Black gnosis is the gnosis of entropy and death. It is associated with the powers of Saturn. Humans die. The death process is built into our genetic code. We are designed to fall apart and cease functioning. And that weighs heavily on our psyches, even if it does so in ways hidden from conscious thought. […]
Author Archives: Chirotus Infinitum
Setbacks
I’ve been setting a lot of goals for myself lately. And I’ve been failing to meet them. A lot of those goals have been related to writing, specifically on this blog. Some recent work I’ve been doing to get rid if writing blocks and find motivation have been helping (although the Mars and Saturn retrogrades […]
Color Magic: Green
Green gnosis is the gnosis of love and Venusian energy. Carroll complains of the muddling of love and sex that often occurs in magical systems, and I think he has a good point. Speaking from personal experience I can think of several people I love very dearly that I would not have sex with, as […]
Fear
There’s a young man at work that I’ve been talking with quite a bit. He’s a rambunctious, obnoxious sort who’s more inclined to have fun than worry about the consequences, but he’s got a sharp mind and is a lot more self-aware than most people I know. (He’d make a great magician should he decide […]
Color Magic
I’m probably not going to talk about what you think I’m going to talk about. At least not in the way that you expect. Chaos Magicians love the number eight, being related easily to the chaosphere they hold so irreverently dear. Pete Carroll has taken this and applied it to a color classification for “types” […]
Core Elements of Sorcery
In the Dresden Files book series, the wizard Harry Dresden finds his own powers and abilities refined through the act of taking on an apprentice. In teaching someone else “the basics” he is able to refocus on them himself and improve his technique and performance. I do not have an apprentice. Of the three people […]
Solipsism
I don’t like shrimp. When I tell people that I don’t like shrimp, many people have the same reaction: “How could you not like shrimp?” This reaction follows the inevitable rationalization that shrimp-lovers always resort to: “You just haven’t had it cooked right! You should try it like …” I’ve been a cook in one […]
Magical Wording
Magic is very caught up in language. It seems to be the best way for us to encode our desires for processing during the act of magic. Our words and metaphors for magic reflect the importance of language: we cast “spells” and keep them in “grimiores.” But there’s a problem. Because our language embodies a […]
Retroactive Enchantment
Chaos Magic, especially the variety that depends upon the equations of Pete Carroll, has some interesting things to say about how time works. Specifically, Chaos Magical Theory posits that the past isn’t set, and instead is a “probable past” that can be as variable as the probable future that is not set even as we […]
Magical Combat
I’ve been re-reading some advice from the great Frater Stokastikos regarding magical defense. Some of that advice is in line with what I have discovered or observed to be true on my own. Servitors are your best bet for magical defense. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m big on wards. I have constructed some pretty elaborate […]