{"id":753,"date":"2021-11-20T21:04:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T21:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/?p=753"},"modified":"2025-04-22T04:50:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T04:50:50","slug":"the-illuminates-of-thanateros-history-of-chaos-magick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/?p=753","title":{"rendered":"The Illuminates of Thanateros &#8211; History of Chaos Magick"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"modal-ready\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Illuminates of Thanateros - History of Chaos Magick\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LRYryc02v2o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/LRYryc02v2o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watch the video<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can Chaos Magick, a system designed to be antinomian, individualistic and basically, chaotic be institutionalised? Can you be initiated into an magical order that is against order? Magical beliefs are full of paradoxes so perhaps we should not be surprised. If we look at the history of the Illuminates of Thanateros we might gain some insight into what happened. We find a magical order with, texts, initiations, degrees of membership, etc. but with systems to keep it from becoming dogmatic and ossified. Did it work? Well the leaders left around the Ice Magick War &#8211; talk about chaos!<\/p>\n<cite>Summary<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chaos Magick is known for its rejection of hierarchical structures and dogmatic beliefs. Yet, it gave rise to the magical organization <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Illuminates_of_Thanateros\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Illuminates of Thanateros<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is this a paradox? Can Chaos be institutionalised? What is the history and structure of this system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t worry! I\u2019ve got you covered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hello everyone, I\u2019m Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I\u2019m a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magic, Paganism, Shamanism, Esotericism, and all things occult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks to a new research output by Dr Bernd-Christian Otto, who you may remember from a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zFi3-AAIt14\" target=\"_blank\">past interview<\/a>, here on the channel, we have new academic scholarship on Chaos Magick. And indeed, this study will be the source of today\u2019s video, tackling the IoT.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-135.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2609\" width=\"75\" height=\"142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-135.png 170w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-135-158x300.png 158w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 75px) 100vw, 75px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Psychick Cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Considering the Philosophical system underpinning Chaos Magick, the foundation of the IoT was more the exception than the rule\u2019. A loose network like \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thee_Temple_ov_Psychick_Youth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth<\/a>\u2019 could be seen as more suited to the ideological inclination of this magical tradition, just like the other common social organisations formed within the Chaos Magick milieu of the 1970s and 1980s (Otto, 2019, p.762).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-136.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2610\" width=\"112\" height=\"165\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is commonly believed that Chaos Magick was born in 1978 with the publication of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/LiberNullAndThePsychonaut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Liber Null<\/a>\u201d by Peter J Carroll and the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/about\/The_Book_of_Results.html?id=vejgwAEACAAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Book of Results<\/a>\u201d by Ray Sherwin. However, at that time the conversation had already been going for some time as demonstrated by the first appearance of Sherwin\u2019s journal \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_New_Equinox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The New Equinox<\/a>\u201d in 1976, a clear echo of Aleister Crowley\u2019s \u201cThe Equinox\u201d founded in 1909.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1976 and 1977, Carroll and Sherwin had already declared, in The New Equinox, the foundation of a new order focussed on the practice of magic and called The Illuminates of Thanateros. Thanateros, Carroll explains in his Liber Null, takes its name from the god of sex, Eros, and the god of death, Thanatos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, the birth of Chaos Magic in a way coincides with the birth of the IoT, even though the organisation became really active in 1986. It\u2019s also key to highlight that Chaos Magick has always been much broader than the IoT and only a small number of Chaos Magicians were and are members of it (Otto, 2019, pp.762\u2013763)\b.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-137.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2611\" width=\"212\" height=\"159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-137.png 349w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-137-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chaos Star<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed an outline of the history of the order is offered in a document entitled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/download\/the_book_english\/the_book_english.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Secrets of the Illuminates of Thanateros<\/a>\u201d, also called \u201cThe Book,\u201d available in two different versions, 2002 and 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the 2002 version, \u2018is accepted by all Sections and all Pact members as valid\u2019 (Illuminates of Thanateros 2002, 14), the IoT was, soon after its foundation in 1976, 1977, \u2018rarely more than a loose correspondence network and a few people meeting for rituals in East Morton\u2019 (ibid., 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was only in the mid-1980s that the IoT turned into a fully operating order with regular group rituals and occasional meetings at different places, seeing short-term group formations and dissolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peter Carroll (also known as \u2018Frater Stokastikos\u2019 in the IoT) established a temple in Bristol in 1982, the \u2018The Bristol C.H.A.O.S. Temple\u2019 or \u2018Cabal Heraclitus\u2019 (ibid.), which remained operative until Carroll\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we exclude another small short-lived group with approximately 8 to 14 members (The &#8220;Circle of Chaos&#8221;, 1984 or 87), the IoT, as we know it today, could be said to have started as a result of a public seminar in Bonn-Ramersdorf, held by Peter Carroll and a German practitioner called Ralph Tegtmeier in 1986 (b. 1952, also known as \u2018Frater U\u2234D\u2234\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This seminar saw different tests being performed, and the practitioners who were able to pass got invited to a \u2018Mass of Chaos\u2019, where a new magical order was attested to have formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This event was also called \u2018The Founding of the Pact\u2019 or just \u2018The Pact\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"262\" height=\"262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138.png 262w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-138-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the official IoT calendar, 1986 is thus the year Zero. The re-formation of the now re-named \u201cMagical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros\u201d was announced in another manifesto called \u201cThe Pact\/Liber Pactionis,\u201d which was published in August 1987 in the journal Chaos International. The same event led to the formation of a UK section, the \u2018UK Pact Temple\u2019 which was in London along with the formation of a German-speaking section that included, at the same time, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first \u2018World Pact Meeting\u2019 was held in Austria in August 1987, and 25 new members were initiated. These meetings have been held ever since, with the 28th AGM being held in Germany in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the years following 1986, various independent national sections or \u2018satrapies\u2019, as they were called (Illuminates of Thanateros 2002, 3), were founded in different places, such as Bulgaria, Brazil, Denmark, and Holland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, was the IoT trying to institutionalise the religious individualisation so dear to Chaos Magic as a whole?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not quite! as the order aimed to be: (one) anti-hierarchical; (two) anti-dogmatic; and (three) anti-secret. Concerning the first issue, the IoT attempted to overcome power imbalances thanks to the institution of the \u2018Insubordinate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Third or Higher Degree member of each Temple, whose aim was to check and ridicule possible abuse and dogmatic behaviour <\/p>\n<cite>Otto, 2019, pp.776<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"465\" height=\"262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-139.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-139.png 465w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-139-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 465px) 100vw, 465px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IoT is comprised of four standard degrees \u2013 Neophyte (4\u00b0), Initiate (3\u00b0), Adept (2\u00b0), and Magus (1\u00b0)&nbsp; \u2013 and a range of other offices (see Illuminates of Thanateros 2002, 13\u20134; the 2014 version differs slightly: The Council of the Magi 2014, 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interesting to notice that in IoT they claim that \u2018rising within the hierarchy and mastery is based on actual magical and organisational achievements\u2019 endorsing some kind of \u2018magical meritocracy\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even though each IOT section or group was encouraged to operate freely, independently, and creatively&nbsp;to mirror the ethos of Chaos Magick, there were standardised practices for individual and group rituals. Especially for the first degree, the Neophyte (4\u00b0), a summary of basic techniques is provided in the \u201cLiber MMM,\u201d part of Carroll\u2019s \u201cLiber Null.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-141.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2616\" width=\"229\" height=\"129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-141.png 465w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-141-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 229px) 100vw, 229px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As explained in a previous video and hereby Otto, the book includes instructions on mind control, visualisation techniques, Sigil magic, dream control and divination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>As for group rituals, some instructions are presented in Carroll\u2019s \u201cPsychonaut,\u201d including the five \u2018Rites of Chaos\u2019, with the \u2018Mass of Chaos\u2019 being described as the most important. The group ritual here described is aimed at raising \u2018a particular manifestation of energy for inspiration, divination, or communion with particular domains of consciousness\u2019 as well as to \u2018modify physical reality\u2019 (ibid., 130).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-143.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2618\" width=\"202\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-143.png 640w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-143-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-143-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This would consist of six steps, revolving around group invocations of Chaos, here understood as an entity and Baphomet, here understood as \u2018the representation of the terrestrial life-current.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purpose of having a structured group activity &#8211; in an individually-tailored system such as that of Chaos Magick &#8211; is to generate more power than individual efforts might achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, Peter Carroll always encouraged experimentation, being creative and research-oriented when engaging with group rituals, rather than being rigidly adherent to a fixed model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this sense, we can see that, despite the tendencies of ritual standardisation within the IoT, the experimental, creative and individualist approach still appears to prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And indeed it is precisely the anti-hierarchical, anti-dogmatic, individualist and experimental agenda of the IoT which may have led to the schism in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018After all \u2013 as Urban highlighted &#8211; an organised movement of Chaos Magic is inherently contradictory and could only logically end by dismantling itself in its own act of total liberation\u2019 (Urban 2006, 243).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Around 1986 Ray Sherwin already resigned from the order by excommunicating himself as he felt that the Order was slipping into the power structure that he had intended to avoid. Peter Carroll also backed out from the IoT shortly after the Ice Magick War, though it was only in 2016 that he \u2018publicly announced the withdrawal of support for the organisation.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We might perhaps dedicate <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1W190hlEhVs\">a future video<\/a> to the IoT major schism known as the Ice Magick War. Well, if you let me know in the comments that you\u2019re interested, that is!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-140.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2615\" width=\"357\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-140.png 708w, https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-140-300x153.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is it for today&#8217;s video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks for staying with me up until this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This project can only exist thanks to your help, so if you like my content and want me to keep the academic fun going, please consider supporting my work with a one-time PayPal donation, by joining Memberships or my Inner Symposium on Patreon, where you will get access to our Discord server, monthly lectures and lots of other perks depending on your chosen tier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if you did like this video, don\u2019t forget to SMASH the like button, subscribe to the channel, activate the notification bell so that you will never miss a new upload from me and let me know in the comments what you think. And share this video with your friends, of course, so that you can really help this project grow and as always, stay tuned for all the Academic Fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bye for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">REFERENCES<br>Otto, B.-C. (2019) The Illuminates of Thanateros and the institutionalisation of religious individualisation. In: M. Fuchs, A. Linkenbach, M. Mulsow, B.-C. Otto, R. B. Parson, &amp; J. R\u00fcpke eds. Religious Individualisation. De Gruyter, pp.759\u2013796. Available from: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.degruyter.com\/document\/doi\/10.1515\/9783110580853-038\/html\">https:\/\/www.degruyter.com\/document\/doi\/10.1515\/9783110580853-038\/html<\/a>.<br><br>Urban, Hugh. 2006. Magia sexualis: Sex, Magic and Liberation in modern Western Esotericism.<br>Berkeley: University of California Press.<br><br>Primary Source<br>Illuminates of Thanateros. 2002. The Book: Illuminates of Thanateros: The Truth, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pauladaunt.com\/books\/Illuminates_of_Thanateros.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.pauladaunt.com\/books\/Illuminates_of_Thanateros.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\">First uploaded 2 Nov 2021<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Puca explains how Chaos Magick and the Illuminates of Thanateros were started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[880,1,856],"tags":[44,22],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-curated","category-innersymposium","category-transcript","tag-chaos-magick","tag-normal-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=753"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3123,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions\/3123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innersymposium.study\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}