Seth Cardorra - Chaos Magick

CHAOS MAGICK

"I must create my own system, or be enslaved by another man's." --- William Blake

What is this Book?
The bulk of the book is comprised of the revised editions of my previous occult books: Tactical Magick, Blood Magick, and Post-Modern Magick. I have also included a genesis document for the Ellis movement. To complement these texts this book is peppered with quotes, boasts, and challenges. It boosts the page count by a few pages, but at $0.01 per page I figured it was worth $0.25 of your money for these asides to have their own pages.
Who Are You?
Obviously Seth isnt my real name, though for the purpose of this book, my name is not important. What matters is that I wrote my first book at the age of 24, having graduated with a BA in Theology, before I knew shit about the world. I had been taught witchcraft and shamanism as a boy, but I had to learn the lessons of life to put everything into perspective. Over the course of the next several years I wrote three more occult books, all borrowing heavily from my own experiences, while being quite grounded in my academic background. They are solid books, and now, nearly ten years later, they still very much apply. I find that as an older man, with many changed perspectives as the result of getting out there and living life, that the books hold new meaning. My life experiences and continued magical study have helped to enrich the works Id previously penned, and this revised collection is the best way to share. Am I blowing smoke up my own ass? Maybe, but the point is that when I did the bulk of my occult writing I had the hard edge of a 20-something going solo, and now Im walking this planet as a 30-something with my firstborn on the way. I am both of those people, the 24 year old Seth and the older Seth, both powerful, both educated, both idealists and cynics, dreamers and adventurers, and this book is written by both.
Why no page numbers?
I want this book to function as many things, an occult text of many uses. My goal is to present you with a book that can be opened any time, to any page, and find the words that are most useful to you at that moment. A little slice of bibliomancy.
Whats the deal with this book, really?

I want to speak plainly. I avoid the psycho-babble (well, mostly). I don't want to play word games with you, I want to give you the straight dope and move on. So this book is raw, unrefined. Sure, I spell-checked it (yeah, we spell words, let that bake your noodle for a minute), and did some basic formatting, but you'll see nothing fancy here. Cram this book-grenade in your brain and explode. Once you put yourself back together the world (and life) is going to be quite the ride.

"I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." --- Conan of Cimmeria

LITERAL & MYTHICAL REALITY

A short conversation from "The Messenger" feature film, wherein Joan of Arc is awaiting her execution and is visited by a strange being who challenges her faith with his words while reinforcing it with his very presence/existence.
Joan of Arc: I've always been faithful to God and I've followed everything He's ever said and I've done everything He's ever asked me to do.
The Conscience: God asked you to do something?
Joan of Arc: Yes. Yes, lots of things.
The Conscience: You mean God said, "I need you, Jeanne."
Joan of Arc: No. But He sent me signs.
The Conscience: Signs? What signs?
Joan of Arc: The wind. The wind. And the clouds, ringing!
The Conscience: Ringing clouds?
Joan of Arc: The dance. The dance. The dance. The dance.
The Conscience: The dance.
Joan of Arc: The sword! The sword lying in the field. That was a sign.
The Conscience: No. That was a sword in a field.
Joan of Arc: No. No, that was a sign!
The Conscience: No. That was a sword. In a field.
Joan of Arc: It can't just get there by itself! It can't. A sword just doesn't get there by itself. It can't just get there by itself.
The Conscience: True. Every event has an infinite number of causes, so why pick one rather than another? There are many ways a sword might find itself in a field.
Literal Reality presents you with a sword in a field.
Mythical Reality presents you with a sign.
The trick is to know when you are being presented with a sign and when its just a sword in a field. Both have value. Signs can help you know our purpose, seed adventures, and serve as guideposts along lifes (and deaths) journey. And how cool is it to find a sword in a field? Sometimes the world is simply what meets the eye, and the world is pretty cool already.

HEX: Laws of Magick
1. Health (fitness, hygiene, diet)
2. Equilibrium (psychological, social, behavioral)
3. Xenogamy (cross-fertilization through learning & experience)

HEALTH

How much control can you possibly hope to exert within your reality when you cant control your own body?
Why talk about health and fitness in an occult book? Because a vast portion, if not (disturbingly) the majority, of the audience for this book struggle with their weight, health, and overall fitness levels. Did I just call you fat? Maybe, probably, but guess what, if you want to HAVE THE POWER then the first place to start is your own body. Im not attacking positive body image, what Im attacking is ignorance, laziness, and wasted potential.
The people who typically (in our modern world) who gravitate towards the occult arts, witchcraft, or pagan/alt religious paths are people who have, for one reason or another, found the world as it is to be unsatisfactory. We reject the world as it is presented to us, and we seek out the alternatives. Many of us find magick.
Ever heard the phrase If you meet a hot witch you know shes got to be crazy before? I know Ive heard it plenty, and generally the statement holds true. The attractive people, the pretty people, they typically have an easier time with life, and more often than not dont actually end up getting into the occult. The few popular kids who get into the occult world are the exception, and (in my experience) are the stereotypical damaged person, though there are those who certainly do have the power.
Im saying throw away your notions of sexy, popular, who got into the occult or why, and focus on being healthy. In fact, for we happy few who choose to step up and be the shapers of reality, there should be a striving towards something a cut above healthy. Im not saying you need to hit the gym for four hours a day for seven days a week. Im saying get a few push-ups and sit-ups into your daily life, get a walk in a few times a week (sidenote: who knows what youll find when you walk instead of drive, walkers attract adventure).

EQUILIBRIUM

How much control can you possibly hope to exert within your reality when you can't control your own mind?
Forces are at work in and around our lives at all times, these forces encompassing everything from gravity to relationships to finances to spirituality. Amidst this tempest of forces we must strive to maintain an inner-equilibrium so that we may navigate this reality with clarity, awareness, and power.
In short.... we have to KEEP IT TOGETHER. We live in the world, whether we like it or not, so we must become masters of living in the world. Gaining control of your mind will enable you to avoid the all-to-common pitfalls that many occult/pagan practitioners deal with. Social anxiety, bi-polar disorders, depression, obsessive & compulsive behavioral patterns... the list goes on. You know who & what I'm talking about, sadly it is (like the Health struggles) an unfortunate clich that all too often rings true.
I'm not saying that its going to be easy, or that these few bold words in my little book are going to overturn years of mental illness and social ineptitude, but what I AM saying is that you MUST get your mind under your control before you can realize your full potential, as a practitioner and as a human being.

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