Chaos Magick could be described as the union of traditional occult ideas (see Esoteric Movements) with applied post-modernism. Its most commonly quoted dictum is ‘Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted.’ As with Aleister Crowley’s oft-quoted ‘Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law’ (borrowed from Frangois Rabelais) this is easily misunderstood to be a recipe for hedonism and self-indulgence. With Crowley the caveat ‘Love is the Law, Love under Will’ clarifies the meaning. Wiccans and other Pagans usually preface Crowley’s words with ‘An [If] it hurt none Chaos magicians make it clear that their own freedom of action must not be at the expense of anyone else’s.
Chaos Magick is the creation of two magicians, J.Carroll and Ray Sherwin, though Carroll is seen as its main theorist, with his books Liber Null & Psychonaut, Liber Chaos, and Psybermagick. Carroll and Sherwin were the founders in 1976 of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), a magickal order for Chaos magicians, which has temples in the USA, UK, Australia, and several European countries.
Some Chaos magicians prefer the term Results Magic; they say that certain techniques produce magical results regardless of the belief system in which they are practised. They therefore encourage the use of anything and everything that is effective from all magical traditions. They are also happy to use popular culture, including science fiction and fantasy; some Chaos magicians, for example, work with the ‘powers’ in H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional Cthulhu mythos. Their point is that all the great traditional magical systems were invented at some point; rather than slavishly following a ritual created by another magician little more than a century ago, as do many modern groups with a legacy in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it makes more sense to create a ritual using symbolism that is relevant today, and which is personally significant to the magician. Carroll, who is a physicist, writes that ‘It is techniques and intention that are important in successful magic.’
Chaos magicians say that extreme states of consciousness, which can be brought about by drumming, dancing, chanting, or other ritual activities, sometimes lead to para-psychological events. They make a conscious effort to harness these states to produce controlled results—hence the term Results Magic.
There is no creed in Chaos Magick, no set of beliefs which all must follow; such would be against the very ethos of Chaos Magick theory. It has been described as hands-on practical magic without religion. Many Chaos magicians have a grounding in Crowley; others come from a Wiccan background, or other areas of Paganism or the Occult. When practising Chaos Magick they will use those aspects of whatever system they have chosen to work in, that they have found to work, and discard those that don’t.
One major influence on many Chaos magicians is the occult artist Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956), who did artwork for Crowley’s magazine The Equinox, and who was also associated at various times with the occultist Kenneth Grant and the founder of modern Wicca, Gerald Gardner. Spare’s philosophy and practices were a major influence on Carroll and Sherwin.
