During Semester 5, 2007-2008, the Staff and Members of Arcanorium College conducted a review of the world situation to see if anything needed doing about it.
In response to concerns that had built up over some time, the Chancellor, with the assistance of several members of Staff, prepared a series of discussion papers on the following topics: -
A) Immanent Disaster?
1) Overpopulation.
2) Global Warming.
3) Resource Exhaustion.
B) Origins of Disaster, & Critique.
4) Organised Religion. Critique of religions.
5) Political-Economic Theories. Critique of such theories.
C) Chaoist Alternatives.
6) Chaoist Metaphysics. Panpsychic, Neopantheist.
7) Chaoist Philosophy. Values and Ethics.
8) Chaoist Practise. Celebration and Magic.
We seem to have a widespread assumption that Humanity faces immanent global disaster.
Magicians traditionally consider all such assumptions in terms of possibility or impossibility with the aim of empowering themselves. Thus each individual magician can determine a reality of choice- and perhaps swim against the tide of popular opinion and established convention where necessary, in order to achieve the freedom of the Universe(s).
Debate raged for some six weeks with over 380 messages and some several thousand readings. Some participants advanced the proposition that we do not face any more problems than usual on this planet.
A small but militant faction expressed the view that as belief creates reality, magicians should firstly believe in an optimal past, present, and future for themselves, as doom prophecies can become self fulfilling.
Others expressed the view that if we didn't entertain belief in at least the strong possibility of global disaster then we would have no motivation to avert it or to prepare strategies to deal with it.
A not so small, but pacifist faction declined to make, or act upon any value judgements, or interfere with the conditions on this planet.
Others supported the hypothesis (A), that we now face a set of problems unique in their global scope, and that civilisation itself; if not the survival of the human race; lies at stake.
During the period of the course, fuel and food prices, world population levels, and the deteriorating global economy seemed to feature rather prominently in the conventional media.
The initial discussion papers advanced the hypothesis (B), that the potentially catastrophic problems of overpopulation, global warming, and resource exhaustion all have their roots in existing organised religions or in secular economic beliefs about perpetual growth.
The initial papers also advanced the hypothesis that magical and esoteric thought has always historically played a leading role in the development of new paradigms and belief systems.
The initial papers argued that magicians may have a unique ability and duty to help humanity think its way out of impending catastrophe, if such appears the case.
Lastly that if so, the hypothesis (C), that an emergent philosophy broadly based around what one might call Chaoist ideas, might provide some solutions.
Overall we seemed to achieve an approximate consensus of ‘maybe’ on all three hypotheses, with some dissent. We also unearthed a huge wealth of links and references.
We intend to continue in a further course in 2008-2009. In the meantime I present some by no means unanimous thoughts from our work so far.
1) Overpopulation.
Few if any authorities expect a ‘demographic adjustment’ (a reduction in birth-rates due to female emancipation, reduction in infant mortality, and increasing financial security) to prevent the human population attempting to grow from the current 6.7 billion to about 9 billion by 2050.
2) Global Warming.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels do appear to roughly correlate with this planet’s temperature.
We appear to have almost doubled the levels since the advent of industrialisation and we may double them again before we bring fossil fuel use under control. Thus some degree of human initiated global warming seems inevitable. The speed and extent of such warming remains unknown but a global rise of more than a couple of degrees will have disastrous effects on world agriculture. The rise in human produced carbon dioxide may trip a series of positive feedbacks that release catastrophic quantities of greenhouse gases from the land and the seas.
3) Resource Exhaustion.
The human race has based its post WW2 boom in food production and transport and its steep increase in population and manufactured items almost entirely on oil. We may have already reached peak oil production anyway, but any further use of fossil fuels can only add to global warming.
The huge recent expansion in human numbers and activity has led to serious environmental degradation and the loss of vast numbers of species already.
4) Organised Religion.
The three Abrahamic monotheisms all assert that their deity has given them the earth and all its creatures to do with as they wish, and that it wants them to go forth and multiply.
5) Political-Economic Theories.
Virtually all current political-economic theories assert the desirability of continual growth in production and consumption, despite that beyond a certain level this brings only marginal or even negative changes in quality of life.
6) Chaoist Metaphysics. Panpsychic, Neopantheist.
Chaoist philosophy rejects the ludicrous monotheist claim that some deity created the entire vast universe and that it also acts as a personal deity to all of its warring followers.
Instead it suggests that the universe and everything in it has a natural origin and that to some degree it all has ‘life’, and that humans conceptualise gods to represent various aspects of life which concern them.
7) Chaoist Philosophy. Values and Ethics.
Various ideals follow from the panspychic and neopantheist perspective in the context of the above.
All forms of life have an intrinsic value irrespective of their utilitarian value to us. Humanity does not occupy a theogenically sanctioned privileged position in the scheme of things.
Humanity has however developed the privilege of recognising that it cannot continue to expand its numbers and consumption without limit, and can use its intelligence accordingly.
Inner wealth and the quality of human interaction do far more to enhance quality of life than excess material consumption.
8) Chaoist Practise. Celebration and Magic.
The monotheist paradigm has ceased to give useful results. Atheism has little beyond a scientific wonder at the material complexity of the universe or mere nihilistic consumerism to offer.
Chaoism on the other hand suggests a universe that exhibits life and chaotic creativity on all levels from quanta to mind, a panpsychic universe which runs self-creatively on what we can call magic.
This can lead to what we can call ‘High Magic’, the mystical appreciation of, and the attempt to commune with, the ultimate chao-creative force of the universe.
It also leads to a ‘Low Magic’ in which we interact with gods and spirits and demons which we know that we have abstracted, mythos style, from nature and our own psychology.
In some ways this resumes the approach found in such oriental systems as Buddhism and Taoism where a high level non-deistic mysticism sits on top of a system of gods and spirits and rituals and celebrations drawn from folk practices.
However a big difference exists. Chaoist ‘peasants’ unlike Buddhist or Taoist peasants understand full well that they have abstracted such neopantheist mythos entities for their own enjoyment, inspiration, and enlightenment, and to enhance their magical interaction with the universe.
Chaoists describe such a paradigm as ‘Fifth Aeon’ philosophy to differentiate it from the fourth aeon paradigm of atheism/nihilism, the third aeon paradigm of monotheism, the second aeon paradigm of paganism, and the first aeon paradigm of shamanism.
Addendum to Project Eschaton.
Since the writing of the initial report about 18 months ago the situation has continued to deteriorate in most respects. No significant political agreements have emerged about reducing climate change and population levels remain a politically taboo subject. The world economic downturn has however slightly reduced the rate of destruction of some resources.
A recent World Wildlife Fund report concluded that at the present rate we shall probably need another planet as soon as 2030 to supply our resource demands.
All major political and economic paradigms remain committed to growth or to restarting growth following the recession.
If we cannot evolve a socio- political-economic praxis of adaptation to zero or preferably negative growth in population and resource consumption then we condemn ourselves to a rebalancing of the situation by wars or environmental catastrophes or most probably a mixture of both.
A Malthusian catastrophe has finally started to build because we have started to run out of technical fixes as we approach the resource limits of this planet.
The Knights of Chaos
Following the Eschaton report the Knights of Chaos project arose within Arcanorium College and with details released into the public domain in The Octavo.
The Knights and Dames of the KoC attempt to intervene to prevent Ecocide and those political, religious, and economic tendencies which support it.
First Earth Battalion KoC attempts this using direct sorcery to affect the hearts and minds of this planets enemies and those who oppose them.
Despite that this may seem mad and impossible, the results so far have proved highly encouraging and strengthened the resolve of the KoC for a long struggle.
Knights, Dames, and Squires of the order each need to create and conjure eight servitors which the KoC uses in various of its campaigns.
Campaign coordination, strategy discussions and target acquisition takes place at Arcanorium college.