From: Raistlin Area: Night Side To: Jonathon Blake 30 Jul 93 22:56:04 Subject: Choas Magick UpdReq Greetings, You wouldn't happen to know the number to Flesh Illusions would you? Blessed Be!!!!!!!!!! 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: Destry Ragon 28 Jul 93 14:07:26 Subject: CHOAS MAGICK UpdReq Hi Destry, > I've tried to find a copy of the Book of > Shadows but haven't had any luck at this point. it is requestable from this system as BOS*.* (3 parts, 1MB). AKA 93:9200/0 , 666:39/39 With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann * 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 28 Jul 93 18:34:06 Subject: PC 7/? UpdReq PARADIGM SHIFTS A well-documented feature of post-traumatic reaction is the tendency amongst some individuals to shift towards major lifestyle changes. Witness, for example, the number of people who embrace religion following bereavement, accidents, or over-use of hallucinogenic agents. A core technique in Chaos Magick practice is the conscious attempt to make periodic Paradigm Shifts. The aim here is to loosen one's personal web of beliefs and attitudes; to gain an Ego-complex that is adaptive to new situations and attitudes. Shifting into a new paradigm or world-view is instructive, not only in terms of empathy - understanding another persons' outlook on life - but also by bringing about a deliberate change which occurs across different strata of one's life, the magician undergoes a process of egofracturing and remoulding. It should be understood that making a paradigm shift is not easy. It is not merely a matter of deciding one day to be a hedonist, and the next, a medieval ascetic. Merely playing around with beliefs and attitudes in the safety of one's own handspace is little more than mental masturbation. Paradigm Shifts are rarely effective unless they are enacted fully within Consensus Reality. Thus it is one thing to convince oneselfe of being a Born-Again Christian, another to convince family and peers that such is the case, and another thing still to convince other Born-Again Christians. Entering any particular paradigm as an ego- deconstructive exercises implies a stance of total involvement and embtace of any associated beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. This process takes time. It takes time to establish oneself comfortably within a particular paradigm; time to exerience Consensus Reality totally within that worldview, and time to withdraw from that paradigm and evaluate the experience. Some paradigm are easier to enter and leave than other. It is relatively easy, for example, to shift from being a fanatical follower of a religion to a fanatical exponent of a magical system. All that a person has changed, in this example, is the surface content of the beliefs. The embedded patterns of behaviour and attitude have remained intact, and it is these 'embedded' befiefs and behaviours which are at the root of the more conscious responses to situations and life-changes. The sense of being a uniaue individual - the Ego - is maintained by a pattern which basically makes a divide between what it 'is' and what which it is 'not'. An individuals' attitudes beliefs and allegiance to various ideologies and social groups reinforce the sense of selfhood, against the projected other. These structures are very much responsible for maintaining one's preception of the way things 'are' - the embedded perception of consensus reality, echoed back through all aspects of one's life, so that there is little sense of reality being fragile or unstable (exept at times of stress). One's worldview literally becomes the World - embedded and reinforce, so that its limitations and parameters are experienced unreflexively, as self-evident 'truths'. The first stage of moving into a Paradigm Shift is made when one begins to question the validity of these self-evident truths - to begin to experience Consensus Reality as fragile, where one's own individual beliefs are seen a prop as those held by others. A great many people do this as a matter of course and, as this proccess leads to anxiety and alienation, seek to resolve the inner conflict by embracing an ideology which gives them the illusion of 'solid ground' - meaning participation, and a secure place to be. Many religious and quasi- magical cults recruit their members by deliberately targeting individuals who have begun to question their participation in Consensus Reality. Individuals with a rigid ego-complex tend to react to any perceived 'threat' to their world-view by suppressing, denying, or attaching the source of dissonance. The more 'loose' one's ego-complex, the more adaptive and tolerant the individuals is to new ideas, change, understanding another person's viewpoint, and - perhaps most important - the ability to interact with others across a wide social range, without requiring a complex consensus of attitude and belief. EGO MAPPING In deliberately setting out to enter into Paradigm Shift, the magician is preparing to assault the fortress of his own identity. A ground plan of the area is therefore useful. Ego Mapping requires the articulation and unravelling of one's own beliefe and attitudes: ideologies that the magician is attracted to or, equally , is repelled by: perceived strengths and weaknesses, fears, ego-propping fantasies, desires, dreams, nightmares. The magician writes an account of himself, as he is, how he would like to be, and how he things other see him; he trawls back through his personal history, attempting to identify major turning-points, success, incidents of failure, embarrassment, blunders, traumas and ecstasis. An account of himself in the third person may be useful, as might be an obituary, written in the present, or ten yeas in the future. As the process gains momentum, there comes the understanding that one's worldview, which may well have been tacitly sccepted as 'true' so far, is merely one of many, in a bewilderingly complex, expanding culture. An initial choice of Paradigm Shift may be the movement into a paradigm which is diametrically opposend to a belief-system which one has invested a good deal of time, energy, and self-esteem into. A change of political ideology is a good example, as it requires a radical transition towards embracing and experiencing a worldview which has been, for years, the 'opposition'. Here, the magician may have spent years viewing a particular ideology through stereotyped 'others'. by deliberatly becoming one those 'others', he challenges the 'truth' of his pervious worldview. Of course, this is risky, especially as it will affect every spect of one's lifestyle, particularly interactions with family, friends, peer group, etc. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 28 Jul 93 18:52:14 Subject: PC 8/? UpdReq SUB-PARADIGM SHIFTS The kind of Paradigm shift examined so far is very broad in its scope. It can also be instructive, from time to time, to make occasional sub-paradigm shifts within a specific context. The symbolic and ontological sub-paradigm that make up occult belief systems come within this category. Compared with manking Paradigm Shifts within one's Social World, shifting between magical paradigms is relatively easy. Magicians do tend to move between magical paradigms in the course of their offer different degrees of explanatory strength, freedom of expression, personal meaning and working within its parameters until they are experienced as 'true' and then moving to another paradigm, is instructive. One example of such concept of subtle body energies. By studying, and heance embedding the symbolism and layout of standard western set of chakra-points, a magician will eventually come to have expirience which accord with that particular overly of internal subtel energies. Shift into a different system of power- points, and one can again experience phenomena which are consonant with the new system. Such experience tends to lead to the conclusion that magical belief systems are not necessarily 'true' descriptions of the territory, but merely structures for organizing assimilating, and integrating experience. To do this successful requires that the magician works with any chosen system over time. Thus magical models becomes themselves tools, rather than rigid parameter. Some tools are likely to be better for some types of exploration than other, and Chaos Magick tend to the view that it is more efficient to have a wide range of conceptual weapons to choose from, rather than be limited to one paradigm that cannot possibly account for everything. Tools however, can be subtle traps. A magical model which at first appears liberating, yielding new insights, informating and experiences can become, in time, restictive. The inability to move beyond the limits of one's chosen dominant paradigm seriously hampers one's ability to be adaptive to life- changes, and the exploration of new possibilities. A strength of the chaos approach to magick is the freedom to draw inspiration, creativity, and structure from any area of human endeavour, and not be restricted to what is usually perceived as 'magick'. Hence a rising interest in cybernetics, science-fiction, biology, communications, non-linear dynamics, and other diverse contributions to contemporary culture. Rather then attempting to accommodate ideas within existing paradigms, Chaos Magick creats new paradigms based on current ideas and possible futures, rather than continually attempting to rewrite and recycle the past. The cumulative effects of Paradigm Shift, practised on all possible levels, are: the deep unterstanding that all beliefs are relative, that one can consciously adopt a particular stance and successful weave a projective glamour (both for self and others) from it; that one is able to accept new information and ideas without perceiving them as a threat; that one can live comfortably within many differnt roles and selves. All individulas are free to make contradictory statemants, be wrong occasionally, and admit to errors in judgement, without suffering a serious blow to the ego. This transition is known as shift from Ego-centric behaviour, to Exo-centric behaviour. That is, the process of movement from a position where a stable sense of self has to be maintained at all costs, to a position where a multitude of selves is acknowledged, which a continual sense of engagement towards those selves which are, as yet, unknown. Further, it requires the identification and acceptance of that which the magician has previously found fearful, distasteful and unacceptable - the demon-selves which, having been faced and bound, become routes into power. This practice is not easy, as it requires the ability to move freely eithin one's Social World, and the continual reassessment of on's Personal World. USEFUL GAMBITS Going Away Travelling not only broadens the mind, it also provides a useful opportunity to adopt Paradigm Shifts in a social space where few other are likely to be familiar with one's 'normal' identity. Self-Observation Here, the magician develops the ability to observe himself dispassionately, so that he becomes aware of how he creates projects, and maintains a distinct identity. Awareness of the dynamics of identity Maintenance is essental when attempting to alter that than projection at will. It is also important to be able to observe how other people react to willed identity projetion. Self-Observation becomes a continual meditation. It is also instructive to pay attention to how others maintain and project different identities. Shock Tactics It is a natural tendency for individuals to attribute their own behaviour to situational factors, yet at the same time, attribute the behaviour of other to their personality, the process of labelling other on the basis of their dress, peers, and given opinions can become a subtle trap. Knowledeg of this tendency can be turned to the magician's advantage. If, for example, he knows that another person has tagged him as holding generally liberal views on various issues, then choosing the appropriate moment to make a comment which implies the opposite view, is likely to give the other person a considerable shock. Such tactics may used to enhance personal power, or to appear to collude with another, whilst maintaining a hidden agenda. The above might promot the question 'Do Chaos Magicians ever remain in one paradigm or sub-paradigem for any length of time?' Of course. The practice of making Paradigm Shifts allows the magician to move between paradigms, so that he develops, over time, a web of personally significant paradigms, based on developing personal and ethical stances, embedded beliefs, a mobile sense of identity, and whatever magical models are being used at any one time. This sounds complex, but is experience as simple, or self- evident. The Chaos Magician is more likely to accept that his paradigm-web is likely to change, and that he is quite likely to find himself doing things which were previously outside his know repertoire of experiences. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: Raistlin 28 Jul 93 18:56:48 Subject: CHAOS MAGICK UpdReq Hi Raistlin, > Namely I stick to white magick. that is Light-Magic... <*_^> Read the Prime Chaos, might be you change your mind i.e. alter your paradigm.... :-))) With fractalic greetings and laughter * Fra.: Apfelmann * 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 29 Jul 93 22:21:40 Subject: PC 9/? UpdReq THE MAGICAL SELF Creating a Magical Self is a process of deciding what qualities, abilities and skills the magician wishes to acquire, and creating a role which is the encapsulation of these projections. The Magical Self is a persona-mask which the magician 'wears' each time he performs any act of magick. It may be associated with a particular symbol, item of adornment, clothing. Each act of magick reinforces the role. A related practice is that of adopting magical names. Some magicians choose a name or motto which reflects their magical aspirations. Such names are usually chosen due to association with particular magical concepts. The magician identifies himdelf with the name - thereby invoking his Magical Self. As the magician develops, so may his name change. An example of a magical name is PACHAD - a Heberw word which can be translated as 'Fear'. It is also a title of the Cabbalistic Sephiroth GEBURAH, which corresponds to the planet Mars. This name might thus be adopted by a magician who wishes to identify his magical self with a martial curent. There is little point however, in designing a magical persona which merely reinforces qualities that the magician already possesses in abundance. The Magical Self is an invocation of future otherness - a self which one might sense the need of, but has not yet developed the requisite abilities and powers of. Initially, the Magician Self is a mask which one adopts when moving from Consensus Reality to Magical Reality. But, over time and experience, the 'everyday' selves assume the function of masks and Magical Selves become dominant. CHAOS IDENTITIES Entering a magical universe is an attempt to impose order onto chaos. Magical universe are based in Mythic or eternal time - linking into the past through symbol, image, and a sense of continuity. An escape route, whereby one can gain a breathing space a sense of order and permanence. There can identity be stabilised and rooted into a structure. The magical revival is powered by two related undercurrents. Firstly, the search for a personal and collective past, and secondly, the need for escape routes from the perceived tyranny of Consensus Reality. The desire to uncover and preserve the past is part of the impulse to preserve the self. Without knowing where one has been, it is difficult to plot a clear future. The concern for recovering the past, through museums, ruins, etc has been growing since the nineteenth century. The past is seen as the foundation of personal and collective identity. It offers the sense of continuity, of eternal time. But history is no longer true. The past is being re-written, re-forged in a new image to feed dreams of Golden Ages, or National Boundaries, of Agelss Wisdom. History has turned into commodity, a growth industry; the preoccupation with roots has grown rapidly since the 1970s, ever more so due to widespread insecurity in areas nominally seen as stable - labour, credit, technology, skills. Magical universe offer the promise of a meta-theory through which all things may be represented. This runs contrary (hence its power) to the spirit of the age, which turns away from global projections; where a meta-narrative is illusory. The sciences are suddenly uncertain; no longer able to chart the void through mathematics, they find smaller and smaller worlds to discover. The one-world dream of the Enlightenment is fragmenting into worlds colliding and worlds apart; individuals do masks to enter the different reality- games, the social worlds layered through the eyes of strangers; existences which may only be guessed at refracted through the media never-web of stereotypes and labels. Images flicker across screens and into minds. Working, living and acting within a magical psychocosm, one discovers that the sense of identity becomes inextricably interwoven with one's magick. There is a graduated progression from magick beeing something that one is interested in, to something that one is engrossed by, to being a magician more or less full time. In terms of the Chaos approach, this implies continual change modification of identity, entering different paradigms of belief and behaviour, learning new skills, and shedding life-patterns which have outworn their usefulness. There is thus a shift from a core Ego which is based on differences, the self-other divide, to Exo, the self in a continual progrss of engagement. As one continues to expand and develop the personal psychocosm, the size of the social group which reinforces that sense of identity grows smaller. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 29 Jul 93 22:39:46 Subject: PC 10/? UpdReq SELF LOVE The aim of the progress is to reach the point where identity is countinually being deconstructed - when a measure of fluidity of expression is attained and one is released from the necessity of seeking self-validation from others. This is what Austin Osman Spare referred to with his doctrine of Self Love. This is no narcissistic basking in the glamours of the ego, rather, it is the discovery of the void at the core of an indentity which is freely able to move into any desire set of social relations, without becoming trapped or attached to them. As the core of the sense of self is 'Self-Love', rather than any limitated label, one attains a state of great freedom of movement and expression. Self Love does not necessarily imply alienation or withdrawal from Consensus Reality. Modern culture is saurated with escape routes by which one is encouraged to resist the routines of reality. Drugs, sex, fantasy scripts, social enclaves, ideologies, therapies, mindscapes, the past, utopia - all well-signposted escape routes that, ultimately, reveal themselves to be dead-ends. This is especially true of so-called revolutionary escape routes - political, alternative lifestyles, magical endeavour. They support rather than threaten, consensus reality, whilst feeding the illusion of escape. Many of these escape routes require a change in social scripts and masks and do little more than create fragile enclaves within consensus reality, which inevitably are recaptured recuperated, and commodified into fashion and trends. Magick is the 'great' escape route to the edge. Through its practice the magician may project himself into Mythic Time, make place and space sacred, project future benign or otherwise. Whilst political ideologies focus on changing the structure of social relations, magical scripts focus on changing identity, so that the structure might one day follow. All transient individuals, magicians dream new towers from the buildings of consensus reality. The difficult comes in attempting to find others who will share and personal identity has been rendered fluid, ephemeral, and endlessly open to the exercise of will and imagination. This may be liberating. It may also, of course, be deeply unsettling and stressful. Nostalgia for common values becomes a cultural force, as much from the counter-culture as the establishment. As the spatial and temporal worlds become increasingly compressed, so the response increasingly becomes that of denial, cynicism or a blase attitude - sensory screening, the yearning for a past forever lost, and the simplification of representation. The search for escape routes vieds yet another market of commodities. There is no escape from Society of the Spectacle. The Chaos appoach to the deconstruction of identity can be understood by examining the tactics of Aleister Crowley, who has left a good deal of useful materiel for exploring the boundaries of identity. Crowley's life can be understood as a continual battle between himself and consensus reality - a battle to create a personal enclave for himself beyond the limits of conventional morality. Crowley sought to escape the Society of the Spectacle by becomming himself Spectacular. He used his lovers, pupils and writings to create a free area from which he could give free reign to the myriad selves which he had uncovered through his magical living. Crowley's approach to the problem of identity was an extrem one, and part of his drive towards the extrems of experience may have come from his desire to inaugurate a new society. The scheme may have begun as a deliberate projective glamour, but there are indications that Crowley became trapped within his own glamours which, though they provided meaning and support, may have also, at times, seemed to be crushing weights. Through he deliberatly created tensions and stresses within himself he used these to fulfil his task - to perturb - and he countinues to do so. The Chaos Magician may occasionally resort to extreme stances, but is less likely to be concerned with projecting his personal visions onto anyone else. Chaos future dreams are not, as yet, guided by one overall meta-vision. Instead, there is the Pandemonaeon - a future which sewthes with possibilities, any of which may become manifest, according to individual will and powers, rather than overall schema. Matter is my playground. I make and break without though. Laugh and come UNTO me. Eris, the Stupid Book Modern society has exalted the notion of individualism almost to a pathological degree. Within this urge to be individual are the continual exhortations to find 'real','higher' or 'true' selves. But if 'Nothing is True' and 'Everything is Permitted', one may come to discover that there is nought but a whirling void behind the social masks and personas necessary for moving through social reality. The Chaos approach offers the choice of becomming many individuals, and to finde a sense of freedom not through attempting to resist consensus reality,, or to create an enclave beyound it, but to embrace it joyfully. While the majority of magical paradigms seek to reject consensus reality in favour of 'higher' states of being, the Chaos approach masks consensus reality into a playground for the phenomenizing of will desire. By experience consensus reality from the basis of Self Love, the magican may begin the long and fascinating process of bringing to earth those shards of the Pandaemonaeon - and whatever my lie beyound it - which engage attention. This is, by definition, the activity of an Elite group, since few have the drive, stamina, and determination to continually strip away the skins of identity, in favour of freedom of movement. For the Chaos perspective, the sence of selfhood is an emergent property of continual movement through zones of social dynamics - there is no 'core' behind the masks. As one gradually moves away from dependence on social groups to reinforce a sense of identity; when one ceases to label one-selves on the basis of a few dominant behaviours or identifications; the magician becomes able to establish experimental 'beachheads' into the nascent possibilities of the future round the corner. Freedom lies in remaining mobile, elusive, and relaxed. Rather than resisting the chaos of the normal, the magician joyfully hurls his-selves into it, never quite sure what will emerge. When there is no need to be anchored in a stable past or present, the possibilities of any future that one might care to dream about are there for the taking. Thus, by extending the limits of Achievable Reality, it becomes possible to mutate and re-design the human entity for explorations into future spaces. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 31 Jul 93 18:58:36 Subject: PC 11/? UpdReq P A R T T W O M A G I C A L D Y N A M I C S RITUAL MAGICK Ritual Magick is one of the most powerful (and glamorous) approaches to practical magical work. In the present context ritual may be defined as a structured sequence of events, performed with the intent of bringing about magical effects. This defination is necessarily broad, as there are many different forms and styles of ritual; from full-blown ceremonial magick utilizing robes, banners, and props cerefully arranged to represent a particular magical system, to on-the-spot improvisation. The latter may be just as effective as the former; power resides in the ritualist, not the words, gestures or symbols. A magical ritual is more than the sum of its parts. Ritual has elements of performance, and its own psychology; yet it would be a mistake to consider ritual to be merely psychodrama. Ritual can be broken down into the arrangement of sensory cues, voice technique, gesture, visualization, movement, symbolism, role- shifting and trance induction, yet it is more than any of this. Unaccountably, rituals, when performed, create an atmosphere - a space - in which something mysterious and wonderful may happen. If nothing else, ritual demonstrates how little we know of our potential, of ourselves, and the world through which we move. In the pervious section, the 'Circle' of traditional magick was redefined as a 'Free Area'. The space in which all normal limitations on the barries to what is 'possible' are swept aside. A space in which we are reminded of all that is mysterious and awe-inspiring, if only momentarily. A space where we might conspire with gods or dance with demons. CORE ELEMENTS OF RITUAL Rituals are processes in themselves, where different elements combine to help the participant create the Free Area where magick becomes vibrant and alive. To understand the ritual process is important, so that rather than slavishly following someone else's written sequence, the magician may create his own. 1. FAMILIARITY V RISK Rituals usually contain some elements which are familiar to the participants, and some elements which are new, and therefore place them at risk. Familiar elements include 'warm-up' exercises such as a Banishing, or techniques which the participants have used before. Risk elements include anything which is being tried out for the first time, and anything which requires improvisation, or freedom of action from participants. A script can only be followed to a certain point. After that point is passed, the perticipants must be on their toes, for anything might (and often does) happen. The ritualist must be responsive to each moment as it happens. For example, a ritual might be desigend to invoke a particular deity into a chosen person, for purposes of oracle or inspiration. It can happen that the chosen vehicle for the deity does not achieve the required state - but someone else participating might. In this example (and it is by no means uncommon), a group of ritualists who cannot move beyond their script are likely to struggle onwards, unaware of what is happening within the ritual process. A responsive and observant group, however, will be able to improvise, adapting to the new situation as it changes. This is largely a matter of confidence and hands-on experience. To learn ritual magick, like anything else, requires that the safety of the familiar be challenged with the necessity of taking risk. Of course, any rituals involves risk. The first time that one performs a ritual, one expects something 'strange' to happen if, somehow, one does it wrong. After one has done the same ritual a hundred times, one may be lulled into a sense of complavency, which is equally risky. For strange things happen just as often when they are not expected, as when they are. The risk of ritual is part of its glamour, and part of its power. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Fra.: Apfelmann Area: Night Side To: * 31 Jul 93 18:58:54 Subject: PC 12/? UpdReq 2. BELIEF SHAPES THE POWER OF RITUAL Veractiy of belief is a cornerstone to ritual magick. This has several levels to it. The core belief, that 'Magick Works`, can only become embedded through experience. Another level - how far, and how much magick can work - very much depends on one's dominant explanation of how magick works. Choas Magicians have identified four basic models of how magick works. These are the Spirit Model, the Energy Model, the Psychological Model, and the Cybernetics Model. Eech model has different strenght and weaknesses when it comes to explaining magical effects and phenomena. Each model also tends to develop its own terminology and frames of reference. Different systems of magick can be seen to have varying degrees of each model, and since magick, like any other field of human endeavour, follows general trends in thinking, there are different trends in magical models. Until fairly recently, the predominant model of magick was the Spirit Model. According to the Spirit Model, all entities - gods, goddesses, demons, elementals, angels, servitors etc. - are real, and have a separate existence from those of us who would dare to deal with them. Humans and other- world entities have a reciprocal relationship with each other. The Energy Model arose, in the West, with the new discoveries of science - electrictiy, magnetism, and so forth - and the Wertern imports of the Eastern philosophies such as Tantra. The Energy Model might explain the discrete entities of the Spirit Model in terms of subtle energies which take the form of entities when viewed by limited humen senses. So they are not separate beings with their own existence and purpose, but energies which we have clothed in form, so as to work with them. The Psychological Model grew out of the rise of Psychoanalysis, particularly the work of Carl Gustav Jung, and has come to be the dominant model for explaining magical phenomena. In the Psychological Model, the gods, elemantals, demons etc., have no existence beyond the human mind - they are merely symbols or archetypes of deep parts of the human psyche. The Cybernetics Model is just beginning to creep in as magicians begin to speculate about the natur of magick as revealed through the lens of Information Sciences. As yet, it remains incomplete, but a cybernetics-based view of magical entities might say that there are information systems which have the capacity to be self- organizing, and which arise out of our participation in a complex web of systems - including personal belief, group belief, environmental systems, and the very fabric of reality itself. But enough of theory. When within the Free Area of ritual, it is best to believe that the elements that one is working with, be they gods, guardian spirits, allies etc., are real within their system. In this respect, it may be useful to ask oneself which model gives the greatest glamour of being a magician. Sending forth calls thundering through time and space to bring oneself to the attention of some mighty, ancient being, or performing a sequence of actions which allow a latent aspect of Self to rise into awareness ? Which sounds more risky and exciting ? If the entive being summoned is a part of the self, can much go awry ? If on the other hand, it is a being with all the powers, will, and regality of ancient Goddess or Spirit, then how much more important is it that the ritual be performed to the height of one's ability -with style, respect, and awe ? Choosing the most appropriate glamour will produce a concordant emotional intensity and Choas Magicians tend to the view that ritual should be intense, else all is merely play-acting. And remember, the models we create to explain the mysterious are just that - models, not the territory itself. Models cannot adequately contain the mysterious, and ritual, for all the explantations written, remains at the heart a space where the mysterious may into our lives. 3. DRAMATIC AWARENESS This term is used to draw a parallel between Ritual and performance. Together, the performers and audience of a masque or play can build up an atmosphere which can be felt by all present. The audience listen to what is happening on stage, empathize and react. This reaction is communicated to the actors, which in turn affects their performance. Thus an atmosphere of Dramatic Awareness - a shifting of awareness towards the mysthic arena of experience - can quickly be generated. If the audience is familiar with the myths or struggles being displayed on stage, then the experience may be cathartic for all concerned. Something very similar occurs during a magical ritual, particularly in Group rituals, where the participation of all those within a Free Area contributes towards each individual's experience of the ritual. In ritual time, all senses are heigh- tened, and small microscopic changes in a participant's behaviour - for example, voice tone, body language, or postural shifts - may be obviously apprehended, but nevertheless contribute to shifts in awareness for the entire group. Very subtle cues create profound changes in consciousness. It has been observed that ritual participants who become (to varying degrees) possessed by an entity display varying degrees of postural change, vocal alteration, and also, most significantly, small changes in the way that the facial muscles create the overall 'character' that is usually associated with a particular personality. If, for example, a group of ritualists are observing another person move into this state, these small signals will heighten the overal sense of Dramatic Awareness throughout the group. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: RILLUIN Area: Night Side To: DIVA 30 Jul 93 21:59:00 Subject: MCDONALD'S ZOMBIES UpdReq -> Not only do they put the dropped burgers right back on the bun, Rose, -> but they don't even BLOW on them to get the germs off. WHen I worked in a nice restaurant back in college, if we'd drop something like a chicken breast on the floor, we'd take it in the back and wash it off, then put it right on the grill. The heat of cooking kills off any germs that might be on it... and the washing eliminates any nasty tastes it might have picked up from the floor... ___ RM 1.0 Eval Day 6 ...and that is how we know the Earth is banana-shaped. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: RILLUIN Area: Night Side To: THE MOONSHADOW 30 Jul 93 21:59:00 Subject: MM I UpdReq -> |FA>some more when I do have hollidays... -> great! i hope germany has a LOT! :) I just LOVE German calendars. Holidays all OVER the place. Especially since every German state has its own holidays, and then there are the national holidays, and of course the Austrians have theirs, too... -> |FA>Just want to say that Germany is back to this area. -> nein scheissen! willkomen! When my godfather was a US soldier in Germany in WW2, he couldn't pronounce German quite right, but didn't know that he was doing it wrong. He was surprised to see the smile on German soldiers' faces when he shouted, "Haende hoch oder ich scheisse!" (For the non-German-speaking: He wanted to say: "Hands up or I shoot!" He really said : "Hands up or I shit!" ) ___ RM 1.0 Eval Day 6 Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Diva Area: Night Side To: RILLUIN 31 Jul 93 12:01:00 Subject: MCDONALD'S ZOMBIES UpdReq Rilluin: > WHen I worked in a nice restaurant back in college, if we'd > drop > something like a chicken breast on the floor, we'd take it in > the back > and wash it off, then put it right on the grill. The heat of > cooking > kills off any germs that might be on it... and the washing > eliminates > any nasty tastes it might have picked up from the floor... Hey, kids, don't try this one at home! Didja tell the customer? Say...."Sir, this breast hit the floor, but we washed it..." I mean....eeeew..... ( ;-) ) "brush your breasts, brush your breasts, brush your breasts with Lysol!" *d* 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718 From: Christeos Pir Area: Night Side To: Rose Dawn 31 Jul 93 09:58:14 Subject: Re: VAMPIRES UpdReq -=> Rose Dawn sent a message to The Moonshadow on 26 Jul 93 07:31:00 <=- -=> Re: Re: VAMPIRES <=- Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. re: red on the head... RD> So am I! Cuffs'n'collar match, even! ;> Prove it! (You knew I couldn't resist.) Love is the law, love under will. - Christeos Pir ... But I am the Fool that heedeth not the Play of the Magician. 718499927771849992777184999277718499927771849992777184999277718