Late-modern revisions
Peter J. Carroll
Co-founder of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and the person who turned chaos magic from a tendency into a recognisable movement with a curriculum.
- Dates
- 8 January 1953 – living
- Dating
- documented dates
The life
He formally reduced his organisational role during the 1990s and subsequently returned to writing and teaching.
Place in the tradition
Liber Null and Psychonaut together became the defining textbook of chaos magic: altered states, sigils, belief treated as a tool rather than a commitment, and practical experimentation.
a note on the record
History and later legend
He is living, so his line remains open on the chronology.
the written record
Principal works
-
1978
Liber Null
A stripped-down magical curriculum emphasising altered states or 'gnosis', sigils, belief manipulation and practical experimentation.
-
1982
Psychonaut
Extends the approach into group magic, paradigms and broader magical theory.
-
combined edition, 1987
Liber Null & Psychonaut
The combined edition, and probably the defining textbook of chaos magic.
-
1992
Liber Kaos
Pushes his magical theories in increasingly mathematical and cosmological directions.
-
1995
PsyberMagick
A playful, compressed collection of advanced chaos-magical ideas.
-
2008
The Apophenion
Continues his later speculative system.
-
2010
The Octavo
Further development of the same speculative cosmology.