Tag Archives: DAVE LEE

Aleister Crowley,
Thelemic Magick

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USA
ACTM £

Revised Edition

12 October 2022

(was Proceedings of the Oxford Golden Dawn Occult Society Thelemic Symposium)

Mogg Morgan 
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 186992844X
£15.00/US$22.00
Subjects: Aleister Crowley & Thelema/Magick/Enochian Magick.

Hell of a Guru

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law
Aleister Crowley may have died in 1947, but his influence is still very much felt by the magician of the new aeon. The CD soundtrack The Beast Speaks sold 8000 copies since its release in 1993, and the paperback edition of Crowley’s Confessions was number two in Virgin Megastores top ten books. The modern magician is no slavish follower or member of some mind bending cult. Crowley’s watch word was Thelema (The Crowleian pronunciation is Theh-LEE-mah, the accent being on the vowel of the second syllable, Greek speakers say the accent should be on the vowel of the first syllable for it to be pronounced right….ThEH-lee-mah) – which means [free] Will. Those who choose to follow this magical path aim to de-condition themselves, to develop independence of spirit and ultimately to become their very own self. One of the many attractions of Crowley’s type of magick, was this advice to follow one’s own way and create your own life path. You don’t need a priest or a judge to tell you how to act – work it out for yourself.

As part of the process of developing self-knowledge, Crowley advocated the practice of magick. This he defined as ‘the science and art of causing change in conformity with will.’

Thelemic magick can be either a system or an approach to the magick of any tradition, e.g. Hermetic, Ceremonial, even Witchcraft. In Thelema, as in all other styles of magick, there are at least two different types of magical entity – the ‘Masonic’ and the ‘Rosicrucian’. The Masonic tends to be organized into definite hierarchical orders; whereas the Rosicrucian is more freeform, often a mere network of peers. The authors of what follows reflect many of these different styles of Thelemic magick and reading what they say is perhaps the best way to grasp what Thelemic magick is all about.
As part of the process of developing self knowledge, Crowley advocated the practice of Magick. This he defined as ‘the science and art of causing change in conformity with will.’ The history of magick is the history of human beings. Many of the things that are now labelled ‘culture’ began as experiments in ritual and magick viz. drama, music, art, dance, philosophy and poetry etc., etc. Magick has played a role in many key moments of our history, for example during the fourteenth century, it was the philosophy of the Renaissance. In our own time, many modern art movements have been driven by magical ideas, for instance, the first abstract painting was made by the Theosophist Kandinsky. Magick is a valuable and reputable activity to undertake.

CHAOTOPIA!

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Dave Lee

Click Here for CHAOTOPIA! / UK

Click here for Kindle UK edition

Click Here for CHAOTOPIA! / USA

Click here for Kindle USA edition

Chaotopia!
Dave Lee
Format: Softcover
ISBN:
£15.00 / US$26
Subjects: Chaos Magick
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‘Once one is fairly competent at practical sorcery, there is little of importance that remains to be said or read about the subject; the magician at this point tends to emphasize inner development in his work. It seems to me that Chaos Magic itself has reached this point; the basic ideas needed for anyone to construct his or her own system of sorcery and to hone their skills are already covered by the available books. What has been lacking so far, is a Chaos magical approach to the investigation of the ecstatic states that underlie magical gnosis. This book, rather than trying to provide yet another slightly different flavour of Chaos technique, takes as its starting point the relationship between ecstasy and magic; between Chaos Magic and Chaos Mysticism, if you like.’ from Chaotopia! page 8

Chaotopia! is neither Utopia nor its opposite. It is what Austin Osman Spare called ‘the chaos of the normal’, seen through an illuminated eye, the eye of the sorcerer.


Chaotopia! includes updates and evaluations of techniques in Chaos Magick and an exploration of ecstatic states in relation to both magick and mysticism.

Also chapters on:
Wealth Magick/Conflict and Exorcism/Sex Magick/Body Alchemy and Healing/Magick and Physics/Chaos Illumination/Spirits/Aeonics

Praise for Dave Lee’s Chaotopia!
‘A highly intelligent book by a leading Chaos Magician which will broaden and deepen Chaoist debate, theory and practice.’
– Peter J. Carroll

MORE REVIEWS

”Chaos magic has come magician and NLP maven Lee. This is not a primer or grimoire; instead, the book puts chaos magic in its conceptual context, explaining the theoretical and metaphysical vistas which have underscored the art’s development since its inception under the asgis of the late, great Austin Osman Spare.

It allows us to see chaos magic äs a form of autonomous mysticism; not so much a syncretic exercise in cosmic tourism äs a balancing attempt to make sense of what arrives in one’s head. This makes it more democratic than the intimidating acolytism of learned magic in the European tradition. Chaos magic rests on the principle that the practitioner can apply belief at will, rather than surrendering to any particular paradigm (thus the slightly wrenched meaning of ‘paradigm stuft’ in chaos practice). It also assumes that altered states permit a powerfui interaction with one’s own centres of power, and äs a result, chaos magicians experiment with psychotropic techniques, including drug use, meditation, hyperventilation and extreme exercise.

Lee shows us the intellectual underpinnings of a practical System, without rendering the art, or his discourse on it, abstract or arch. He sets out the theoretical contribution of Robert Anton Wilson et al, explains Aeonics, and the trajectory of its distillation from the baroque theatre of angelology, and expounds the vital notions of chaos and Illumination, äs Spare originally conceived them, and as practice has altered and matured them.

This is not for the beginner in chaos magic, but it is a good guide for the observer with a grounding in the history of European magic, and a grasp of its cultural milestones. If you ever wondered why magicians do what they do, it’s because it works. If it didn’t, the tradition would have died out with the birth of science; it hasn’t and is enjoying a fertile period. Chaos magic is central to the continuing health of magical traditions, and writers like Dave Lee are central to that influence. His observation that accomplishe magicians concentrate on inner development ties chaos magic firmly to the Spiritual traditions of alchemy, and suggests that the development of chaos magic as a Spiritual endeavour has a long future, as well äs a brilliantly energetic past. Great stuff.”
Review from Sly Delaney – FT214 – Fortean Times verdict 8.

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”Chaos Magick has been the “sorcery” of choice for some years; indeed it is feared by many to have become way too trendy. There have been many books coming onto the market supposedly outlining the Chaos Magick vision which seem to confuse incoherence with mystification.. However, I am very pleased to say Chaotopia! is not one of them indeed I consider it one of the better books on Chaos Magick I have read in quite a long time. It was originally published in 1997 but includes a very succinct but updated introduction which gives us a snapshot of the basic principles of Chaos Magick and how it works.

In many way I found Chaotopia! a real “debate starter” it covers so many subjects, all of which demand further thought, investigation and discussion, for a relatively small tome of 200 odd pages there is little “padding” and lots of content, no wasted words here ! There are carefully placed “interludes” which include all sorts of exercises, meditations and rites in addition to practices throughout the work so Chaotopia offers a solid balance of theory and practice.

Lee outlines a theory of magick based on Leary and Robert Anton Wilson’s model of Eight Brain Circuits; this is quite an intriguing model and does offer quite a lot of insight into how magick work. He also outlines later in Chaotopia! Carroll’s model of Aeonics and cultural evolution. For the budding Chaos magician I would suggest comparing these with such developments as Spiral Dynamics and Ken Wilber’s Integral Model, each has its benefits and drawbacks. The Eight Brain Circuits are more practical (i.e. psychedelic), while Wilber’s model is certainly more cerebral. Aeonics has a magical foundation but I think lacks some integration into the bigger picture which Wilber’s offer. As you can see there is a lot to think about in this work ! Every chapter I read made me what to read more, think more and practice more….

There is a very insightful chapter on wealth and money, a subject looked down on by “high” magick and yet so imperative in today’s busy and demanding work. There is a great section on cursing and exorcism which avoids the paranoid mood so often found in works on “psychic self defense” and offers down to earth guidelines and well as techniques if you really need them.

The section on sex and magick is impressively without pretense and covers all sorts of issues ranging from the use of sexual fluids to S & M. I especially found the section on sex and smell impressive and felt Lee explored area’s ignored by other works.

The theoretical chapter on Magick and physics is a real intellectual stimulator. It offers a new theoretical foundation for magick as found within the Bose-Einstein Condensate. It will trigger lots of discussion and debate.

I could continue chapter in this way. There is so much packed in here. Chaotopia! is how magical books should be written. No padding, no BS, no wasted space, lots of important information, practice advise and hints. An avoidance of pretense and an openness which leaves the reader eager to go out and learn more and practice more.
Dave Lee, Thank You !”
Review in Living Traditions


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You enjoyed reading Bright from the Well and Chaotopia! and would like to know more about the latest techniques, articles, resources, workshops, news and events from the author, then check out DAVE LEE’S CHAOTOPIA WEBSITE www.chaotopia.com

Bright from The Well

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Northern Tales in The Modern World
Dave Lee

Bright from The Well
Northern Tales in The Modern World
Dave Lee
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 978-1869928841
£15.00/ US$22.00
Subjects: Northern Tradition/Chaos Magick.

Click Here for Bright from The Well / USA

Click Here for Bright from The Well / UK

REVIEWS

Attentive readers might have noticed me banging on about the collective & individual fading of memory, & the need to imagine an alternative language to talk about radical social change, entailing a re-memberance, or putting together of scattered parts strewn over a landscape of fragments.

Into my hands recently came a new book by Dave Lee, Bright from the Well – Northern Tales in the Modern World. Mandrake of Oxford (2008). It’s a retelling & reimagining of the creation & social origin myths of the Northern European tradition, including the Völuspá, & Rigsþula (Rig’s Tale). Comprising five short stories & five essays, it’s an odd but compelling read, combining a reworked & updated phenomenology of the myths with vividly told stories set in the contemporary world of would-be sorcerers & Chaos Magic.

Those with a suspicious turn of mind wrongly might detect a whiff of the Thule Society, & the romantic/reactionary projects dreamed up by the likes of W. B. Yeats & D. H. Lawrence, which often resulted in psychosomatic afflictions of the right arm. But Dave Lee is no New Ager, sharing my view that these are people with too many easily acquired beliefs to spend, who couldn’t think their way out of a paper bag. Think rather of the imaginative legacy & radical engagement of William Blake. Great stuff, ideas sparking off in all directions.
Klaus Bubblehammer, Bubblehammerblog
bubblehammerblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/recommended-reading.html

–
Bright From The Well
– Northern Tales in the Modern World
by Dave Lee
Review by Akashanath

A common difficulty for magicians moving from one tradition to another is reductio ad nauseum. With little effort, it is easy to nail the symbolism of one’s latest trip onto the pre-existing crucifix of one’s earlier experiences, eventually reducing every opportunity for novelty to a stale repeat of one’s preconceptions. Chaos Magick has often fallen into this trap, its dogma of ‘non-dogmatism’ leading adherents to strip belief-systems to their ‘essentials’, sometimes to the point where they lose much of their beauty and function. At the opposite extreme one can simply be overwhelmed by the strangeness and unfamiliarity of a new world-view, and fail to find a point from which to begin one’s assimilation. The Norse and Saxon myths, with their fragmented, archaic language and almost prehistoric themes, can often evoke this type of response. In his newest book, Dave Lee lithely navigates the pass between these twin peaks, taking time to pause and explore the dilemmas, or muse on them in the form of short fables. People expecting a book about the runes will not be disappointed. Those hoping for further expositions on the subject(s) of Chaos Magick will find plenty of interest. But for me where Bright From The Well comes into its own is as a series of reflections on dilemmas that will be familiar to many 21st century occultists.

For example, Chapter 5 is entitled “The Magician In and Against The World.” It’s essentially an analysis of the twin functions of the magician as anarchist, challenging the false autocracy of consensus reality, and the magician as priest, strengthening social traditions by helping the laity to connect them to their spiritual and cosmic sources. Within his complex analysis, Dave grapples with magicians’ tendencies towards transcendence on the one hand and immanence on the other. This rang loud bells for me; in my magickal quest I have often lurched from mind-bending hedonism to ruthless ascetic austerity and back again, struggling to marry my hungers and drives with some arbitrary construct of ultimate purpose. Dave also concludes that some sort of unification is necessary, describing this in terms of the intermarriage of the Vanir and the Aesir, the two Northern pantheons who exchange hostages somewhere near the beginning of time. Dave’s exegesis interprets the former as gods of immanence and the latter as deities of transcendence and consciousness (though not exclusively so). In a story from Snorri’s Prose Edda, Dave tells us how the Aesir (in the form of Odin) and the Vanir (in the form of Tyr) trick the Fenriswoolf (primal chaos) into allowing itself to be bound, creating the ordered universe that is a necessary precondition for human society and hence both esoteric and exoteric religious practice.

Students of Tantrika may find parallels here, and indeed Dave makes passing reference to the left and right hand paths. In many contemporary Hindu icons the transcendent Shiva is depicted sitting on his mountain, meditating and smoking Ganja, largely disinterested in the world. One myth tells us how the goddess Kali once went on a killing spree. Initially invoked by men seeking support in their war with the demons, Kali has lost sight of her original intention in an orgy of destruction. With all the demons slain, she turns her unstoppable fury on her former allies, slaughtering them with her many arms. Summoned from his mountain, Shiva is intrigued. Lying in front of her with his c**k erect, he looks up, turned on by her warped face and blood-stained body. Gradually her lust for killing turns into a different kind of lust, and the two deities begin to f**k. Separate from one another, they are aimless, functionless. In unity, Siva (transcendence) gains the capacity to manifest in the physical world, while Kali (immanence) transmutes her destructive power to generative.

Some of the other sections completely obviate the need for parallels by speaking directly to the magician’s experience. In Chapter 7, the author recounts a fascinating and credible list of magickal anecdotes spanning over 20 (and perhaps closer to 30?) years of workings, grouped into a rough typology of function. Several chapters take the form of stories, some obviously derived from Nordic originals, others less so. The style is engaging and entertaining, not laboriously educational or annoyingly whimsical, and each is short enough to be knocked off quickly (or omitted altogether) should it not be to the reader’s taste.

As well as re-telling stories from the northern traditions and presenting a novel method of working with the entities described as dwarves, the book contains a complete rune poem in English. Although it probably wouldn’t stand alone as a manual of rune magick, anyone genuinely interested in the subject could probably learn something new. The main strength, for those interested in Nordic traditions, will probably be for those looking for another perspective from which to triangulate dry, historical academic texts on the one hand and the often pedantic dogmatism of modern Odinists on the other. Overall, as the title implies, the collection is refreshing and inspired. Well worth a read!

Dave Lee

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Dave Lee has over 20 years of experience in practical magick.  An early editor of Chaos International Magazine, he is the author of Magical Incenses and the Wealth Magic Workbook.

He has worked with the Illuminates of Thanateros for many years, and presents workshops and lectures in the UK, USA and mainland Europe. Dave lives in England, and is engaged in continual magical researches which will no doubt find their way into print in one form or another.

Dave Lee’s CHAOTOPIA website www.chaotopia.co.uk