Ο Κθούλου και το ΚΑΟS

Kathulu Majik
Kathulu Magik: Luvkrafting the Roles of Modern Uccultizm
του Haramullah
(Tyagi Mordred Nagasiva)

Ένα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον άρθρο του 1993 σχετικά με την μαγική φιλοσοφία της Μυθολογίας Κθούλου και την σχέση της με το Χάος και το Τάο! Το εν λόγω κείμενο το εντόπισα εδώ, και διατήρησα την αρχική του ορθογραφία, η οποία αν και μοιάζει αλλόκοτη σε ορισμένα σημεία, αποτελεί χαρακτηριστικό του τρόπου γραφής των χαοτικών μάγων…

Book One: Wite and Blak, Rite and Left

Chapter 1: Balance and Harmony

THE ELDERS laid the foundation for the workings of Magik with the creation of the named deities, demigods and other mythic entities. With the association of the name, grouping of magical types took place and description veiled the mystery of anonymity, fostering the dualism and morality of personification.
STRUCTURE is not equivalent to Order. Extremes of structure have not resulted in balance and harmony. This has been demonstrated in many overly strict forms of government, such as WWII Nazi Germany.
The opponent of structure is KAOS. Kaos is «not», as has been falsely promoted, the opposite of Order. While all things have in their essence a measure of both Kaos and Order, language, a tool of communication, is polarized toward the realm of Order moreso than Kaos. We miss the mark when we attempt to represent the idea of Kaos through language and the patterning imagination of the human mind. Individual images are structured. It would be misleading to assume that we might use Order to represent its counterpart. In fact, the closest we come to describing Kaos is in using words to describe its shadow within Order, structure.
DISORDER is not equivalent to Kaos. Extremes of disorder indicate a lack of balance or harmony. This shows itself readily in natural processes which have been manipulated by tendrils of power.
The opponent of disorder is ORDER. We have an idea of the shadow of Order within Kaos and this idea is represented in our structured language through our term, disorder. While it is but a reflection of Order's true shadow, it serves to expose the underlying patterns which give both Order AND Kaos proper places of value within an Order-polarized intellectual culture.
Without the destabilizing force of Kaos, we would stagnate intellectually, psychologically and otherwise. Our imagination, the ability to create new image patterns from the building blocks of the understood, would not exist without the temporary instability which the artist and mage learn to control.
The discipline of Order balances the flexibility of Kaos, bringing the HARMONY of Unitive Manifestation.

Chapter 2: Sanity
SANITY is the harmony of the individual with the Cosmos. Both Order and Kaos must be embraced to attain the psychic balance required for growth. The Elders understood the traps of the word and name.
They foresaw the intellectual tides of unbalanced structure and its stagnant products of knowledge and morality. The Elders created Kathulu Magik to insure the balance of sanity through the preservation of the Seeds of Kaos.
The KREECHERS OF KATHULU wait until structure reaches a point beyond the limits of cosmic tolerance and then proceed to promote the cause of disorder. They teach the limitation of Wite Magik and the irresponsibility of Blak Magik. However, most magicians who've come to understand the negative aspects of an imbalance of Order do not realize the mistake of structure in extremity. They most often just substitute Kaos for Order and retain the strict approaches to Magik used by Wite magicians in their similarly unbalanced style.
Those who worship the SAGES OF ORDER are not more sane than those who worship the DEMONS OF KAOS.
Kathulu's function is not that of an object of worship, but of a tool, an inspiration, an initiating force, balancing the flexibility of Kaos agains the stability of Order.
THE MIDDLE PATH is the Way of the Elders. Kathulu provides a necessary instability to combat the stolid and fixed methods of the structured 'Orders'. Kathulu is not the balanced focus, but a balancing force of the cosmos. One may become balanced through exposure to Kathulu, not through devotion to tenets or promotion of Kaos over and above Order.

Chapter 3: Magik and Power
The major LURE of Magik is the promise of POWER; and the escape from subordination, ineffectuality, a lack of complete CONTROL. Self-aggrandizement stems from basic personal insecurity. Magik allows one to become Cause, to create Change in the world. Both Wite and Blak Magik focus on results as the fundamental justification for their use. The former serves to satisfy the desires of caster and others while the latter simply satisfies the desires of the caster, often to the detriment of and despite the wishes of others.
WITE MAGIK is the manifestation of Order through the mage. Healing and the coordination of group energies are the primary activities of the Wite mage. SHe seeks to promote harmony through structure, an Order-based method, by pushing the forces of Kaos away from all. The problem with Wite Magik is that it seeks the imbalance of Order OVER Kaos, a situation understood by the Elders as one of great oppression and misery.
The direct manifestation of Kaos through the mage is BLAK MAGIK. As has been mentioned, like the Wite, the Blak magician seeks to promote harmony through structure.
Yet the Blak magician wants to use structure as an instrument to manifest Kaos and possibly dominate other beings. The activities of the Blak magician focus on the direct manifestation of Kaotic energies, up to and including the Kreechers of Kathulu themselves.The Blak magician does not realize the impossibility of maintaining structure as a method of control when Order is overcome by Kaos. Structure simply dissolves along with the harmony which the mage seeks. The problem, then, with Blak Magik, is that it seeks the imbalance of Kaos OVER Order, a situation the Elders understood as one of great powerlessness and misery.

Book Two: Luvkraft and the Midul Path

Chapter 1: Kathulu's Game
Luvkraft understood the dangers of Blak Magik and the goals of the Kathulu Kreechers very well. He wrote as if all magicians were somehow Blak and as if the minions of the religious Orders were somehow better or morally superior to those of Kaos.
The struggle was cast, yet it was cast as one of GOOD versus EVIL as well as ORDER versus KAOS. This only had the effect of reinforcing the entrenchment of imbalance in the Wite Magik of Order and the complete rejection of Kathulu without realizing the value of Its being.
The Elders have left the SEARCH FOR BALANCE to us and have given us signposts in the form of Kathulu and the Wahchers.
Kathulu's game may be exactly as Luvkraft has described, yet seldom did he portray a mage's balanced perspective - one with the discipline to retain a grip on sanity while encountering Them.
Order was supposed the superior and this consistently undermined the entire Operation. For our purposes we must revise this bias so that the goal shall become clear and THE MIDUL PATH will reveal its true value.

Chapter 2: Tomes of Insanity
SCROLLS AND SPELLS deriving from «both» Order and Kaos which are read «and» understood endanger a person's sanity. Therefore tomes such as The Necronomicon which describe Blak Magik and are said to derive from beings of Kaos are just as dangerous as tomes like Positive Magic, which describes structured Wite Magik, apparently originating from the Wahchers. A catalog of grimoires/termas seems important if one wishes to maintain a consistent balance in oneself.
It would seem at present that most of the DANGEROUS BOOKS of Kaos have all but disappeared. Yet there are cults in various parts of the world who are no doubt attempting to worship and engage Contact. The works of classic Orderly literature would need be included in such a list, West and East, as long as they qualify as grounds for furthering the cause of Order in an extreme way (e.g. Classic of Rites, by Kung Fu Tse; Red Book, by Mao Tse Tung, and perhaps works by Aristotle, Origen and Marx).
While the working of Magik will always involve the risk of sanity, Blak Magik is much more dangerous, owing to its innate focus on the ACQUISITION OF POWER regardless of the consequence.
Wite Magik, while focussed equally on power, does not share the blatant lack of compassion and therefore is only half the risk. Otherwise it seems that Kathulu's game proceeds as we've expected.
Since Blak Magik will include destruction, it is sensible to assume that it will be Blak Magik which will be effectively employed against the Kathulu Kreechers as this has always been the most successful in achieving success in the past (as well as pushing the mage beyond the bounds of sanity and into a permanently warped, kaotic mental state).
All spells which involve ONE PERSON as the source of this CAUSE, or as somehow fundamental to its working, pose a challenge to that person's sanity, whether Wite or Blak, regardless of the goal. Magik which includes the focus on an increase of awareness or group healing are far less dangerous to sanity.
There is only one true Magik which promotes sanity and that is the MAGICK OF THE MIDUL PATH (MP).
MP Magik is characteristic of the Way, harmonious movement with Greater Being. If one develops one's 'intuition' or Tao-sense, then progress can be made here, but it is a progress which is very complex. The idea that one may progress linearly within the MP is mistaken. One becomes, one does not progress. One attunes, one does not forge. One allows, one does not make. Tao holds the fabric of reality together and makes coordinated manifestation possible. Those of great harmony may occasionally receive 'insight', inspiration for action, or brief understanding of the Cosmic Drama, the Great Work, from tao.

Chapter 3: Elements of Magik
Being indoctrinated into Order from their conception, most people are taught Magik wrought in the structure of dogma and superstition. Variables are standardized and generalized for easy learning.
Given STUDY AND/OR INSTRUCTION, a seeker may determine what structure may be discarded and where variation may occur (in terms of range, intensity, duration, etc.).
There are 4 CATEGORIES OF SPELLS, arranged by source and target of the spell effects.
1. Mage only
2. Mage and energy/objects
3. Mage and other people
4. Mage and alien beings

1. Mage Only
a) Healing (physical, psychic)
b) Alteration of form/appearance (spell storing, disguise)
c) Extend/alter sensation (precognition, clairvoyance)

2. Mage and Energy/Objects
a) Make (brew, powder, scroll, etc.)
b) Protection (barriers, reflection)
c) Object enhancements (lock door, harden soil)
d) Alter momentum (telekinesis, teleportation-personal, dimensional travel.

3. Mage and Other People

a) Heal or Assault* (physical, psychic)
b) Communication (telepathy)
c) Cooperation (gestalt, teleportation-group)

4. Mage and Alien Beings
a) Contact
b) Call
c) Summon
d) Bind
e) Elder Sign (sealing)
f) Gate

(* - Healing other people is the last of the purely Wite Magik spells. From Assault to Gate, Blak Magik becomes possible.)

Chapter 4: Conclusions
Most spells endanger the sanity of the mage as they require a single focus and the mustering of great power. Powerful Magik is relatively scarce these days, and, as has been noted, Blak Magik is dangerous to use.
Those spells which are normally used by Blak and Wite mages are the next most dangerous, followed by those which are used only by Wite mages (such as ALTRUISTIC group healing).
The Microcosm of the mage corresponds directly to the Macrocosm of the UNIVERSAL CONTINUUM. As Kaos and Order are balanced, greater potential is actualized, maximizing efficiency and flexibility in a grand play of personal and cosmic enjoyment. Kathulu's game, therefore, is a symbolic ritual, an attempt to throw us off the balance as we wobble between the extremes. Most mages simply partake of ONE faction of the tides, contributing to the overall imbalance, but when the objective is balance rather than simply Order's supremacy, this mistake will be made plain for what it is.
Magik, as seen in this context, is a necessary tool which one uses to slow the rapid shift from Order to Kaos. While it may cause temporary sanity disruption, it pays for itself in the long run when used against a power which is sure to CORROSIVELY DISSOLVE US.

Alaikum assalam, my kin. Muhammadun rasulu 'Llah.
Love is the law, love under will.

Haramullah
('Forbidden by God'/'Woman of God')