This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection.
Liber Null, a book by Pete Carroll, was originally written as a sourcebook for the magical organization, Illuminates of Thanateros. It includes spells and magical exercises ranging from mind control to transmogrification. 
A warning at the beginning of the book states “Liber Null contains a selection of extremely powerful rituals and exercises intended for committed oculists who are aware of the extent of their own state of being.” Not for the magical novice, this book discusses intense rituals that are akin to sensory deprivation that should not be tried if the reader has any health issues. Much if the IOT magic discussed in Liber Null is from the darker side of magic and is devoted to the black arts.
Illuminates of Thanateros, or IOT, was founded in 1978 by Pete Carroll and Ray Sherwin as a hierarchical organization based on the Greek gods of sex and death and the idea of chaos magic. Related to the Zos Kia Cultus and Thelmic Magick, Carroll combines both traditional magic with new forms of thought and focus. Although he debunks astrology, he grounds his new system in similar terms. Carroll, who studied science in college, attempts to demystify magic much like Aleister Crowley. 
However, chaos magic lives up to its name, creating a realm where everything can contradict itself. As Carroll says in Liber Kaos, “Chaoist magic is characterized by it’s cavalier attitude to metaphysics…”
Liber Null : an I.O.T. publication in class 4,3 and 2 comprising liber MMM, liber LUX liber NOX millenium, liber AOM by Pete Carroll ; illustrations, Andrew David can be found in Widener Library’s collection. A later publication that includes both Liber Null and the related text Psychonaut is also available here: Liber Null & Psychonaut Peter J. Carroll; BF1611 .C38 1987.
Thanks to Emma Clement, Santo Domingo Library Assistant, for contributing this post.