Chaos Magic is highly personal and experimental by its nature. Even those who claim to practice it are hard-pressed to define what it is, outside of their own personal version. It is "no-holds-barred magic". The rule is that there are no rules, besides learning what works for you and using it to accomplish your will
The words "Chaos Magic" reverberate with mystery and intrigue. It's rather safe to assume that this was intentional on the part of those who originally coined the term. The major drawback with the concept of Chaos Magic is that the very idea of Chaos Magic inherently defies description.
It is highly personal and experimental by its nature. Even those who claim to practice it are hard-pressed to define what it is, outside of their own personal version. It can only be defined by certain commonalities of thought among those who claim to practice it, and even among some who thought they were just "doing their own thing" and never knew it had a name.
Chaos Magic is dangerous, awesome, full of potential and therefore highly compelling. It is "no-holds-barred magic". The rule is that there are no rules, besides learning what works for you and using it to accomplish your will, while avoiding getting stuck in rut of doing everything the same way all of the time.
In the menace and fascination of the very concept of "chaos" lies the power of Chaos Magic. There is no way to accurately describe Chaos Magic, any more than one can accurately describe the Tao. "That which can be described is not the sacred Tao", as the old sage said. In a way, the Chaos Magicians are the ultimate "secret society," though it is inherent in Chaos Magic itself, rather than needing to be enforced by oath or decree.
It is called "magic" since, like all other forms of Art of the Mages, it seeks to affect the course of events by non-normal means. Action at a distance. Events that defy logical cause. Altered states of consciousness ... arcane knowledge ... power ... ecstasy even.
But what makes it Chaos Magic? (Or "magick" -- choose your spelling to taste.) While it may be impossible to describe directly, There are a few opinions on drawing upon the distinction.
One could begin by saying among Chaos Magicians there is the underlying assumption of the "random" and relativistic nature of life, the universe and everything. Reality is stochastic in nature, which is to say that each intelligent entity "creates" reality by their interaction and participation in it. We are adrift in a quantum world of uncertainty. Existence can not be completely described by either religion or it's philosophical successor, science.
Chaos Mathematics shows us that what seems random is in fact chaotic and has a higher "order" that can be perceived only from a great enough perspective. Chaos gives rise to reality itself. It might also give rise to the tendency for matter to accrue form and perhaps even intelligence.
Chaos Magicians look for these commonalties among seemingly different systems as clues to an underlying factor that can be stripped of its unnecessary symbolism if desired and put to directly use with any chosen set of symbols. The intent is to reveal the practical techniques that underly the outer trappings and (one would hope) turn the symbolism into a personal expression of Art. Chaos Magic has applied such artistic concepts as postmodernism and deconstructionism to the study of the occult, and has achieved some remarkable insights, particularly the idea that all traditional magical systems are sociologically derived and culturally biased. This is not an indictment, but simply a recognition of the facts.
Chaos Magic is magic without limitations. Chaos magic is not a new system, or a rehash of older systems, or any kind of system at all. It's a new attitude. It's a different way of looking at the Art of Magic -- as an expression of Art above all other considerations. Like so many Artists, Chaos Mages tend toward an attitude of elitism, since a great part of the creation of Art is the pursuit of excellence, and pride in oneself and one's creations when excellence is achieved. An elitist attitude (as long as it's balanced with compassion and doesn't desend into bigotry) is forgivable in the Artist, for without it no great work of Art would ever be realised.
Some will say that a system of magic without an attached system of morality to govern it's use is "dangerous". While it is a fact that certain misanthropic types could seize upon the freedom of magical expression inherent in such an approach and use it to the detriment of their fellow humans, such sociopaths will always find a way to inflict an equal amount of misery on others whether they practice magic or not. They're very clever that way.
