Maat Magick & Chaos Magick
Even though I had read Peter
Carroll's "Liber Null" and "Psychonaut"
many years ago, I had never resonated with Chaos Magick as
he had
presented it. Since discovering the Internet, however, I have
met a
number of Chaos Magickians online; one of them, Joseph Max
of
California, published the text of a lecture he had delivered
to a
Magickal gathering. In it, he cited Maat Magick as a good
example of
Chaos Magick. It immediately occurred to me to investigate
further, to
compare and contrast the two methods.
At this point it would be
wise to distinguish between the Magickal
methods as they appear in print and the individual Mages who
use them.
Both Chaos Magickians and Maat Magickians tend to be highly
individualistic (as is proper in this Art), and every one
I have met
thus far has his or her own grasp of the methods employed.
The
Magickians are more similar in their independent creativity
than they
are different in their philosophy or terminology. I base my
statements
on how the two methods appear in print, modified by experience
and
comments from practitioners.
With the exception of Austin
Osman Spare's work, there was little, if
any, innovation in the field of Western Magick from the death
of
Aleister Crowley until the early 1970s. Jack Parson's work
is firmly
Thelemic, distinguished by his passion for freedom and self-sovereignty
and by his devotion to the manifestation of Babalon. Charles
Stansfeld
Jones declared the beginning of the Aeon of Maat, but failed
to develop
an initiatory system based on that 'new' frequency of the
Magickal
Current. Kenneth Grant's explorations of the Nightside of
Magick first
manifested in print with his "Cults of the Shadow"
in 1975 and
continues to this day; I see little mention of his work in
the
literature of Chaos Magick, save as the person who made public
the life
and works of Spare.
The most obvious similarity
between Chaos Magick and Maat Magick is
that they are both post-Crowleyan Magicks. Science, technology
and
global communications have altered the world radically since
the end of
World War Il. Both methods avail themselves of these sources
of new
metaphor in their general world-views, terminology, and techniques.
Chaos Magick declares itself new, and Maat Magick honours
its roots,
but as Mr. Max points out:
Yes, CM [Chaos Magick] is
a 'new' tradition
(isn't that an oxymoron?), but as it is based
upon deconstruction of the traditional forms,
it definitely owes a debt to the past. So I
would say that CM is derived from older
traditions by deconstruction, whereas MM [Maat
Magick] is derived by extrapolation.
The differences in the similarities
between the two Magicks is mirrored
by the similarities in the differences, as will become clear
in the
course of our considerations.
Both Magicks have an Aeonic
map. In "Liber Kaos", Mr. Carroll presents
a table summarizing his view of the course of past, present
and future
psychohistory. It uses four Aeons (Shamanic, Religious, Rationalist
and
Pandemon) divided into two sub-Aeons each (Animist/Spiritist,
Pagan/Monotheist, Atheist/Nihilist, and Chaoist/?) These are
presented
left-to-right, and above them twine three sine-waves representing
the
Materialistic Paradigm, the Magickal Paradigm and the Transcendental
Paradigm. The waveforms show the relative dominance of each
paradigm
(the consensus-reality or Zeitgeist of a contemporary culture
at any
given point in history) for each Aeon and sub-Aeon.
It is an elegant schema,
and I commend it to your attention. I have no
idea whether any other Chaote subscribes to it or not, but
for me it
has the satisfying 'click' of a complex idea that makes sense.
Maat
Magick's Aeonic Map consists of.
the Nameless Aeon (prehistory-hunting/gathering:
animism, shamanism,
Voodoo);
the Aeon of Isis (herding, farming, fishing: the Great Mother
and pagan
pantheons);
the Aeon of Osiris (city-states, invasion, war: Judaism, Christianity,
Islam);
the Aeon of Horus (atomic energy, radio, television: Thelema,
atheism,
existentialism);
the Aeon of Maat (quantum theory, genetic manipulation, the
Internet:
Chaos Magick, Maat Magick, a growing number of new Magickal
methods/schools); and
the Wordless Aeon (the near and far manifested future wherein
a new
species emerges from the human genus).
The Wordless Aeon and the
Pandemon Aeon seem to represent the
same 'condition'; the Chaos view sees it as a time when Magick
prevails
as a way of life, and the Maatian view is of a double state
of
consciousness, individual and collective. Both Magicks see
the manifest
future as fundamentally different from the present, on a global
scale,
and both see the development and use of technology as integral
to that
difference.
(Note: In the course of developing
and using Maat Magick, I have met
the 'personality' of our double-consciousnessed future self,
who called
itself N'Aton. I recognize in the Internet the skeleton and
nervous
system of N'Aton, 'fleshing-up' even as we speak.)
A sub-similarity exists between
the Magicks, in that the Magickal
formulae of all Aeons are currently available for competent
and
appropriate use. I encountered this realization in the course
of
working with Maat Magick, and called it PanAeonic Magick.
Somewhere in
the world today there are people practising and living under
the
influence of each of the Aeons. Instead of the linear, or
even the
cumulative, model of the development of Magickal vision and
practice, I
think the timeless/eternal model most closely approximates
'reality'.
The writings I have seen on Chaos Magick encourage the open
and free
use of metaphors and techniques of all cultures and ages.
Chaos and Maat Magicks both
make use of A.O.Spare's sigil Magick, the
process where one's intention is written, reduced, and rearranged
into
an abstraction on paper (or other suitable material), forgotten,
then
recalled at a moment of high passion and released into the
universe to
manifest. The sigilization process moves the intention from
conscious
awareness to the Unconscious - or, more accurately in my opinion,
to
the Deep Mind, a phrase used by Jan Fries ("Visual Magick",
Helrunar).
This is done in the act of forgetting. The Deep Mind, consisting
as it
does of the powers accumulated in the course of our evolution
from
single cells, as well as the underlying connection of all
things, can
and does act without the restrictions imposed by consciousness
and ego.
Turning a coherent written sentence into an incomprehensible
abstract
design removes the intent from the grasp of ordinary consciousness
and
delivers it to the pre/post-verbal realm of the Deep Mind.
Chaos Magick and Maat Magick
also share Spare's use of belief as a
tool. Humans tend to be restricted by belief, kept to a specific
doctrine or set of dogmas, and provided with a pseudo-security
in that
restriction. There's a slogan sometimes seen on American
bumper-stickers that reads: "The Bible says it, I believe
it, and that
settles it!". Wars have been fought over differing religious
beliefs
(Crusades, Jihads and pogroms) as well as over differing philosophies
of ethics and/or biology (as in the American Civil War over
slavery).
I see belief as an extension
of our survival urge of fight or flight, a
reflex of grasping tightly the nearest bough when wind disturbs
the
treetops. Belief must be emptied of content to be an effective
Magickal
tool, however. One must believe intensely and passionately
in the
godform one is invoking, for instance, or the transformation
of the
Magickian into the god will not occur. It is necessary to
be able to
return to your usual self after the ritual, without that god
residing
permanently in your belief, so that when you need to believe
in
something else on another occasion, you will have a clean,
receptive
tool available.
The number eight plays a
prominent part in both Chaos Magick and Maat
Magick. Eight arrows radiating from a central point is the
primary
symbol of Chaos, and it is used in "Liber Kaos"
as the schema for eight
types of Magick that are ascribed to various colours:
Black: Death Magick, for
experiencing the nature of death personally,
or for sending death-spells. (I refrain from comment.) It
seems to
resonate with Saturn.
Blue: Wealth Magick is Jupiterian.
Green: Love Magick reflects the nature of Venus.
Yellow: Ego Magick fits with Solar energy. A sub-similarity
exists here
with Maat Magick's Dance of the Masks.
Purple or Silver: Sex Magick. Purple is for passion, and silver
is for
the moon.
Orange: Thinking Magick is Mercurial in nature.
Red: War Magick
Octarine: Pure Magick, with octarine being the colour which
the
individual associates with the essence of Magick.
It is interesting to note
that although Chaos Magick doesn't use the
Tree of Life as a structure template, the colours listed above
with
their particular Magicks correspond with the Queen Scale colours
of the
Sephiroth which share the same attributes. For me, Octarine
evokes a
spinning triad of white, gray and black, the Queen Scale colours
of
Kether, Chokmah and Binah.
Maat Magick has an eight-fold
banishment, and the Forgotten Ones, or
survival-urges, are linked to the seven-Chakras-plus-Bindu
in an octet.
Other similarities that bear
investigation include the construction of
an astral temple in one's private 'vestibule' outside the
Astral
Commons; the probability worlds and the Akasha; and the human
origins
of gods and their attainment of independent life through generations
of
worship and belief There are other similarities which I find
each time
I read through any of the Chaos literature, and I invite your
own
investigations.
I found fewer differences
than similarities between the two schools,
and the first one reflects the 'cussedness' of human nature
to an
amusing degree.
In writing and speaking about
Maat Magick, I have taken great pains to
emphasize that it doesn't support the founding of any order,
coven or
'official' group of practitioners. The reason for this is
simple and
basic: Maat Magick, like any valid 'system' of Initiation,
self-destructs upon successful completion. It works itself
out of a
job. What does remain is a network of colleagues who share
information
about current protects and adventures, help each other out
with leads
for research and recommended reading, and occasionally congregate
for
ritual. The latter is quite an undertaking, since the network
of Maat
Magickians is international and spread out over the USA and
elsewhere
at flying distances.
Maat Magickians are usually
steeped in their own styles of Magickal
work of varying kinds, and rarely identify themselves primarily
as
'Maat Magickians'. I consider this a healthy indication that
the mojo
is working as it should.
Despite this basic spirit
of disestablishmentarianism, there does exist
(mainly on the Astral) the Horus-Maat Lodge, whose purpose
is to spread
the word about the Double Current of Horus and Maat. Since
its
foundation, the recognition of the existence of PanAeonic
Magick seems
to have expanded its scope. It was not my idea, but the people
who
wanted the Lodge to exist won my cooperation in its founding
through
their collective charisma, energy, and good intentions. The
Lodge has
no 'official' address, no meetings, no dues, no charter, no
tax-free
status, no officers, no grades.
Chaos Magick, on the other
hand, has the Illuminates of Thanateros
(I.O.T). For a complete description, see Mr. Carroll's Liber
Kaos,
Appendix 4,'Liber Pactionis'.
Mr. Max writes:
Ouch! Them's fightin' words
in some circles!
There are far more learned and powerful
magicians who have been excommunicated from
the IOT than there are currently in their
membership! IMNSHO [in my not so humble
opinion], the IOT gave up all rights and
claims to being the avatars of CM when they
decided to become a junior-OTO institute
invitatioll-only degree systems, place all
administrative power in one person's hands and
declare 'magical war' on anybody they didn't
like. The founders Ray Sherwin and even Peter
Carroll long ago left in disgust.
Now there can be made a case
for the concept that the IOT is not 'The
Pact', but that The Pact is only the'outer order' and the
real IOT is
itself like the "invisible A\A\" - to practice Chaos
Magic is to be
an Illuminate of Thanateros, and 'membership' in any organization
is
not a requirement. This is how I like to think of it, and
it is more in
keeping with the original conception of Sherwin and Carroll.
Another distinction I see
is that Chaos Magick uses 'servitors' whilst
Maat Magick doesn't. Servitors are entities created, summoned,
or
obtained to carry out the Magickian's intent by proxy as an
automatic
device. Maat Magick tends to work through direct impression
of intent
on the Magickal Current, or 'ongoingness of things', through
which the
intent acquires power to manifest.
Mr. Max:
Indeed, Chaotes generally
are very much into
using servitors, but there are many workings
that fall into the 'enchantment' category as
well. I would not extrapolate a general
tendency into a strict 'law'. Most of the work
I do is not servitor based ...
The only other major distinction
between the Magicks that I have found,
based only on published material, is that Chaos Magick focuses
its
attention on the individual practitioner, whilst Maat Magick
begins
with the individual but extends its concerns to the human
race and
beyond. To the concept of Chaos Magick's focus on the individual,
Mr.
Max responds:
True enough on the surface.
My experience is
that each Chaos Mage finds their own
particular emphasis on the 'beyond' but such
focus in not 'canonical' so to speak. In my
own case, I see the 'greater' effect of my
magical practice as bringing forth the
Pandaemoneon - the Aeon of Chaos, the new
magical age. Such things as artificially
enhanced ESP and mind/machine interfaces may
be just around the corner, blurring the line
between technology and magic (which is already
blurred - tell me the computer isn't a magical
device!) To me this is the hope and dream of
humanity, and our ultimate salvation.
I see the rise of Chaos Magick
as a good sign that Magick is alive and
thriving at the close of the Twentieth Century. It appears
to me that
it is heading in the same direction that Maat Magick is, toward
an
'Omega Point' of radical individual and species transformation.
I
anticipate the rise of other Magicks as well, springing from
the
creativity of those who understand the underlying principles
of
individuals effecting macrocosmic change by the precision
and aptness
of their microcosmic Work.
If you are interested in
how that process works, I advise you to obtain
and read the following books:
Carroll,Peter J.: Liber Null and Psychonaut.
Samuel Weiser, York Beach, ME 1987. Liber Kaos. Samuel Weiser,
York Beach, ME 1993.
Fries, Jan: Visual Magick: a Manual of Freestyle Shamanism.
Mandrake of Oxford, 1992.
Grant, Kenneth: Cults of the Shadow. Frederick Muller Ltd,
London 1975. Skoob Books Publishing, London 1993.
Hine, Phil: Condensed Chaos: An Introduction to Chaos Magic.
New Falcon Publications, Tempe, AZ 1995.
Nema: Maat Magick: a Guide to Self-Initiation. Samuel Weiser,
York Beach, ME 1995.
| Authors Details: Margarete Ingalls |
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