Chaos vs. Context: Contradictions in Chaos Magic
A call to perspective from an orthodox chaos magician
Like all pretentious weirdos effective communicators, I have a pocketful of perfected elevator pitches. It’s helpful to have prepared answers to some of the most common questions you encounter. And this goes double for outsiders with weird ideas. If you can’t describe what magic is, or why you believe in astrology, or why cops are bastards on cue, you’ll likely spend a lot of time rambling to someone who thinks you’re full of crap.
As for “What is chaos magick?” my stock answer is:
Chaos magic is an occult philosophy that uses the “technology” of religion, without necessarily adopting the dogma of those religions. Things like belief, meditation, prayer, ritual, community, and ceremony are all powerful tools—and they could help anybody whether or not they are religious. So, chaos magic is basically playing with these “technologies” to make yourself a better person or achieve your goals. After all, “belief is a tool.”
I’m pretty satisfied with this answer. It’s an elevator pitch, after all. And all I really need it to do is explain, in simple terms, what the hell chaos magic is to someone who probably doesn’t care to learn more than that.
But for dyed-in-the-wool chaotes, you’re going to have to struggle with what it means to be a chaos magician on a much deeper level. This pseudo-religion occult paradigm contains a lot of woolly contradictions. How could it not? It’s literally named “chaos!”
Newbie chaotes typically don’t care about these issues “as long as it works.” And honestly, that’s hard to argue against. I mean, that’s literally the system. It’s potentially its greatest strength while simultaneously, its greatest drawback. Because what you are left with is the Reaganomics of occulture: A highly individualistic religious paradigm, focused on short-term gains and damn the consequences.
Chaos magic is (rightly) criticized for its shallow dives into religions, philosophies, and traditions—snatching up a few gems from each system, before peeing in the pool and getting out of the water—like pickpockets and perverts at a Las Vegas pool party.
I’m probably being too mean here. Thankfully, a lot of chaotes are more sophisticated than this. One common occurrence among chaos magicians is that simple sigil magic and intention/manifestation spells get boring. Everyone likes getting goodies from the universe, but in the pursuit of more powerful magic, chaos magicians are forced to dig deeper into the material. In some cases, magicians abandoned the chaote label all together in favor of their new paradigm—whether that’s Hermetic magician, Gnostic, Buddhist, Esoteric Christian, Sufi mystic, or whatever.
The usefulness of adding or subtracting to existing systems rarely ever disappears though. Sometimes the tips and tricks you pick up in chaos magic (or whatever system you were appropriating) are just too practical to ignore.
So, what’s the right balance to strike between smash-and-grab chaos magic and respecting the systems from which these technologies originated?
If chaos magic is a real esoteric tradition (and I think that it is), then chaotes must wrestle with this question. Luckily, I think that the deconstructive nature of chaos magic is best when it’s self-referential. If chaos magic is good at adopting the technology that works and abandoning what doesn’t, then chaos magic is well-suited for doing that to itself!
And one of the things that doesn’t work is eliminating or ignoring the context of other faith traditions. Meditation is fantastic for anybody and everybody. But there’s a big difference between meditating to calm your mind and meditating to bring healing to all sentient beings—and an even bigger difference than meditating so you’re better at capitalism.
There’s a marketing program in the West that encourages people to see Buddhism as just being a good person, or Sufism as just a weekend spiritual retreat, or Christianity as just a bland feel-good positivity. But that subtracts the entire history and context of what each of these religions represents. There are reasons you’re supposed to kill the Buddha or why Jesus said to forget about burying the dead to follow him. If you don’t ingratiate yourself into these faith systems, you’ll likely ignore the difficult and transformative parts of these religions on your way to being a New Age consumerist wine mom bragging to your friends about how your vinyasa transformed your life, while being an absolute jerk to the waiter serving your brunch.
There I go being critical again.
So, what’s the takeaway?
Stop taking shallow dives.
Stop looking for shiny bobbles.
Stop getting out of the pool.
I still adamantly believe that chaos magic is a powerful paradigm with a lot to offer. I still think that “belief as a tool” is far better for the world and humanity than “belief as identity.” What I’m advocating for is that chaos magicians take deeper dives into the paradigms they are exploring. This means really ingratiating yourself into what you’re studying. If you are exploring Kabbalah or Yoga, try adopting some dietary practices. If you are exploring Wicca, try living by the cycles of the Moon. If you are investigating ancient religions, try to find out how to live a pagan lifestyle rather than just coopting some new characters for your personal pantheon.
I’m not saying you have to make a full conversion; unless that’s your path, of course. But I am saying that you should let the paradigms fuck up your preconceptions and worldview. It should change your life and leave you with lasting changes. It should expand your consciousness about what is possible, why people believe what they believe, and the nature of the universe itself.
If you’re not doing that, you’re not really embracing chaos. So, stop splashing around in the shallow end. Adapt to the pressure of deeper and deeper dives and let the chaos work its way within you.
Chaotically yours,
PG