Theoretically, Chaos Magick is a meta-belief - beyond belief, a system without a philosophy, or a system that can contain all philosophies. Yet, there is very definitely a Chaos Magick 'vibe'. It is not only a magickal practice, but also a magickal (anti-)philosophy. Just focus on the word 'Chaos'. What does it mean to you? Flux, constant change, anarchism? A fractal understanding of a mathematical universe? A discordian object of (mis-)worship? The word is important, regardless of its 'true' meaning. Its cultural baggage imparts a nihilistic, post-modern, anarchistic flavour to much Chaos Magick speculation. Create your own meaning, rather than be enslaved or conditioned by anyone else's. If nothing is true, then everything is permitted.There is an understanding in Chaos Magick that life is magickal. It may be magickal in a nihilistic, incomprehensible way but it is still magickal, and not just subject to the laws and assumptions of Newtonian science. Chaos Magick is the magick of the quantum century: where energy and matter intersect and transmute into the other.
Most chaotes recognise three basis models of magick: the spirit, energy and psychological models. Recently, a number of leading-edge chaotes have begun to integrate the magickal models of other eras into a new model: the Cybernetic model. In this model, the Universe is perceived as a system of living information.
"I must create my own system, or be enslav'd by another man's," said William Blake. "Magic, for me, is a working technology for exploring alternate realities, breaking down behavioral programs, coming to an understanding with Death and having a laugh," said Grant Morrison. These are the core tenets of Chaos Magick: Belief is a tool, not a straitjacket. It is malleable. It can and should be changed at Will [sic] to effect change on oneself and the world. Everything else - cosmology, technique, philosophy - is negotiable.
Results are what count. Try something. If it works, try it again to verify. Continue to practice the technique until you perfect it. If the technique doesn't work for you, drop it and try something else. Explore - and don't accept as truth anything you haven't experimented with yourself; you are your own laboratory.
