KAOS AND ORDER by Persona Navitae 353 Chaos is often associated with discord, disharmony, disarray; these aren't considered states in themselves, from the words we can see that there are thought of as "unnatural". "Dis" means "absence of, or opposite of" and implies that they are somehow not the normal state of affairs. Is this a valid view of chaos? I differentiate Kaos from chaos to emphasize a different aspect of kaotic energies, that of pure creativity. In a sense, discordance isn't an bad definition, but it's from the wrong perspective. The creative forces are manic. They focus in as many places as possible, in as many aspects as possible. A good example is the animal world. Mutations are the rule, species that don't change, eventually die out. Dinosaurs, for example, survived, but in radically different form from their ancestors. We see them everyday, as birds. They mutated and persevered. The diversity of the animal species has led to the continuation of life on Earth. Diversity does, unfortunently, often lead to competition and conflict. The more creativity at work, the greater the eventual discordance. The Kaos forces don't work for discord though, it's the byproduct of a vital living and growing system. I first heard of the creative aspect of chaos from Michael Moorcocks books. In his "Eternal Champion" universe there are two primary sets of God/desses, those of Law and those of Chaos. The Law god/desses get very little attention in the novels, Moorcocks conception of them is of beings who basically keep to themselves. The Chaos deities, on the other hand, are vital and active forces. They are continually interfering with the affairs of mortals. In fact, they created the older races, Elfin, and as we later find out, the younger races, Human, as well. It's interesting to note that We aren't told why. The older races feel that the Chaos God/desses have betrayed them by creating new races. This is the nature of Chaos, it has no morality or immorality. The Chaos deities have no specific plans. The reader is left with the impression that they aren't working for any particular goals. What is displayed in Moorcocks books are the pan-fecund powers of pure Chaos, they change form constantly and the lands they inhabit are in continual flux; fields of flowers erupting into myriad flames, fantastic castles continually shifting dimensions. The one time Moorcock deals with pure Law we are faced with a lone inhabitant of a grey featureless plane. By the force of his Will this being had reduced his home to virtual non-existence. The Eternal Champion kills the being, and the realm returns to normal. This is somewhat different from the usual conception of Chaos and Law, I found it very appealing. Kaos is creative. I use the "K" both to differentiate it from simple chaos, and to emphasize the Magickal aspects. "K" is the eleventh letter in most alphabets, and in Qabalah it means "palm". The palm is one of the channelers of the Current, in ancient works; neolithic, Celtic, we see the Horned God sitting with one hand down and one up. He is conducting the Earth energies upward and the celestial energies downward. This is similar to the Tantric practice of raising the Kundalini up from the Muladhara Chakra, the Earth center, to the Sahasra Chakra, the Celestial center. In Tantra though, the energies are internalized, they are raised in the spinal column and brought back down. In the Shamanic practice the energies are channeled through the body, but they don't stay in the body. In Kaos Magick these are both important Magickal works. The eleventh letter stands for Daath on the tree of life. This is "knowledge", and the gateway to the City of the Pyramids. The Kabbalists considered this to be a cursed number. They were working for the old God, Yahweh, who would prefer humanity remain in slavery. Crowley entered the City and recounts it in Liber 418. It was there that he heard one of his true names, Nemo. While there Crowley was told "The eye is called seventy, and the triple Aleph whereby thou perceivest it, divided into the number of the terrible world that is the key of the Abyss". The triple seventy adds up to 210, the triple eyes of Ayin, or Set, the Devil card in the Tarot. It Represents the unification of opposites in Tantra, the two being -1 and 1, -1+1=0. It is symbolized in the Ankh, the lower line being the world of plurality, the bar being the barrier to the greater consciousness or Metamind, and the circle representing the enlightened being. The eleventh letter, K, also is important for it's emphasis on combining the female and male energies. This is part of the creative process of Universe. Eleven is six and five, the Elevenstar that Crowley created. Five is the female, Babalon, the five petalled lotus, the downward pointing pentagram in the book of Thoth. It moves from the stable foundation of the four, Earth, to the stable hexagram. It is a dynamic energy. In Tantra this is Kali, the creative aspect of Universe. Kali is the energy force, Siva the matrix. Six is the Hexagram, the male force. It is the pattern for creation. In the Hexagram we see the four triangles of the elements, two up and two down. These elements represent all matter and energy in Universe, at least as the Alchemists understood it to be. The Six an Five unite in the Eleven. The pure creative energies of Kali crystallizes in the forms of the elements. Combined, they are the Elevenstar Magicks. As Magickians, one of our goals is to discern the mysteries and through Gnosis and Will become creative beings. The next letter in Kaos is "A", Alpha. The beginning, the Aces the Tarot. This is the first step after channeling the creative energies, to start the magickal Work, and the goal of the neophyte, to achieve the Great Work, to find the Grail and through it, remanifest. Omega is the third letter, the end. Within Kaos is the beginning, Arche, and the end, Telos. Kaos is complete in itself, seeded by it's own Will. In the very ancient Goddess creation myths we often see this parthenogenic process. The Goddess arises from the Chaos waters and from herself creates the divine consort, the Serpent. This is the last letter, "S". It is the Logos, the transmitter of the divine Gnosis. It is Hermes, Thoth, and Legba. The opener of the way. In the garden humankind was like the beast. The Serpent, sent as the divine messenger gave humanity the Gnosis, or the knowledge to transform ourselves. This Gnosis is the knowledge of the creative process, Magick, and with it we became more than beasts. We left the garden of our own accord. In Physics matter is considered to be in particular energy states. Take away a certain amount of energy, and it falls to a less active, but stable energy state, put energy in and it moves to a higher specific energy state. Kaos is the energy, Order is the stable state. From the pure Kaos, the waters of Nuit, comes the four God/desses of Order and Chaos. Using the Egyptian cosmos, Set is the ordered Kaos God, Nepthys the Kaotic Kaos Goddess, Osiris the Ordered God of Order, and Isis the Kaotic Goddess of Order. Nepthys is the energy Neter for the creative power. In pure form her force is continually reforming, never stable. This is the raging force of Universe expanding. Through the Dark Goddess Kaos manifests into the Matrix formed by Set. Set creates the matrix for transformative order, the dynamic state of balance always working for a higher state of being. Isis is the patterned Kaos force, the energy of nature, the creation of mutating form. Osiris is the force of inertia. His power is the tendency for all matter and energy to resist change. The Priest/esses of Set/Nepthys are those intrepid and creative people who thrive on new ideas. They are the rebels and the innovators. From them come the heretics of science and religion, those who seek change for it's own sake. The people who recognize that humanity thrives on diversity. The Priest/esses of Isis are the ones seeking Gnosis of the existing Universe. They work on what is known, give us a deeper knowledge of what the heretics have discovered. The Priest/esses of Osiris are the conservatives. They wish for no change, work only for greater enslavement. The create the rules and regulations that keep humanity from moving forward. In the middle ages they were very powerful, in the New Aeon they have no place. Inertia is fine for keeping creation at an steady pace, but no more then that. Magickians are those few who seek to understand Universe and work with it. We recognize the Kaos forces as the true source of Gnosis and though Will we become Priest/esses of the Dark Deities who offer them. As we progress form the Neophyte to the Maga/Magus we face the oppressive forces of the Old Aeon with knowledge, strength, and creativity. Through these the Kaos forces manifest. Kali, Arcana, Oshun, Sophia. In Light, Life, Love and Liberty.