Some of you may wonder about the term ‘occultist’ and how I use it, as this… project (AQ-150)? Ministry (AQ 199)? Undertaking (AQ-223)? Develops, I intend to reference the gematria value of words, phrases and names using the system of Anglossic Qabbala that runs through the works of the CCRU and the various post-CCRU groups that have sprung up. This has less to do with any personal attachment to English as a language, and more to do with how this particular gematria complements the Decimal Labyrinth or Numogram. Why did I choose to focus on the Numogram in the first place, though?
As I see it, the Numogram inhabits the perfect grey area between immanent truth, and self-manifesting (hyperstitional) cultural artifact. It emerges from the base-10 counting system unbidden, but resonates with us so powerfully because of the decimal, digit-al (of the fingers, note the keyboard in front of you) world that has emerged in lockstep with the rise of the United States and the high industrial revolution in general. It straddles the line between the unity claims of the Abrahamic magical systems that use the “Tree of Life”, and the dynamic vibrancy of chaos magic inspired hodge-podge systems that were all the rage when I was first looking into mysticism as a teenager.
More than that, Hyperstition is the perfect manifestation paradigm for America (AQ-113 (=5)) and the American Dream (AQ-222). It’s generally agreed that Hyperstition has three main components.
Numogram: : Note the intense and conscious use of numbers throughout American iconography, and the powerful numerology at play within the Constitution.
Mythos: Despite the youth of our country and America as an idea, there is a rich tapestry of mythos developed both here and abroad about what America is, what she means, and how she operates.
Unbelief: Usually this is the hardest part of Hyperstition and the ‘hype cycle’ to get right. Unlike in Chaos magic, where unbelief is generally seen as a poison pill, in Hyperstition unbelief imparts a dynamic, vortical energy to the working that destabilizes existing paradigms and reifies a kaleidoscopic existence. I would argue that the uncertainty about America at home in the past few decades, and the engaged unbelief of our enemies is a vital part of energizing the American Hyperstition.
Effectively, America is already a hyperstition on par with, perhaps even surpassing the Lovecraftian and Holmesian currents often claimed to be the signature examples of hyperstition in practice. We are a country called into being by an ideological dream, an underdog that made itself real despite the world’s most powerful empire arrayed against us. More importantly, we are manifesting an ideal - an Eschaton - the ‘More Perfect Union’ often spoken of in our foundational literature and oration.
Beyond that, Numogrammatic magic is the cutting edge of modern occultism. Its flexibility, integration with the philosophical underpinnings of our “metamodern” world, and easy alliance with technology make it a natural choice for any practitioner who is skeptical of tradition for it’s own sake. The work being done in this current is incredibly exciting, and in particular Gate Zero and Vexsys have published quite a bit of material taking what was a theoretically interesting system and working out the practical kinks. They’re an invaluable resource for anyone trying to make sense of numogrammatics, and I can’t think of anything more representative of the way esotericism manifests in modern America than a magical “start-up” operating out of the west coast.
To sum up, Numogrammatics has the mark of True Power - both new and ancient. Hyperstition is encoded into the cultural and symbolic backbone of America, and is uniquely suited to the challenges and opportunities of a 21st century American spiritualism. Finally, it’s the most uncompromising and experimental of magical paradigms in the community today, and thus the most fitting for a ideal that was born in revolution.