Let’s just leave the past in the past…

Information Central (Photo credit: pjern)

I was lamenting about the loss of the information on this blog, having to compile all the information I’ve learned, and how to package it and the journey I’ve been through.  I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get everything in order, but every time I get more down, I realize that there is more for me to write.  Finally, a good friend of mind got me thinking about the whole process.

If you read Liber Kaos by Peter J. Carroll the whole point of things once you get past the foundations of how things work is to use your own processes to make things work.  He gives some guidelines on how to proceed, but he never gives you anything specific, or any ‘correct’ way to do a spell.  You are constantly told to adopt/mix/study practices from other disciplines in what you do, or even just make shit up entirely.

All the links that I provide, all the information that I had on here, the hundreds of pages of personal notes, and even my numerous journals don’t really matter at all.  They were good as a part of learning to do what I do, but when all is said and done, they don’t matter at all.  In the past (before the data loss) I gave a lot of information about my journey of learning, but I didn’t give many details of the practices.  It was mostly a record of me figuring things out for myself, and sharing that process with others.  All the ‘how I did it’ stuff was pointless to give since it was a process that I made for my own intentions and purposes, and was only useful for the execution of my own will.

Just like in the link I provide in the resources section of this blog, everything else is just for ideas to get your own process going.  I’ve read every word of the information that those links give, but I have never once cast a spell that wasn’t of my own design.  I don’t care if sprinkling sage on chicken can cause your dog to be potty-trained, if it’s not part of my structure it’s just interesting.  It may feel right for other people, but I would never cast a spell given/written by others.  I think your own intent is the most important part of casting, and how you express that will should be unique to the situation too.

I’ve known this all along, I guess I just never really formalized it on here.  This blog has been (and will still be) about how I do things, and how I continue to develop, and never about giving a tutorial.

So, my entire guide to magic is this: Figure shit out.

That’s it.

Figure out what works, make it yours, force yourself to evolve.  Figure it out.

I can’t teach you, about.com sure as fuck can’t teach you, and neither can Peter Carroll.  The only one that can teach you is yourself.

That being said, I’m going to stop trying to recoup the old information on here and just move forward with my experiences as I continue my journey.  I’ll post something soon about where I currently am and what’s been going on around me.  I have been far from mundane lately, so it should be fun for everyone.

-DS

(p.s: Thanks Becca)

Updates and thoughts…

I added a few links to the resources page today.  I’m trying really hard to continually update it as I find interesting articles, resources and other information.  Here is what was added:

* ChaosMatrix.org  – A ridiculously complete collection of spells, theory , and other information related to Chaos.

* Kaos Magick Journal  – Volume 1 No. 2  – An awesome piece on Chaos.

* Kaos Magick Journal  – Volume 2 No. 1 – Yet another awesome piece on Chaos.

ChaosMatrix.org has tons of interesting and useful stuff on it, and it also has some of the lighter side of Chaos Magic.  So many people seem to take themselves too seriously, which cracks me up because it seems a bit contrary to the nature of understanding Chaos.  If nothing is true, then why sweat so much over it?

The second set of links are to a newsletter I found while googling random topics about Chaos.  They have really interesting articles, some about practices, some about more IOT related topics, but they are a fun read.  One of the nice parts about Chaos is I don’t have to care about the personal interjections and beliefs if I don’t want to.  A lot of Chaotes head down a totally different path than I have taken, which is fine, I just really don’t want to head that way.  I’ve never been one to believe in a god, let alone a whole pantheon of them.  My  “fake it till you make it “ techniques are designed around Peter Carrollës information which allows for the free-form use of energies, or even god-forms of our own creation.

“…there is always a perfectly adequate amount of sex, violence, love, intellectual brilliance, death, and everything else going on in the world at any time for the magician to establish etheric resonance with, if one wishes to work in a more free-form manner. “

“Thus Chaoism proclaims the death and re∑ birth of the gods. Our subconscious creativity and parapsychological powers are more than adequate to create or destroy any god or self or demon or other spiritual entity that we may choose to invest or disinvest belief in, at least for ourselves and sometimes others as well. “

So many Chaotes flit about acting like dark pagans rather than the arbiters of reality that they really are. Am I one of the few that is actually spending the time to really learn this stuff? I have had a few conversations with people online that initially claimed to be well-practiced Chaotes, but when I tried to discuss some of the deeper questions I had, they admitted to only having done sigils in their practice. Not that there is anything wrong with a sigil, I happen to think they are an awesome tool to have in our arsenal, but they are not the whole of Chaos Magic.

But, I digress. Enjoy the resources that I have updated on the page, but remember this: Take everything with a grain of salt, even the crap that I post. Make every decision for yourself and you’ll be a better off in all the areas of your life.

About this blog.

This blog is about Chaos. Not chaos, but Chaos.

As Wikipedia puts it,  “Chaos magic is a school of the modern magical tradition which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the creation of new and unorthodox methods.” The foundations are set forward in Liber Kaos by Peter J. Carrol. It’s worth buying a printed version. It’s a fabulous resource and training manual for anyone interested.

I don’t plan on going into religious debate, apologetics, or deep explanation of the underlying theories of Chaos, I’m just chronicling my own experiences.