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When I first encountered Thelema in 1993 (A Good Year), I was also introduced to Chaos Magick. In the mid nineties the Northwest Magickal scene was on fire, and there was an incredible eclectic exchange of paganism, Ceremonial Magick, Thelema, and Chaos all happening in the college town I was living in. There in the mid nineties it was normal to run into members of Topy, the OTO, the IOT, as well as various pagan groups at parties and events. The occasional member of the Temple of Set and Temple of Satan also made their appearance in the metaphysical soup that was Northwest occult scene.
My own interest in Taoist metaphysics, particularly the concepts of Wu Ji and
Hun Dun both drew me to Thelema as well as Chaos Magick. Crowley's interpretations of the Tao Te Ching and I Ching, as well as Chaos Magick's approach to the "Void." were deeply resonant with my own understanding of Taoist Metaphysics, and fittingly complimented my understanding at that time.
Together these systems promised an approach to enhancing creativity and artistic novelty
which I still find useful and valuable in my professional and personal life.
What I found hard to grasp, then, and now, was the attempt to fuse Chaos magick with Discordianism. People that wanted to add an element of spontaneous freedom and playful improvisation to ceremonial magick with Chaos magick were doing a similar thing to those that wanted to create a space for free form jazz built on the backs of classical musical training. Those who wanted to mesh "Chaos" with "Discord," however, were, IMO, serving the dispersion and fragmentation of Choronzon, and creating muddled down and meaningless metaphysical cartoon that lead nowhere.
My own interest in Taoist metaphysics, particularly the concepts of Wu Ji and
Hun Dun both drew me to Thelema as well as Chaos Magick. Crowley's interpretations of the Tao Te Ching and I Ching, as well as Chaos Magick's approach to the "Void." were deeply resonant with my own understanding of Taoist Metaphysics, and fittingly complimented my understanding at that time.
Together these systems promised an approach to enhancing creativity and artistic novelty
which I still find useful and valuable in my professional and personal life.
What I found hard to grasp, then, and now, was the attempt to fuse Chaos magick with Discordianism. People that wanted to add an element of spontaneous freedom and playful improvisation to ceremonial magick with Chaos magick were doing a similar thing to those that wanted to create a space for free form jazz built on the backs of classical musical training. Those who wanted to mesh "Chaos" with "Discord," however, were, IMO, serving the dispersion and fragmentation of Choronzon, and creating muddled down and meaningless metaphysical cartoon that lead nowhere.