Good evening my dearest readers. This week, ya girl is doing something that she’s never done before—which is taking a whole week off from her day job in order to actually try to rest. With mixed results. But, that means I had some time to think about what this blog really needed in terms of content and something that would be useful to people who aren’t necessarily as deep down the rabbit hole as some of us. 

Usually when I try to explain Chaos Magic (and I really wish there was a better term, but that’s a discussion for another day.) I get into the topic of Paradigms. But, it occurred to me that I never actually addressed what Paradigms are—and how they can be utilized outside of the norm. Note, when I say ‘the norm’ I am referring to how much practitioners and religious individuals interact with their paradigms. In this case, I am referring to a kind of behavior that is the mathematical majority. 

What is a Paradigm? 

The simplest, but also only half correct, way to explain a Paradigm is as a system of beliefs. It explains why things are, defines terms, and introduces the rules and limitations by which the system interacts with practitioners and any other variables—such as spirits. As an example: part of the Paradigm for much of Christianity is that there is one singular God who is all knowing, all wise, all loving, and all powerful. The rules for how Christians should behave and the consequences (good or bad) of their behavior are laid out in a set of texts—which they call The Bible. Some Christians have slightly different Paradigms, regarding (for example) how strictly these rules must be followed and if they need to be ‘translated’ for a more modern era. 

Generally, if you do not follow these rules you are not considered a Christian. If you don’t follow the Paradigm, you don’t get the label of following that Paradigm and they won’t let you sit with them at lunch. 

You see something very similar within the Wiccan Paradigm. You have the Great And Wonderful Heterosexual Couple in the Sky—and everything is broken down into aligning either with male or female. The holidays are set, and the meaning of those holidays is set. There is some wiggle room for whether or not you can still be ‘Wiccan’ if you adhere to some beliefs but not others. But, the Paradigm is more or less stable—unless something very big comes along. 

Many of these Paradigms are set on the foundation that they are ‘ancient’ and can trace back their history as a form of establishing legitimacy or ‘realness.’ I.E. It’s a form of gatekeeping to make the ‘real members’ seem more special than everyone else. 

Now, within the larger scope of witchcraft, magicians, or pagans, there is a lot more wiggle room. You can believe that deities are real, or not. Or you can believe they are all part of ‘source’ or not. But, the interesting thing is that there actually is a very defined set of beliefs that almost everyone under this umbrella sets as their foundation. 

First: they believe that you have to pick one set of beliefs and more or less stay in there. Or you can move to a different one. But, you have to stay in one box at a time. It can be a very big box—but it has to be defined. 

Second: most of these individuals fall under the ‘older is real/older is better’ belief system. How many times have any of us heard about people making up the ‘fact’ that they have a direct lineage of magicians in their family or come from a ‘real’ lineage of witches from ancient Italy? Too damn many, that’s what. And they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think it lended them legitimacy/power/influence within their community. 

The fact that people are willing to lie about something displays exactly how much they value it. And, by extension, how much their community values it. 

What Makes Chaos Magic Break This Mold?

I think that Chaos Magicians are partially so disliked for a few reasons. The first is that a great percentage of them (us) are awful trolls who act like Seasoning or Playing Devil’s Advocate is enough to consider a personality. That’s why I wish we had a different term. The word ‘Chaos’ attracts a certain kind of…person. And it was the reason I didn’t consider myself a member of this group for a long time. 

But, second, Chaos Magic breaks those two fundamental beliefs mentioned above. Chaotes use Paradigm as a tool. We actively take pieces off we don’t like and change them around to suit ourselves. For example: I use part of the Sugar Sugar Rune Paradigm wherein if you help someone have a moving emotional experience / experience of wonder / glamour then you are given (by the laws of the universe) some of that as power in payment. And you can bank that power to use later. In this case, I adopted this into my Paradigm system because it was a convenient thing for me due to my innate nature. If I was going to be nice to people, I ought to get something in return—even if it’s not from that person. 

So you will see Chaos Magicians pick off and remove pieces of their Paradigms all the time, and treat it like collecting tools. So, for them/us, it’s not about limiting yourself because you need to work within that ‘system’ to have things work for you. It’s treating the system itself as a tool that can be changed according to your own means. And if those parts contradict each other, it’s fine even if it’s not ideal. Many consider this to be, essentially, cheating. Or too irreverent. Or too disrespectful. (Note: I never take part in systems that are closed. I don’t think anyone should take part or use systems that are closed to them.) 

You will also notice a lot of Chaotes are what we could call ‘Pop Culture Magicians.’ We talk to anime characters on the astral. People are basing spells off of video game moves and skillsets. And many occultists feel this is a slap in the face—mostly because within their Paradigm it’s ‘too new’ to be ‘real.’ So it contradicts the Paradigm of most occultists. Chaotes don’t see any reason why ‘old’ should equal ‘authentic/real/legitimate.’ And here’s a peak into at least my personal mindset: 

How many people around the world actually (and don’t fucking lie, I know you did) raised their hands up to give Goku power in order to make the Spirit Bomb during his fight with Frieza in Dragon Ball Z? How many people BELIEVE IN GOKU? Probably more than people that actually, earnestly believe in the Christian ‘God’ instead of paying lip service in order to remain in their community. 

An absolute fuck ton. And for spirits, belief/faith = power. 

What Does this Mean?

Chaos Magicians have a lot of options, because many of us make a habit of examining Paradigms we see in order to see if there is anything useful in there for us. Pop Culture Paradigms are especially useful, because they are not often closed. And if we see it, we like it, and it works, we can snap that block onto our big Minecraft creation. Many of us actively seek out spirits and deities that are friendly and like working with people—because if we have free pick, why wouldn’t we pick ones that are likely to get along with us and help us? 

And, ironically, the way people get so mad about it only makes it seem like they want us to stop…and doesn’t that seem interesting? If we really weren’t doing anything of substance, why would people be so eager to make us quit? 

Also if you are very mindful and demure when doing your Chaos Magic, the sticker of this blog post’s featured image is available in my shop.