Category: Uncategorized

“Your planet?”
“Yes, this is our planet.”
“No, It is not.”

– Klaatu and Regina Jackson, The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2008.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

– Genesis 1:26, King James Bible

“It’s not my Goddamn planet. Understand, monkeyboy?”

– John Bigboote, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, 1984.

Once upon a time, the Universe was a miniscule structure. It exploded and expanded, with eddies and vortices of energy and matter flying in all directions. Nearly fourteen billion years later, here we are, nearly nine billion human beings living on a blue dot in the Void. We are one of myriads of species that have evolved on our tiny rock. And in our curious mix of ignorance in sapience, we have concocted mythology to explain how we have come to be. Our existence itself, produced by natural processes is the ‘miracle’ that so many human beings, the vast majority in fact, simply refuse to see.

Why is it that mankind feels the need to be made in the image of some god that we have created? Why is it not enough to marvel in our existence itself, and see the beauty in the process by which the Universe produced us? The society that I have grown up in has always told me that as a human being, I have special status regarding my place among all the animals of the Earth.

I am fortunate in that my circumstances have afforded me the wherewithal to purchase a small sliver of this planet to call my own. This is such a strange concept to me at its most fundamental nature. Only in our fervent primate imaginations is found the idea that we, organisms that are of and from this planet, actually “own” pieces of it, when in fact if anything, it owns us. The biosphere that we inhabit is a complex web of dependencies. All life is connected, but unless the bulk of mankind comes to believe this, setting aside absurd notions that we are the favorite creations of an ethereal godhead, and beginning instead to act as the piece we are in the great puzzle, then we will never achieve our full potential.

“At the precipice, we change”

– Klaatu

I recently had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Jay, Sophia, and Fishsticks on the Witches Betwixt Podcast. Check out the episode here:

https://witchesbetwixt.buzzsprout.com/183415/10627833-wbtwxt-ep-75-quantum-sorcery-voidworking-w-dave-smith

It is said that the twin DKMU egregores of Enu and Nul are the harbingers of rebirth and renewal. For the new self to be born, the old one must die, at least metaphorically. Since I first evoked The Twins on April 23, 2022, I have been undergoing the death of my old form, and the birth of a new one. On the following day, I began to have an acute medical issue that has led to a profound change in the way that I live. Etu Malku, a mage of my acquaintance, gave me good advice: “Use it.” I have chosen to heed this advice. By necessity my diet has had to abruptly change. As of this writing, I have now lost 14 pounds as a result of this and an increased activity level. I am now assessing all of my habits and life structures, to ensure that they are to my best benefit. As I progress into middle age, I feel that it is only appropriate to acknowledge that I am a far different man than I was ten or twenty years ago. 

I have grown intellectually, emotionally, and magically. I have become far more adept at manifesting my Will than I was when I started on this winding path 36 years ago. Each branch of the journey has introduced me to new ideas and techniques that I have either discarded or integrated into my practice as I have seen fit. During this time my body has also accumulated a laundry list of maladies, some due in no small part to the reckless abandon of my youth. Even so, I do not regret the place in my life’s journey where I now find myself. I have a measure of financial security. I have a safe home. I love and am loved by a phenomenal partner with whom I have spent a quarter century. I have succeeded in both my mundane profession, and with my esoteric writing. In this world where we are conditioned to never be satisfied, and to always be striving for more, I am obliged to take a moment to acknowledge my satiety. Even as I must mount an increasingly intensive campaign to maintain my physical integrity, I am at peace with myself. In a world undergoing profound strife and distress on so many levels, I feel a resolve to not just survive, but to thrive.

Following the initial evocation, I performed another working dedicated solely to Nul, the Dark Brother. On April 30th, 2022, the day of the Black Moon as well as a solar eclipse, and a night of profoundly strong thunderstorms, I acknowledged both my physical mortality, and the passage into my new phase of life. On May 16th, 2002, on the following full moon, I performed a second solo evocation, this one to Enu. Following are these evocations:

Nul, Dark brother, emanation of the Void,
I entreat you to guide my path to health and success.
You who are the master of shadows,
Lend your wit to my works and your discernment to my perception.
Hail to the shadow that holds no fear,
But brings only wonder.
Io Nul, Io Nul, Io Nul!

Enu, Light sister, radiance of the full moon,
I entreat you to cast your bright gaze upon my works of Will.
You who are the mistress of light,
Illuminate my path and clear all obstacles from my way.
Hail to the light that burns bright in a darkened world,
And gives hope in the face of dissonance and doubt.
Io Enu, Io Enu, Io Enu!

I am no young man, but I feel a renewed vitality that has greatly helped me during my current state of uncertainty. I know not what is coming down the timestream in the immediate future. Oracles indicate a trying time with a positive outcome. As the saying goes, ad astra per aspera.

DTTI:HTNF

If you know, you know.

5/19/2022

“Know what is hidden. Always ask, what is it that you are not seeing?” – Gelda, Alita: Battle Angel.

Can you find a signal in the noise?
Can you shape the noise into a signal?
Reach into the Void and pull forth its potential!
Give it form and function through the power of your Will.

All good things will come to the one who knows how to call them unto themself.

Narrow the focus of your perception.

All constraining structures eventually must crumble under unrelenting scrutiny.

There was recently a situation that was going to “collapse a superposition” of states that I was in. I was coming up to a fork in the road, very much wanting a certain outcome. As I entered into a liminal state, wherein the resolution was imminent, I found myself performing Shamatha meditation, focusing on the breath, and putting all thoughts out of mind. In that last moment, rather than dropping all the Woo I could muster in an attempt to tip the scales, I instead withdrew to a position of non-engagement. At a certain moment, a vision flashed into my mind. It was like a window view into the reality that I did not want to end up in. It was hazy, but increasing in resolution as it approached. I did not want it. As it was nearly upon me, I visualized fading back and stepping left. I rolled my right shoulder away from it, just as I was taught all of those years ago during push hands play.

That reality flew past me, and dissolved not long afterwards. I’ve never had a visualization quite like this before. Hail to the Red King, who I have been honoring daily, for teaching me some tech based on skills that I already possess.

Quantum Sorcery is a modern magical system through which an individual can learn to manifest desired effects in the physical world through the exertion of Will, assisted by appropriate symbols and tools. This paradigm incorporates elements from earlier magical systems as well as physics, psychology, mathematics and biology to propose a mechanism by which such an act might occur through means more natural than supernatural.
Basic magical principles such as the laws of similarity and contagion are examined alongside the principles of entanglement and entrainment. The application of thermodynamic laws and communication theory to the transmission of magical intent is approached. Examples of ritual workings and the creation of magical constructs are included to display the flexibility of Quantum Sorcery as a stand-alone system, a larger framework in which other types of magic can be practiced, or as a robust set of techniques for those who prefer to assemble their own system of practical sorcery.
The third edition of Quantum Sorcery is now available from Megalithica Books at www.quantumsorcery.org or on Amazon.

6-10-2021
A few years ago, my friend Pneumatikos introduced me to the concept of being Unfuckwithable. I mulled on that idea for a while, and decided that if I had a symbol that represented this concept, it would make one hell of a talisman. So I created one.

This is the sigil of Unfuckwithable. To have it on one’s person or in their environment renders one simply Unfuckwithable. The exact meaning of this state is up to the user to decide, but in any way that some person, entity, or malefic manifestation might try to fuck with you? It’s just not going to happen.

Now that I had a symbol, I needed a physical manifestation of it. I wanted to use something incredibly tough as the material. I decided on a piece of steel that I had in my materials bin that had previously been a burner shield in a furnace. I cut a collection of disks from the steel, and polished them up.

Several talismans were made from this batch, colored or engraved in different ways. I also later decided to try acid-etching the emblem on stainless steel, with mixed results indicating the need for a stronger solution or electrolytic etching.

Once the physical talisman was created, I consecrated it to its purpose via a personal rite. For your own, construct, dedicate, and empower it as you see fit.

I chose to share this working in the hopes of fostering greater Unfuckwithability for all who require it.

Benediximus!
Vargr23

Since the mention of the term “Chaos Magic” in episode 8 of the Disney+ series WandaVision, I’ve started seeing articles that not only describe its nature within the Marvel comics universe, but also try to describe the actual modern occult practice. Unfortunately, some writers don’t seem to be putting a lot of effort into researching that aspect of Chaos Magic, so I felt compelled to offer my take on the topic.

I began practicing Chaos Magic in 2003, following a decade of attempting to find a home in various religious paths, including Wicca, Asatru, and Gnosticism. Obviously I do not speak for all those who practice any of the myriad magical techniques that have come to be included under this label. It is said that if you ask nine Chaos Magicians their opinion, you’ll get ten responses. Even what I now practice is not the same as when I started. As many practitioners do, I eventually created my own systems, expanding on and inspired by the foundations of those who had gone down this rabbit hole before me.

Chaos Magic is at its core a set of techniques of results-oriented sorcery. It was initially formulated by Peter Carroll, Ray Sherwin, and a small group of English occultists in the late 1970s. It drew heavily on the work of the artist and sorcerer Austin Osman Spare. At its inception, this new magical current was not known as Chaos Magic by name, but references to the term Chaos itself are frequent.

In Carroll’s 1978 book Liber Null, he refers to utilizing the eight-pointed star of Chaos (conceived by Michael Moorcock for use in his Elric stories), and derives his Sigil of Chaos and Chaosphere construct from it. He states: The “thing” responsible for the origin and continued action of events is called Chaos by magicians. He also makes use of the phrase “To Chaos, nothing is true and everything is permitted.” This phrase, popularized by William S. Burroughs is ostensibly attributed to Hassan I Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain, who founded the Order of Assassins. In this same year, Ray Sherwin released his seminal work, The Book of Results. The two also founded the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT), an initiatory order devoted to the further development and practice of this nascent magical movement. The early members of the IOT produced a sizable body of work that is still widely available.

In his 1982 book Psychonaut Carroll better describes what his conception of Chaos is:

“In this new paradigm, the animating force of the entire vast universe can be called Chaos. It is the inexpressible pregnant Void from which manifest existence, order, and form arise.”

By the early 1980’s other groups began to experiment with this novel set of practices. Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth combined magic, music, and art into their work. Later groups such as the Z(Cluster) in the mid-1990’s, and the DKMU in the late 2000’s, among many others have continued to mutate and evolve this fluid tradition.

In general, spells and rituals in Chaos Magic tend to be less elaborate than those in more widely-known forms of ceremonial magic, but this is not always the case. Some workings include recitations in invented languages, complex invocations, and elaborate props. More often though, a pen and paper, or spray paint and concrete are the tools. Although there are now many additional techniques that comprise the practice, two of the most fundamental that are the hallmarks of Chaos Magic are the Sigil and the Servitor.

The process of sigil creation was described by Austin Osman Spare in The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love): Psychology of Ecstasy, published in 1913. They are statements of magical intent, distilled down to a graphical form which are intended to bypass the rational, skeptical mind and thus enable the subconscious to impart the instructions to the universe for fulfillment. Spare wrote that “sigils are the art of believing; my invention for making belief organic, ergo, true belief.”

Servitors are magical constructs, thoughtforms brought forth from the imagination of their creator through a variety of techniques. They may range in complexity from rote automatons to near-sentient, complex personalities that act as agents of their maker. The essay “Sigils, Servitors, and Godforms” by Marik, published in 2000 is an invaluable resource on their nature.

Chaos Magic has widened in scope in the twenty-first century. It has grown to incorporate a number of sub-paradigms. One of the prominent offshoots is the appropriation of pop culture tropes, due in no small part to the work of comic writer and avowed magician Grant Morrison. Other paradigms use quantum mechanics or urban animism as their frame of reference.

Since Chaos Magic is a contemporary creation, some of those involved in its creation and dissemination have been frequent guests on various podcasts, where they have recounted their experiences:

The Birth of Chaos-Peter J. Carroll (Thoth Hermes)
https://thothermes.com/episodes/season-5-episode-4-the-birth-of-chaos-peter-j-carroll/

Tantra and Chaos-Phil Hine (Thoth Hermes)
https://thothermes.com/episodes/season-4-episode-22-tantra-and-chaos-phil-hine/

MAGIC PEOPLE – Dave Lee (Adventures in Woo Woo)
https://soundcloud.com/adventuresinwoowoo/magic-people-dave-lee

References and Resources:

Principia Chaotica – Peter Carroll
https://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/chaos/princhao.txt

Sigils, servitors and godforms: Part I – Marik
https://www.spiralnature.com/magick/sigservgod/

Recommended Books:

Liber Null – Peter Carroll
Psychonaut – Peter Carroll
SSOTBME – Ramsey Dukes
Practical Sigil Magic – Frater U.D.
Understanding Chaos Magic – Jaq D. Hawkins
Condensed Chaos – Phil Hine
Prime Chaos – Phil Hine
The Book of Results – Ray Sherwin
The Book of Pleasure – A.O. Spare

I’ve been on a Chaos Magic history kick lately, and have been pleased to find several podcast interviews that have provided insight on those early years.

In this episode of the Thoth Hermes podcast, host Rudolf interviews Peter J. Carroll, author of Liber Null, among many other titles. Carroll and Ray Sherwin are by most accounts the progenitors of Chaos Magic:

https://thothermes.com/episodes/season-5-episode-4-the-birth-of-chaos-peter-j-carroll/

In this episode of Adventures in Woo Woo, host Tommie Kelly interviews Dave Lee, author of Chaotopia, and among the earliest practitioners of the new system synthesized by Carroll and Sherwin:

https://soundcloud.com/adventuresinwoowoo/magic-people-dave-lee

The encoding of intent is an informational package created by the magician via any number of means, such as sigilization or ritual. At the moment of the launch of this intent packet, it is sent out like a spherical expanding shockwave, travelling at the speed of thought. This can be envisioned like a ripple in a pond, but in three dimensions. As this wave interacts with the larger Universe in which it is contained, it interferes with the information state of every point it encounters, and alters them in accordance with the magician’s Will. As is the way with all such emanations, the signal strength of this wave will decrease, but the actual intent to cause change does not.

Conceptually, the information packet is analogous to any other bolus of information that is to be transmitted in a conventional system. It consists of a set of instructions as to how reality should rearrange itself to traverse from its present state to the desired end state. In this way, it is like a piece of RNA, or even a virus. Since we as mere mortals do not know the opcodes by which the Universe carries out the process of instantiating, we must rely on the emergent nature of the whole, and use the inherent mechanism to carry our Will into being. For whatever reason, the arrow of time advances, entropy increases, and change occurs. Through the projection of intent, aka Magic, one can exert some miniscule influence on the end result of this nascent present.