The Book of Shadows of a Broom Closet Dweller *EDITING*

Chaos Magic

This is a sample from a class/session held in my coven:

Firstly, what is chaos? The dictionary definition says: Chaos, Noun. A state of extreme confusion and disorder. The formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos. (Greek mythology) The most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creation of the universe. (Physics) A dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its initial conditions.

There's an entire branch of science devoted to chaos and we're finding out chaos just isn't as chaotic as we might think. To grasp the concept, we have to change the way we think completely and begin to see chaos as an ordered system within itself. In a system of chaos,virtual energies are at play which are the underlying causes of everything thathappens. 

Let's use a real-life example. In his book, Sorcery as Virtual Mechanics, Stephen Mace cites a scientific precedent for this creative principle: 

'To keep it simple, let us confine our example to just two electrons, the point like carriers of negative charge. Let us say they are a part of the solar wind - beta particles, as it were - streaming out from the sun at thousands of miles a second. Say that these two came close enough that their negative charges interact, causing them to repel one another. How do they accomplish this change in momentum?
According to quantum electrodynamics, they do it by exchanging a "virtual" photon. One electron spawns it, the other absorbs it, and so do they repel each other. The photon is "virtual" because it cannot be seen by an outside observer, being wholly contained in the interaction. But it is real enough, and the emission and absorption of virtual photons is how the electromagnetic interaction operates.
The question which is relevant to our purpose here is where does the photon come from. It does not come out of one electron and lodge in the other, as if it were a bullet fired from one rock into another. The electrons themselves are unchanged, except for their momenta. Rather, the photon is created out of nothing by the strain of the interaction.'

Chaos magic is a bit like how the energy of the photon can't be measured but you can know it exists by the results of its creation. You can see its effects, but no one knows the exact mechanics behind its creation. Chaos magic is something that you can't measure or see, but we can see and measure the results that are achieved.

There are no sets of techniques that make up chaos magic; therefore it is not a system in and of itself. Chaos magic is an attitude, a philosophy that promotes experimentation, play, and creativity while discarding dogmatic rules. Chaos magic points out that the techniques more than the symbols are what matter and that our belief in a system is actually what makes it work. The goal has everything to do with it. Technique and belief are the driving forces.

The first thing is you go through a painful process of getting rid of everything you think you believe in and begin to become self guided by your own understanding and intuition. Is my concept of my deity really what I believe or did I just borrow it? Is the belief I have in magic really from me or is it something I've been regimented to believe? Why do some of my workings fail when I put in the same amount of effort and energy to all of them?

We are constantly evolving beings. We cannot evolve ourselves when ourselves are shackled by the dogma and rhetoric of others. Throw traditional witchcraft out the window, or use it if you believe in it. Chaos magic is more or less the opposite of ceremonial magic and big fancy rituals, but you can still use those. It's a method of "anything goes".

So if you feel like shouting go, go power rangers at your plants to make them grow healthy and strong, it will work as long as you believe it will.

If you want, do candle magic. It's a tool. You don't need tools but burn candles if you like them. Do rituals and ceremonies if it appeases the immediate need. You only have to believe in it long enough to do the working anyway.

Being a Chaote doesn't mean you have to rid yourself of your current practices. You just begin to view them in a whole new perspective. You change and your effectiveness changes with it.

More info: www.sacred-texts.com/eso/chaos/chaosdef.htm

(I've added that link as the External Link for this part)