Ken and Ulysses sit down with Duncan Barford — ritual magician, psychodynamic counsellor, 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

-Angels, demons, and the nature of spiritual entities

-Chaos magic, postmodernism, and the search for truth beyond belief

🔗 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

Daniel Ingram – Buddhist teacher and author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

https://www.mctb.org

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

https://oeith.co.uk

Duncan Barford’s main site featuring essays, podcasts, and writing exploring magic, mysticism, psychology, and spiritual experience.

Counselling / Professional Site

https://www.duncanbarford.uk

Information about Duncan’s work as a psychodynamic psychotherapeutic counsellor.

🔗 Ulysses Black

The World of Ulysses Black

https://www.ulyssesblack.com

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.

Occult Experiments in the Zone with Duncan Barford