Defining Chaos Magic by Mark Chao
(full version available at www.Sacred-Texts.com)

Chaos is not, in itself, a system or philosophy.  
It is rather an attitude that one applies to one's 
magic and philosophy.  It is the basis for all magic, 
as it is the primal creative force.  A Chaos Magician 
learns a variety of magical techniques, usually as 
many as she can gain access to, but she sees beyond 
the systems and dogmas to the physics behind the 
magical force, and uses whatever methods are appealing 
to him/her.  

Chaos does not come with a specific grimoire or even a 
prescribed set of ethics.  For this reason, it has been 
dubbed "the left hand path" by some who choose not to 
understand that which is beyond their own chosen path.  
There is no set of specific spells that are considered 
to be 'Chaos Magic spells'.  A Chaos Magician will use 
the same spells as those of other paths, or those of his 
own making.  

Any and all methods and information are valid, the only 
requirement is that it works. Mastering the role of the 
subconscious mind in magical operations is the crux of 
it, and the state called "vacuity" by Austin Osman Spare 
is the road to that end.  Anyone who has participated in a 
successful ritual has experienced some degree of the 
`high' of this state.

An understanding of the scientific principles behind magic 
does not necessarily require a college degree in physics  
(although it wouldn't hurt much, if the linear attitude 
drilled into the student could be bypassed).  Experience 
with magical results will bring the necessary understanding.