[Peter Carroll:] “You betrayed our cause! The freedom we stand for as Chaos Magicians!
[Ralph Tegtmeier:] “C'mon dude, you’re just making this up!”
THE ICE MAGICK WAR [Music]
Hello everyone, I’m Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a PhD and a University
Lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magick, Paganism,
Shamanism, and all things occult.
This episode’s content is sourced from a recent peer-reviewed publication by Dr Bern-Christian
Otto and will focus on the so-called Ice Magick War which caused the major schism within the
Chaos Magick Order of the Illuminates of Thanateros, Also known as the IOT. This publication is
open-access and will be referenced in the Infobox.
As you may remember from a past episode on the IOT, even though the inception of the
order is believed to coincide with that of Chaos Magick, which took place as a result
of the works published by Carroll and Sherwin, the IOT took form and became operative in
1986 thanks to a public seminar held in Germany.
The main protagonists of that event were Peter J Carroll and Ralph Tegtmeier, also known
as ‘Frater U∴D∴’ and as we will see, they will also be the main characters in the
schism of the order.
Otto highlights that there are always two sides of the story in an event such as this
one and that it’s essential for a proper understanding of the events to address them
both.
The term ‘Ice Magick War’ echoes Peter Carroll’s essay ‘The Ice War’ and the
definition of ‘Ice Magick’ theorised by Ralph Tegtmeier in his homonymous book.
Indeed, in “Eismagie,” Tegtmeier conceptualises a form of magic able to do “the impossible”.
He emphasises that there is no geographical nor ideological connotation to the employment
of the term ‘ice’ and that it is used here as a metaphor for something ‘that actually
does not exist’.
The idea of magic that could achieve the impossible derived from Tegtmeier’s experiences with
his teacher Helmuth Barthel, who, according to Tegtmeier, could perform incredible deeds
with his martial arts technique, deeds that were usually called ‘magic’ by laymen
but that go beyond the common understanding of the word. Hence why the concept of Ice
Magick.
Now, in Peter Carroll’s version of the story, the conflict began during the third ‘AGM’
(or International Pact Meeting) in 1989, when Tegtmeier told his then-friend Carroll about
the aforementioned incredible deeds of Barthel, provoking Carroll’s criticism.
In the year between the third and fourth AGM, an increasing number of members of the German
section began to sympathise with the Barthel-Tegtmeier approach, leading Carroll to believe that
Tegtmeier had actively ‘attempted to lead sections of the pact into it.’
Carroll then decided to publicly denounce Frater U.D. for abusing his position and for
fostering a right-wing mind control cult with a despicable agenda.
The Ice Magick philosophy appeared to Carroll as a grim and paranoid "Thulean atavism" which
might have had ghastly consequences if it were had spread through the fabric of western
esotericism.
There are overall five reasons behind Carroll’s concerns:
First, Tegtmeier’s alleged adoption of an ‘ultra-right-wing’ agenda.
Second, his shift towards secrecy. Third, his shift towards hierarchical, dictatorial
forms of leadership. Fourth, Tegtmeier’s and Barthel’s abuse
of power and they allegedly threatened to punish members and this would've undermined
the magickal freedom and individualism the IOT stood for.
And fifth, Tegtmeier’s alleged attempt to take over the entire IOT, thus disempowering
Carroll.
So, for Carroll, ‘ice Magick’ seemed to contradict or undermine basic pillars of the
IOT, particularly its anti-hierarchical, anti-secret, anti-dogmatic agenda.
Before the fourth AGM, which took place in August 1990 at the same Austrian castle as
the third AGM, Carroll sent memos to all section heads mentioning his serious concerns.
As a response, Tegtmeier, who was also organising the event, first tried to stop Carroll from
coming to the castle, only to re-invite him later. According to Carroll, over the following
days, both he and Tegtmeier tried to persuade participants to join their respective sides,
leading to the formation of various ‘Conspiracies, factions, and private briefings' amongst the
forty-plus magicians present’.
There was seemingly no physical confrontation between the two but some kind of magical battle
in a local tavern where the last one to leave would be the victorious one and Carroll, according
to his own narration of the event, was the last one standing. Interesting to notice that
this event never happened according to Tegtmeier. In any case, the schism had been established.
In the aftermath of said AGM, Tegtmeier led several German members plus the UK Section
Head and his other half to the "Ice Bunker". Carroll claimed that Tegtmeier had done a
deal with the "Ice Lord" – who would be Barthel - to bring him more people in return
for sharing some of the absolute authority over them and for getting Ice Magick teachings.’
Carroll allegedly engaged in practices of hostile, long-distance magick for some time
and tried to acquire sympathisers, eventually persuading the Austrian section leader to
prevent Tegtmeier’s participation in the forthcoming fifth AGM.
Since several Tegtmeier sympathisers ‘proclaimed themselves in charge of the Order, Carroll
stipulated an agreement with ‘the remaining loyal Section Heads to excommunicate Tegtmeier.
Neither Tegtmeier nor other Ice Magickians attended the fifth AGM in Austria.
According to Carroll, this is when the ‘war’ ended, with casualties of about 30 % of members,
including most of the Swiss and the Germans.
However, Tegtmeier’s version is remarkably different. He stated, in a few interviews,
that there was a major dispute with Carroll but that he never intended to take over the
IOT, nor abolish its grade structures, or establish authoritarian or secretive principles
of leadership.
On the contrary, Tegtmeier had announced to step down as head of the German section before
the fourth pact meeting in 1990, which he actually did so according to ‘Council of
the Magi’.
Moreover, the Swiss and Austrian Satrapies, who used to have
Tegtmeier as their leader became independent sections with new section heads during the
fourth pact meeting. Thus, Tegtmeier technically gave up his leadership of the German section
– which had previously included Austria and Switzerland – at the very meeting during
which Carroll accused him of yearning for more power within the order.
Tegtmeier claims that he never felt comfortable as the leader or spearhead of a magickal grouping,
hence why he rejected various offers to become grandmaster of the Fraternitas Saturni (a
group he is still involved with today).
As a result of Carroll’s ‘excommunications’, Tegtmeier founded, along with about 75 German
members of the German section, a schismatic spin-off named ‘Revolutionary IOT’ without
being its leader but rather a regular member.
Tegtmeier also emphasised that neither he nor Barthel nor any members of the German
section were entrenched in political right-wing ideologies. In fact, they had rather been
committed to socialist ideas, while the majority of the members of the German section were
either politically disinterested or leaning towards the Green and/or other Leftish-Liberal
parties.
For Tegtmeier, the schism was really a result of misunderstandings, anti-German prejudices,
and paranoia, along with a dispute over the Ice Magick theoretical approach.
Otto maintains that Tegtmeier’s teacher Barthel did pursue an authoritarian type of
leadership and made his disciples witness the extent of his "powers" (in martial arts
and magic). This is possibly the reason that eventually led Tegtmeier to split up with
Barthel, although he mentioned this was actually due to "personal reasons".
According to Tegtmeier, the IOT lost 80% of its members in the schism (as opposed to 30%
in Carroll’s version).
In an email statement dating to the year, 2000 Tegtmeier argues that Carroll had a severe
‘personal crisis’ and points to alleged ‘symptoms of depression and of schizoid
paranoia’ and that ‘The only “magical war” he ever waged with “this organisation”
was the psychotic blitz in his own head’.
In an email statement dating to the year, 2000
Tegtmeier argues that Carroll had a severe ‘personal crisis’ and points to alleged
‘symptoms of depression and of schizoid paranoia’ and that ‘The only “magical
war” he ever waged with “this organisation” was the psychotic blitz in his own head’.
To conclude, after the events described here, both Carroll and Tegtmeier secluded themselves,
more or less simultaneously, from the IOT. Tegtmeier never actually ‘resigned’ from
the order; but after founding the ‘Revolutionary IOT’, he lost interest in what he now sees
as the ‘old’ pact.
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