THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

   [from http://www.sonic.net/~fenwick/chaos/ ]
   
Subject: 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 they 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 speies 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, Humans, 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 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 ov 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 thee 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 thee 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, at least as the Alchemists
   understood it to be.
   
   The Six and 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 in
   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 thee 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 thee divine messenger
   gave humanity the Gnosis, or the knowledge to transform
   ourselves. This Gnosis is the knowledge of thee 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 ov 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 ov Nuit, coums
   the four God/desses ov Order and Chaos. Using thee Egyptian
   cosmos, Set is the ordered Kaos God, Nepthys the Kaotic Kaos
   Goddess, Osiris thee Ordered God ov Order, and Isis the Kaotic
   Goddess ov Order.
   
   Nepthys is the energy Neter for the creative power. In pure form
   her forces is continually reforming, never stable. This is the
   raging force of Universe expanding. Through the Dark Goddess Kaos
   manifests into thee Matrix formed by Set. Set creates thee matrix
   for transformative order, the dynamic state ov balance always
   working for a higher state ov being. Isis is thee patterned Kaos
   force, the energy ov nature, the creation ov mutating form.
   Osiris is thee force ov inertia. His power is thee tendency for
   all matter and energy to resist change.
   
   Thee Priest/esses of Set/Nepthys are those intrepid and creative
   people who thrive on new ideas. They are thee rebels and thee
   inovators. From them coum thee heretics ov science and religion,
   those who seek change for it's own sake. Thee people who
   recognize that humanity thrives on diversity. Thee Priest/esses
   ov Isis are thee ones seeking Gnosis ov thee existing Universe.
   They work on what iz known, give us a deeper knowledge ov what
   thee heretics have discovered. Thee Priest/esses ov Osiris are
   thee conservatives. They wish for no change, work only for
   greater enslavement. They create thee rules and regulations that
   keep humanity from moving forward. In thee middle ages they were
   very powerful, in thee New Aeon they have no place. Inertia is
   fine for keeping creation at a steady pace, but no more than
   that.
   
   Magickians are those few who seek to understand Universe and work
   with it. We recognize thee Kaos forces as thee true source ov
   Gnosis and through Will we becoum Priest/esses ov thee Dark
   Deities who offer them. As we progress from thee Neophyte to thee
   Maga/Magus we face thee oppressive forces ov thee Old Aeon with
   knowledge, strength, and creativity. Through these the Kaos
   forces manifest. Kali, Arcana, Oshun, Sophia. In Light, Life,
   Love and Liberty.