"I contradict myself? Very well, then: I contradict myself. I am large; I contain multitudes."

-- Walt Whitman

Chaos Magicians are, by their nature, possessed of a great amount of hubris. One cannot effectively use the techniques of magic ritual without a strong flair for the dramatic. So it isn't for the Chaote to hide his or her light under a bushel, or to deny (at least not when asked) who and what they are. Of course, in some cases, it's none of their damn business.

Although burnings at the stake are no longer de riguer for heretics, in certain cases discretion is the better part of valor if, for example, it may cost someone their livelihood. But these days there are quite a few people, especially around major population centers, who will openly profess an active interest in the occult. Of this group, however, the Chaos Magician is in the minority, at least as of this writing.

Many of those belonging to "neo-pagan" groups (who account for the great majority of "occultists") will not even be familiar with Chaos Magic. Or they will have heard the term, but will generally associate it with "satanism", "black magic" or some other idiotic prejudice. This of course imparts a certain type of glamour to the Chaos Magician, and it is up to the individual if they care to divest them of this notion or to use it to his or her advantage in a given situation.

An air of mystery has always been fashionable for ceremonial magicians, so usually there is nothing to be gained by dispelling it without good cause. As Mary Poppins said, "I never explain anything", and many magicians cultivate their mysterious auras to great advantage. However, parading around every day in a long black cape tends to lose it's impact rather quickly, and is the mark of the poseur rather than the adept.

There are, however, a great many Chaotes who would not be able to pass for a TV news anchor or bank president if their lives depended on it. The Chaos Current tends to incur some dramatic changes in one's lifestyle, bringing shall we say fringe elements of the personality to the forefront. So such trappings as black leather, arcane jewelry, tatoos, body piercings, even scarification and asymetrically shaved heads are often displayed. This being said, there are also many Chaotes who function in the mundane world quite easily, with casual aquaintences and co-workers hardly being aware of their "secret identity".

How the Chaos Mage purports his or herself in public is entirely up to the will of the individual. But to choose to live "out of the closet" means eventually bumping up against elements of mundane society. I am fortunate enough to make my living in the rock music business, so even though my appearence is somewhat less striking than some of my compatriots, I don't stand out particularly in my professional life.

There is an old occult legend about the "riddle of the Sphinx", which embodies the "four laws" of the magician: To Know, To Will, To Dare, and To Be Silent. But Chaotes tend to be rule benders. The following is an attempt to give some aid and comfort to those who choose to be blatant.

Confronting the Skeptic

Sooner or later, unless one retreats to the hermit's cave or the magical monastery, the Magician will confront "scientific" skeptic. To many of the "old schools" of magic this is rarely a problem, for they have withdrawn into a sort of seclusion, seeking to interact only with their peers and scrupulously avoiding any contact with the dreaded skeptic. Or when they do encounter such an individual, they retreat into the hoary old "it's secret occult knowledge" ploy, which is in effect the same thing. I prefer to think that Chaos Magicians are a more courageous sort, and prefer to be able to function in the exoteric world if and when they choose.

So at some point, in the cocktail party or the classroom or some other public forum, you may be called upon to expound on the subject of magic. The purpose of this chapter is to arm the magician with some means by which they can avoid being perceived as either a addle-brained religious freak or an gullible boob.

There is also a more practical consideration. Magic functions on the power of belief. Encounters with even the marginally competent skeptic can seriously degrade the magician's belief-structures, and thereby degrade the effectiveness of his or her magic. Even meta-belief practices cannot wholly protect one from such doubts, if the conscious mind has no firm underpinning on which to base it's everyday perceptions.

Most commonly, the less learned skeptics will simply pronounce, "I don't believe in that hocus-pocus stuff!", and you can politely inform them that if that is the case, then magic will never work for them anyway and they will never, ever see any evidence of it's existence. This will usually shut them up. They may badger you further to "prove" to them that they are wrong by performing some "magical" act right then and there. At times I have carried around a trick deck of cards so I can pull them out and say, "Pick a card - any card!", or pulled a quarter out of their ear with a Groucho-like smile on my face. If they protest that isn't what they meant, tell them you are putting magic into terms that simple minds like theirs can understand. They will usually go away grumbling, but you have succeeded in making them look like the fool instead of the other way around. Debating with this type of skeptic is useless anyway, and they are best banished with laughter.

The Dilemma of Magic

But some skeptical types are actually sincere and intelligent and want to know more about what magic means to those who practice it, even if they go in prepared to pick it to pieces with logical argument. Often they are (like I once was myself) skeptical, but willing to be convinced. You may find it entertaining to spend some time discussing what you do with them, if it is your will to do so.

By far the most common ploy used by the intelligent skeptic is known in rhetorical philosophy as the dilemma , from the Greek word for "two premises". The Greeks philosophers compared it to being faced with a charging bull, hence the phrase "impaled on the horns of a dilemma".

The "Dilemma of Magic" can be presented in many forms, and it's difficult to predict what form it will take. But it will always boil down to this: Does magic exist in the world of things we objectively observe? Or is it completely subjective, and exist only in the mind of the magician?

Of course, the first logical error here is the idea that the two concepts are mutually exclusive -- that it's either one or the other, but not a combination of the two (or neither of the two.) This is the "third" classic refutation of a dilemma -- that there are more than the two proffered choices. More on this later.

If it magic is assumed to be an objective phenomena, then the skeptic will point out that science has so far been unable to conclusively "prove" it's existence by scientific methodology. If on the other hand it is assumed to be subjective phenomena, then it has no existence outside the mind -- it is no more than a hallucination and is therefore not "real". The skeptic will then sit back with a smug expression and wait for the occultist to impale him or herself on one or the other of the horns. For most occultists this proposition, framed by seemingly impeccable logic, is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" kind of inquiry that sends most magicians scurrying back to the lodge or coven where nobody asks such embarassing questions.

Aristotlian rhetoric actually gives us a few alternatives to choosing one horn or the other -- in fact there are three:

One may try to "sing the bull to sleep", which means to to obfuscate, spew forth a stream of psycho-babble and occult gobbledy-gook until the eyes glaze over and logical response becomes impossible. This is really only evasion, and nothing is gained by either side.

One may choose to "throw sand in the bull's eyes", which is the essence of the answer referred to previously, when Fats Waller was asked what Jazz was about and he replied, "If I have to explain it to you, you'll never understand." But this can be easily dismissed by the skeptic as merely an expression on the subjective nature of magic, and the magician is therefore impaled.

Finally one may "refuse to enter the arena", which basically means that just because a particular person can't give a satsifactory answer IN WORDS doesn't mean that no such answer exists. Usually this takes the form of, "You of limited intelligence and insight cannot possibly understand this, so I can't explain it to you." This is in some way quite accurate, for the essence of magic is indeed non-verbal and non-logical. But this is also the "easy way out", to escape to mysticism -- and it's the way most magicians handle it. Mysticism cannot be scientifically examined, for it lies outside the realm of science. But many scientific concepts, such as relativity, seem quite illogical until they are examined properly -- and then they reveal a logical self-consistancy.

Scientific formalism, or the assumption that there is in fact an absolutely objective universe out there that allows itself to be quantified, even in theory, is more popular among the layperson who dabbles in scientific thought than actual scientists. Quantum mechanics, chaos mathematics, general relativity and other cutting-edge scientific theories have dispelled the notion of pure objectivity in science. Relativity has proven that no frame of reference is absolute. The Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Mechanics states that objectivity of scientific measurement is a functional impossibility. Bell's Theorum has provided an experimental framework that has proven that acausal effects exist. Chaos Mathematics has shown that in a great number of cases, repeatable results to an experiment cannot be obtained, that certain phenomena arise only occasionally and unpredicatably, and statistical probability analysis is the closest one can come to verifiability.

Many of the effects observed and analyzed using the tools of Non-Linear Dynamics (the applied branch of Chaos Mathematics) can only be exist in specific closed systems, such as the weather system of a planet. So it goes with magical effects; the "closed system" being that of the mind/body of the magician.

There's a fellow in the back saying, "Well, doesn't that mean that magic is therefore totally subjective?" No, it doesn't, any more than weather patterns are totally subjective because they only occur on planets with atmospheres. What elevates such things as magic and weather prediction from mumbo-jumbo to pragmatism is predictability, or at least probability. If one practices Tai Chi or Yoga, applying a specific "technology" to the closed system of the human mind/body, then certain effects have a high probability of occurring, and they are the same effects (allowing for some small variations.) These effects go beyond what can be subscribed to simple exercise and cannot be easily observed or quantified from the position of an "outside observer"; A doctor can't examine my physical body and determine that I have a vastly improved ability to concentrate or feel more rested when I wake up in the morning. Of course, this may not be the result of my Tai Chi practice, but merely "coincidence". But after millions of people have reported the same effects that occur when they practice Tai Chi, what are we to assume?

In the same manner, seeding clouds with silver iodide pellets increases the probability of the cloud percipitating into rainfall -- but it is not CERTAIN to occur, not can any exact prediction be made as to the amount and location of the resultant rainfall, if any. Is cloud seeding (or meteorology itself) therefore "magic", since the results are no more than probable and are not consistantly predictable?

In the chapter "How Does Magic Work?" some ideas were put forth to explain possible mechanisms that allow for the existance of certain kinds of paranormal phenomena. These explanations can be offered during such a discussion with an interested but skeptical person. Either they will find them worthy of consideration or not, but you will have made a case that cannot be dismissed out of hand -- which may be the best for which you can hope!

In any case, the most important concept you can put forth in a debate about magic and science is that MAGIC IS NOT SCIENCE and can't be approached from a purely scientific viewpoint. Some of the modes of thought common to science can be useful meta-belief devices for magical applications, but they are still NOT science. When science spawns a philosophy, it is absolutist in nature. Anything not explained by it's tenets is automatically excluded from it's description of reality.

But the Chaos Magician is unlikely to follow the tendency of the neo-pagan and retreat from science as being evil and "unnatural". Most recognise that science is itself a powerful magic, reinforced by the collective belief of 300 years of "scientific thought". Science may well be a stochastic ontology, actually CREATING the formal mathematics and theorems that it only thinks it's discovering.

Public Relations

One may even go so far as to actively persue public recognition (or noteriety) as a magician. One of the most common ways to go about this is to write books, give classes and hold workshops. (Hello!)

If you decide to hang your shingle out as a metaphysician, you should be aware that there are some disadvantages as well as advantages to having a public persona.

One disadvantage is that people begin to seek you out for your sagely advice, especially if you get a reputation as being competent in divination. It may seem very flattering at first, but soon it can become a real burden. In the same way that a doctor is invariably hit up for medical advice in purely social setings, the magician is often badgered for metaphysical advice in similar situations.

Also, a great number of people are going to think you're at least slightly insane for thinking there's anything to all of this hocus-pocus stuff. This may matter to you, or it may not.

The main advantage has been, for me at least, that I have come to know some of the most interesting, intelligent and thoughtful people on the planet. Yes, the world of "magic" is populated by a great perponderance of fluffy-brained new-age dingbats, but in the more rarified atmosphere of ceremonial magic, and in particular Chaos Magic, one can find some truly amazing minds.

The "occult community", even in a major urban center, is usually small and incestuous; everybody knows everybody else. As mentioned previously, the Chaos Mage is generally found in the role of "outcast"

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