Review: 'Chaotopia!'

Review: 'Chaotopia!

'Chaotopia!'
Dave Lee
ISBN 0 95306 350 X

I have very mixed feelings about Dave Lee's 'Chaotopia!'. On one hand, the concept around which it is written (magickal techniques associated with each of Leary's 8 circuits) is inspiring. But on the other hand, I found a lot of the material, in particular that relating to the higher circuits to be dry, unoriginal, and uninspiring. Perhaps I'm just not in touch enough with my Holy Guardian Angel...

Having stated this prejudice, I'm going to review 'Chaotopia!' more or less chapter by chapter. I should also note about now that this is not a book to start reading at the middle or the back. The introduction and Chapter 0 really should be read first in order to get a handle on the work as a whole, however diffucult you may find it to actually start a book on magick from the front.

Chapter 0 goes into the purpose of the book, and the relation of its contents to the 8 circuits. Leading on from this, Chapter one deals with money and wealth, apparently Dave Lee's area of speciality (his bancrupcy not withstanding), associating them with the first biosurvival circuit. I personally found this chapter to be rather dissappointing, containing a little self-evident pop psychology, a rather flawed (in my not so humble opinion) wealth test, financial advice, with the magickal elements consisting of a few affirmations and meditations. Big deal. Nothing particularly new or relevant here, although a few interesting concepts are raised. A chapter dealing with biosurvivial could have been more.

So onwards, to the one of several regular inter-chapter interludes, many of which are infinitely more interesting than the chapters that surround them. This first one deals with chemognostic banishing, which looks to be rather fun initself, which is just about the best thing I've ever said about a banishing. More thorough reports on this technique may be forthcoming upon my aquisition of some decent chemos to be gnostic with.

Chapter 2, covering the territorial second circuit via magickal combat and exorcism is, I must say, probably my favourite part of the book. It's useful, realistic, and has a certain anecdotal quality, rather lacking in the rest of the book, that brings it's concepts to life. There isn't anything particularly new here, but the very structure of the information gives it a fresh perspective.

Chapter 3 (numbered 4 in my copy for some unknown reason), covers the place of sex in magick. Again, the information is structured well, but there really isn't anything original here, and the pop psychology and rather tiresome rants about sexual freedom and morality rather detract from the piece as a whole. If the reader wasn't versed in S&M and psycho-magickal effects of sex as a whole, it might be useful, but considering that this *is* aimed a chaotes (a thoroughly twisted bunch at best), the beginner's guide to sexual practice seems rather irrelevant.

With Chapter 4 (also numbered 4) we get to the moral and social circuit, and it's logical magickal association - quantum physics. Hmmm. This chapter, while providing a fairly useful glossary of CMT and physics concepts, is a highly theoretical selection of Lee's thoughts on physics and psychology. There is a fairly interestiong, although not astoundingly useful section of theories on perception of servitors and entities, but that's more or less it. This chapter is neither particularly coherent or useful, in my opinion. Perhaps I'm just not of a sufficiently intellectual bent, but this sort of thing is at it's best being argued over 4 hours during a speed session, and makes for rather dry reading.

Chapter five, relating to the circuit of neurosomatic bliss, covers healing and body alchemy. The first few pages of this chapter are again rather dry, but having got past these and into the sub-heading of body alchemy, things start looking up. The later parts of this chapter contain thoughts on and techniques of such things as magickal elixiers, healing meditations, and related magickal workings (such as a report on the use of a healing servitor). For these, Lee returns to a more anecdotal writing style, which serves well to demonstrate magickal concepts (authors take note).

The following interlude is a wonderful game/exercise called 'name that deity', which is probably going to be a chaote party favourite for years to come. Well, that and naked Quabbalistic Twister.

Now, Chapter 6 deals with the circuit associated with metaprogramming, and is titled 'Chaos Illumination'. This is one of the more useful chapters, dealing as it does with such things as memetic viruses, the structure of habit and identity, and emotional engineering. Again, this is all old ground, but very nicely put, and well structured. I'm tempted to make a comment here about it being useless to myself, due to my current state of perfection, but I think I'll attempt to refrain.

We come now to circuit 7, that of the neurogenetic trance. This chapter goes into the nature of conciousness, the core self, and into dealing with ones Holy Gueardian Angel. Some useful magickal techniques are present, but more so in the form of addenda and commentaries on other techniques. And onwards to the final circuit and the penultimate-and-a-bit interlude: 'The Octoplasm Rite', designed to create a servitor to be a reservoir of pure magick, thus renewing the practitioners'.

We now reach the penultimate chapter, and the 8th and final circuit, which concerns the concept of external conciouness. In other words, entity work. This gives a basic run down of a few different flavours of entities the magician can work with, with some anecdotal notes, and a couple of theories. Again, this chapter strikes me as being underdeveloped. Lee has barely scratched the surface of the concepts he deals with in this chapter, and while the information would probably be useful to someone out there, I had an overwhelming feeling of 'been there, done that, bought the t-shirt'.

The concluding chapter discusses Carrollian aeonics (as opposed to any of 10 other things that answer to aeonics), the possible potential of the aquisition and implementation of immortality, and other such concepts. Oh, and there's a very thorough book list at the back.

I enjoyed 'Chaotopia!' in a lot of ways, but was equally disappointed by it in others. There's rather a lot of matterial that doesn't really relate to the concept of the book (most of chapter 4 to start with), and there just wasn't enough of the relevant stuff. It's an interesting, and on occasion inspiring, read, and I actually do rather like it (she says, after a page of unmitigated slagging). And it's exactly 10 quid, meaning that you don't get an irritating little loose 1p piece that you're only going to drop.

THIS DOCUMENT HAS NOT BEEN CHECKED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
LIVE WITH IT.

Kat
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