Book Review

Title:  _Liber Null & Psychonaut_ by Peter J. Carroll
Category:  Chaos Magic

_Liber Null & Psychonaut_ is a one-volume edition that
contains the two books mentioned in the title.  _Liber
Null_ is broken up into minor books itself:  "Liber
MMM", "Liber LUX", "Liber NOX", and "Liber AOM." 
_Psychonaut_ is a collection 
of essays written by
Carroll.

The introduction and the pages which come before
"Liber MMM" introduce the IOT (Illuminates of
Thanateros), the Order to which these books were
originally circulated.  Before I move on, the name
Thanateros--according to Carroll--takes its name from
the Gods of sex and death (Eros and Thanatos). 
Carroll wastes no time in 
announcing the apparent
greatness of the Order, saying "The Illuminates of
Thanateros are the magical heirs to the Zos Kia Cultus
and the A.'.A.'."  After this, we find "Liber MMM".

"Liber MMM" is the student syllabus of the IOT, and
concerns itself with three major areas:  mind control
(where Carroll discusses magical trances, and a
"metamorphosis of the mind"), magic (mostly based on
sigils), and dreams.  Carroll advises us to keep two
records:  one for dreams and the other for magic.  In
this section we're started off with some exercises to
build up to magical trance, and the section on magic
starts us off by guiding us through the construction
of a banishing ritual.  As a whole, it felt as if more
could've been placed in this first section.

"Liber LUX" and "Liber NOX" consititute the initiate
syllabus of the IOT, LUX dealing mostly with white
magic and NOX mostly with black.  In LUX Carroll
begins to discuss Kia, Chaos, and the beginnings of
his magical philosophy.  Kia is the life force, and is
of a singular nature, meaning that we can't directly
understand it because it doesn't have very many
definable qualities.  Chaos is "responsible for the
origin and continued action of events", and Carroll
claims "It could as well be called God or Tao, but the
name Chaos is virtually meaningless..."  Under the
subheading "Gnosis" Carroll claims that "Altered
states of consciousness are the key to magical
powers."  This becomes one of the underlying points of
_Liber Null_, and this section shows both inhibitory
and excitatory ways of reaching gnosis (which Carroll
defines as "one-pointedness").  Then comes sections on
Invocation and Evocation, which felt like more
could've been added.  There is then a section on
"Liberation", where Carroll says "Liberating behavior
is that which increases one's possibilities for future
action."  I'll leave it at that.  The next
section--Augoeides--speaks of what others would call
The Great Work, or Knowledge and Conversation of the
Holy Guardian Angel.  This section stood out, and
Carroll explained this section with a bit more focus
than he had the rest of LUX.  The following section is
entitled "Divination", and is very helpful.  The final
section of "Liber LUX" is called "Enchantment",
although it is more a chapter on spell casting than
anything else.

"Liber NOX" is directly after LUX, which covers black
magic.  After a bit of an introduction, there is a
section on Sorcery, which Carroll defines as "The art
of using material bases to effect magical
transformations."  This section includes a small bit
of information on divination by magical mirrors (which
he calls "The Mirror of Darkness"), and using that
mirror to assist in attacking another.  "The Double"
is the title of the next section, and talks about the
astral body.  This may be the most interesting section
in NOX, discussing the double in various circumstances
(dreams becoming astral projections and the occult
martial arts being two).  The next section is called
"Transmogrification", and is defined as "The
metamorphosis to black magic consciousness."  We're
given a bit of a description as to what Carroll
believes this is, but the best description of the
technique is near the beginning, where Carroll says
"He performs monstrous and aribtrary acts to loosen
the hold of human limitations upon himself."  In
"Ecstasy", the next part of NOX, we're given different
ways to reach the afore-mentioned word, including a
bit about sex.  "Random Belief" comes next,  which
assigns different beliefs to each sides of a die. 
Simply put, roll the 
die and believe whatever you've
come up with for some time.  When you're done, roll
again.  "The Alphabet of Desire" is the longest part
of NOX, and can be summed up by saying that  it
"Includes all the basic root emotions arranged as
complementary dualisms in a form suggestive of the
classical gods..."  It might take more than one
reading to understand all of the examples.  The last
part of "Liber NOX" is called "The Millenium", and
discusses the so-called fifth aeon.  This section
contains almost no information regarding magic, but
rather is there to describe the events Carroll
believes will herald the new aeon.  Therefore, I don't
feel this should've been included.

"Liber AOM" consists of "The Work of the Adept..." 
Firstly we find a small 
introduction, which can be
best summed up by the line "In the work of the adept
the aspirant has risen above the use of all symbolic
systems save reality itself."  The first section is
entitled "Aetherics", and within one will find
different feats the adept can develop or is expected
to.  "Transubstantiation" is a poem that follows, and
is called "The penultimate metamorphosis, the
acheivement of constant magical consciousness..." 
Following this is a section 
called "The Chaosphere",
which discusses the construction of an object, that
is, plainly put, "A purposely created crack in the
fabric or reality through which the stuff of Chaos
enters our dimension."  "Aeonics" is the next section,
and thankfully takes up less than a page.  This could
be considered a follow-up to "The Millenium", and
contains just as little real information for the
magician.  Again, I don't feel things just as these
should be included in this book.  Finally, the last
piece of AOM--and thus of _Liber Null_--is entitled
"Reincarnation".  Rather than discussing
Reincarnation, Carroll uses these pages to discuss
carrying over adepthood into the next life as
mastership.  Carroll gives three rites for doing so,
the Red, White, and Black Rites.  That which I've read
in this section I've never seen anywhere else.  With
this, _Liber Null_ ends.

_Psychonaut_ is a collection of essays on various
magical topics.  Unlike _Liber Null_, these are not
grouped into 'books', but each is presented
individually.  First we are given a brief
introduction, and then eased into an essay entitled
"New Aeon Magic".  Again Carroll gives his ideas about
the next aeon, which were sprinkled about the previous
book.  After this is an article on group experiments,
giving some basic information.  Next is "Levels of
Consciousness, in which Carroll defines five states of
consciousness "gnosis, awareness, robotic, dreaming,
unconsciousness."  Some may be inclined to disagree. 
"Magical Combat" comes 
next, and I ask all to listen
when Carroll says "Magical combat is to be undertaken
with the same seriousness given to considerations of
assult, the infliction of distress and disease,
grievous bodily harm, and murder."

Next is an essay called "The Rites of Chaos", which
gives five rites for the aspiring priest of Chaos. 
First is the Mass of 
Chaos, which is usually broken
down into these stages:  preparation, statesment of
intent, invocation of Chaos, invocation of Baphomet,
oath, and closing.  The next rite is that of
initiation, which is broken down into: an ordeal, an
empowerment, an induction into the Order, the
unexpected, the initiatory journey, guarding a
station, and magical defense.  The next rite is that
of exorcism, and covers the exorcism of places,
people, and things.  Next is a rite called Extreme
Unction, and is to be performed on the dead and dying.
 Finally is the rite of ordination as a magical/occult
priest.  Certain qualifications are to be met, of
course, but I will not write them here.

After this comes a piece on magical time, which talks
about the sun and moon, how sunspots and lunar cycles
and seasons may influence magical workings.  Following
this is an essay entitled "Chemognosis", which deals
with the use of drugs.  The knowledge found there is
used at the reader's own risk.  Afterwards is a rather
large piece on magical perspectives, although there's
not much variety in here.  Much of the material on
Chaos and the "Psychic Censor" can be found throughout
the book, although a bit more information about
Baphomet can be found here.  The bit on Choronzon
tells more of that idea of a demon that manifests in
the magician when he fails the Great Work.  I find it
interesting that Carroll didn't add any real different
perspectives here, but then again he's been showing
off his techniques and new aeon 'stuff', so this
should be expected.

"Shamanism" and "Gnosticism" are the next two essays,
and give a little bit of background on their
respective subjects.  Throughout the book--and in both
of these chapters--Carroll glorifies shamanism,
speaking of it as the source of all magical powers. 
At one time he calls 
it "That ultimate wellspring of
magic..."  Take from that what you will.  Next, we
find an essay on occult priestcraft.  This--of
course--ties in with "The Rites of Chaos", telling us
how an occult priest might attempt to fulfill the
basic human needs.  Next is an essay on magical
weapons, where Carroll takes the traditional
ceremonial magic weapons--the sword, pentacle, cup,
rod, and the lamp--and turns them into something more
than physical.  As Carroll says, "The weapons
themselves exist primarily on the aetheric or astral
level."  Following up is an essay entitled "Magical
Paradigms", which seems like an extention of the
earlier essay on magical perspectives.  More ways of
looking at things can be found here, some of which are
actually different from the rest.  Following that up
is "Anecdotes", some of Carroll's own experiences. 
Some of these are rather 
amusing, although one was
rather sad.  I won't give them away, as I don't wish
to spoil the fun for those who might enjoy reading
those.

"Catastrophe Theory and Magic" is the final essay, and
thus, the final part of _Liber Null & Psychonaut_. 
The theory "Tells us 
that something unusual is to be
expected under certain conditions," and it would "Tell
us how to provoke catastrophies."  The theory is
applied to changes in belief and mystic/magical
initiations, so the reader can see where catastrophies
are likely to occur.

All in all, there is a lot to learn from these books,
but there are also some things to work around.  There
are many times where a reader might disagree with
Carroll, and times where his use of the word Kia may
confuse.  Other than that, the author provides some
information that I have never seen elsewhere (see what
I said about "Reincarnation" in "Liber AOM").  Funny
at times (I've never heard someone say that putting a
brick into a TV is liberating), straightforward at
others, and always promoting his Order and philosophy,
Peter Carroll gives us a book that just might deserve
to be reccomended.  As a whole, I give it a C.