Ken and Ulysses sit down with Duncan Barford — ritual magician, psychodynamic counselor, and longtime collaborator with Alan Chapman — for a deep exploration of chaos magic, mystical experience, and the strange territory where occult practice, psychology, and awakening intersect. Beginning with the early days of The Baptist’s Head and the revival of mystical aims within chaos magic, the conversation traces Barford’s journey from teenage encounters with spirit phenomena through intensive magical practice, encounters with entities, and the gradual movement from postmodern magic toward a more direct exploration of awakening and consciousness.
This week:
Duncan Barford’s background in chaos magic and the IOT, The Baptist’s Head project and mystical approaches within chaos magic, Ritual experimentation and magical practice in the early 2000s, The Holy Guardian Angel as a paradigm for non-dual experience, Mystical awakening and Daniel Ingram’s stages of insight, The overlap between mystical experience and psychosis, Encounters with spirits, entities, and magical phenomena, Abramelin magic and the psychology of ritual practice, The occult realism of A Dark Song and ritual in film.
🔗 People, books, and concepts mentioned:
Duncan Barford – Occult writer, magician, and psychodynamic counselor
Alan Chapman – Magician and co-creator of The Baptist’s Head
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Chapman_(magician)
The Baptist’s Head – Early chaos magic blog and body of work exploring awakening
The Abramelin Ritual – Traditional operation to attain the Holy Guardian Angel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Abramelin
Holy Guardian Angel – Central concept in Western ceremonial magic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Guardian_Angel
Peter J. Carroll – Founder of modern chaos magic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Carroll
Liber Null & Psychonaut – Foundational chaos magic texts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liber_Null
Stages of Insight – Theravada Buddhist map of meditative awakening
The Red Book – Carl Jung’s visionary exploration of the unconscious
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Book_(Jung)
A Dark Song – Occult horror film depicting an Abramelin-inspired ritual
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dark_Song
Aleister Crowley – Occultist and proponent of the Holy Guardian Angel working
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley
Chaos Magic – Postmodern magical practice focused on belief as a tool
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_magic
The Abramelin Operation – Ritual process of devotion and invocation leading to contact with the angel
Entities and spirits in magic – Angels, demons, elementals, and spiritual relationships
🔗 Duncan Barford
Occult Experiments in the Home
Duncan Barford’s main site featuring essays, podcasts, and writing exploring magic, mysticism, psychology, and spiritual experience.
Counselling / Professional Site
Information about Duncan’s work as a psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counsellor.
🔗 Ulysses Black
The World of Ulysses Black
Ulysses Black’s main site — an archive of his work as a ritual researcher, writer, artist, and performance practitioner.
The Ritualist (Substack)
https://theritualist.substack.com
Ulysses’ Substack newsletter exploring ritual practice, symbolism, mythology, and esoteric research.
