I might be a Chaos magician.
Your average metalhead (or metalheadette) isn’t going to realize they’re scrawling magical symbols on their schoolwork. Hell, all the heads I knew in high school barely made it through any of Crowley’s work. They knew the Ozzy song though, by the gods, and they made sure to cross the Zee’s in Ozzy’s name when they drew it on their arms in black Sharpie.
We grow, we study, we know what names are and we see the logos for what they are. Trent knows, obviously.
Right there on the back cover of that EP. Under the stylized logo. In not so small print.
It says, “Sigil_02.”
By the hairy balls of Austin Osman Spare, he’s called us out! He’s shoved his band’s dirty little sigil directly into our faces without trying to hide it! It’s brazen. It’s obscene. It’s genius.
It’s working.
It’s a hideous gestalt problem, like looking at a white wall and not being able to see anything but a blocky black and white Jesus head.
I like the band. The music is wonderful. But I don’t want them leeching all my magicks, shivving their way into my ritual work with their slow daggers, just because I know what they’re doing. Not only is that a weird form of chaotic vampirism, but it’s patently uncool.
What to do, what to do?
Weigh in, Practitioners, Chaotic or otherwise.
-X-
PS — No, I’m not posting a picture of the HTDA sigil. Why would I help spread it? You wanna see it so bad, whip out your Googles.
3 Responses to “Gimme back my Sigils.”
Cootie
November 21st, 2012 at 2:06 pm | edit
I really like the thought of Trent dipping his little industrial piggies into ANYTHING. Chocolate, maybe. Ahem. Sorry. Where was I? Oh, yeah, sigils. We talked about this some yesterday, I just wanted to reiterate here. I think the reason it is standing out in your head so much is a combination of all the things you’ve already listed. One, you fucking love this project. How many times have we listened to it over the past week? A lot. Two, the Law of Attention works. You’ve been working with, thinking about, reading up on, sigil magick a lot recently. It’s on your mind. He slapped one on something you love & then put it right there under your nose blatant as anything. No wonder you’ve latched onto it. I would be surprised if you HADN’T latched onto it.
But, like I said yesterday, I don’t necessarily think it’s insidious. I just think you’re stuck on it. And it might take a little while to get unstuck. You could always work on countering it. Toss a blanket over it, put it in a box, build a wall in front of it, proverbially speaking, of course.
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morgana268
November 21st, 2012 at 3:55 pm | edit
Wellie well well wellie… having NOT heard any of HTDA’s music as of yet (which I will be rectifying over the next few days, rest assured), I can’t say whether or not there’s some underlying missive in Reznor’s symbology. What I can say however, is that he has, over the years, put alot of symbolism and metaphor into his work. And much of his work is pretty abstract.. at least the visual stuff anyway.
This, to me, is chaos. Abstract things fascinate me and perplex me at the same time. Paradox. Things that make sense by not making sense, at least on the surface. In my world, I require logic, reason, linear flow.. A squared plus B squared equals C squared. When something falls outside that perfect Vulcan-like mentality, THAT is when it grabs my attention most.
I don’t think this is something you should overlook X. Something in it is calling to you for a reason, more than just “OMFGTRENTREZNORRRR” (and now I have that image of him dipping his toes in chocolate stuck in my head, thanks) Its not them magicking into your musical headspace, not specifically. I think it’s more you’re drawn to something magickal in the music. Maybe it’s nothing more than the mental imagery it creates, but still, I say you’re onto something. See where the road leads, meditate on the chaotic or whatever it is you do.. lol
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Cootie
November 21st, 2012 at 4:02 pm | edit
“meditate on the chaotic”
Awesomest phrase evar.