So I'm not sure who else in this community shares this stance but I've never viewed the ideal of silence as a law. They say not to reveal or speak about doing magick, to keep your craft hidden. Well why? Typically it's believed that by doing so you're either feeding the ego or that by exposing your craft you leave it open to being hindered or altered by outside forces. To put that another way it's like having one too many chefs who are not in agreement and thus interfere with one another however I don't find this has to be the stance we have to take. If we speak or to be bold, brag about our crafts to others, that is an exercise in ego yet why must ego be silenced for the purposes of magick? To spiritually develop ourselves? Why must we be humble for spiritual development in fact is it even necessary? Perhaps for certain forms of magick which rely on relationships, sure. If your powers come from a spirit and moreover from a vow which demands secrecy then it would be prudent to uphold it after all however not all forms of magick require external spirits and as such it doesn't make much sense to call silence or rather secrecy a law.
So if silence isn't a law or rather a universal one in regards to magick then do I view it as completely useless? No, far from that. Although I view silence not as a law I do however view it as an act of discernment, key advise. Allow me to back up and give 2 examples. Perhaps it's because the nature of chaos magick's adaptability allows it to avoid some of the pitfalls found in other traditions or maybe it's because psi, if we were to count that as a form of magick, from the elitist standpoint is about capability, not belief. These 2 practices which I engage in, when taken in this context should not be subjugated to notions of secrecy since chaos magick is based around either finding shortcuts or workaround while the elitist position of psi asks whether you are capable but does not care for belief or disbelief, whether yours or another's. Either one circumvents the so called ego trap or interference by others or the other outright considers them to be nonfactors. If you ask me, I still think keeping silent even in cases where silence is arguably optional may serve a different purpose. For example, if you decide not to be silent then there's a pretty good chance some might try to learn from you. Well are you an expert and moreover is it even something that can be taught? Are they able? See I'm not sure who else has notice this but aside from bolstering the ego or interference from others, another reason why some adhere to silence has to concern with finding a worthy student or at least a capable one. Why waste your time broadcasting yourself before the scoffer? As the saying doth goes, "Do not cast your pearls before swines lest they be trampled upon" yet even if we're dealing with metaphorical swines, is the student even ready yet? Do you even have enough knowledge to guide them and the fortitude to admit when you may have made a miscalculation? No? Then perhaps it's not yet time to speak. There is a time for everything, a time to keep silent and a time to speak. The challenge is figuring that out so err on the side of caution I say. Is that a law? No, just practical advise overall.
So if silence isn't a law or rather a universal one in regards to magick then do I view it as completely useless? No, far from that. Although I view silence not as a law I do however view it as an act of discernment, key advise. Allow me to back up and give 2 examples. Perhaps it's because the nature of chaos magick's adaptability allows it to avoid some of the pitfalls found in other traditions or maybe it's because psi, if we were to count that as a form of magick, from the elitist standpoint is about capability, not belief. These 2 practices which I engage in, when taken in this context should not be subjugated to notions of secrecy since chaos magick is based around either finding shortcuts or workaround while the elitist position of psi asks whether you are capable but does not care for belief or disbelief, whether yours or another's. Either one circumvents the so called ego trap or interference by others or the other outright considers them to be nonfactors. If you ask me, I still think keeping silent even in cases where silence is arguably optional may serve a different purpose. For example, if you decide not to be silent then there's a pretty good chance some might try to learn from you. Well are you an expert and moreover is it even something that can be taught? Are they able? See I'm not sure who else has notice this but aside from bolstering the ego or interference from others, another reason why some adhere to silence has to concern with finding a worthy student or at least a capable one. Why waste your time broadcasting yourself before the scoffer? As the saying doth goes, "Do not cast your pearls before swines lest they be trampled upon" yet even if we're dealing with metaphorical swines, is the student even ready yet? Do you even have enough knowledge to guide them and the fortitude to admit when you may have made a miscalculation? No? Then perhaps it's not yet time to speak. There is a time for everything, a time to keep silent and a time to speak. The challenge is figuring that out so err on the side of caution I say. Is that a law? No, just practical advise overall.
