Tag Archives: spells

A Little Chaos – Magick

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What is chaos magick?

By      Spiral Nature Magazine

Red hand, photo by fathomfive

“Nothing is true; everything is permitted.”
– Hassan I Sabbah

“I tell you: one must have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star. I tell you: you still have chaos in you.”
– Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

“…if you want a one-line definition with which most Chaoists would probably not disagree, then I offer the following. Chaoists usually accept the meta-belief that belief is a tool for achieving effects; it is not an end in itself.”
– Peter Carroll, January, 1992

“Chaos is not in itself, a system or philosophy. It is rather an attitude that one applies to one’s magic and philosophy. It is the basis for all magic, as it is the primal creative force. A Chaos Magician learns a variety of magical techniques, usually as many as s/he can gain access to, but sees beyond the systems and dogmas to the physics behind the magical force and uses whatever methods are appealing to him/herself.”
– Mark Chao, “Defining Chaos”

“The Chaos Magician seeks to understand the natural laws behind the workings of magic, and the reasons behind the use of ritual in the performance of a magical working.”
– Jaq D. Hawkins, Understanding Chaos Magic1

“Chaos Magick is an extraordinary deconstruction of magick, semantics, and psychology designed to eradicate consensual belief structures and, using the energy freed by this act, glimpse the fractal contours of reality.”
– Marik

“Chaos Magick is in essence shamanism devoid of culture.”
– The Heretic Heathen, on alt.magick.chaos

“Chaos can be beautiful and good. Order can be dangerous and evil. As any carpenter will tell you, some tools are dangerous. Dangerous tools are safest when properly sharpened, and used by experts. You get to be an expert by practicing your sharpening skills, not by hacking away…”
– alt.magick.chaos FAQ V 1.00

“There’s basically two kinds of magick. There’s puff’s magick, and git ‘ard Magick. Chaos is git ‘ard Magick.”
– Mick McMagus, Leeds, 1987

“Rather than trying to recover and maintain a tradition that links back to the past (and former glories), Chaos Magick is an approach that enables the individual to use anything that s/he thinks is suitable as a temporary belief or symbol system. What matters is the results you get, not the ‘authenticity’ of the system used. So Chaos Magic then, is not a system – it utilises systems and encourages adherents to devise their own, giving magic a truly Postmodernist flavour.”
– Phil Hine, Condensed Chaos2

“Much of what passes for magical theory is, at root, a matter of belief. As such, it is more relevant to the successful outcome of the magician’s spell that he has some degree of belief in what he is doing. Moreover, whereas scientific theories are based (at least so we are told by scientists) on mathematical proofs, magical theories are rooted in personal beliefs of whoever is expounding them. Where as scientific theories at least have the appearance of being unified and consistent, magical theories do not, nor is it a requirement, from the position of practical magic, that they do.

“Henceforth, whilst there are a great many theories and models proposed as to how, or why, magic works (based on subtle energies, animal magnetism, psychological concepts, quantum theory, mathematics or the so-called anthropomorphic principle) it is not a case that one of them is more ‘true’ than others, but a case of which theory or model you choose to believe in, or which theory you find most attractive. Indeed, from a Chaos Magic perspective, you can selectively believe that a particular theory or model of magical action is true only for the duration of a particular ritual or phase of work.”
– Phil Hine, Prime Chaos 3

“Chaos comes before all principles of order & entropy, it’s neither a god nor a maggot, its idiotic desires encompass & define every possible choreography, all meaningless aethers & phlogistons, its masks are crystallizations of its own facenessness, like clouds…Chaos never died.”
– Hakim Bey, “Chaos” in T.A.Z.4

“Chaos Magic is about actualising the will in the real world, rather than attaining ever more colourful dreams in imaginary higher states.”
– Steve Wilson, Chaos Ritual

“Chaos Magick does not use a concrete theoretical focus, the emphasis in Chaos Magick is on the Doing rather than the Explaining…Thus, in Chaos Magick a system of belief is a means to an end and is not an answer to the mystery of Life, the Universe and everything.”
– D. J. Lawrence, The Chaos Cookbook

“…I think the magician is sort of adversarial by nature. Brash and arrogant at the least, to acknowledge that there is a pattern and to also say “I can do better”.”
– Fra. Samuel 23, of ChaosCurrent.com

“…Chaos magick should be all about ‘getting out there and doing it’. Sometimes it is also all about thinking about how to do it, and thus creatively inventing marvellous and sometimes scary new ways of how to do it. And then damn well doing it!”
– Francis Breakspear, Kaostar!5

Image credit: fathomfive

from:    https://www.spiralnature.com/magick/what-is-chaos-magick/

Ancient Egyptian Book of Spells Translated

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Ancient Egyptian Handbook of Spells Deciphered

by Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor   |   November 20, 2014
An Egyptian Handbook of Ritual Power (as researchers call it) has been deciphered revealing a series of invocations and spells. It includes love spells, exorcisms and a cure for black jaundice (a potentially fatal infection). Written in Coptic (an Egyptia
 An Egyptian Handbook of Ritual Power (as researchers call it) has been deciphered revealing a series of invocations and spells. It includes love spells, exorcisms and a cure for black jaundice (a potentially fatal infection). Written in Coptic (an Egyptian language) the 20 page illustrated codex dates back around 1,300 years. This image shows part of the text.
Credit: Photo by Ms. Effy Alexakis, copyright Macquarie University Ancient Cultures Research Centre

Researchers have deciphered an ancient Egyptian handbook, revealing a series of invocations and spells.

Among other things, the “Handbook of Ritual Power,” as researchers call the book, tells readers how to cast love spells, exorcise evil spirits and treat “black jaundice,” a bacterial infection that is still around today and can be fatal.

The book is about 1,300 years old, and is written in Coptic, an Egyptian language. It is made of bound pages of parchment — a type of book that researchers call a codex.

“It is a complete 20-page parchment codex, containing the handbook of a ritual practitioner,” write Malcolm Choat and Iain Gardner, who are professors in Australia at Macquarie University and the University of Sydney, respectively, in their book, “A Coptic Handbook of Ritual Power” (Brepols, 2014).

The ancient book “starts with a lengthy series of invocations that culminate with drawings and words of power,” they write. “These are followed by a number of prescriptions or spells to cure possession by spirits and various ailments, or to bring success in love and business.”

For instance, to subjugate someone, the codex says you have to say a magical formula over two nails, and then “drive them into his doorpost, one on the right side (and) one on the left.”

The Sethians

Researchers believe that the codex may date to the 7th or 8th century. During this time, many Egyptians were Christian and the codex contains a number of invocations referencing Jesus.

However, some of the invocations seem more associated with a group that is sometimes called “Sethians.” This group flourished in Egypt during the early centuries of Christianity and held Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, in high regard. One invocation in the newly deciphered codex calls “Seth, Seth, the living Christ.”

The opening of the codex refers to a divine figure named “Baktiotha” whose identity is a mystery, researchers say. The lines read, “I give thanks to you and I call upon you, the Baktiotha: The great one, who is very trustworthy; the one who is lord over the forty and the nine kinds of serpents,” according to the translation.

“The Baktiotha is an ambivalent figure. He is a great power and a ruler of forces in the material realm,” Choat and Gardner said at a conference, before their book on the codex was published.

Historical records indicate that church leaders regarded the Sethians as heretics and by the 7th century, the Sethians were either extinct or dying out.

This codex, with its mix of Sethian and Orthodox Christian invocations, may in fact be a transitional document, written before all Sethian invocations were purged from magical texts, the researchers said. They noted that there are other texts that are similar to the newly deciphered codex, but which contain more Orthodox Christian and fewer Sethian features.

The researchers believe that the invocations were originally separate from 27 of the spells in the codex, but later, the invocations and these spells were combined, to form a “single instrument of ritual power,” Choat told Live Science in an email.

Who would have used it?

The identity of the person who used this codex is a mystery. The user of the codex would not necessarily have been a priest or monk.

“It is my sense that there were ritual practitioners outside the ranks of the clergy and monks, but exactly who they were is shielded from us by the fact that people didn’t really want to be labeled as a “magician,'” Choat said.

Some of the language used in the codex suggests that it was written with a male user in mind, however, that “wouldn’t have stopped a female ritual practitioner from using the text, of course,” he said.

Origin

The origin of the codex is also a mystery. Macquarie University acquired it in late 1981 from Michael Fackelmann, an antiquities dealer based in Vienna. In “the 70s and early 80s, Macquarie University (like many collections around the world) purchased papyri from Michael Fackelmann,” Choat said in the email.

But where Fackelmann got the codex from is unknown. The style of writing suggests that the codex originally came from Upper Egypt.

“The dialect suggests an origin in Upper Egypt, perhaps in the vicinity of Ashmunein/Hermopolis,” which was an ancient city, Choat and Gardner write in their book.

The codex is now housed in the Museum of Ancient Cultures at Macquarie University in Sydney.

from:    http://www.livescience.com/48833-ancient-egyptian-handbook-spells-deciphered.html

 

eBay Bans Sale of Potions, Spells, Etc.

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eBay Bans Sales of Spells, Curses, Advice and Other ‘Intangibles’

  • By Liat Clark
  • 08.17.12 3:14 PM

Photo: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)

Haunted gypsy rings, a portal to the realm of the immortals and creepy ’40s dolls that promise to “come alive” will soon have to find a new home, along with nearly 100,000 other products, after eBay announced it would be banning the sale of items classed as metaphysical.

The online auction house announced the changes as part of a routine cleanup that will also see recipe and dieting advice lots stricken from the site. The decision, it says, is down to “a large number of misclassified items and eBay policy violations” that often lead to “issues that can be difficult to resolve.” Presumably a few angry customers unable to get a love spell working have caused eBay strife over the years. One seller, magickandmysticism, promises to “offer my services not just for the compensation, but for the experience of mystical co-creation shared between two people — that is something that never gets old.” With a sales pitch like that, all the terms and conditions in the world can’t protect some people from the disappointment that goes hand in hand with magickandmysticism’s curse turning out to be a dud.

Among the items that will be taken down and prohibited from August 30, 2012, are “advice; spells; curses; hexing; conjuring; magic; prayers; blessing services; magic potions; healing sessions; work from home businesses and information; wholesale lists, and drop shop lists.”

Potions and tarot readings will also take a hit, and a community of buyers is up in arms at the prospect. A petition, “Don’t ban our psychics on eBay” was published on August 11, 2012 and has so far gained 1,009 signatures. The premise of the petition is that eBay’s perception of what makes an “intangible,” and therefore unviable product, may not be the same for an entire community of people who regularly pick up charms and blessings on the site.

“What is alarming now is that the blanket term of ‘intangible item’ is being used to ban actual items,” the petition organizer says in a letter. “What concerns me is your purposed selective enforcement of what you (eBay) terms ‘intangible’. It seems you only have targeted those sellers who offer items of a certain occult or esoteric nature — for instance, pagan beliefs and witchcraft.”

Though the petition does not use the word discrimination, it does point out that the sales of items reflecting other belief systems that remain unproven are not in dispute. Most significantly, it singles out “rosaries, crucifixes or religious medals, all of which have perceived ‘intangible’ abilities and energies associated with them,” and goes on to say that feng shui items, such as crystals, and magnetic therapy jewellery could also be seen to offer “intangible benefits”.

eBay spokeswoman Johnna Hoff has cleared this matter up, however, explaining that “items that have a tangible value for the item itself and may also be used in metaphysical rites and practices (for instance, jewellery, crystals, incense, candles, and books) are allowed in most cases”.

eBay’s subjectivity, the petition goes on however, also relates to monetary value. According to the auction house, prices related to the items in question cannot reflect added value. Though as the petition points out, “the market determines the price and people will pay the price or they won’t” — value is entirely subjective, and always has been. It’s how eBay works.

According to a brief scan of the seller feedback results on eBay, it seems quite a few customers are happy with their products. Magickandmysticism, who is currently selling “Vampire Mistress Sex Spirit… Haunted Succubus Nymph Wife Girlfriend… Julianna the Vampire Mistress” for a bargain £80 (plus free shipping), has 100 percent positive feedback from nearly 100 buyers with one noting, “incredible energy output from spirit. Palpable. Unbelievably Awesome. Thank you,” and another excitedly proclaiming, “Instead of a Pokémon collector. I feel like I’m a spirit collector”. For the skeptics out there, seductive succubus’ aside, zero negative feedback looks a little suspect on eBay. And when it comes to selling said succubus nymph on eBay, we’re sure everyone is thinking the same thing — the auction house should never have been enabling slavery and prostitution in the first place.

Sellers might be able to get around the ban by adapting the wording used to promote items or, alternatively, they could head to Craigslist where professor Kaye is free to continue selling lost love spells.

In the meantime, we will be pondering eBay forum poster stinky*felix’s philosophical question: “I think it is presumptuous to state that anyone whose communication may transcend our abilities is a liar. After all, wouldn’t Moses and the prophets fit in that category?”

from:    http://www.wired.com/business/2012/08/ebay-bans-intangible-items-including-spells-curses-and-advice/