Chaos magic, sometimes spelled chaos magick, is a school of the modern magical tradition which emphasizes the pragmatic use of belief systems and the creation of new and unorthodox methods.

Although there are a few techniques unique to chaos magic (such as some forms of sigil magic), chaos magic is often highly individualistic and borrows liberally from other belief systems, due to chaos magic having a central belief that belief is a tool. Some common sources of inspiration include such diverse areas as science fiction, scientific theories, traditional ceremonial magic, neoshamanism, Eastern philosophy, world religions, and individual experimentation. Despite tremendous individual variation, chaos magicians (sometimes called "chaotes") often work with chaotic and humorous paradigms, such as the worship of Hundun from Taoism or Eris from Discordianism. Some chaos magicians also use psychedelic drugs in practices such as chemognosticism.

Chaos magicians are often seen by other occultists as dangerous or worrisome revolutionaries.

Alan Oswald Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. Frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, he has also been described as "one of the most important British writers of the last fifty years". He has occasionally used such pseudonyms as Curt Vile, Jill de Ray, and Translucia Baboon.

Moore started out writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as 2000 AD and Warrior. He was subsequently picked up by the American DC Comics, and as "the first comics writer living in Britain to do prominent work in America", he worked on big name characters such as Batman (Batman: The Killing Joke) and Superman (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?), substantially developed the minor character Swamp Thing, and penned original titles such as Watchmen. During that decade, Moore helped to bring about greater social respectability for the medium in the United States and United Kingdom, and has subsequently been credited with the development of the term "graphic novel" over "comic book". In the late 1980s and early 1990s he left the comic industry mainstream and went independent for a while, working on experimental work such as the epic From Hell, pornographic Lost Girls, and the prose novel Voice of the Fire. He subsequently returned to the mainstream later in the 1990s, working for Image Comics, before developing America's Best Comics, an imprint through which he published works such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the occult-based Promethea.

Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, Action Comics, All-Star Superman, and Batman.

Grant Morrison was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1960. His first published works were Gideon Stargrave strips for Near Myths in 1978 (when he was about 17), one of the first British alternative comics. His work appeared in four of the five issues of Near Myths and he was suitably encouraged to find more comic work. This included a weekly comic strip Captain Clyde, an unemployed superhero based in Glasgow, for The Govan Press, a local newspaper, plus various issues of DC Thomson's Starblazer, a science fiction version of that company's Commando title.

Morrison spent much of the early 1980s touring and recording with his band The Mixers, writing the occasional Starblazer for D. C. Thompson and contributing to various UK indie titles. In 1982 he submitted a proposal involving the Justice League of America and Jack Kirby's New Gods entitled Second Coming to DC Comics, but it was not commissioned. After writing The Liberators for Dez Skinn's Warrior in 1985, he started work for Marvel UK the following year. There he wrote a number of comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine, his final one a collaboration with a then-teenage Bryan Hitch, as well as a run on the Zoids strip in Spider-Man and Zoids. 1986 also saw publication of Morrison's first of several two- or three-page Future Shocks for 2000AD.

Peter James Carroll (born 8 January 1953, in Patching, England) is a modern occultist, author, cofounder of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and practitioner of chaos magic theory.

Carroll studied science at University of London and graduated with a "precisely calculated minimum pass". After university, Carroll was employed as a school teacher, and spent four years in India and the Himalayas.

Carroll's 1987 book Liber Null & Psychonaut is considered one of the defining works of the chaos magic movement. Carroll was a co-founder of the loosely organized group called the Illuminates of Thanateros.

In 1995, Carroll announced his desire to step down from the "roles of magus and pontiff of chaos". This statement was originally delivered at the same IOT international meeting which Carroll discussed in an article titled "The Ice War" in Chaos International.

Carroll has written columns for the Chaos International magazine currently edited by Ian Read, under the names Peter Carroll and Stokastikos, his magical name within the IOT.

Philip M. Hine, more commonly known as Phil Hine, is a British writer, book reviewer, and occultist. He became known internationally through his written works Pseudonomicon, Condensed Chaos, and Prime Chaos, as well as several essays on the topics of chaos magic and Cthulhu Mythos magic.

Growing up in Blackpool, Hine got involved with chaos magic theory in West Yorkshire in the 1980s. This was after he "picked up the fabled white edition of Liber Null by Peter J. Carroll at Sorcerer’s Apprentice." Hine subsequently published a series of booklets on urban shamanism, and a magic primer that has since been titled Condensed Chaos. This book has been described by William S. Burroughs as "the most concise statement of the logic of modern magic."

He was a founder and co-editor of Pagan News in partnership with Rodney Orpheus, and is a former editor and contributor to Ian Read's magazine Chaos International. He has facilitated workshops and seminars on modern magical practice in America and Europe and contributed to a wide range of occult journals, being most active in the period 1986-1996.