most sophisticated hermetic or kabalic systems. It may include elements from wicca, tantra, oriental metaphysics, "Crowleyanity" and anything else that could conceivably prove useful/relevant/beneficial.
Chaos (perhaps in future it should be reffered to as Khaos or Kaos to distinguish it from the banal or dictionary use of the word) magick is not simply another system, another alternative to mainstream tradition, a new, provocotive flavour for jaded magickal appetites. It is any technique that works, any world-view that proves helpful - it is the employment of any beneficial systems coupled with an awareness of the limitations of that system and an urge to transcent such restrictions. It leads/should lead to the creation/evolution of a much more individual, personalised world-view/set of magickal practices. Chaos magick is non-political (unless practiced by politicians), non-sexist, non-ageist and non-racist (unless of course it is employed by those who still harbour doubts or prejudices in these areas). Above all, it is non-missionary - it cannot be, for there is no set system to sell, no mandatory beliefs to embrace or reject and no compulsory practices or festivals to observe or scorn. Chaos magick is a constant state of unfolding/flux/uncertainty. The character Paul in Frank Herbert's "Dune" concludes that the path of certainty is also the path of stagnation or even death. If you, the reader have any certainties about magickal law/gender-roles/occult leadership/spiritual companionship - prepare to shed them now...
Chaos magick is YOUR magick - if and when you find it/you.
It is the author's sincere wish that this manual will be of help on your journey. All concepts/rituals/practiques/belief-patterns contained herein are presented as working models only, awaiting your personal touch to be experiences, explored, understood, altered and ultimately transcended. The book may at first glance appear to contain much that is theoretical/conceptual and a lesser amount of hard, sharply-defined practical work. This is not so - what you bring to the exercises by way or attitude/approach has great bearing on the ultimate results. It is perhaps worth repeating that the chaos-activity presented here is deliberately open-ended, purposely susceptible to adaption/transformation. This book is merely your ticket and programme for the great game - YOU are the main action...
To
Feanor
currently in chains.
AN INVENTORY
A DEDICATION to you, dear reader
A DELINEATION - the void/chaos flow
A DENUNCIATION - new gods/old gods
A COMPARISON (1) - shamanism
A COMPARISON (2) - the Church Of Ka'atas
AN AFFIRMATION - integration with chaos
THE PENTACLE OF KA'ATAS - protective/inspirational talisman
A FUNCTIONING - the threshold-dwellers
A WILLING - cultivation of 'varjra' awareness
A SUMMONING - invoking/visualising Baphomet
A CONDEMNATION - crowley/christians
A DELIVERING - prayer to god/ess of chaos
A MEDITATION (1) - the skeleton
A MEDITATION (2) - the tower
A MEDITATION (3) - the space meditation
A MEDITATION (4) - the crystal chamber
A DECLERATION of intent for the Ka'atas Church
AN INITIATION - chaos initiations
A CREATING - alternative element-invoking
A WORKING (1) - baphomet/Ka'atas ritual
AN APPRAISING (1) - the lessons of wicca
AN APPRAISING (2) - Austin Osman Spare - his real contribution
A DIVINING - 'package-deals' and alternatives. The Leaves of Fate.
A WORKING (2) - balancing the elements - two alternatives, the crowley tarot and the wiccan/shamanistic.
A PROTECTING - psychic attack, the protective circle, the safe place, the fight-flight reversal, web-dancing, candle magic, chakra cleaning, problem-burying, shape-shifting, talismans.
A PENETRATING - 'sex magick
A CORRECTING - the workings of chaos
AN ALTERING - states of awareness, over-breathing, music, dance, chanting, rebirthing, touch-and-trust exercieses, bio-gnosis (plant-lore), habit breaking, the black-out
A REITERATING - a review of pertinent/important statements
A RECOMMENDING - further reading
A DEDICATION
My greetings to you, fellow-seekers/warrirors of the/your new aeon! Those of you who have begun to sense the emergence of chance and universe-whim as an increatingly relevant and desirable force in your lives, those who have begun (if tentatively) to flirt with the universe, those who have climbed the tree of ancients and uncouvered an empty (deserted?) nest, those who have with bated breath summoned Azathoth of The Book of Dead Names and unleashed instead a force recognisable as dear old Gonpo/Set/Typhon, those who have played a diceman, those who have recognised/wished to actualise more pertinence in the writings of Moorcock, Brady, Tolkien and Castenada than in Regardie, Fortune or even Crowley, those who have turned their back on a golden dawn and have flown instead to the rainbow-jagged darknes of Vajrana (the tantra-gnostic Shambala), those with jaded magickal appetites, those who wish to live in their own univerese and not in someone else's - this is for you in the fond hope that it will inspire/encourage you enough to sweetly/awe-fully disturb your magic and your life.
WARNING - this publication encourages disorganisation.
A DELINEATION
There is/can be a force, an essence, an energy, that flows through, around and into all things, material and immeterial. It is (temporarily) all things and the spaces between - it is/can be all things and yet it also posesses nothing-ness. It accretes material forms in various stages of complexity. It is what it touches - all interactions and relationships are it's by-products. It is infinite and beyond the comprehension of the finite/linear/filing cabinet mind.
Further, it is non-spiritual, inhuman, eternal, limitless, the womb and grave of every form and substance, every thought and dream, every law, both known and unknown. Some call this energy/force/state/essence the voide and approach it with a highly sophisticated system of applied psychology. Some, clinging to a golden vision of here-after/there-before, call it dream-time. Some call it chaos and revere it joyfully with bizarre rites and practices.
This force moves, manifests, grows, develops, unfolds, reacts, stagnates and dissolves by chance, whim, coincidence, random selection, developing tendencies, cause-and-effect (reaction) and perhaps other laws/processes we have yet to find any suitably ludicrous name for.
One should/can choose to seek to become more aware of this flow, then (usually) move with it or alternativelly physically/mentally/emontionally accelerate, divert or influence the process and/or it's manifestations and effects within the bounds of a specific chain of events/situations. Both these options are inaugurated/enhanced by the utilisation of meditation, imaginations, visualisation, sigilisation, rituals and that insatiable urge-to-persue called will. The process/science of sensing and influencing this energy-flow is known to most of us as magick.
The new-aeon shaman/witch/seeker/warrior must choose as his/her field of action the point where the mind touches the rest of the universe, the collective unconscious - this is where imagination is stretched to the limit (ie - laws or probability are ruptured, where anything becomes possible it it is wooed or persued intensely enough). This is where your dreams, records, books and drugs take you occasionally - it is an unexplored or under-developed part of your totality.
First however you must endure an undoing, a ruthless spring-cleaning of beliefs and attitudes - otherwise this virgin inner landscape could become merely a repository of accumulated junk and sleeplily/foolishly accepted trivia rather than the site of development, the hunding ground, the temple of your new world-view.
NOTE - in the mythos/perspective/world-view of the I.O.T., the writings of Moorcock etc., chaos is balanced by an apparent other-half, its polar opposite, known as Order or Law. This creates unnecessary tension and dichotomy. It seems much more expedient, not to say realistic, to assume that it is the workings and structurings of law/order that are a wilful by-product/an aberration of chaos - there is no ultimate law of Law - only the eternal play of chance, however it may manifest.
A DENUNCIATION
I grow wary/weary and increasingly intolerant of those organisations/movements (the I.O.T. and a few other notables excepted) that seek to codify and delineate every tiresome aspect of an increasingly over-blown and irrelevant world-view. Theosophic/Kabalistic/Monotheistic lore is/should be dead, further, is evil, is rigid, is sexist, is status-ridden, is of a past we should have outgrown/disowned. It is time for new god/esse/s/daemons - learn to call them - they will always answer.
Most of the old god-forms are buried beneath a ton of superstition, dogma and diseased comprehension. Only a few have been cleansed by gnosis and a fresh perception/application of belief. Use them until you can outgrow them.
Beware of any systems of borrowed belief - trust only in 'systems' or accumulations of belief that can be seen or felt to be advantageous. Judge a god/ess by what he/she/it can do for you, physically, mentalls, emotionally - if your god answers not the call in the night then give your allegiance elsewhere. Trust practice - test theory.
The void/collective unconscious cannot manifest in a vacuum - that is, it will tend to assme these forms already recognisable/usable by the perciever and will be as useful/powerful/knowledgable ultimately as the subconscious urges/impulses of the perceiver him/herself. These forms (gods/angels/daemons) ie - all gods are a wish-fulfillment of their devotees - this is not to rob them of 'reality'. For anything you can imagine already is/is becoming... but just how strong is your patron? Will he/she/it (you) bring you money when you need it? Has he/she/it (you) ever let you down? In other words, is your reciprocation with your god(s) of a sufficient percentage of your totality to effect the more mundane levels of your reality, your everyday life? Have you learned to rupture reality/distory probability?
To enlarge the area of your perception/effectiveness, to re-create your god(s), this is all you ow him/her/them - to worship, to "approach constantly with many rites", to flex your psychic muscles, to strengthen magickal will - this is your fealty.
For some seekers/warriors this process is not so easily/comfortably achieved with many of the deities of the past six or seven millenia. (ie - if the great guardians of Tibet were so powerful, how come the Chinese over-ran and eventually destroyed so many templs? Why did the ancienct gods of Egypt allow Roman dominance? Nearer home, why didn't Andrasta (long may she be remembered!) cover and blind the marching legions with her nightmare wings and allow/assist our greatest queen to sweep to a just victory?) Fate/whim/chaos is strongest - Jesus has to undergo his torment (this is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased?), Odin is doomed to die by Fenrir the wolf, Arthur's great accomplishment is the validity of the failed dream.) It is chaos/universe will that we should be revering/entering.
Unless you already enjoy an intimate and untarnished symbiosis with an 'existing' deity, it is time for a new, flexible, personalised cosmology, my brothers and sisters! You will have your own gods (archetypal personalities of your own choosing), your own names for them, your personal animal or tree allies/totems, your own techniques of invocation and integrations, your own world-view.
A COMPARISON (1)
The world of the shaman
The collection/accumulation of techniques and beliefs known as shamanism pre- dates all organised religion. The witch-doctor, the medicine man, the primitive sorceror of the hunt, all have much in common and would have little difficulty in relating to each others practices - and yet shamanism remains an intensely personal and relevant system of application - each 'wise man' (or woman), through a result of his own cultural heritage, retains and enjoys a fresh inter-relationship with those spirits, ancestors, animal-allies and supernatural beings that probe beneficial to him and his work - all progress is made through a fresh personal application of the inherited world-view. It is interesting (and perhaps reassuring to some of you/us) to note that from eskimo to aborigine, in many cases the shaman is a misfit, sickly, reclusice and tempramental.
note - being psychically awakened is not being 'spiritual' - manufactured notions of good or evil created by generations of guilt and fear/anxiety, both agents of castration/immobilsation, have no place in the world of the shaman. Power/effectiveness is all - a good shaman is a shaman that can get results. (Pure spirit or life-force, even thought 'manifesting' or being percievable in human form as it often does/is, is patently not human and need not therefore partake of human concepts such as compassion, charity etc.) It seems to me that man/woman will become whatever they really want/will to bo, despite (or perhaps because of) his/her professed religion/code of living. Buddhism, one of the more tolerant of systems, was capable in Tibet of great intellectual fascism, resulting in poverty and oppression for a great percentage of the populace. Christianity's charity and compassion is balanced by it's arrogance and hypocracy. Nowhere does it seem that a religion/system has totally subdued or overcome mankind's 'worse' instincts. Everyone I speak to claims that their particular path has made them a "better" person. The world should therefore be a much more sane, hopeful place than it is.
Initiation into the practiques of shamanism are usually preceded/inaugurated by serious illness, feverish dreams/visions, a death-experience or by a personal, usually harrowing trial by isolation and psychic siege, resulting in a life-long symbiosis with alternative planes of reality/mobility.
The shaman uses few props in his or her work (healing, locating food or lost objects, divining or scrying) - a rattle, some coloured sand, a drum or flute, some healing or hallucinogenic herbs - relying instead on his/her own inherent or developed talents. Some rituals are of course employed - at times of great need or for ceremonial/celebratory purposes.
The line of initiation, where it exists, many shamans being called/evolved through personal crisis and subsequent inner changes of perception, is similar to a guru-chela relationship ie- the 'teachings' are passed from individual to individual and does not therefore lend itself too easily to institutionalisation and mass propagation. Though some teachings (usually myths or creation) are always transmitted, shamanism is essentially an ever-changing, on-going process, as rigid, as flexible, as simple or as complex as its practitioner(s).
It is a mistake to assume/deduce, as so many occultists (and shamans!) do, that we have somehow fallen from grace in that we are not so attuned to the environment, not so psychically 'sharp' as our ancestors, and that this is inevitable. The abilities are still within us, merely(?)/albeit submerged beneath centuries of technological development and a massive over-load of information input. The power can wither/atrophy, as indeed it has for the vast majority of humankind, but can be rediscovered/re- employed by the strong and determined. As magickal talent (inter-action with chaos/the void) has no recognisable or even theoretical limits, it must also be true to say that the accomplishment of the past can be equalled or even perhaps bettered.
A COMPARISON (2)
The Church of Ka'atas
For the past twenty or so years I have, at first unintentionally then with growing understanding and eagerness, gradually evolved my own paradigm/reality perspective. Studying and practicing Wicca and Tibetan Tantra and flirting (albeit seriously) at various times with orthodox Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, Greek and Egyptian mythology, Spiritualism, automatic drawing and writing, hypno-regression, Tarot, Kabala, drugs, rock music, Jungian psychology, meditation, yoga, trance states, ritual magic, Taoism, Faery-lore etc etc, has led to my developing, accepting and utilising a much more personal mythos/world view. This has crystalised around my perception of the flowings/manifestations of the void/universe whim, and the face/form my subconscious mind has affixed/attributed to the source of these flowings. In other words I have some how created/discovered/cognized my own god (or rather, the head of my personalised pantheon)
This being, which I obviously/expediently regard as omnipotent, variously manifests as a wise old man, sometimes oriental in feature, sometimes more european/celtic, a wizened, almost mummified-looking black-skinned kali-type hag or a strong and beautiful maid marian archetype (both perhaps representations of my anima), a demonic half-bestial face semi-obscured by rainbow-splintered blackness, a futuristic-feeling 'crystal-master', a very Tibetan-looking Baphomet (a bi-sexual Yamantaka!), a jester, or as aspects of more familliar deities such as Herne, Diana or Anubis. 'His' most constant and notable (though by no means inevitable) feature throughout these expressions/representations is a pari of clear green eyes, piercing, cool and totally inhuman.
I have tested this force for power/effectiveness over other 'supernatural' entities/energies and also for some kind of moral integrity - a laughable and perhaps hypocritical stance/action I am forced to agree, but no-one wants to become the plaything of a decieving/malignant wizard/demon/manitou do they? I have asked for occult wisdom, money, for advice, assistance in enterprieses and of course for protection more than once - and I have found/detected an unsettling aloofness, traces of sardonic humour, a certain impatience, and yet a tenderness where/when least expected - all no doubt facets of my own persona - perception is intentional (even unknowingly) and therefore subject to sense/character distortions.
This entity has been known to me by various names and titles that have changed as my awareness and utilisation has evolved/improved. I now know 'Him' (the void-face must ultimately be sex-less or all sexes, gender being as arbitary a categorisation as race of physical size) as Ka'atas.
I am joyful/creative/effective in the world of Ka'atas (pronounced ca as in cabin, ay as in sway, tas as in tassel - the accent being on the central syllable - Ka'atas) and yet I have achieved nothing you are not capable of, given time, facilities and motivation. I offer clippings from my own Book Of Shadows/Chaos Catalogue only for you to peruse, emply if you wish, until you presonalise/adopt/outgrow/weary of it all.
To accept my reality except as a temporary station or viewing platform is not only insulting to us both but perhaps also mutually harmful - the Church of Ka'atas needs no bishops and no flock - only warriors/wolves/seekers - and they will/must evolve their own approach to the infinite/ultimate.
note - the term 'church' is a convenient term of reference, like 'temple', 'coven' or even 'gathering' - nothing more. No inference should be dran from it's usage.
AN AFFIRMATION
I AM NOT A NUMBER, NOR ANY RESULT OF NUMBERS
I AM NO CIRCLE, SQUARE NOR TRIANGLE
I AM NO PUPPET OF THE MOON, STARS AND PLANETS
NOR AM I A MECHANICAL PRODUCT OF MY INPUT TO DATE
I WILL NOT BE LABELLED, CONTAINED, DIVIDED
AND SUPPRESSED BY THE WORLD'S OBSOLETE SYSTEMS
I AM NOT AN AUTOMATON
I AM A THINKING, FEELING ENTITY
PART OF ALL THAT IS AND MAY YET BE
I AM NOT A PLAYTHING OF THE GODS
FOR I CAN AND HAVE EXHIBITED FREE WILL
IN THE FACE OF CATASTROPHE AND OPPOSITION
AND I HAVE MET MANY GODS
AND NONE HAVE SOUGHT SUCCESSFULLY TO HARM ME
IN THIS LIFETIME I HAVE SO FAR SURVIVED
ALL SLANDERS AND CONFRONTATIONS
I MISTRUST AND DISOWN EVERY ASSEMBLY OF OPPRESSION
THAT CONSPIRES IN MALICE AND FEAR
TO ACHIEVE EARTHLY AUTHORITY
THUS SETTING BACK TREACHERY UPON ALL THAT LIVES
CLINGING TO OUT-MODED MODELS OF REALITY
AND REGURGITATING IDEOLOGIES
THAT RESULT ONLY IN DEATH AND STAGNATION
I AM SPAWN OF CHAOS
AND I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN THE WORKINGS OF THE VOID
WHICH IS NAKED REALITY AND SUPREME FANTASY
AND ENDLESS BECOMING
I CHOOSE TO PRAISE CHANCE
FOR ALL IS BLESSED BY CHANCE
AND CHANCE TAKES ALL BACK TO ITSELF
BE-WITH-ME!
AVATAR/ATAVAR OF THE FIRST AETHYR
KA'ATAS!
FACE OF THE VOID
SELF BEYOND ALL-SELF
OTHER BEYOND ALL-OTHER
MASTER MANITOU!
IT IS MY WILL TO DWELL IN DEEP WAKE
AND TO PUSH EVER FORWARD THE BOUNDS OF POSSIBILITY
THE PENTACLE OF KA'ATAS
The pentacle (which can be employed as a protective or inspirational talisman if so desired) is here depicted in the inverted/destructive/chaotic mode. At the centre is the sigil of the Lords (and Ladies) of Entropy - eight arrows radiating out in all directions (in all dimensions). This symbol is itself a self-sufficient and powerful talkisman. The three lightning flashes are vajra- initiations and represent illumination of the mind, heart and body. The eyes are the eyes of Ka'atas - they are his most notable and constant feature throughout numerous guises/manifestations. To the lower left is the world-snake/the serpent of eternity - a symbol of cyclic happenstance and ultimate stability - a sigil of Law. This is balanced to the lower right by the winged serpent (kundlini, if you wish) - the eternal now - the urge to enlightenment. The upward-pointing triangle (masculine) contains the horns of penetration, creation and destruction, illuminated by the candle flame of spirit. Together they form a trident, an old symbol of psychic/spiritual fire. (note also the Hindu/Buddhist trisula and the nordic rune eolh-secg - eel-grass, that burns and cuts when grasped by the unwary.) The downward (feminine) triangle contains the three phases of the moon (the triple goddess) which combine mystically to create a solar eye, the gaze of flame.
The pentacle is surmounted by a rune or sigil of infinity, an inverted alpha and omega combined. In this illustration I have used the greek alphabet for clarity, but any characters similar in meaning will suffice. This reprisents the rejection of conventional space/time values.
A FUNCTIONING
The role of the Threshold-Dwellers
There comes a stage in our awareness-expansion/shift of perspective when our personality - all that we suppose we are, all that we have thus far identified with - is threatened. An increase of perception and comprehension necessitates that sooner or later we must stand at the boundary of our conscious mind, ready to shift our identity from finite to infinite, from earth-consciousness to universe-consciousness - from age/sex/class/race awareness to transcendent awareness (see A WILLING) - from human identity to an alien vision. This threatens the ego, and our minds, as protective as ever, begin to throw up barriers, diversions, hinderances.
These projections often take the form of eagles, vultures, hawks, hags, were- wolves, serpents, dragons or wrathful, fear-inspiring deities. To accept/identify with/transcend these guardians/custodians of the subconscious mind's treasure is a primary task of the warrior/wise (wo)man.
The 'eagle' as defined in Castenada's book 'The Eagle's Gift' is of this nature and function - so are Baphomet and Abraxas, the compound god/goddess forms of the psyche. (I met the eagle for the first time as a child whilst unconscious in the dentist's chair - it was to be a further 20 years before I understood the fearful experience of being torn from the body and then 'twanging' back in agony time after time as the eagle toyed with me.)
We revere and initially fear these entities for they are destroyers of the ego, stealers of the life-spark, the daemons that slam us, screaming helplessly, into yet another (premature) becoming.
They are the Dwellers on the Threshold, the doorway to liberation and infinity - they must be faced and overcome - better yet, we must learn that they are our key to an enlarged reality- model. To fear and worship them (ie - keep at a distance) is not nearly enough - they must be invoked and employed time and time again. We must become them - then look beyond.
Just as the ancient Greeks would have expected to encounter the frightening goat-god Pan (from whom perhaps we derive the emotional term 'panic') in some lonely/inacessible forest or mountain landscape, so also must we be prepared to meet such guardians/threshold-keepers when we tread intentionally or by accident into the more remote or hitherto avoided areas of our mind, the shadowy realms of impulse, desire and fear. When we act upon or because of such instincts, we can never accurately predict the outcome of our deeds unless magickal intent is an intentional/integral part of the process.
It is no use clinging to the human view-point - intelligence/ability to inter-act to mutual benefit with environments (physical and otherwise) exists everywhere - the human perception is but one note on an infinitely large keyboard. One does not squint at a beautiful/breath-taking landscape or panorama through half-closed eyes, and likewise one cannot appreciate chaos with a half-shut mind. In face, attitudes and actions that are above/outside the normal limits of human probability and purpose, beyond ego-control/interference are probably more 'natural'/universe-whim-harmonised than our normal, everyday postures, both mental and physical.
Consider as many alternative stances as possible (believe in at least one improbability before breakfast!).
Knowledge/absorbtion of the Threshold-Dwellers is the birth-rite of a cosmo- gnostic entity.
A WILLING
The cultivation of the 'vajra' awareness
The point where our conscious minds meet the sub/un-conscious, ie- the rest of the universe, is the field of action for the magickian.
Two important aspects of the magickal will must be fully understood, and that understanding then punched irrevocably into all future programmes. In other words two seemingly opposite or polarised attitudes/stances/pre-requisites for the action, both vital to the magickian's survival/success, must become 'second nature'.
These are two aspects/extractions of the drive towards 'eros' and 'thanatos' - life, posession, control, light, love, desire, focus and decay, disintegration, death, darkness, disorder.
The first necessary (and much misunderstood) stance is the need to remain 'centred', self-aware, to retain one's 'spirit', to achieve self-posession (rather than posession or disintegration through some external agency), to seek an uninterrupted stream of consciousness/awareness whatever may happen, be it calamity, death or rebirth/becomings. It is a channeling process/tendency, an identification of the self as seperate/disengaged from the rest of the universe.
The second is the need to transcend the human view-point (see A FUNCTIONING), to realise the narrowness, arrogance and ultimate impotence of one's present perception and to seek a re-alignment of one's will/vision to that of the universe/void/chaos flow. It is a diffusing process, an identification with something larger than the human perspective (that can, unchecked or abused, lead to false bliss, a nirbanic torpor, a capitulation of drive/energy).
Held/practiced together these two polar opposied create a third, highest stance. As usual the tantrists have a word for it. The word 'vajra' or 'dorje' can either mean a diamond ie- that which is compact/focused, symmetrical/crystalised, unbreakable, immutable, untarnishable (part of the drive to eros/control, order, posession) or a thunderbolt ie- that which is frightening, all-powerful, ego- destructive, disintegrating (part of the drive to thanatos/disorder, ego-death). 'Vajra' therefore may also be held to mean both stances (diamond-eros and thunderbolt-thanatos) together/simultaneously. This captures nicely the feel of the third stance so let us call it the vajra-awareness.
As a bolt of lightning (the thunderbolt) strikes the earth, swift, random, brilliant (ILLUMINATING!), so too must the vajra-awareness be instantly in response, cultivated to be active/reactive to changing emotional states, rebirths, disasters and environments, being one with the lightning, being the lightning, flowing at one with all but retaining the diamond-hard yet infinitely flexible self- ness in the midst of conditions, manifestaions and becomings. The vajra-awareness is what it touches yet it retains its self-ness, wherever it alights there is totality and purity, where it is not are ignorance and eventual suffering.
The vajra-awareness, then is a conscious integration/inter-action with all that is - an eternal balance between self-knowing/posession and immersion in the ceaseless flux of the universe.
THROUGH THE ECSTACY OF THE SPIRIT AND JOY ON EARTH
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH THE AGONY OF LONELINESS AND DESPAIR
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH LOVE TO ALL BEINGS
AND THROUGH REVENGE AND BLOODY DESTRUCTION
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH ETERNAL RENEWAL AND TRHOUGH STAGNATION
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
PARTAKING OF THE WINE OF LIVE
FEELING THE SCYTHE OF FREEZING FEAR
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF ETERNAL BECOMING
THROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF TRANSIENT FORMS AND FLESH
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH PEACE, FREEDOM, UNITY OR DIVERSITY
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH WAR, OPPRESSION AND DISSENT
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH BEAUTY AND ENCHANTMENT
THROUGH HORROR AND DISILLUSIONMENT
THROUGH POWER AND COMPASSION
FUTILITY AND SPITE
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
THROUGH HONOUR, HUMILITY, WISTOM, REVERENCE AND MIRTH
THROUGH TREACHERY, IGNORANCE, BLASPHEMY AND TEARS
I WILL RETAIN THE VAJRA-AWARENESS
AND I WILL FIND ALL WITHIN MYSELF
AND I SHALL EXPERIENCE MY TOTALITY
I AM ONE WITH MYSELF FROM THE VERY BEGINNING
AND I SHALL FIND DELIGHT IN THE WAYS OF THE VOID
WHICH IS CHAOS-FLOW AND CHANCE
NAKED REALITY, SUPREME FANTASY AND ENDLESS BECOMING!
(AUM YAB/YUM CHEN DORJE KHORLO!)
(hail great father/mother the vajra centre (station))
A SUMMONING
A visualisation/invocation of Baphomet
THERE IT IS!
THE DWELLER ON THE THRESHOLD
IT IS BLUE-BLACK, THE COLOUR OF THE NIGHT SKY
ITS HORNS ARE LONG, SHARP AND CLEAN
AND THEY CATCH THE LIGHTNING
THE HEAD IS SHAGGY WITH INKY FUR
TWO EYES OF YELLOW-GREEN
THE THIRD IS SCARLET AND PIERCING
AT THE NECK ARE SHORT, DARK TENTACLES
LIKE THOSE OF A SQUID
THE CHEST AND BREASTS ARE FIRM AND FULL
THE SHOULDERS STRONG, THE WAIST NARROW
ALL METALLIC - AND YET IT IS THE SKIN
AND IT MOVES AND FOLDS
THE ARMS ARE HUMAN
THE FINGERS LONG AND WELL-FORMED
WITH SHARP NAILS
WEBBED WITH A THIN AND SUPPLE MEMBRANE
ALL IS BLUE-BLACK AND CATCHES THE LIGHTNING
ABSORBS AND REFLECTS IT
THE HIPS, THIGHS AND LOIN AREA IS SHAGGY
WITH DARK FUR LIKE THAT OF A BLACK BISON
THE SEX-ORGANS CANNOT BE SEEN
YET BOTH MALE AND FEMALE ORGANS ARE THERE
BELOW THE KNEES THE SKIN IS LIKE THAT OF A CROCODILLE
PATTERNED AND STRONG YET SMOOTHER
SUPPLE, GLEAMING AND DARK
THE CLOVEN HOOVES ARE NOT OF HORN OR METAL
BUT OF SOMETHING IN BETWEEN
AS ARE THE HORNS
ALL IS BLUE-BLACK AND ENORMOUS
ALL-POWERFUL, LIGHTNING DECORATED
AND IT IS BAPHOMET
AND THE WINGS ARE SPREAD AND THEY ARE WIDE
THE LEADING EDGE LIKE AN EAGLE'S WING
THE TRAILING EDGE LIKE A BAT'S WING
SUPPLE AND LEATHERY
AND THE WINGS ARE BLUE-BLACK
AND THEY COVER THE NIGHT SKY
AND BAPHOMET IS ALL THE SUM AND TOTAL
OF ALL THE ENERGIES OF THE EARTH
MECHANICAL, INSECT, REPTILE, BIRD, MAMMAL
AND HUMAN, BOTH MALE AND FEMALE
THE SYMBOL BEFORE ALL SYMBOLS
THE SEAL OF THE UNIVERSE!
AND I FEEL ONE WITH BAPHOMET
I AM YAB/YUM TRANSCENDED
HE/SHE IS BORNLESS
THE HORNS OF LIFE AND DEATH
SUM AND TOTAL OF THE WORLD
MALE AND FEMALE
GOAT-GOD, MOTHER AND MORE
BE-WITH-ME!
CONSUMATION OF WISDOM
BAPHOMET!
A CONDEMNATION
I find it inconceivalbe that so many talented occultists still cling to a perverted, post-victorian perspective of reality. The Golden Dawn and other movements of that ilk bestowed upon the world great pioneers/warriors (and I here acknowledge my debt and gratitude to them) but one can no longer trudge drearily in their well-worn footsteps, hoping that (by some process of sympathetic magic?) some of their accomplishments/abilities will rub off - if you persue dinosaur tracks all you are likely to acquire are dinosaur droppings and a few bones - small reward for a life-time's work. A fossil is not a living creature - discovering someone elses's reality and making it your own may be convenient and gratificatory, but it is also second-rate.
Taking one of the greatest pioneers of all as our example - Aleister Crowley - why elect/select as your guide through the vistas of inner space a man who apparently could only liason with his quardian angel through long and over-irksome ritual and whose patron entity could only communicate in cryptic and at times childish fashion? The Book Of The Law is indeed a master-piece but an over-rated work for all that, in today's consciousness-climate. It is significant that Aiwass, a herald of the new aeon, should encourage Crowley in the utilisation of ancient, traditional god-forms (Greek, Egyptian etc) - this is no doubt due to Aiwass's emenation from the third station of the tree of life - the sphere of Saturn (the Aquarian ruler). Learned/intuitive Kabalists will/should realise the attributes/connotations/implications.
There is little need to endure, for example, the absurdly tedious Abra-Melin ritual(s) to realise that one can surpass Crowley.
It is also ludicrous that a garbled, distorted, accumulation of half-truths and childish interpretations called The Holy Bible (a tome/tomb of 'Law' - the chronicles of a death-culture) should still carry any 'spiritual' authority. One of it's few useful/relevant passages (from the Book Of Revelations) is a thinly-veiled warning against (and a fear of) opening the chakras and prematurely awaking the dormant, reptiallian part of the brain - a minor but potentially lethal chakra/nexus which can be sensed/energised by 'flooding' the back of the neck where the spine meets the skull. It was precisely this fear which caused Lovecraft to physically disown in later life his own claustrophobic visions of great serpentine entities, inspired by the once myth-encrusted Necronomicon (now a relatively standard grimoire).
I must confess however that it is sometimes mis-leading to judge a cosmology/system by it's source. I have a friend who drew his initial impetus from Tolkien's 'Lord Of The Rings' - the resulting world-view and techniques of magic were far from 'elven' - his work is grim, revengeful, bloody - and effective.
A DELIVERING
A prayer to the god/ess of Chaos
GOD/GODDESS, WHAT MUST I YET GIVE YOU!
I BRING YOU MY FEAR, MY INSECURITIES, MY GUILT,
MY CELEBRATIONS
ACCEPT ALSO MY PAST, FOR THIS TOO I NOW DISCARD
TAKE IN YOUR DARK HANDS MY FUTURE
AND TOGETHER WE SHALL RIDE THE TIDES OF CHAOS
LAUGHING, CRYING, IN AN AGONY OF JOY
A UNION GREAT AND FRUITFUL!
I CAN NO LONGER TAKE REFUGE IN ILLUSION
COMPLACENCY AND WISHFUL THINKING
I AM SCARRED WITH ERRORS AND IGNORANCE
HEAL ME WITH MIRTH, MADNESS AND MYSTERY.
O GREAT ONE!
YOU ARE MY FRIEND THOUGH YOU SHOCK ME, DISTURB ME,
AND SOMETIMES CAUSE ME PAIN
YOU ARE MY FRIEND BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT LET ME SLEEP
THE SLEEP OF LIES
YOU COME TO ME IN MANY MASKS AND YET WHEN I SEEK TO SEE
THEN I RECOGNISE MY FRIEND ONCE AGAIN
YOU PICK UP AND MAGNIFY MY EVERY MISTAKE
YOU TAKE ME AT MY WORD AND ACT ACCORDINGLY
YOU MOCK MY SURPRISE WHEN I REPEAT MY MISTAKES
AND SUFFER YET ONE MORE TIME
YOUR SCOFF AT MY SELF-PITY AND TEASE ME
UNTIL I ONCE MORE UNDERSTAND, ACCEPT AND ESCAPE
YOU THROW DEATH AND MISERY IN MY FACES AS A BOUQUET
TO SHOW YOUR LOVE, AWAKENING ME,
GIVING ME THE JOY OF THE MOMENT
AND THE MOTIVATION FOR MAGICK
YOU BRING ME, UNEXPECTED, COMPASSION, ENCOURAGEMENT,
THANKFULNESS
YOU SURPRISE ME CONSTANTLY
YOU BREAK ALL HABITS TO TEST MY AWARENESS
YOU WALK IN MY SLEEP WITH FOOTSTEPS LIKE THUNDER
YOU STIMULATE ME IN ENDLESS NEW BECOMINGS
SOOTHING ME TOO, IN THE BALANCE AND INTEGRATION OF OPPOSITES
YOUR PASSION, SO INTENSE, APPROACHES SERENITY
YOUR CALMNESS IS INHUMAN, IMPLACABLE, UNSETTLING
YOUR TEACHING THE HARDEST I KNOW
YOUR LESSONS THE SIMPLEST
ALL IS CHAOS-FLOW!
THE VOID, THW WORKINGS OF THE UNIVERSE-WILL
ALL IS YOU, O GREAT ONE!
A MEDITATION (1)
The Skeleton Meditation
- for rest/rejuvenation and for dis-identity with the body - a useful preparation for death-experiences and astral travel. Sit cross-legged or kneel on a flat, comfortable surface, eg- a carpeted floor, and take a few minutes to compose/quieten the mind. Begin to visualise/compose/quieten the mind. Begin to visualise/imagin your skin, flesh and muscle growing soft and flaccid, peeling from your skull and running like candle-wax down your body and onto the floor (with it goes any anxieties, problems, hindrances to relaxation etc). Continue this process, letting the flesh roll from your neck, shoulders, arms and chest etc, until all that is left is a sitting or kneeling skeleton. Take your time and perform the exercies as intensely as you can.
Now you can begin to revcrse the process - imagine fresh, firm, healthy and vigorous new flesh and skin growing/attaching itself to the bones. Work from the toes up, finishing the visualisation with a rested, rejuvenated, poised mind and body.
Given the right (dramatic) circumstances ie- midnight in a dark room with eerie music or sound-effects in the background or a forest/deserted house/scrap of wasteland at twilight, this can prove a most stimulating experience.
Those of you who have performed the ancient Tibetan Chad (cutting off/dismemberment) ritual should take to this exercise like a duck to water.
nb- the skeleton meditation can be used as a substitute for chakra-cleaning exercises prior to a ritual.
A MEDITATION (2)
The Tower Meditation
nb- not to be confused with the tarod meditation(s) of the same name.
This meditation is in essence a psychic/imaginary exploration of the chakras (it is not necessary to accept the existance/relevance of chakras as anything other than a working theory in order to gain benefit from this exercise). Each centre/nexus is visualised as a room in a lonely and mysterious old tower, the rooms being connected by a spiral staircase. Each room has it's own inhabitants (with whom you may converse), colour-scheme, atmosphere etc. The exercise may be performed as a sequence of visualisations, one per day for a week, or each room/chakra can be visited whenever there is a need/desire/whim.
The visualisation should always commence with an approach to the tower- this will set the scene, prepare the imagination/aid receptivity. I have listed below a set of possible correspondences for each room - obviously you will find/experience your own.
Those of you accustomed to path-working on the tree of ancients will find this meditation most compatible with your own practiques.
root chakra- a dungeon/stone walls/musty smells/darkness/whispers/a warder or custodian/a question to be answered or a choice to be made.
sex chakra- a cellar/a strong, dark, sexual person/masks/musk and similar scents/flickering light/actions to be taken/colours such as purple and silver/nervous excitement/cats and dogs.
navel chakra- mid-morning/a boiler room/a bald, squat man in orange overalls/steam and noise/an atmospher of business.
heart chakra- ground level/midday/french windows/a garden/jewelled splendour/hawks and parrots/twins - one fair and helpful, the other dark and haughty.
throat chakra- afternoon/a woman's bedroom, not used much/velvet/dark blue curtains/incense or perfume/souvenirs and photographs/something hidden or lost.
third eye chakra- late afternoon/a white, dusty attic/bare floorboards/small window(s)/a trap-door in the ceiling/an old man sking questions/decisions to be made.
crown chakra- roof with parapet/the world far below/birds flying past/the wide open sky/brilliant sunshine/being robed in rainbow colours.
Those blessed with courage/impatience/recklessness may choose to finish the visualisation-sequence with a Castenadaesque leap from the roof. This can prove extremely entertaining and informative but will have little impact (pardon the pun) unless performed as a culmination to the sequence as a whole - first 'build' your tower then jump from it.
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