Have you ever taken a Rorschach test? You look at a random splotch of ink, and point out any people, animals, or objects you see. Everyone will say something different depending on their unique life experiences and personality, it's just whatever resonates most with your brain and pops into the conscious mind.
Do you see how ideas, concepts, order, and logic can emerge out of completely random chaos? This is the conception of chaos magick.
I believe that chaos magick is a very important concept in modern witchcraft. Most eclectic witches are probably practising chaos magick without even knowing it, so it's very valuable to find out exactly what chaos magick is all about.
Chaos magick is important in modern witchcraft because of how liberal the culture around witchcraft is in current times. Before the late 20th century, the "power" in witchcraft was essentially thought to be borne out of rigid rules, organisation, hierarchy, dogma, and consistency; tradition. Before the more laissez-faire witchcraft we have today, ceremonial witchcraft -or high magick- was the order of the day. Ceremonial magick consists of elaborate rituals where much importance is placed on the precise words, movements, timings, ingredients, and tools that you use. Essentially there is very much a "right" and "wrong" way to do things in ceremonial witchcraft.
The idea was that practising the "Old Ways" automatically makes this flavour of witchcraft better because it is tried and tested. Do you know any other discipline where the "Old Way" is better than modern methods? This principle seems to only apply to religion and occultism - could you imagine if we still used medicine invented in the 1800s? How ridiculous would a medical doctor sound if they said, "This is the Old Way of practising, therefore it's the best!" In reality, the Old Ways of practising were perfectly suited to the time in which they were invented. In the 21st century we have electricity, and cars, and aeroplanes, and mobile phones, and the Internet. Why shouldn't witchcraft & paganism change with the times as well?
The "Old Ways" rhetoric around witchcraft & occultism began to change with the work of occultist Austin Osman Spare, probably most famous for popularising sigils and the sigilisation process. A few decades after his death, the Chaos Magick movement in the 1970s rediscovered his unconventional ideas so that now we have the more liberated style of witchcraft today.
What is Chaos Magick?
Chaos magick, at its most elementary level, is results-driven magick. Basically it is a practice of "anything goes" thinking, and you simply keep doing what brings the results you desire, and throw out the practices that don't serve you.
This idea emerged from the belief that your mind creates your reality. By communicating with the subconscious by any means possible, it is possible to alter the reality around you.
I won't pretend that this belief does not have limitations. It's not possible to use chaos magick to do things that are physically, biologically, economically, or systemically impossible. However, let's say that you wanted to increase your confidence so you could ace that job interview or land a date - that certainly is possible with chaos magick. Just by altering the beliefs about yourself and the way you assert yourself, can manifest very powerful results.
The power of chaos magick therefore does not come from elaborate ritual, precise words, specific movements, exact ingredients, or particular tools... it comes from your ability to navigate the chaos of the subconscious mind, and bring about order aligned with your will. In simpler terms, chaos magick comes from your ability to communicate your desire to your subconscious mind (and the greater consciousness, if you believe that).
Because we are all individuals with unique worldviews, experiences, personalities, and biases... the best way to practise magick -to communicate with your subconscious- is to follow your intuition and do what feels right. If a totally random object in a thrift store speaks meaning to you and you want it on your altar, then do it! If you find a spell in a book that sounds good but you don't like the ingredients or the words sound wrong, then change it until you are happy with it.
❤️ When you're happy with the way you do your witchcraft, it is much more likely to resonate with your subconscious, and therefore more likely to manifest. ❤️
I've described chaos magick as the polar opposite of ceremonial magick, but that is not strictly true. A chaos witch can still practise high magick. Remember the elemental idea of chaos magick is results-driven; if high magick techniques bring you results, then keep using them!
Chaos Magick & the Truth about Divination
Tarot, pendulums, runes, astrology, oomancy, tasseography... the list of divination methods is quite literally endless. If you attempt to delve into the history of how different divination methods originated, were carried out, and their original interpretations, you will hard pressed to find anything concrete that is more than a century old. And that is because divinatory systems, all of them, were simply made up. You can make one up right now, in fact.
Grab a pack of Uno cards (yes, the party game) and assign meanings to them. The red suit could be the fire element, the blue suit could be water, the green suit earth, and yellow air. The "skip turn" card could mean an obstacle stopping you from proceeding, the "reverse" card could indicate change coming. You can find meaning in all the numbered cards using numerology meanings. And there you have it; you've just used chaos magick to make your own sound divinatory system.
That's absurd! You just made up that divination method using a silly card game! All divination systems were made up. One day, someone decided that a popular gambling game using 78 cards could be used to tell the future, and tarot was born. How is that any different to what I just did with Uno cards? Where is the divinatory power actually coming from? The answer can be found in chaos magick.
Systems of divination, and witchcraft as a whole, are just ways of obfuscating our perception of our immediate surroundings so that our inner voice can be heard and our subconscious can be communicated with. It's like when you cover your eyes, you suddenly pay much more attention to your other senses. This is the reason why there are so many methods of divination, why DIY systems are valid, and why, with enough practice, a witch can eventually bypass divination altogether and rely solely on their own intuition.
👁️ "Systems of divination, from geomancy down to reading by tea-leaves, are merely so many methods of obscuring the outer vision, in order that the inner vision may become open. Once the method is mastered, no system is necessary at all." ~Algernon Blackwood 👁️
Divination is just an example, this idea can be expanded to witchcraft as a whole. Chaos magick means there is no right or wrong way to do things, it is simply using tools that have meaning to you that help you to communicate with the subconscious brain. Eventually you become skilled enough at witchcraft that you need very few tools, and ultimately none at all.
Sigils
It would feel illegal to talk about chaos magick without talking about sigils and the sigilisation process. Before I explain sigils, I would like to highlight that because chaos magick is a results-driven system of magick, the actual practices involved can consist of quite literally anything. While ceremonial witchcraft includes precise practices like The Lesser Banishing of the Pentacle and The Three Pillars ritual, chaos witchcraft practices can be completely made up by the user and not based in any existing traditions (although, as previously explained, if traditional methods continue to bring desired results, you do not need to abandon them).
However, the process of making sigils involves the foundational ideas of chaos magick and that is why it is a popular practice very closely associated with chaos magick. Once you understand how to make a sigil, you essentially understand the core principles of chaos magick on a practical level.
What is a sigil?: Broadly speaking, a sigil is any kind of symbol created with magickal intent behind it; an encapsulation of some overarching meaning into a simple image that is easy to replicate. You can consider brand logos to be a type of sigil.
In the context of chaos magick, sigils are magickal symbols that obfuscate a simple phrase of intent. For example, if you jumble up the phrase "I am happy," into a simple symbol, you have created a sigil.
How to create a sigil: As I'm sure you've guessed by now, there are many different methods you can employ to make a sigil; you can even make up your own method. To get you started, however, there are a couple of somewhat standardised methods we can demonstrate.
1. Decide on your phrase of intent or goal. This can be almost anything, for example, "I am confident." The general tip here is that your phrase should be in the present tense - as if you have already obtained your goal. This is because you want your subconscious to align with the phrase; your subconscious brain doesn't really have a concept of time or tense, just meaning. So if your phrase is something like, "I want to be confident," then you will never achieve your true goal because you will be stuck wanting to be confident, but never actually being confident.
Furthermore, your subconscious doesn't really understand 'no' or negatively phrased statements like, "I don't have anxiety." Your brain will just focus on the 'anxiety' part - essentially translating your phrase into, "I have anxiety." A simple proof for this is, "Quick! Don't think of a pink elephant!" You thought of a pink elephant, didn't you?
2. Remove all vowels and repeating letters. For example:
"I am confident"
Turns into...
"m cnfdt"
3. Superimpose the remaining letters into a glyph. Place your letters on top of each other in any configuration to create a single glyph. Place some letters off-centre or upside-down - whatever takes your fancy.
4. Refine your glyph into a sigil. Redraw your glyph, neatening out the edges and overlapping lines to make a symbol. Continue to refine it until you are happy with it; change some angles, remove some lines, and add elements that make it pleasing to look at.
5. Charge and discharge the sigil. Once you're happy with the way your sigil looks, it's ready to be charged and discharged. We covered this concept all the back in the chapter on Cleansing, Charging, & Discharging. Like most things in witchcraft, there are countless many ways to charge and activate your sigils - you can use some of the methods listed at the end of the aforementioned chapter. Here are some common methods though:
The 'inert' method: Set up a sacred space; cleanse the space and meditate (cast a sacred circle and light some candles if preferred).
Lay out your sigil(s) in front of you. Pick up a sigil, and concentrate on the meaning behind it; visualise yourself achieving your sigil's goal, think about what this sigil means to you.
Keep thinking about the sigil's meaning, staring at it intently until it starts to feel 'inert' and lifeless. Keep staring until the sigil practically loses all its significance, like how when you say a word over and over it doesn't sound real anymore (this is known as 'jamais vu', the opposite of deja vu).
When your sigil feels inert, the ritual is complete.
The burning method: You'll need to gather a few materials: pen/pencil, paper, candle, and fire-safe dish.
Begin like the previous method and set up a sacred space.
'Invoke' your sigil by drawing it again on the paper. Take your time drawing. As you draw, think about the intent behind the sigil, visualise yourself achieving the goal, concentrate on what the sigil means.
Next, tear away the edges around the drawing; you're making the paper 'fit' the sigil (and reducing how much paper you need to burn).
Now set one corner of the paper alight, hold it for a few seconds while the flame grows, and then drop it into the fire-safe dish and let burn fully. Once it has burnt to ashes, the sigil has been discharged and the ritual is complete.
The low-attention processing method: In this method you don't burn or destroy the sigil in any way. Instead, you simply leave the sigil where you'll see it often but not notice it.
Any time you notice it, remember the intent behind it, then gently remind yourself, "The magick is working, need not fret." Some chaotes like to use the words, "Does not matter, need not be."
Further Study of Chaos Magick
In this brief introduction I only scratched the surface of practising chaos magick. It's difficult to realise; the concept that chaos magick means you can literally practise anything in witchcraft as long as it brings you results.
Many beginner witches I see are often posing questions like, "Can I do this...?", "Can I use that...?", "Is it alright if I...?", "Is it possible to use such-and-such?" And the answer to the overwhelming majority is, "Yes!" Any ingredient that speaks to you, any words or phrases that resonate with you, any actions that you feel the need to perform instinctually... if they bring the desired results and manifest your will, they are valid! This is the essence of chaos magick.
If you want to adopt more practices and learn to come up with your own, I recommend looking into "pop-culture paganism" and "placebo magick." These two areas of occultism I feel really encapsulate the spirit of chaos magick. To get you started in both of these areas simultaneously, I recommend listening to "The Placebo Magick Podcast" by Durmak.
Here is the link to the introductory episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2E3LozvsETKx9j65496Yoy?si=8c44e4fce63946ad (it is also available on most mainstream podcast platforms) I've added this link as the 'External Link' of this chapter.
Here is also a link to Durmak's episode on "Pop-culture Paganism": https://open.spotify.com/episode/2iHrvi5Ew9zwVLslRg9QJq?si=0e52169c66fa4a90