Chaos Protocols: Gordon White is all up in your Business.

Gordon White is all up in your business. First he published the groundbreaking “StarShips” through Scarlet Imprint, and now he releases Chaos Protocols through Llewellyn. This act alone should send a clear message to those who have had their noses in the air about judging books and their authors based solely on who publishes them. This review is going to focus on Chaos Protocols.

It’s been a long time since I devoured a book in one sitting, but sure enough I was up past 2am last night reading Chaos Protocols. It is THAT GOOD. More than just being that good though, its hits the ball out of the park on a number of levels that I am very passionate about.

SORCERY FOR THE APOCALYPSE ECONOMY

I wrote my book Financial Sorcery because I am very passionate about people in the occult/pagan community getting a better handle on money. It is the book I am most proud of, but as I read the first few chapters of Chaos Protocols I  actually grew mad at myself for not covering the crisis in greater depth. Thankfully Gordon did a fantastic job of laying out:
1. What has happened.
2. Why this is the new normal that is not going to go away any time soon.
3. How magic can help you survive and indeed thrive in this brave new world.

I am anticipating that he is going to get some criticism from the Social Justice crowd for making suggestions that are geared towards an individual reader that are not applicable to everyone. For instance Gordon strongly suggests geoarbritage – moving to where the economy supports your efforts – something not everyone can do. But of course no suggestion is something everyone can do, and advice for an individual trying to make it in a broken world is not always the same as advice for society at large.

Listen to his advice here and put yourself in a position to succeed. Then you can save the world.

OPTIONALITY

Gordons Embrace of Nassim Taleb’s Optionaility as a spiritual philosophy is great frame for a initiatory path that requires no true will or clearly laid out goal and stages. It is precisely this approach towards mysticism that has guided my life over the last 16 years, and pulled me away from Buddhism. I was glad to see it articulated by Paulo Coelho in the The Witch of Portobello a few years back, and even happier to see it laid out so clearly and linked to practical magic and probability engineering by Gordon.

For many people tied to a specific model of initiation, this will be a game changing philosophy. There is much more than just success magic going on in this book.

ADVANCING THE ART OF CHAOS MAGIC

Chaos Magicians once prided themselves on being on the bleeding edge of new developments. Many still do in fact, while regurgitating moldy old lines lifted from 30 books and 20 year old websites. You find none of that here. Gordon is one of the Chaos Magicians who is less interested in what comic book characters you can invoke, and more interested in using the streamlined approach and inherent freedom of Chaos Magic to push into genuinely fresh perspectives.

Yes, there is a chapter on Sigils, but its tied to his applications of shoaling and robofish that further the art. Rather than making up deities, you find fresh perspectives and tweaks on ancient rituals and how to successfully have Saints, Demons, and the Dead as your allies all at the same time.

If you have any designs at all on Succeeding at Financial Sorcery, you should grab this book.