{"id":19323,"date":"2022-07-14T22:35:14","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T16:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/?p=19323"},"modified":"2022-08-12T18:06:37","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T12:06:37","slug":"kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Somebody once told me that baseball is a metaphor for life, to which I responded, \u201cNo. Ice hockey<\/em> is a metaphor for life: The rules are incomprehensible, and everyone gets hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was in a mood that day. And truth be told, I\u2019m in a mood today as well, since I was just in a conversation with someone who claimed to want to get their head around Chaos Magic, but who refused to accept any definition offered.\u00a0 Like, the bare-bones description (Chaos Magic is an experimental, non-dogmatic approach to magical practice with an emphasis on getting results) just wasn\u2019t clear enough. I think they wanted to learn how to shoot Chaos from their fingertips or something and assumed I was holding out on them.<\/p>\n

Anyway, in keeping with the never-ending quest to explain what Chaos Magic actually is, and because I don\u2019t feel like playing hockey right now, we\u2019re going to take an allegorical look at soccer.<\/p>\n

The black and white pentagons on the soccer ball represent Order and Disorder<\/a>. This is all just science. (Image via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** So. Soccer. Two teams of eleven players each (ten outfielders and one goalkeeper) square off against one another, attempting to kick the ball into each other\u2019s goal as many times as possible. Teams are divided into forwards, midfielders, and defenders, with multiple positions within each category: Forwards are usually tasked with trying to score, while defenders work to keep the other team from scoring, and midfielders either attack or defend, depending on the situation.<\/p>\n
** The big rule of soccer is that players cannot use their hands to move the ball: Goalkeepers can use their hands to keep the ball from getting past them, but the rest of the players are only allowed to use their feet (and sometimes knees and heads) to move the ball around the field. If the ball rolls out of bounds, everything stops, and a player goes to get the ball and throw it back onto the pitch, but that\u2019s the only time anyone other than the goalkeeper is able to use their hands.<\/p>\n
** *Games last roughly 90 minutes, divided into two 45-minute halves. At the end of the second half, whichever team has scored the most goals wins.<\/p>\n

He shoots, he scores, he shatters someone\u2019s thumb. Soccer! (Image via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So now, let\u2019s zoom in on one player in particular. I\u2019m going to name her Stella, after my friend Michael\u2019s<\/a> cat. Stella plays fullback, which means she\u2019s in a defender position and is supposed to stay close to her team\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

Stella is watching the gameplay move closer and closer, and it occurs to her that if she strips away all of the trappings, the true object of soccer is to get the ball into the other team\u2019s goal \u2014 everything else is extraneous. She also realizes that while the referee has whistles and red cards to keep everyone in line, there\u2019s nothing physically preventing her from playing the game however she wants.<\/p>\n

When the ball finally comes to her, Stella picks it up, runs across the field, and throws it into the opposition\u2019s net.<\/p>\n

Did she break the rules? Undeniably. But Stella understood that the rules are arbitrary: They only exist because everyone agreed to believe they exist. Stella simply set aside her belief in them. And while her method of scoring a goal wasn\u2019t necessarily easier \u2014 she still had to make it across the field while dodging the other players and the goalie \u2014 it was definitely more effective.<\/p>\n

Stella is also a snazzy dresser. (Image via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** *Keep in mind, y\u2019all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with soccer as-is. It\u2019s the most popular sport in the world, and a lot of awesome feats can be performed within the constraints of the game, provided one is willing to play by the rules. Stella, on the other hand, just wanted to get the ball in the goal, so she came up with a direct route to pull that off. And, more than likely, she wanted to see what would happen when she tried it.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re really into soccer, that\u2019s excellent \u2014 like I said, it\u2019s a great game, and it\u2019s honestly one of the few sports I actually comprehend. I myself have enjoyed many a soccer game in my life (although it\u2019s the schadenfreude<\/a> of hockey that gets me out of bed every morning).<\/p>\n

But sometimes, I\u2019m just focused on getting the ball into the net, and it\u2019s entirely possible for me to do that without shin guards or kneepads or ten teammates or a fetching jersey. Or believing that I\u2019ve been conscripted to follow every rule in the playbook.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s Chaos Magic. Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Score your own goal however you see fit.<\/p>\n

Like what you\u2019ve read? You ca<\/em><\/span>n<\/span> buy me a coffee<\/a><\/span> about it.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nOh, more discord, you say? But of course! Follow Fivefold Law on<\/span> Twitter<\/a><\/span>,<\/span> Instagram<\/a><\/span>,<\/span> Facebook<\/a><\/span>, and<\/span> Zazzle<\/a><\/span>*****
** .<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
** *****Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It’s time to play some sportsball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4491,"featured_media":19328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[6187,6181,6171,6178,6174,997,6184,6168,6165],"class_list":["post-19323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chaos-magic","tag-defender","tag-forward","tag-fullback","tag-goalkeeper","tag-ice-hockey","tag-michael-lux","tag-midfielder","tag-soccer","tag-stella"],"yoast_head":"\nKill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fivefold Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-14T16:35:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-12T12:06:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1390\/2022\/07\/sport-g15899ae5d_1280-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thumper Forge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FivefoldLaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thumper Forge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/\",\"name\":\"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-14T16:35:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-12T12:06:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/637c721be21db31b037f7e06cce803b3\"},\"description\":\"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/\",\"name\":\"Fivefold Law\",\"description\":\"Discordian Witchcraft, Chaos Magic, Traditional Wicca, Geomancy, and the occasional glimpse into 12-Step Recovery from the impertinent perspective of a Post-postmodern Pagan.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/637c721be21db31b037f7e06cce803b3\",\"name\":\"Thumper Forge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57bdd4fe333e08e6f9c9efc96079056b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57bdd4fe333e08e6f9c9efc96079056b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thumper Forge\"},\"description\":\"Thumper Marjorie Splitfoot Forge is a Gardnerian High Priest, an initiate of the Minoan Brotherhood, an Episkopos of the Dorothy Clutterbuck Memorial Cabal of Laverna Discordia, a recovering alcoholic, and a notary public from Houston, TX.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FivefoldLaw\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/author\/tforge\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic","description":"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic","og_description":"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/","og_site_name":"Fivefold Law","article_published_time":"2022-07-14T16:35:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-12T12:06:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1390\/2022\/07\/sport-g15899ae5d_1280-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thumper Forge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FivefoldLaw","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thumper Forge","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/","name":"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-14T16:35:14+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-12T12:06:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/637c721be21db31b037f7e06cce803b3"},"description":"Alright, my fellow Chaotes and Discordian Witches: It's time to play some sportsball.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2022\/07\/14\/kill-the-game-soccer-as-a-metaphor-for-chaos-magic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kill the Game: Soccer as a Metaphor for Chaos Magic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/","name":"Fivefold Law","description":"Discordian Witchcraft, Chaos Magic, Traditional Wicca, Geomancy, and the occasional glimpse into 12-Step Recovery from the impertinent perspective of a Post-postmodern Pagan.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/637c721be21db31b037f7e06cce803b3","name":"Thumper Forge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57bdd4fe333e08e6f9c9efc96079056b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57bdd4fe333e08e6f9c9efc96079056b?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Thumper Forge"},"description":"Thumper Marjorie Splitfoot Forge is a Gardnerian High Priest, an initiate of the Minoan Brotherhood, an Episkopos of the Dorothy Clutterbuck Memorial Cabal of Laverna Discordia, a recovering alcoholic, and a notary public from Houston, TX.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/FivefoldLaw"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/author\/tforge\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}****