Customer Reviews

Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are new to the writings of Peter Carroll you should read this book first. It is the result of a tremendous effort to clarify the often confusing and unecessarily complicated writings of the past. In this day and age it is no longer necessary to withold this information or to write about it in "code".

Carroll presents his information in a clear, rational and pragmatic way. Readers who have read his later books will notice that some of the theories presented here have become dated, which is only natural considering that the book was written over twenty years ago and that the development of magical theory and practice has progressed since then. In spite of this, it is important to familiarize oneself with the information presented here as it gives a solid foundation for understanding the basic priciples and techniques that his later, more advanced books only touch upon briefly. For example the book has the clearest system for attaining proper mind control which is absolutely necessary for more advanced work. It also explains the different methods of going into trance as well as the procedures for creating personalized sigils or encoded desires.

The second part of the book entitled Psychonaut (great word by the way) consists of essays on a variety of topics related to the subject at hand: The use of psychoactive substances in ritual, different models for explaining magical phenomenon, etc.

In a way, I tend to regard this book as a successful clarification of what Crowley and Spare tried to say in their confusing and long-winded fasion.

Peter Carroll has some interesting ideas, but they are mostly poorly-written regurgitations of what Crowley and A.O. Spare already said before he came to the table. I would recommend starting with source material if you want an understanding of those two. Israel Regardie and Lon Milo DuQuette both write some more accessible interpretations of Crowley if you don't want to wade through lengthy pontifications.

If you want a good introduction to Chaos Magick and to see some unique ideas, I highly recommend getting Phil Hine's "Condensed Chaos" (also available here on Amazon). His writing is excellent, and he does a much better job of clearly presenting the basics of Chaos Magick with a pragmatic attitude.

Carroll is interesting from a historical perspective since he was one of the early Chaos Magicians, so this is probably worth having for the completist.

"Liber Null" presents some great ideas. If you are new in chaos magic I strongly suggest you get this book along with "Condensed Chaos" by Phil Hine. Read "Condensed Chaos" first then "Liber Null".

As with any Peter Carrol book it contains dogmatism about his personal beliefs. However that is more than cancelled out by the wealth of ideas that is hidden throughout the book. If you see magic as being divided in black and white and different subdivisions within each one this book will prove trully valuable to read and try. If not (which was my case) it will prove as an interesting source of information that you can adapt or discard according to your liking and the belief system you are currently ingrained in.

Assume nothing.

This is a solid magickal text, and a good introduction to Chaos Magick. Use it with Phil Hine's Condensed Chaos to create an intense and very functional course of study to begin your study of chaos magick, or magick in general. My only complaint about the book is Carroll's somewhat stuffy style, though he's not nearly so bad as some other, earlier authors who will remain unmentioned. Bottom line is, if you're serious about your study of Magick, this book will serve you well.

Take an amalgam of various Crowleyana, Austin Osman Spare's sigil practices, and an amoral viewpoint, and what do you get? Well, Chaos Magic.... apparently. Personally, I think that if all you're going to do is condense a Golden Dawn training manual for the early sections, rename a few concepts, and introduce sigils you'd be better off just admitting where these practices come from and be done with it. I came to this book expecting something new, and instead found regurgitated Hermeticism. Yes, I'm very disappointed.

For folks out there that have never read much or been interested in magical techniques, this book may provide a suitable starting point. However, for claiming to be a book about chaos, it sure is filled with dogmatic statements, irritating Aeonics (Crowley, again... you'll be saying that all throughout this book if you're anything like me) and presumptuous prophecies about our future world.

Personally, I've found very little of use inside this book. I don't -disagree- with anything in it, and in fact think it probably is an effective magical practice... but Chaos Magic? I think not.

Our life is an uncertain mess of chaos. We never know if tomorrow will come for us, or what it will bring. Nothing is true. If you've been jostled awake by the sirens of nihilism, this book will keep you awake long into the night, as you wonder at what may just be possible for someone with the inclination and the wonderment to actually jump, head first, into the world of the Chaote. Otherwise, you can just sit on the shore, enjoying the view.

This book, more or less, is an instruction manual for initiates of the IOT, an order of anarchist-occultists founded by the scientist/punk/philosopher (my kind of guy!) Pete Carroll. It outlines the practices of Neophytes, Initiates, Adepts, and Priests of Chaos, as well as includes some basic practices (a combination of A.O. Spare's Zos Kia, non-religious Thelema, Wicca, Sorcery, Shamanism, Goetic Necromancy, and Vajrayana Buddhism)... in other words, total and complete wickedness. Check it out.

Liber null is a fascinating take on the scientific chaos theory in physics and how it may be applied to the mind. If you enjoy reading about unconventional science then it if a fascinating book. Some great artwork. Its interesting to hear another persons point of view, even if you may or may not agree with it.

Like the title of this review says, this is an amazing book. It's one of the only books I've found that completely cuts away traditional religious and superstitious trappings to reveal the pure essence of magic.

It's true that he does add his own theories and perspectives on certain issues, but I found these to be extremely helpful in understanding the teachings within.

This is a very enlightening book, one of the best occult texts on the market. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anybody who's interested in occultism or magic (not to mention chaos magic).

This book is great for someone who hasn't spent much time studying many different magickal systems or traditions and don't know where to start. This was one of the books I first started out with and it helped a lot on understanding exactly why and how magick works from a point of view that is simple and easy to understand. To someone who isn't familiar with the occult, attempting to understand magick from a certain tradition or to attempt to read Crowley's books seems all but impossible except for all but the most eccentric individuals who are committed to endless hours of research. Add the different points of view on how magic works, the extreme complexity of each system, and the terms used to describe elements of the systems, and all you get from it is just a huge freakin headache.

This book, however, explains why magick works and how one can practice magick, from a practical point of view. When I first started out practicing magick, the first month was nothing but working constantly with Liber MMM, and from that section of the book alone I developed a technique for casting spells through visualization that consistently worked, without knowing anything else about magick. I could then use magick to basically cast spells anywhere while doing anything. (I do have to admit, I developed the ability to do this with Liber MMM but it was mostly a way to cast spells with visualization that I learned intuitively, but the point is that Liber MMM helped me out a lot) Later on, the rest of the book provided a foundation for research into other methods of spell casting, and eventually lead me to research all kinds of systems of magick to expand my knowledge of magick in general.

Overall, I love this book, but it does have a few flaws. When it comes to understanding both right hand and left hand philosophies, it tends to explain white magick from a mix of left hand and right hand perspective in Liber LUX, and Liber AOM and Liber NOX are entirely from a left hand perspective. Overall, you could state that Chaos Magick is mostly left hand with some right hand philosophy, although in Liber Null it attempts to create a balance between both.

I don't mind using magick from the left hand perspective, but I do think that it is kind of misleading to new occultists when attempting to understand white magick in Liber LUX. For example, the right and left hand paths both stem from a dualistic perception of infinity and nothingness being the source of creation respectively. It states in Liber LUX that cause and effect explains most phenomenon, but that it does not explain the existence of the first cause. This is basically a left hand point of view because from a right hand perspective infinity was the first cause and has always existed. (An example of this would be the Hermetic principle of Mentalism). Being a new occultist, after reading this you would assume that the left hand path was the best way to go (as did I), as the right hand path makes absolutely no sense. Another thing is that the material based around the the HGA present in Liber LUX is contradicted later in the book by the essay in Psychonaut, on the non-existence of the Holy Guardian Angel...

Excellent book, the author is undoubtedly a genius (a bit full of himself but i imagine with good reason) I do not believe Carroll has written the definitive magic book for our modern era like some do. I do not believe that all previous books from times gone by on the subject have been rendered null and void based on his ideas like some do. What i do believe is that Carroll has made a perfect compendium of occult thought for our modern society. An amazing Meta Map that acts as a stepping stone from the world of modern thought and logic to the head-space of very real and very workable magic. This book represents a significant accomplishment in making magic relevant. He sheds the occult of the cumbersome clothing and armor of gods goddesses, myth, and ceremony. Not by throwing them away but by showing us what they truly are and why they are useful. Magic does not start and stop with this book but it is a POWERFUL tool for how we can begin to see magic in a whole new light.