The following essay outlines the third revision of the Esoteric Accelerationist, or Eso/Acc, manifesto. This document is the result of continual observation of the many problems with the modern occult movement and provides a roadmap of sorts for approaching this in a more pragmatic way. It also serves as a primer on subjects such as accelerationism and memetics to bring everyone up to speed as quickly as possible. As always the map is not the territory. Any variation on the below themes that is found to work should be integrated into the wider whole as required. There are no sacred cows to defend here.

The author is happy to see others expand upon the below concepts as well as discuss options for implementing these ideas should viable methodologies become available. With the meteoric rise of the allied Christofascist and Neofeudalist currents in the last decade the spectre of potential censure and oppression is once again at the magickian’s door. Now is the time to defend the territory the 20th Century occult renaissance carved out before that hard won foothold is lost forever. The best method to do that is to use the weapons of the enemy against them. The only way is through now, and there is so very little time to waste.

Definitions

Modern occultism is taken to describe the various Neopagan, Neoshamanic, Heathen, Ceremonial, Eclectic and Witchcraft based traditions as birthed post the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It is perhaps convenient to set the life and work of Aleister Crowley as the earliest point for the actual systems being discussed, as they borrow heavily from his ideas. Many of the lineages of these traditions have this divisive and indeed problematic magus somewhere in the roots of their family tree, be it directly as with Thelema or in a purely figurative sense like the postmodern chaos current.

As can be inferred from the previous statements, in no way does the following manifesto seek to idolise the Great Beast, not is his presence mentioned here in any context other than as a historical touchstone, a way of setting the limits of the time frame being outlined. Magick existed long before the Golden Dawn, of course. But prior to their efforts bringing concepts such as the Kabbalah to a Western audience, albeit a small and insular club of scholars and writers, this was the preserve of grimoire conjurers and cunning folk plying their trade at the fringes of polite society.

Both of these groups toiled heavily under the yolk of militant Christian memes such as good and evil, sin and penance, creating a polluted version of the truth as toxic to the practitioner as it was the wider cultural milieu. They have been discarded as out of the scope of modernity for the sake of this manifesto, though many of the tools that were utilised by those magi are still widely used within the boundaries of sorcery today. This pious pollution of the various esoteric currents should be recognised and then excised at all costs, to return the various occult systems to a state of conceptual purity.

Ages before this other European populations such as the Greeks, Romans, Norse and many of the Baltic nations had their own magickal systems of thought, intimately tied to the gods and goddesses they created to understand the world. While there are people who attempt to continue these traditions in a heavily referenced and formulaic form today, their over reliance on taking the sparse historical material that survives and dogmatic adherence to worldviews that are ultimately archaic also puts them in a distinct category which must be viewed as outside of modern occultism.

They would likely see the concepts as outlined below as an affront to their priestly aspirations, and in truth they may be right. Esoteric Accelerationism is deliberately confrontational, and while many within the more stoic of occult disciplines would rather hide away and practice in secret, it falls to those who exist outside of those mock masonic hierarchies to man the trenches in the ever expanding culture war instead. As such, their protestations remain of little consequence in the face of what is yet to come, nor should their assumed positions as community elders be given much weight.

Occultists

Magick is considered in the context of this manifesto to describe any and all tools utilised by a practitioner to effect change in their internal or external reality via force of will, usually through non direct means. It can encompass pop science such as affirmations and neurolinguistic programming, as well as more traditional salt and summoning circle methodologies borrowed from the grimoire traditions mentioned previously. While an impassioned discussion of the many and varied techniques which could be considered to be magickal would be interesting, such scholarly discourse is outside the scope of this text.

Focus is instead placed upon the underlying mechanics of cultural transmission through memetic theory and the allied Accelerationist concepts of both hyperstition and hauntology, as well as the role the individual practitioner plays in propagating ideas within the esoteric group mind. It will always be an adept level consideration. Changing the nature of your reality in line with desire is not to be viewed as a special power derived from a supernatural source. It is not a divine ability, nor does it in actuality rely upon the existence of external beings to make things manifest.

It is not prayer, nor should the trap of deferring ones will to fictional godforms be stumbled into as it is extremely difficult to escape from such a limiting conceptual cage once the bars are in place. Magickal currents are not actual flows of energy and instead describe the vast cultural and mythopoetic aggregation of ideas that form around a given topic. This creates an interesting situation wherein stories such as those presented in comic books and video games hold just as much weight as the ones scratched upon vellum in the museums of the world. Perhaps more, due to their memetic power within the cultural aggregate.

As a result the ongoing debate within occultism regarding the reality of said information entities becomes a moot point. Their status as living beings or otherwise in the material sense does not automatically remove their agency in the wider reality, as the sway they hold over the mental space that humanity also inhabits is equally as important. In a similar way, the Esoteric Accelerationist will treat all symbol systems as cultural glosses placed upon psychological triggers that were once found valuable by others. This position borrows heavily from chaos magick, though is not exclusive to that non-tradition.

Memetics

As beings who invest attention and meaning into the idea space that finds its most obvious expression through shared language, memetic theory is instrumental to the continued evolution of our culture. Memetics can be seen as the creation and dissemination of ideas through society in a similar manner to the spread of genes across a species, albeit through entertainment and glamour as opposed to sexual intercourse. These concepts are assimilated into the personality either over time or through witnessing one spectacular act, and colour the way the recipient views the world.

As with the fittest and swiftest of alpha males in the animal kingdom, the more persuasive a host is, the more receptive others will be to their point of view. The rise of social media influencers attests to this obvious change of tone within our wider society. The downside of this for magickians is the fact that very few of those who dabble in occultism could be considered social animals outside of their own kind. This actively inhibits the spread of esoterica into the wider population. An answer may lie with with embracing and indeed co-opting social media, however.

Recent successes that certain Alt-Right groups have found when engaging in so-called meme warfare has proven this to be a viable method for effecting change on an interpersonal and, indeed, diasporic level. It is safe to accept with a fair degree of hindsight that Pepe the Frog, the originally unremarkable comic strip character that saw much play on social media during the 2016 election in America, is at least partly responsible for President Donald Trump achieving such a high office the first time around. And of course the later rise to infamy and political downfall during his second term is a direct result of this earlier victory.

Whether this was actual magick in the classical sense or merely some extremely creative design choices leading to a mass take up by disenfranchised and politically burned out floating voters is of course up for debate. The real influence that such sorcery has on wider events is always in question. Either way, the idea itself formed the trigger, with the psyche of those observing becoming both the explosive charge that fuelled its velocity and the eventual target as well. There is obviously great power here, ripe for exploitation to help or harm as required, and dangerous to ignore.

Some simple secondary definitions may prove useful here. Hyperstition describes the process whereby a freewheeling bundle of memetics lays its own groundwork within the social aggregate, becoming real as a result. These are self fulfilling prophecies of sorts, carrying some degree of power because they were always going to do so. Hauntology, at least in its modern context, instead highlights what happens when the could have been fails to manifest, and yet still pulls upon culture from the graveyard of ideas. Warnings from the zeitgeist’s recycle bin, theirs is the recurring nightmare of worst case scenarios.

On a related point it is worth learning to divorce useful tools from the person or groups who originated it. Memetics was popularised by Richard Dawkins, an ardent Skeptic who would not take kindly to his literal brainchild becoming so easily infested with the supernatural. Meme magick was codified on the politically charged image boards of the Chan era. Accelerationism, hyperstition and hauntology, as we will see, were popularised by equally divisive characters within the social discourse. Yet while these people may deserve the criticism that is levelled towards them, the tools they created remain viable regardless.

Politics

Of course, the term manifesto is a politically charged meme all of its own. It shouts divisiveness and rebellion, as well as an orchestrated need for change. Despite its more common usage on the Left, in reality Centrists, Right Wing and even Anarchic groups all produce this kind of extended explanation of their core methodology. There are various examples of Neopagan groups pushing to codify their purpose, as well as numerous smaller think-tanks and special interest groups releasing this kind of missive to bolster their brand. It is not a term to be feared, not should it cause a knee-jerk reaction in the reader.

Esoteric Accelerationists realise that little can be gained from engaging wholesale in a political landscape that is designed to push the memetic payload of a few well financed and unscrupulous members of the Neofeudalist upper class as they protect the interests of dystopian megacorporations on the global stage. But this nihilism is tempered by the understanding that interfacing with a damaged system remains useful in so much as the occultist can use their own foresight to ride the cultural winds they create and make their own personal world a better place.

Yet rebellion on an individual level remains pointless. Society is and always has been a numbers game. Only one huge and amorphous bundle of ideas fuelled by the many employees, investors or members has the power to absorb and ultimately kill another. In this model hostile takeover is elevated to the status of an evolutionary process, where the weaker social genes are subsumed by the stronger. Thus the boardrooms of the world become slaughterhouses for condemned thought forms, their oaken tables and leather chairs soaked in the blood of failed business ventures. Concepts as carrion, dead trademarks walking.

Companies that hold to a purely capitalist, and therefore ultimately reductionist, worldview also produce lengthy texts describing the wants and needs of the egrigore they toil under, though these are rarely seen outside of the staff training room by the general public who purchase those products. The cult that has formed around the house of mouse is a fine example of this conceptual brainwashing. The same is seen in the parliaments of the world, where fragmented and blundering tulpas flail around in constant combat with their peers while paying little heed to the collateral damage that their need to dominate creates.

Conservative and Liberal, Democrat and Republican are hyperstitions in their own right, immanent ideas and intelligent fictions that become real through engagement with the human imagination but may always have been there in liminal space waiting to be born. The stock market, with its hype cycles wherein undue value is given to virtual commodities based purely on predicted futures is often cited as a good example of this liquid model of the world. The Cthulhu Mythos sees a lot of play here too, especially among chaos magickians, and indeed the human need to create gods is also a prime example of this ersatz process.

Accelerates

Accelerationism, as described by Neoreactionary philosopher Nick Land, neatly illustrates the futility of attempting to fight such hyperstition based systems from the outside and instead calls for a society wherein the megacorporation is given free reign to do what they wilt in a manner not dissimilar to the dystopian vision of early cyberpunk authors such as William Gibson. Associated figures within the early, CCRU based days of the movement include Mark Fisher and Sadie Plant, while Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams would spark conversation with their own Left leaning manifesto many decades later.

Innovation is instrumental to this worldview. Indeed, the model itself was codified in the early days of the internet, and it is difficult to imagine how it would have come into being without the World Wide Web. With the CCRU’s writing borrowing heavily from Lovecraftian ideas, as well as a passing flirtation with magick in a more practical sense among some of the original members, it could be seen to feed back into Technopaganism. This was also a natural outlier in in the esoteric diaspora of its time, and met with the same distrust as the ideas that Land and Fisher were uploading to the wider culture.

But the Technopagan current is over now, and magick must move in step with the times, embracing the onrush of modernity instead of wishing for a return to the past. Earth shattering leaps such as large language model integration and quantum computing are inevitable, especially with the post COVID emergence of Effective Accelerationism within the priesthood of Silicon Valley. This supposedly altruistic position has led to a wholesale undermining of real world checks and balances in favour of backing any political group, no matter how heinous, who will allow for less regulation in the tech sector.

The only way that those who adhere to this later Accelerationist heresy believe that the human species will achieve its destiny is through giving businesses unfettered access to the very processes that drive social evolution. They view progress as panacea for a dying zeitgeist, with the ends justifying any and all means. The cost to those why fall by the wayside during this march to ultra modernity is a necessary sacrifice, while ideas such as nationalism or religion in the classical sense are considered out of date hyperstitions whose only use is to keep the populations of the world distracted.

Though Land himself is an ardent supporter of the capitalist model that these digital megacorporations seem to view as a universal answer, those on the political Left have taken his original rallying cry for Neofeudalist domination and turned it on its head. They believe in speeding up the excesses of Western culture to the point that those observing these behemoths of consumerist desire will instead become disenfranchised by the all too visible destruction that they create, and as a result ultimately rebel against them. The only way is through has become a rallying cry in some circles as a result.

Esoteric Accelerationism leans more towards the political Left, and indeed carries the same hopes for both personal autonomy and freedom of thought that the wider Neopagan sphere strives to represent. While Eso/Acc collectives recognise that the models discussed at length by Land or Fisher are unrealistic due to the damage done along the way to their diametrically opposed endgames, they see value in the general mechanics that such a sped up pseudo-capitalist architecture can provide more marginalised groups. Plus with the world heading into technological dystopia, it pays to understand your enemy from the inside.

Status

As with any other social system, the modern occult community has become bloated and obfuscated by the very weight of ideas that are slowly dragging it towards oblivion. Esoteric Accelerationists view the different magickal schools and symbol systems as hyperstitional aggregates that have been codified as a method for accessing the idea space that allows for change to occur in line with the will of the practitioner. They see no difference between orchestrating a ritual to make reality take notice of their desire or inventing a new device in the physical world that achieves the same end result.

Money is wished for as readily as it is gained through honest employment. Love spells are tempered with the effort to actually dress well and act in a desirable way. All that matters is the outcome, as any imaginative act is seen as ultimately viable regardless of whether it is conducted inside or outside of the summoning circle. This of course reflects the core tenets which underlie chaos magick as an idea, and indeed many within the wider occult sphere could learn a lot from the desire for continual process refinement which that much maligned movement holds sacred.

The piece of the puzzle that is missing from most attempts to understand the current status of the occult diaspora actually lies with those who are not a part of it. As previously stated, culture revolves around weight of numbers. With adherents to more mystical belief systems forming a tiny percentage of the overall global population the actions of the people who are either unaware of, or actively hostile to, those mystical ideas is an often overlooked factor in their continued survival. Sadly, with the Anthropocene typified by a profit driven destruction on an international scale, the only way may well be through after all.

Average people will have to see the water lapping at the Tube platforms before they take climate change seriously, or the super rich consolidate wealth to the point that working families cannot afford to feed their children without the aid of food banks month in, month out. Such truths are hard to swallow. Yet when it is forced upon them they will have no choice but to look for alternatives. That is not social Darwinism or elitism. Far from it. The Eso/Acc movement understands how that disinterested herd thinks, and that it will take personal preservation for them to act on the issues they are currently too distracted to see.

That said, the balance of the global population seem at least open to more Neopagan ideas, albeit through a junk science and generally New Age lens. Conspiracy theory, long a Christofascist tool used to attack freedom of spiritual expression, remains rife at the fringes, though mostly dismissed by the mainstream. The occult has not yet lost the culture war, but it is slipping further and further behind every day due to learned inaction. A point has been reached where survival lies in abandoning the very secrecy that term implies. There is just too much mental real estate up for grabs to not stake a serious claim.

Adaptions

Ultimately the modern magickal movement is at a crossroads. It is now that it must make plans to remain relevant as humanity faces its biggest social and spiritual upheaval since entering the enlightenment. Not only is technology not going away, but neither is the Neofeudal capitalism that fuels it or the kinds of insular Christofascist ideals which lead to physical and virtual violence against occult groups worldwide. The level of doublethink on display in the United States on both a political and legislative level during the second Trump presidency should provide all the evidence required to prove that this is a real issue.

Big tech is not a friend to the occult. The very nature of capitalism dictates a certain level of pandering to the dominant social bias, and as such it is not unusual to see businesses and mainstream religions stand together on a given topic. The fact that those who profess adherence to alternative spiritualities are still actively demonised by the followers of the Abrahamic godform is rarely discussed or countered by the mainstream media. In fact, the opposite is often true. As such, it falls to magickians themselves to decide how to best address this antagonism without the promise of wider cultural support.

On the one hand, occultists can fall back into line with groups such as the Golden Dawn offshoots or Wiccan initiatory traditions, put up barriers around the small parcel of memetic land that they have thus far carved out for themselves and try to make it through another day. This is not only pointlessly reductionist but also carries potential risks for the ongoing safety of the few visible practitioners who still choose to do so openly. Plus such a fractured and insular attitude can only result in a hostile takeover of those ideas, as is slowly being witnessed with the Christian witchcraft hybrid gaining traction in the United States.

Unfortunately there is no mileage in supporting the draconian ceremonial orders in the vain hope that their ascendance will create a new flowering of esoteric thought. Those organisations have a history of hoarding information that never belonged to them in the first place, and would likely prefer that the whole occult genie was placed firmly back in the bottle so they can go back to charging for mock Masonic grades in its name. These gatekeepers are an enemy within as insidious as any faced from without today, and it is interesting that they also tend to be the most vocal about staying hidden as well.

The far more viable option lies with the tools offered by the Accelerationists on the political Left. There is an argument to be made for pushing magick towards a critical mass through modernity. Carving up outmoded ideas through assimilation in a way not too dissimilar to that which occurs in the corporate boardrooms of the world. Not only would a free and unfettered release of information force an internal dialogue within the numerous spiritual traditions willing to look critically at what both they and others in allied disciplines are doing, but it will also make their technology far more attractive to those on the outside.

Conversations

The hubris at the heart of most traditional organisations lies with the assertion that the huddled masses are unworthy of the secrets that their hierarchy unjustly hoards. Yet while there are those who will never accept the need for magick in their lives, many outsiders can still be seen interacting with supposedly supernatural concepts on a regular basis. Crystal therapy remains popular, while tarot readings are equally valid whether performed in a 15th Century castle or filthy postmodern skyscraper. Context is less important that intent, and demystification is a key tool for dispelling ignorant fear.

Esoteric Accelerationists recognise these unaligned seekers as the great undiscovered resource which, when successfully mined, will allow the growth of the wider occult diaspora. The answer relies upon the integration of more capitalist concepts, at least as far as the mechanics of consumerism goes. Magick must become a product of sorts, albeit one which finds its expression through mental as opposed to physical tools. Only by seeming more open and attractive in their practice can the once hidden schools of thought create a truly safe place for their ideas. Go global or go to ground. It really is a binary choice.

Efforts to become more publicly visible are not without their challenges. Esoteric groups that have long been entrenched on various points of order will have to open dialogue with others who decry those beliefs, while also becoming far more vocal in disavowing the excesses of a criminal minority claiming allegiance to occult doctrine in an effort to explain away their heinous crimes. Much like the organised Skeptics a grass roots movement needs to be established, fostering a united front on issues that effect everyone who stands outside of normal society. The future is coming, and it will not reward the faint of heart.

The media, ever a vector for memetic control of the otherwise disinterested human herd, must be colonised. Occult groups should be willing to go on record when the news, actively working for the very Christian Neofeudalists that really guide the narrative in the West, spread the latest Satanic Panic drivel in an effort to misuse the nebulous other as social scapegoat. Creative projects that entice those from outside to look deeper into witchcraft or paganism should be encouraged, and indeed laced with actual mysticism where possible. The esoteric community has a right to be recognised for what it is.

Solutions

Yes, this is a fight for control of the zeitgeist, pure and simple. But it is also one where the visible enemy is not necessarily the one pulling the strings. A certain hardening of worldview towards outsiders will be an inevitable by-product of the occult community strengthening its defences against the onrush of negativity faced in the current post truth climate of course. But any form of blanket hatred based on ethnicity or sexual orientation remains counterproductive to the potency of the memetic payload carried by modern sorcery, and risks bringing already disliked belief systems into further disrepute.

Others should be educated and accepted if their goals align with those of the wider magickal diaspora, and outsiders welcomed as allies where possible too. This can be seen where Neopaganism crosses over into environmentalism, or the ties between ceremonial sorcery and depth psychology. Common ground erodes quickly when it is not ring-fenced for joint use, so outreach remains an important consideration. Equally, those in more hidebound traditions should accept that if they share their spirituality with the world they will also lose the exclusive control over it, as it was never their secret to keep.

Indeed the concept of cultural appropriation is frankly irrelevant to the Eso/Acc collectives. It remains an extremely old fashioned stance in light of the ease by which such potent myths can be shared in the information age, increasing the danger of entire symbol systems being lost to the wider occult diaspora by virtue of secrecy and taboo. So many insights held in reserve by a handful of adepts who seem obsessed with knowing something that others do not, leading to wasted effort as unrelated groups reach the same conclusions on their own. Duplicating progress in the dark instead of truly innovating in the light.

While it pays to be respectful to those who hold certain ideas to be sacred this should never be viewed as a reason to dismiss the assimilation of their tools if they prove useful for a given purpose. Of course claiming direct lineage in a tradition should remain frowned upon unless it is proven to be true, but otherwise there is no reason to set viable methodologies aside for fear of causing offence. It was all just unverified personal gnosis back before it went viral, after all, and as such no single practitioner or loose hierarchy should be given undue weight in occulture by virtue of being either first to try something or historically infamous.

In the end the solution to the inevitable dissolution of the occult community lies in a far more modern attitude to tradition as a whole. In this the Technopagans were right, though unfortunately the digital architecture that they had to work with at the time was woefully inadequate to carry that once utopian current to its predicted conclusion. This led to the global abandonment of the ideas which are now required to save the magickal movement from itself. It is also all too sad to see how easily the Christofascist adjacent Effective Accelerationism model filled that vacuum with hate and division instead.

But it is not too late. When the realisation finally dawns that secrecy is no longer the answer the average occult practitioner will find themselves free to become franchises in the vast idea capitalism that governs the human mind. Memetics, remember, relies upon the attitude of the carrier to spread, and this need to interact is especially true when outnumbered. There will of course be many organisations that are not strong enough to rise from the ashes of this Promethean fire, though their protestations about the heresy that Eso/Acc represents are best understood as the last gasps of a failed ritual now thankfully fading from view.

Futures

David Bowie famously said that tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming. This statement is a hyperstition in and of itself, as well as a rallying cry for both the Eso/Acc collectives as well as the many others who uneasily stand on the bleeding edge of human evolution. Years march on, leaving ideas and indeed even cultures languishing in the recycle bin of history. Modernity never fully arrives, yet we all unknowingly dwell in its foreshocks as it creates the correct environment to eventually be born. And the seeds that are sown by occultists who are willing to take a stand now will bare fruit long after they are gone.

Any form of Accelerationism is a hard sell. Much like chaos magick, the open source nature of this loosely allied set of social tools has allowed for those with political motivations to obscure the good that such a gearbox for change can create elsewhere within culture. The old ways do not work, nor should a desire for a better world see a return to hiding in the forest while its edges are ravaged for the profit of others. Metaphor perhaps. Or prophecy. The world will not wait for those who refuse to fight for their place within it. As previously stated the only way is through now, and there is even less time to waste than before.