~Liber KKK~
by Peter J. Carroll

KAOS KERAUNOS KYBERNETOS
===========================
(THE CHAOS THUNDERBOLT STEERS ALL THINGS)

Liber KKK is the first, complete, systematic magical training
programme for some centuries. It is a definitive replacement for
the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, which system has become
obsolete due to it's monotheist transcendentalism and it's
dependency on repressive forms of inhibitory gnosis now considered
inappropriate.

Liber KKK is presented as a series of general magical techniques
which the magician must develop into a workable programme using
whatever symbols, instruments and forms of gnosis that appeal to
him. It would be inappropriate for a Chaos Magic text to prescribe
any particular beliefs or dogmas, except that magic works if
certain general principles are followed. It would be inappropriate
for any Chaos magician to slavishly adhere to the fine detail of
any system. Much can be learnt from Liber KKK in the process of
adapting general procedures to personal taste and objectives.
Liber KKK may be attempted by any adult. The word "magician"
applies equally to either sex and the use of the male personal
pronouns in the text is merely a literary convention in the
absence of neutral forms in English.

Liber KKK is a series of twenty-five magical operations or
"conjurations". The five classical conjurations of Evocation,
Divination, Enchantment, Invocation and Illumination are each
performed on the five levels of Sorcery, Shamanic Magic, Ritual
Magic, Astral Magic and High Magic. Thus the whole work
systematically resumes the entire tradition of magical technique,
leading the magician from simple practices and the manufacture of
tools towards the mastery of more complex experiments on the
psychic level.

It is highly desirable that the magician has some form of private
temple for his conjurations. Yet it is essential that the magician
remains active in the world for the period of the work as a whole.
The work does not entail any form of retreat from the world, but
rather the world surrounding the magician is used as the proving
ground for magic. Thus the business and social affairs of the
magician are the prime focus for his magic. In performing that
magic he gradually defines his style or spirituality. For it is
senseless to define spirituality as other than the way one lives.
If the Way of Magic is to have a spiritual component it can only
be discovered through the performance, all strictures and
exhortations are useless.

There is no upper limit on the time that may be alloted to
complete the entire work but it cannot be completed in less than a
single year. Any person with the time to complete the operation in
less than a year should consider adopting further worldly
commitments as arbitrary goals in support of which, various parts
of the work can be used. Objective results are the proof of magic,
all else is mysticism.

Samples of the Philosophers Stone which do not transmute lead to
gold will also fail as elixers of enlightenment in a lifestyle of
risk and uncertainty. The magician may need to consider whether he
needs to adopt projects involving these elements before he begins
the work.

For the purpose of this operation, the five classical magical acts
of Evocation, Divination, Enchantment, Invocation and Illumination
are defined as follows:-

EVOCATION:

Is work with entities which may be naturally occuring or
manufactured.  They may be regarded as independent spirits,
fragments or the magicians subconscious, or the egregores of
various species of life form, according to taste and belief
structure. In practice Evocation is usually performed for
Enchantment, in which the evoked entities are made to create
effects on behalf of the magician. Evoked entities also find some
application in Divination, when they are used to discover
information for the magician.

DIVINATION:

Includes all those practices in which the magician attempts to
extend his perception by magical means.

ENCHANTMENT:

Includes all those practices in which the magician attempts to
impose his will on reality.

INVOCATION:

Is the deliberate attunement of consciousness and the unconscious
with some archetypal or significant nexus of thought. The
classical conceptions of Pagan god forms are often used but other
principles may serve. Invocation creates states of inspiration or
possession during which Enchantment, Divination, or occasionally
Evocation, can be performed.

ILLUMINATION: 

Is deliberate self modification by magic and may include spells of
Enchantment cast at oneself to repair weaknesses or increase
strengths, and Divination and Invocation performed for inspiration
and direction.

Thus all magical operations are based on the use of will,
perception and imagination, which is to say that they are all
species of Enchantment or Divination. Imagination is that which
occurs when will and perception stimulate each other.

The five levels of magical activity, Socercery, Shamanic, Ritual,
Astral and High Magic are for the purposes of this operation
defined as follows:-

SORCERY:

Is simple magic which depends on the occult connections which
exist between physical phenomena. Sorcery is a mechanical art
which does not require the theory that connection exist between
the mind of the operator and the target. Any effects arising from
such a connection can, however, be regarded as an added bonus.
Workng on the sorcery level the magician creates artifacts, tools
and instruments which interact magically with the physical world
and which can be used again in more subtle ways on the other
levels. The sorcery level work should be performed thoroughly, for
simple as it's practices seem they are the foundation on which the
higher level work rests.

SHAMANIC MAGIC:

Works on the level of trance, vision, imagination and dream. It
opens the magician's subconscious by negating the psychic censor
with various techniques. The magician faces considerable danger on
this level and may have frequent recourse to sorcery techniques or
banishing ritual if it threatens to obsess or overwhelm him.

RITUAL MAGIC:

Combines the abilities developed on the Sorcery and Shamanic
levels. The magician brings together the use of tools from the
Sorcery level with the subconscious powers liberated on the
Shamanic levels and combines their use in a disciplined and
controlled fashion.

ASTRAL MAGIC:

Is performed by visualisation and altered states of consciousness
or gnosis, alone. Physical paraphernalia is not used although the
tools and instruments from the previous levels can be used in the
form of visualised images. At first the magician will probably
require seclusion, silence, darkness and considerable effort at
concentration and trance to succeed with such magic, but practice
will allow it to be performed anywhere.

HIGH MAGIC: 

Is that which occurs when there is no impediment to the direct
magical effect of will, no barrier to direct clairvoyance and
prescience, and no seperation between the magician and any form of
rapport or consciousness he chooses to enter into. For most people
the portals of High Magic are open at a few peak moments in a
lifetime. As the magician progresses through his training the
momentum he acquires will force open the gates to the miraculous
more often. No procedures are given here for the five conjurations
of High Magic. High Magic represents the point where technique
gives way to intuitive genius and each must intuit the key to
unleashing such powers for himself.

The first twenty conjurations teach the full gamut of artificial
tricks and techniques for throwing and catching the magical
thunderbolt. In High Magic the primordial Chaos at the centre of
our being grabs or hurls the thunderbolt by itself.

The five conjurations on each level may be attempted in any order
but all five should be completed before beginning on the next
level. The magician should prepare to begin the whole operation on
a date that is auspicious or personally significant. Perhaps a
birthday or a seasonal turning point. A book is prepared in which
the magician is to record successes with each of the twenty-five
conjurations. Only successful results are noted and the magician
must modify his approach to each conjuration until results worthy
of recording are achieved. Lesser results may be recorded
elsewhere for reference. The record of the Liber KKK operation,
however, should contain an account of notable successes with each
of the twenty-five conjurations. A single success with each should
be regarded as an absolute minimum whilst five successes with each
of the twenty-five conjurations can be regarded as thorough work.

With the possible exception of acts of High Magic, all
conjurations should be planned in detail beforehand. Upon entering
the temple beginning work, the magician should know precisely what
he intends to do. Most magicians prefer to write out a rubric for
a conjuration even if they rarely use the written form as a cue.
The magician will often have to do more than is planned as
inspiration and necessity move him. Yet he should never fail to
carry out what he has planned or begin work with a vague idea of
doing some magic.

The Gnostic Banishing Ritual
_________________________

During the period of the performance of the Liber KKK operation
the magician may need to defend himself against the results of his
own mistakes and hostile psychic influences. He may also need to
replenish his own health and psychic forces. For these purposes
the Gnostic Banishing Ritual may be used. It is a technically
compact and powerful conjuration of Ritual Enchantment for all of
the above purposes. It may be used freely during the work as a
whole and particularly as a prelude and an ending to each of the
first fifteen conjurations.

Conjurations One to Five - Sorcery Level Magic
_________________________________________

Sorcery depends on exploiting psychic connection between the
physical phenomena and only secondarily on establishing psychic
connections between mind and physical phenomena. Each of the
conjurations requires the use of physical instruments which can be
used again on other levels. It is highly desirable that the
magician make these instruments by his own hand.  However the
magician may adapt existing objects for use if such objects are
especially significant, or unique artifacts, or designed by the
magician, or if such objects become available to the magician in
an unusual or meaningful manner. It is no accident that sorcery
techniques often resemble certain childhood behaviour patterns.
Children often have a natural familiarity with the simple
principles of magic even if they lack the persistance or
encouragement to make them work. The adult magician is seeking to
regain that childlike sense of imagination, fluidity and wishful
thinking, and turn it into something of real power.

Conjuration One - Sorcery Evocation
________________________________

The magician creates with his own hands a physical representation
of a fetish entity by carving, moulding or assembly. Its functions
are in general to attract success, to protect by repelling
misfortune and to act as a reservoir of power for the magician. It
is usually shaped to resemble some kind of actual living being or
chimerical being whose form suggests its function. If it is
vaguely humanoid in shape it is known as a Homunculus. It may be
made to contain parts of the magician's body or be annointed with
blood or sexual fluids. The magician treats the fetish as a living
being, speaking his will to it, commanding it to exert its its
influence in his favour and carrying it on his person when on
critical errands. Some magicians prefer to make two fetishes, one
to implement will, the other to bring knowledge and information.

Conjuration Two - Sorcery Divination
_________________________________

The magician prepares a simple model of the universe for use as a
divinatory tool. A set of Rune Sticks or Rune Stones is most
excellent for this purpose. Occidental geomancy sticks provide a
somewhat simpler model whilst the systems of Tarot or I Ching can
prove too complex for later work on the Shamanic levels unless
abbreviated in some way. The magician should perform divination
both for general trends and for answer to specific questions. The
element of the divinatory tool should be treated as having a
fairly direct relationship to the parts of reality they represent
and the procedures of sortiledge should be regarded as a mirror of
the process by which reality takes its decisions. Divinatory
activity should be pitched at a frequency and complexity which
allows answers to be remembered. It is preferable to divine for
phenomena which are likely to confirm or negate the divination
within a relatively short time period.

Conjuration Three - Sorcery Enchantment
_____________________________________

For the work of the third conjuration the magician may need to
prepare or acquire a variety of instruments, but chief amongst
these should be a single special tool or magical weapon, for
enchantment. A small pointed wand or a knife are especially
convenient. This special instrument or weapon can also be usefully
employed to trace the pentagrams in the Gnostic Banishing Ritual.
A fist sized piece of modelling clay or other plastic material may
be the only other instrument required. To perform Sorcery
Enchantment the magician makes physical representations of his
will and desire. Where possible the magical weapon should be used
to help make or manipulate these representations. The magician
should perform one or several conjurations of this type per week.
As always he should aim to influence events before nature has made
her mind up, and he should not put too great a strain on nature by
conjuring for highly improbable events.

Conjuration Four - Sorcery Invocation
__________________________________

The aim of the fourth conjuration is to create radical changes in
behaviour by temporarily altering the environment. There is no
limit to the variation of experience the magician may wish to
arrange for himself. He might, for example, after some careful
background research, depart in disguise to some strange place and
play out a completely new social role. Alternatively, he may wish
to equip his temple and himself in such a way that he experiences
being an ancient Egyptian god for a time. In Sorcery Evocation the
magician tests to the limit his ability to create arbitrary change
by modifying his environment and his behaviour.

Conjuration Five - Sorcery Illumination
___________________________________

In works of Illumination the magician aims for self improvement in
some precisely defined and specific way. Grandiose plans for
spiritual enlightenment should be abandoned in favour of
identifying and overcoming the more obvious weaknesses and
increasing existing strengths. For the work of Illumination the
magician makes or acquires some object to represent his quest as a
whole. This objects is technically known as a "lamp" although it
may take the form of anything from a ring to a mandala. The "lamp"
is used as a basis over which to proclaim various oaths and
resolutions. Such oaths and resolutions may also be marked onto
the design of the lamp. The magician may need to perform various
supplementary acts of invocation, enchantment, divination and even
evocation to make progress with the work of illumination. It is
not unusual for the magician to destroy and rebuild the lamp
during the work of illumination.

Conjurations Six to Ten - Shamanic Level Magic
__________________________________________

Shamanic Magic depends on the use of altered states of
consciousness in which active visualistation and passive vision
seeking can most easily occur.  The altered states which are
easiest and safest to access are those of half- sleep, dream and
light trances brought on by quiet meditation. However, any method
of Gnosis can be used according to taste, but in initial exercises
it is wise to avoid certain dangerous and ecstatic practices which
can lead to a loss of control. In general it is preferable to try
and deepen the trance by concentrating on visualisation and vision
than to deepen it by extreme Gnosis beforehand. In Shamanic Magic
the magician is seeking to discover and establish connections
between his mental imagery and phenomena in the world. Visions
frequently occur in symbolic language, thus for example, diseases
take on the appearance of insects or loathsome animals, and fears
or desires may appear as spirits. The magician or shaman should
deal with such things as the images in which they present
themselves, banishing or invoking such forms by force of
visualisation and interpreting their physical meaning where
necessary. Shamanic magic tends to become a very idiosyncratic and
free form exercise in which the magician also explores his symbol
synthesising faculties.

Conjuration Six - Shamanic Evocation
_________________________________

In this work the magician strives to establish a vision of an
entity which he projects to do his bidding. It is often useful to
work with the visualised forms of the entities used for the
sorcery evocation although other forms can be chosen. In general,
entities are used to encourage desired events to materialise, or
to seek out information, in situations which are too complex for
simple spells or divinations to be formulated. Entities act as
semi- intelligent spells with a limited degree of independent
action. The magician seeks to build an increasing rapport with the
entities he has conjured by imagination until they begin to have
real effect upon the world. Some of the best work with entities
can often best be achieved by interacting with them in dreams.

Conjuration Seven - Shamanic Divination
____________________________________

In Shamanic Magic divination consists of a vision quest for
answers to particular questions. However, the traditional term
"vision quest" should be understood to include a quest for an
answer sensed in any way, be it hallucinatory voices, tactile
sensation or whatever. In general the magician concentrates on the
question he wishes to put as he enters his state of dream,
half-sleep or trance and then allows a flow of images, voices or
other sensations to arise within himself. A completely free form
vision can be attempted and later interpreted, or the magician may
attempt to structure his experience by looking for special
symbols, particularly those chosen for the sorcery divination
work.

Conjuration Eight - Shamanic Enchantment
______________________________________

In Shamanic Enchantment the magician seeks to impress his will
upon the world by a direct or symbolic visualization of his
desire. Thus whilst in his chosen form of trance he summons up an
image of the target phenomena and visualises his desire coming to
pass. The magician will often find it helpful to visualise himself
in the spirit vision travelling to the person or situation he
wishes to influence. He then visualises an imaginative enactment
during which the situation or the person's behaviour changes to
fit his desire. It is not unusual for the visualisation to become
somewhat symbolic or distorted or coloured by the magician's
imagination. In general these distractions should be banished by
greater concentration on the desired visualisation. However, if
they are persistent they may reveal some knowledge about the
target or the magician's relationship to it which he can use to
improve his enchantment. For example, if a target person
repeatedly appears to have some kind of aura or animal form in a
vision it is often best to work ones visualisation directly upon
this. Similarly, if a target situation seems to have some kind of
characteristic vibration or "feel" about it in the spirit vision
then the magician will often succeed by spirit vision then the
magician will often succeed by working his magic upon a
visualisation of this rather than of the actual substance of the
situation.

Conjuration Nine - Shamanic Invocation
___________________________________

In Shamanic Invocation the magician draws knowledge and power from
Atavisms, normally animal atavisms. A number of ingenious
explanations exist as to why such experiences are possible. The
human genetic code contains a huge amount of apparently unused
information. Much of this must relate to our evolutionary history.
The human brain has developed by a process of accretion rather
than by complete modification. The older parts of our brain
contain circuits and programs identical with those in other
animals.  Some magicians consider that the psychic part of humans
is built up from the psychic debris of many past beings including
animals, in much the same way as the physical body is. Others
consider that the collective psyches of the various animal species
is available to them telepathically.

To perform Shamanic Invocation the magician strives from some kind
of possession by an animal atavism. The selection of a particular
animal form is a very personal matter. It may be that the magician
has had some affinity with a particular animal since childhood, or
has some characteristic, physical or mental, which suggests an
animal, or it may be that an intuition builds up or that a sudden
visionary revelation occurs. To develop the invocation the
magician should try to visualise himself in animal form whilst in
trance and even to project himself in astral travel as an animal.
It is often useful to physically act out the behaviour of the
animal in a suitable environment.  With practice, varying degrees
of split consciousness can be achieved in which it is possible for
the magician to interrogate his atavism upon matters it
understands and to ask it to provide him with such of its powers
as his physical or astral bodies can support.

Conjuration Ten - Shamanic Illumination
____________________________________

The so called medicine journey of Shamanic Illumination is a quest
for self- knowledge, self renewal or self improvement. It can take
many forms.  Traditionally it often takes the form of a death and
rebirth experience in which the magician visualises his own death
and dismemberment of his body followed by a rebuilding of his body
and "spirit" and a rebirth.  Sometimes this process is accompanied
by physical privations such as sleeplessness, fasting and pain to
deepen trance. Another method is to conduct a series of visionary
journeys summoning up the so called "spirits" of natural
phenomena, animals, plants and stones and asking them to yield
knowledge. The simplest method of all is to retire for some days
to a wild and secluded place far from the habitations of men and
there to conduct a complete review of one's life up to that point,
and also of one's future expectations.

Conjuration Fifteen - Ritual Illumination
____________________________________

In Ritual Illumination the magician applies various ritual acts of
divination, enchantment, evocation and invocation to himself for
self improvement. As with all acts of illumination the changes
attempted should be specific rather than vague and general. The
magician may find it useful to prepare a more elaborate "lamp"
perhaps in the form of a mandala representing his self or soul for
this conjuration. One effect of ritual illumination is often to
force the magician to choose between Atman and Anatta. If he works
within the paradigm of Anatta, the hypothesis of no-soul, then
illumination is a matter of the addition or the deletion of
certain patterns of thought and behaviour.  If the magician works
within the paradigm of Atman, the doctrine of personal soul, or
Holy Guardian Angel, then he faces a more complex, dangerous and
confusing situation. If a personal soul is presumed to exist but
without a true will then the atman magician can proceed as if he
were an Anattaist. If a true will is presumed to exist then the
conjuration must be directed towards its discovery and
implementation. The author has avoided treading too far along this
path but has observed the process go spectacularly wrong in
numerous cases. Those who wish to attempt it are counselled to
avoid accepting as true will, anything which conflicts radically
with ordinary commonsense or "lower will", as it is disparity
called in this paradigm.

Conjurations Sixteen to Twenty - Astral Magic
_________________________________________

Astral Magic is Ritual Magic performed entirely on the plane of
visualisation and imagination. Unlike Shamanic Magic where a
fairly free form use of images and visions is explored, this magic
requires the precise and accurate visualisation of an internal
landscape. In this landscape the magician carries out processes
designed to bring him knowledge of the ordinary world or to change
the world or himself. Astral Magic has to be approached with at
least as much preparation and effort as it put into ritual magic
or else it can tend to become a brief series of excursions around
the imagination to little magical effect. Properly performed, it
can be a source of extraordinary power and it has the advantage of
requiring no physical equipment. Astral Magic is usually begun in
some quiet secluded place whilst the magician is comfortably
seated or couched with closed eyes. There may be few outward signs
that anything is happening apart from perhaps a variation in
breathing rates or posture or facial expressions as the magician
enters gnosis.

To prepare for Astral Magic a temple or series of temples needs to
be erected on the plane of visualised imagination. Such temples
can take any convenient form although some magicians prefer to
work with an exact simulacrum of their physical temple. The astral
temple is visualised in fine detail and should contain all the
equipment required for ritual or at least cupboards where any
required instruments can be found. Any objects visualised into the
temple shold always remain there for subsequent inspection unless
specifically dissolved or removed. The most important object in
the temple is the magician's image of himself working in it. At
first it may seem that he is merely manipulating a puppet of
himself in the temple but with persistence this should give way to
a feeling of actually being there.

Before beginning Astral Magic proper, the required temple and
instruments together with an image of the magician moving about in
it should be built up by a repeated series of visualisations until
all the details are perfect. Only when this is complete should the
magician begin to use the temple. Each conjuration that is
performed should be planned in advance with the same attention to
detail as in Ritual Magic. The various acts of astral evocation,
divination, enchantment, invocation and illumination take on a
similar general form to the acts of Ritual Magic which the
magician adapts for astral work.

Conjurations Twenty One to Twenty Five - High Magic
________________________________________________

All the techniques of magic are really just so many ways of
tricking some indefinable parts of ourselves into performing
magic. The universe is basically a magical structure and we are
all capable of magic. The really useful theories of magic are
those which explain why magic tends to work so erratically and why
we have such enormous inhibitions about believing in it, making it
work, and recognising that it has worked. It is as if the universe
has cast a spell upon us to convince us we are not magicians.
However, this spell is rather a playful cosmic joke. The universe
challenges us to shatter the illusion by leaving a few cracks in
it.

No details are presented for the five conjurations of High Magic,
nor can they be given, the reader is referred back to the remarks
made on them in the introduction. The magician must rely on the
momentum of his work in sorcery, shamanism, ritual and astral
magics to carry him into the domain of high magic where he evolves
his own tricks and empty handed techniques for spontaneously
liberating the chaotic creativity within.

KAOS KERAUNOS KYBERNETOS
