Alan Moores response to KAOS 14

Northampton, 31st December, 2002

Dear Joel,
Whilst I personally had envisaged for you a perhaps more stately and aloof return to
Magic publishing, I must admit that to have KAOS suddenly burst screaming from its
mortuary drawer with a grenade in each putrescent fist would seem to have got
everyones attention. Issue fourteen was a marvel, all of its diverting and diverse array
of contents instantly engrossing, every item mining a far deeper, richer seam than the
depleted, worked-to-death slag-reclamation projects occupying so much space on the
contemporary occult bookshelf. The sheer number of intriguing points raised by each
piece makes an in-depth response all but impossible, but if an incoherent mess of
bounced-back radar echoes is of any interest at all, then I include the following.
Connecting Kaos or the Beast of Revelations (the one ridden by Babalon, which I think
was either Fleegle or Bingo. The one that rises from the sea is definitely Snork) with
Pan doesnt seem too much of a reach. Though Crowley places Pan at Kether, largely on
account of the coincidence that makes his name the Greek for All, it seems more
natural, considering the gods original priapic nature, to position him at Chokmah. As
for a specific correlation with the sexual union between the Beast and Babalon, we have
the myth in which Pan rapes Selene in Arcadia, which seems to have most of the
elements contained within the Babalon/Beast union: a chaotic, animal, pre-human force
with a relationship to Chokmah, locked in sexual congress with the most celestial aspect
of the lunar and the female, as expressed at Binah. The only major difference that exists
between the two tales is that one is a Myth, possibly a Creation myth, taking place in the
remote past, while the other is a vision or a prophecy of something that will happen in
the future, is an End-time intimation of Apocalypse. Could it be that the symbolic
sexual congress between Kaos and Babalon is that between Pan and Selene, but
reflected at the other end of time? Just an idea.
Another random notion surfaced during Satyrs fascinating Black Lodge memoir, in the
section where he speaks of stacking psychic sandbags as a barrier against occult attack.
He describes a vision of the monstrous and demonic forces sent against him hurling
themselves at his magic force-field, and makes the comparison with an almost identical
scene in the film Forbidden Planet. What struck me about this linkage was the fact that
the aforesaid film is obviously a science-fiction retread of The Tempest, with Dr.
Praetorius as a kind of techno-Prospero, Praetoriuss daughter as Miranda and the
grounded spacemen as the shipwrecked mariners. Robby the Robot understudies Ariel,
while the intensely memorable Monster of the Id described by Satyr is a pyrotechnic
Caliban. What makes this interesting in the context of Black Lodge of Santa Cruz is that
the central pivot of 'The Tempest', namely Prospero himself, was almost certainly
described by Shakespeare with the writers fellow School of Night alumni John Dee
very much in mind. Prospero (or, indeed, Praetorius for that matter) is a sorcerer whos
at the end of his career, an isolated figure cared for only by his daughter. This is true of
Dee, in his last days at Mortlake.

Dr. Praetorius and Prospero, save for their loyal offspring, are attended only by their
spirits, sublimated pieces of themselves like Robby and the Id-beast, Ariel and Caliban.
Dee too, in his last entries to The True and Faithful Relation, has his angels by him,
asking them the meaning of the blood found in his stool. If it is true that the Enochian
spirits, both benevolent and fearsome, were the inspiration for The Tempests Ariel and
Caliban, Forbidden Planets robot servitor and its ferocious Id-beast, then it would
seem only fitting that somebody getting into trouble with Enochian Magic should see
hostile forces set against them in such terms.
(Incidentally, I dont know if this is relevant, but at least until some six or seven years
ago, a place called John Dee Cottage out beside the churchyard grounds at Mortlake,
was the editorial address of a UFOlogy and alien-contact-centred small-press
publication called Magonia, which seemed to take a fairly sane and skeptical approach
to its material, leaning towards a psycho-social explanation for these seeming visits
from the creatures of the upper aethyrs. This, again, connects Dee by a different route to
the science-fiction milieu of Forbidden Planet. If only I could find a reference in the
diaries somewhere to Ed Kelly suffering from time loss or experiencing an anal probe,
we really could be onto something here.)
Oh, yeah, and while were dipping into KAOS #14 at random, I cannot believe the sheer
affrontery of your Word of the Aeon, Jubalcain. While I may not know the rules
pertaining to a Magus and the speaking of his Word, I am quite familiar with the rules of
Scrabble which state very clearly that if you cant find it in a dictionary then you have
to take it back. I mean, come on. Tubalcain is in there, so why arent you using that? Ill
tell you: its because a T is only worth three or something, but if you can get that J on
a triple letter score then thats thirty points! Thirty points! Well, anyway, youre busted,
which means its my go. I say that the Word of the Aeon is Shazam, the word of
transformation. I can prove this beyond any shadow of a doubt by both Gematria and
that other one thats sort of like an acrostic, only Jewish. Notariqon or whatever it is.
Also, I think youll find that I can place the Z on that same triple letter score as you
were after with your J. So, fuck you, I win. Im Logos and I get to wear the special hat
and everything. There is a special hat, right?
On a different note, all the material on Lilith was revealing, and kicked off some
thoughts or half-thoughts. Firstly, I remember hearing an interpretation or a version of
the Adams first wife story wherein Adam wanders into Yahwehs secret lab before
the Frankenstein work on his future mate has been completely finished. Lilith is still
skinless. Adam can see all the phlegm and shit and viscera. He turns around to God and
he goes What the fucks this? You said you were making me a bird, but this looks like
the peeled bloke in that first Hellraiser video. And Lilith, obviously, she hears this and
goes into one and storms off in a strop to fornicate with demons and give birth to
monsters and abominations. The point of all this, probably, is that if you should happen
to walk in upon a woman when she hasnt got her skin on, dont go on at her and make a
fuss. Just look pleased-but-quizzical and say Hmm. Theres something different. No,
dont tell me what it is.
As far as the relation between Babalon and Lilith goes, I noted with some interest the
material relating to King Solomons suspicion that his consort Sheba might be Lilith in
disguise. With Solomon himself only a borderline case in terms of historical veracity,
what if we think of Solomon and Sheba as two mythological (as opposed to

Biblical/historical) personas? Solomon, in this role, would appear to be a sort of

demigod who symbolises wisdom, which would place him kabbalistically at Chokmah,
even if he wasnt allocated to that sphere already as a court-card Tarot King. Sheba, his
Queen, is said to be both fertile and adept at Magic. She is also black. Considered as a
figure from mythology (and as a Tarot Queen), in terms of the kabbala she would seem
to correspond to Binah. Could Solomon and Sheba maybe represent another fractal level
of self-similarity, a lower, more nearly material avatar of Kaos-Babalon?
Oh, before I go, Im sorry to report that Im experiencing trouble in getting that article
on J.K. Rowling (J.K. Rowling: Burn her! Burn the Witch!) together, like I promised.
Its the lack of any real hard evidence thats difficult to get around. The only points that
Ive so far assembled that suggest we would be right to immolate the popular childrensbook author are as follows:

1. How knoweth Goody Rowling so much of the Devils Art, lest in truth she be a
screeching hag that rideth in the night with her dark Master?

2. That Goody Rowling hath in spite caused a foul-mouthed homunculus to sprout atop
the head of Terry Pratchett, wherefore he must always wear an hat, that it should be
concealed.

3. That Goody Rowling hath an other teat concealed within her arme-pytte, whereat she
giveth suck to her familiar, called Pyssewicket.

4. She sinketh not in water.

5. Burn her! Burn the Witch!

Like I say, its not much of an argument to base our efforts on if we are really serious
about getting this chick set fire to. Also, when I told you that I definitely remembered
seeing a copy of an earlier, more sexually provocative book in the series called Harry
Potter and the Choronzon Working, it turns out this was only in a dream. Sorry.
Anyway, congratulations again on the most cracklingly potent occult magazine since,
oh, The Golden Hind, The Equinox or Form. I eagerly await issue 15 and look forward
to seeing you tear Magic a new K.G. Death-Hole.
Be in Love and Be Mysterious,

Your chum,

Alan Moore