It reminds me of mixed martial arts vs. kung fu quackery. MMA stripped martial arts of crap that didn't actually do anything and mined martial arts for what actually won fights.

It seems to be a similar thing with Chaos Magic going on.

Anyway, it seems to be positive so far, even if it is also a weird experience.

I plan to call up a "servitor" next time I do a ritual. I'll have fewer details about that, as I regard that sort of thing as a "trade secret." But you'll get a few tidbits. /6

And I still consider myself an atheist. From my point of view, I'm invoking psychological archetypes rather than external "entities." I'm operating from the paradigm that this is basically applied psychology, i.e. it's all "in my head." /5

Next morning, had a strong urge to clean and reorganize the house that I've been indulging. This isn't like me. This is something my wife wants to do around April. But it seems to correlate with the ritual. I've heard this sort of thing is actually common after a heavy ritual. /4

Why so metal? Well, that's probably because of the religious abuse I suffered when I was a kid so it resonates with me.

The invocation itself was framed as a death and rebirth psychodrama. /3

The actual hard part was clearing my mind of everything except the intent of the ritual.

As part of it, I invoked names like Lilith and Lucifer. I also anointed the sigil (drawn on parchment) with 3 drops of my own blood. /2

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#chaosky

This Saturday will have been 2 weeks since I performed my Chaos Magic self-initiation. I was excited about it in the lead-up. The ritual itself gave me a dopamine hit. Grounding myself afterwards wasn't too hard. /1

For example, the Bretan folk don't consider you an adult until you're proficient in at least one weapon.

However, this includes female Bretan. The idea is that when the men of the village go off to war, the women aren't sitting ducks for bandits or the like. /2

#JanuaryWorldbuilders #CosmicEgg

For the most part, yes. But the nonhuman folk race cultures of #Tirial don't always assign gender roles you might expect. /1

#JanuaryWorlbuilders

#CosmicEgg #Tirial

Umaryn is a commoner and a tavern girl. She's on the upper end of her social strata due to her family owning an inn. She got 4 years of private tutoring abroad. However, in her home village she's a social outcast.

A notable exception is the immortal Uslarif folk race. They don't have social classes. They have age brackets. The older ones expect the younger ones to be deferential and this mostly holds up. It even dominates their reproduction via something called the Scarlet request. /2

#JanuaryWorldbuilders

I'll go with #Tirial in the #CosmicEgg for now.

In Tirial, most societies are feudal. Social class is divided mostly between "high-borns" and "low-borns" with some gray areas and gradations in that structure. /1

And this is the case no matter how weird or "eldritch" it seems. So eldritch naturalism became the central premise for my fantasy multiverse.

From the top down, the #CosmicEgg setting is grounded in "science" even when it's not understood. /2

#JanuaryWorldbuilders #CosmicEgg

I've been told all my life that the supernatural was "objectively real." I asked myself what that would actually look like and the first thing I came up with was, "If it interacts with the natural world, it's categorically natural. /1

#JanuaryWorldbuilders #CosmicEgg #Tirial

Something Umaryn finds helpful would be the enchanted swords she becomes soul-bound to, Flamedealer and Cinderwind. However, she initially would rather be rid of them since she knows they will radically change her life.

No worries. I'm not being peer pressured into it.

Conversely, Marvel and DC are modern mythology.

#JanuaryWorldbuilders

A big problem for my characters on #Tirial? That would be the gods themselves. Deities in the #CosmicEgg can and do make mistakes. And when a god fucks up, the consequences are world-shaking for mortals.

Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see.

But I view it as hacking my own subconscious and subjective experience rather than anything "supernatural" or "paranormal." It doesn't really conflict with my skeptical world view.

But view it how you like.

I'll look into that. Thanks.

Well, Chaos Magic isn't about what's "logical" or "objective." It's about what gets you results. It's supposed to be intuitive rather than logical because you're trying to tap into your own subconscious rather than use your rational conscious mind.

Sorry it didn't work out for you.

I certainly will. So far, the hardest part is meditation. I want to be able to fully quiet my mind before I try this so I can get as much focus as possible.

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In fact, you can even hypothetically invoke Spider-Man or Winnie the Pooh if that works for you. You can even invoke shit you made up yourself in Chaos Magic.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on what happens.

And belated Happy Holidays! /11

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This ritual will also involve a pin prick and three drops of my own blood to charge the sigil. It's going to be metal as fuck.

Note: All Chaos Magicians practice differently. Don't think their rituals will be identical to mine. They could just as easily invoke Ishtar or Odin. /10

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My first ritual will be a self-initiation. I'll be invoking Principalities from the Goetia, i.e. "demons." Why them, you ask? I suffered religious abuse as a kid, mostly from my parents but a clergyman was also involved on one occasion. Because of that, "demons" resonate with me. /9

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I'm getting the tools and accoutrements I'll need together. I've already got a blank book to use as a grimoire. I'm already practicing crafting sigils, working on meditation, and writing my own invocations. /8

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And if I invoke "entities"? I'll actually be invoking archetypes that exist *within the subconscious mind* rather than external "spirits."

I already believe that symbols have power over the human mind so this isn't any different. /7

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That's because Chaos Magic *doesn't* claim to be "supernatural." It also doesn't claim to be objective. In fact, it leans hard into subjectivity.

It's essentially applied psychology, like a bunch of kids chanting the school fight song to try and win the big game. /6

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Since they always run away from my challenge, I've decided on a way to take it myself. I'll be doing this via Chaos Magic rituals.

I'm not ditching the labels of atheist or skeptic yet, however. I may not even need to. This is an experiment of sorts. /5

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Oddly enough though, these cowards don't realize that their "belief is a choice!" claim is actually a core tenet of Chaos Magic taken to its logical conclusion, i.e. beliefs are a tool that can be adopted and discarded as needed.

So far, this isn't the flex they thought it was. /4