Nothing is true, everything is permitted? Nothing is real, everything is possible.
This statement is usually taken at face value as the main ethos of chaos magick. From personal experience, the majority of chaos mages do not actually ascribe to the is way of thinking as universal. It is a way to feel “edgy” and to get yourself in the right state of consciousness to perform magick when you are first starting out. The absurdity of it pushes consciousness past the psychic center and allows the user to shed to their ingrained moralism and logical materialism. It allows the beginner mage to exist in a state of consciousness where magick is always possible. That being said, from personal experience, a better understanding of this main principle would be restated as “nothing is real, everything is possible”. This reinterpretation allows the mage to discover their own, ever negotiable, code of ethics through experience, without being tied down to the moralism of concessious reality. It also sheds the immature edginess of the initial statement. NOTHING IS REAL. Reality is an ever changing flux of chaos for the mage. Through the practice of magick, we cast our will upon the universe and manipulate the probability of chaotic phenomena to fall in our favor. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. The mage’s understanding of the possibilities of the universe is ever changing. To believe we truly know and understand the workings of this absurd and chaotic existence, is to chain ourselves and our conciousness to a miserable and unchangable demiurgic reality. Our conception of the possibilities of reality is determined only by the unmeasurable variables of our magical experiences.
you can have done all the research you can have planned everything out you can have the best ingredients you can have done the perfect blessing you can know the spell off by heart
BUT IF YOU DON’T HOLD YOUR INTENT IN YOUR MIND’S EYE WHILE CASTING…. well… things are gonna get fucked up
SO! Before casting anything – PAUSE to clear your mind, concentrate and FRAME your intent, then WORK your magic!
Alchemy has been called a “proto-chemistry”, but it also had a spiritual nature. Scholars such as C.G. Jung made profound studies about alchemy, finding in it apowerful archetypal symbolism which could give people the possibility of transforming themselves in a deep way. The first step, as they say, it’s the hardest. Human beings reach their free will through self-discovery, but we don’t try to self-discover ourselves until our situation has become so painful that we don’t have any other way than to recreate ourselves. We don’t accept that we must transform our life until we hit rock bottom. This is called the Dark Night of the Soul. This is a process describing a crisis of faith, or of meaning, in which every value in our life is questioned, losing its weight. One feels as if one was wandering in deep, dark labyrinths, without any exit on sight. This process is called in alchemy the nigredo, the black phase.
In alchemical treatises, this phase is represented with images of ravens, skulls, skeletons and dead bodies. The black phase represents the death of the ego, the limited personality of man, and allows for a deeper contact with one’s personality’s core, the self. Suffice to say, this is a process which not many people go through voluntarily, since it requires that one’s ideas and preconceptions about the world are brought down. The Arcanum XVI of the tarot, The Tower, illustrates in a dramatic way this process. This is a symbolic and initiatorical death through which every person seeking to recreate themselves must pass. Historian of religion Mircea Eliade explores this theme extensively in his book “The Forge and the Crucible”, where he writes about this kind of alchemical death is
“The reduction of all substance to the prima materia [primal matter], to the masa confusa [confused mass], which corresponds –in a cosmological place- to the primordial situation, to chaos. Death represents a return to the formless, a reintegration of Chaos.”
This type of experiences are marked by a loss of meaning in life. Psychologically, a crises of the ego happens. The ego must then adapt to its new situation, or die. We witness this type of situations (either in our lives or in those around us) when a relationship breaks up, be it a romantic relationship, when someone is fired from their job, or we cut communication with a loved friend. The ego falls back to the original chaos, from which it must arise again by overcoming its catastrophe, or die in order to stop feeling pain. Ancient alchemists gave great importance to this phase, in which one can experience the deepest darkness related with the blackness of spiritual death. Eliade writes that
“This kind of experiences translate into Saturnian symbolism, into melancholy. The figure of Chronos-Saturn represents the Great Destroyer that is Time and, thus, both death (putrefaction) and rebirth”.
This death must be understood from a symbolic perspective. Because of its symbolic meaning, there is a possibility of a resurrection of the individual. From the fragments of the destroyed ego arises a new ego, renewed by its traumatic experience, and now closer to its core, the self. This is associated with the later phases of the alchemical process, of which Eliade writes that
“The phase following the nigredo, the leukosis [or] the albedo, correspond to a ‘resurrection’ which translates into the appropriation of certain states of consciousness which are inaccessible to the mundane condition. The two following phases, the citrinitas and the rubedo, which crown the alchemical opus and lead to the Philosopher’s Stone, further develop and fortify this new initiatorical consciousness.”
Excerpt from “Remain Faithful to Your Idea” in Five Lessons by Neville Goddard.
Man, by assuming the feeling of his wish fulfilled, and then living and acting on this conviction, alters the future in harmony with his assumption. Assumptions awaken what they affirm. As soon as man assumes the feeling of his wish fulfilled, his fourth-dimensional Self finds ways for the attainment of this end, discovers methods for its realization.
I know of no clearer definition of the means by which we realize our desires than to EXPERIENCE IN THE IMAGINATION WHAT WE WOULD EXPERIENCE IN THE FLESH WERE WE TO ACHIEVE OUR GOAL. This imaginary experience of the end with acceptance, wills the means. The fourth-dimensional Self then constructs with its larger outlook the means necessary to realize the accepted end.
The undisciplined mind finds it difficult to assume a state which is denied by the senses. But here is a technique that makes it easy to “call things which are not seen as though they were,” that is, to encounter an event before it occurs. People have a habit of slighting the importance of simple things. But this simple formula for changing the future was discovered after years of searching and experimenting.
The first step in changing the future is DESIRE, that is, define your objective – know definitely what you want.
Secondly, construct an event which you believe you would encounter FOLLOWING the fulfillment of your desire – an event which implies fulfillment of your desire – something which will have the action of Self predominant.
Thirdly, immobilize the physical body, and induce a condition akin to sleep by imagining that you are sleepy. Lie on a bed, or relax in a chair. Then, with eyelids closed and your attention focused on the action you intend to experience in imagination, mentally feel yourself right into the proposed action; imagining all the while that you are actually performing the action here and now.
Sacred space is the fundamental practice of animism.
Opening sacred space creates a set apart space within a clear
boundary, within which you are present, clear and can be aware of the
spirits that you work with.
Being within sacred space keeps your formal animism work separate
from your daily life, which can be very helpful in the beginning. And as
you progress, sacred space provides support for more powerful, deep
work where you need to keep your intent and energy clear.
Without sacred space, your practice can suffer from distracted intent
and awareness. It can become confusing to practice divination or spirit
communication, and your energy can become open to interference.
Sacred space is important when you’re working any practice that involves clear intent.
This includes divination, spirit communication, energy work, altar work
and ceremony. It’s also a great way to nourish and re-charge yourself,
simply through being within the space.
Opening sacred space can be as simply as a quick prayer to your
helping ancestors, to a full ceremony with candles and a physical
boundary like a ribbon or salt.
The only essential requirements are the intent to open sacred space
and a power greater than yourself that you can call on. The power can be
anything from your helping ancestors, to a deity, to the elements.
With such a broad definition, it’s helpful to be clear about what animism isn’t.
The Occult Traditions
Occult traditions like Kaballah, the Masons and the Western mystery schools are not animism. Instead, they are often magical systems close to more well known religions.
They have organised structures and a fixed approach that is
consistent between practitioners. They also tend to have a series of
tools and methods which students progress through.
However, the occult traditions do use (and often keep alive) tools
that are grounded in animism such as spirit communication and spiritual
healing through prayer. They often work with symbolism and sacred space,
like animism, but in a more structured, less individual, approach.
Mysticism
Mysticism is often very close to animism, and sometimes the only distinction I can find is a more inward looking, less practical, approach.
THERE ARE TWO FORMS OF SATANISM, THEIST SATANISM, THE ACTUAL BELIEVE IN SATAN AS A BEING (THEIST SATANISTS CAN’T BE ANIMISTS.) AND LAVEYAN SATANISM, IN WHICH SATAN IS SEEN MERELY AS A SYMBOL OF OPPOSITION TO CHRISITAN AND OTHER THEIST BELIEVES AND DOGMA. LAVEYAN SATANISM IS STRICTLY ATHEITST. THEREFORE A SUPPORTER OF ANTON LAVEY’S PHILOSOPHY CAN BE AN ANIMIST TOO. THIS IS THE MORE TRADITIONAL FORM OF SATANISM, AS PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH OF SATAN. (THAT MIGHT BE THE REFERENCE OF ‘‘SOME FORMS OF SATANISM, THAT PROMOTE PERSONAL RESONSIBILITY ETC’‘, WRITTEN ABOUT IN THE TEXT.)
OLD NICKY939393 (WHO LOVES NATURE, IT’S SPIRITS AND MAGICK (ART) MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.)
Dealer, collector and curator of Outsider, Visionary, Esoteric and Occult Art, STEPHEN ROMANO GALLERY is pleased to announce it’s participation in the engaging SCOPE ART FAIR opening March 8 and continuing through March 11 at the Metropolitan Pavilion -125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011. This will be the gallery’s second year presenting work at SCOPE.
Last years presentation of a solo booth of “The Anti-Christ of Photography” William Mortensen was an enormous success, prompting the gallery to return for a second time with a curated booth including important works by William Mortensen (1897 – 1965), Charles Dellschau (1830 – 1923), Wolfgang Grasse (1930 – 2008), Vintage Spirit Photography dating from 1880 through 1930, as well as contemporary art by Barry William Hale, India Evans, Alexis Palmer Karl and Vincent Castiglia.
William Mortensen “Preparation For The Sabbath” c. 1928 manipulated photograph
William Mortensen (1897 – 1965) was an American Photographer, primarily known for his Hollywood portraits in the 1920s-1940s in the pictorialist style. “Ansel Adams called him ‘the Antichrist’ and wanted him written out of history. But William Mortensen’s grotesque photographs of death, nudity and torture and are now having their day.. A monograph on the artist was produced by Feral House in 2014 to great acclaim, including major articles on the artist in The Guardian, The LA Times and The Smithsonian. In addition, many exhibition have included the art of William Mortensen, including “American Grotesque” at Stephen Romano Gallery, as well as exhibitions at The Museum of Old and New, Scope Art Fair, The Metro Show, The Outsider Art Fair, as well as a major solo exhibition at the Dark MoFo Festival curated by Barry William Hale in 2018.
Barry William Hale LEGION 49: Circle of Conjuration Printed on Aluminum and Plexiglass cutouts 2017
Barry William Hale has been described as an occult artist, while a superficially germane term; on closer inspection it radiates a self-consciously unwelcome specificity. Too redolent of those early twentieth century outsider artists whose work depended on visionary states, specific knowledge of ancient mysteries, or some other Qabalistic obscurity. Hale, it should be noted, has certainly done nothing to dissuade such labels, mischievously luxuriating in such terms when fitting.It is apparent from his biography that he is, for example, an outspoken member of the OTO. But such groups encourage individual exploration, undoubtedly an attraction to Hale whose very genealogy radiates the outlaw.
Wolfgang Grasse (1930 – 2008) “South East Garden / Garden of Ultimate Love” 1990 Acrylic on Panel
Wolfgang Grasse was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1930. After private artistic training first by his grandfather, Feidrich Grasse, and then later studying in Italy, he returned to a partitioned post-war East Germany. There he was imprisoned for his cartoons critical of Soviet propaganda. He was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison. After serving 8 years of this sentence, he was granted an amnesty and released. He migrated to Australia in 1966 & has had numerous exhibitions.
Wolfgang’s art revisits medieval themes in which we find medieval weaponry replaced by that of the 20th century: the machinery of 20th century warfare which was capable of fulfilling the medieval prophesies borne of the plague. His paintings must be seen in the context of MAD – mutually assured destruction – at the height of the cold war. And although we, the public, now feel safer, the weapons currently at our disposal – chemical and biological – can visit upon us a fate both more immediate and final than that of a nuclear war, albeit one less spectacular.
Wolfgang’s style shares many elements with that of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism: “Fantastic Realism cannot be compared with Surrealism as a garden cannot be compared with a jungle. The fantasy of the Surrealist comes from the subconscious without formal order or relation, whereas the Fantastic Realist uses his images selectively. He uses old and new symbols to express his art purposefully and to show that the human situation never really changes in its eternal truths. The automatism of images of the Surrealist are a sharp contrast to the meaningful symbolism of the Fantastic Realist.” Wolfgang Grasse
Kings of Edom were kings over the land of Edom before any Israelite king had conquered it. Qabalists associated these kings with the Evil Primordial Worlds and their Lords. According to the Qabalists, Edom was a kingdom, or a world, which consisted solely of the harsh forces of Geburah. The Zohar tells us that Edom means ‘a kingdom of a severity which is not weakened by any pity’. Theancient lords of Edom were 11 in number, and this number is associated with the principle of Evil in the Bible. In the Genesis 30:40-43 we can find their names: Timna, Alva, Jetet, Oholibama, Ela, Pinon, Kenas, Teman, Mibsar, Magdiel and Iram.
In the Qabalah, these names correspond to the Eleven Demon Rulers who govern the Anti-Worlds of the Evil Side. A Qabalistic text on the most important Demons reveals that both the lords and the kings of Edom are associated with certain Demons: Samael, i.e. Satan, is mentioned as a ruler of Edom. There were certain Qabalistic speculations around the conjectures regarding the kings of Edom certain Demonological traditions liked with the thought that they belonged to the Emanations of the Left Side. Among certain Jews during the early Middle Ages the term ‘Kings of Edom’ was used to denote Christianity, which they believed had developed from the Dark Side.
Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, the “First Intelligencer” was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as the embodiment of the Universal Mind. While in all probability there actually existed a great sage and educator by the name of Hermes, it is impossible to extricate the historical man from the mass of legendary accounts which attempt to identify him with the Cosmic Principle of Thought.
Occult Aspects 