You Can't Kill Meme (2021) - full transcript

[spacey music]

[wind]

[pulsating note]

[pulsating notes speed up]

[low notes continue]

[futuristic whirring]
[steady tone]

[whirs]

[explosion]

(Hayley Garrigus) The truth
in front of us

does not match
the truth out there.

As a cop out, we turn
the truth over to the mob,



instead of deeply inquiring
and discovering.

Nuance is lost

when we receive
this type of information.

We are memetically spectating
at a rate

never before possible.

New cultures and myths
and stories

are forming faster
than ever in history.

Our grasp on a common story
and mythos is weak and slippery.

[police sirens]
(woman) Oh my God!

How do we make sense of things

when we collapse
the infinite fidelity

of information

down into pithy sentences

laid over ominous imagery?



[ominous ringing]

In my search to find someone

who could make sense
of this chaos,

I stumbled upon Kirk Packwood,

a writer and anthropologist

who broadly defined the world
of memetic magic.

[Skype ringtone]

(Garrigus) I want to know
if it's okay with you...

uh, but, you know, last time,
I didn't record anything.

Um, and so, this time,
I wanted just to record

our conversation?

(Garrigus) Okay.

(Garrigus) Tell me,
in your words,

what meme magic is?
[pensive music]

[oscillating tones]

(Garrigus) Kirk Packwood
wrote the book, "Memetic Magic:

Manipulation of the Root
Social Matrix" in 2004.

Since he published his book,

the ideas and images
have gained traction

on the various
'chans' of the internet.

Unbeknownst to him,

the memetic contagion tactics

that Kirk described and defined

seemed to most appeal
to an intersection

of online chaos magicians
and the alt-right.

His book has been credited
by various online sources

as their guidebook
to using meme magic.

[music fades]

(man) I'm looking for,
like, what is it?

What the--
what the fuck is it?

What is magic?

What even is it?

Nobody knows.

So what is it?

So I-- So I keep looking,
you know?

Maybe it's memes.

[notification ping]

I mean, that's--
that's the thing.

I keep saying it
because lately...

if I make a meme,
it happens.

[ominous tone]

(Garrigus) While living in
Los Angeles, I met Billy Brujo.

He was a YouTuber

who was very active
in the chaos magic community.

I found him online actually,

while I was researching
how the sigil work,

that is fundametal
in chaos magic,

was key in the development
of meme magic

on 4chan and Facebook.

Coincidentally,

Billy was already familiar
with Kirk and his book.

He frequently spoke of
the importance of Kirk's book

to the early meme magicians
at the turn of the 21st century.

(Brujo) We're trying
to still be scientific.

We're trying to still say
that, like,

the old ways are
not the best ways,

and um...

but if we maybe look at
a sampling of the old ways,

then we can see some theme

and we can figure out
how to apply this

to, like, make
a magic that works.

Kirk's book inspired me.

(Garrigus) H-- you know, how....

did you feel about the, uh...

the alt-right using

Kirk's book and Kirk's work as

as a foundational text to...

- Oh did they actually...
- Yeah.

- quote it?
- Yeah.

- Oh geesh.
- Uh huh.

(Garrigus)
And that's why he's-- he...

So he published in 2004,

and then took it
off the market in 2006

because he noticed that
the majority of people

who were consuming the work
were actually...

not the people that he intended

the work to be consumed by.

- Well this is--
- And therefore became

overwhelmed with guilt.

This is a sad thing.

You know, umm...
[laughs]

Uh, he did-- he did write
the book about meme magic,

and "the Meme Magic is real"

became a rallying cry.

But is it his fault? I mean,

Are you gonna blame
JD Salinger, you know,

for the death of

John Lennon?

[rattling]
(man) Hey! Hey!

Way back when--
when I read Kirk's book,

and, like, memes weren't even
much of a thing yet

I mean, that was way back when.

That was
the golden age of memes.

And he had written it
years before, like...

Memes were this whole, like,
hieroglyphic language of, uh...

like, the advice animals
is a good example

because it's, like,
they had the Advice Mallard,

then they had
the Insanity Wolf.

And then, uh, whatever,

Bad Luck Brian,
Good Guy Greg,

Good Girl Gina,

and all of that, you know.
It was, like--

It's the same joke every time,

but because the caption
is different,

it's different.

But it still, overall,
has the same

flavor, same sort of meaning.

So almost like the tarot cards,
it's like--

Each one of these images
that we re-caption,

it has a meaning, and we all
agree on this meaning

unspokenly.

But a meme is only
as good as its relevance.

[dreamy electronic music]

(Garrigus) Pepe the Frog
began as a character

in Matt Furie's comic series,

"boy's club" in 2005.

He was presented as
the archetypal slacker,

who didn't really care
about much.

Although Pepe remained
relatively dormant,

over the next several years,
he came into his own

as the face of the anonymous
online poster.

His image started regularly
appearing on 4chan in 2010.

and soon became
the unofficial mascot

of the popular board,
Politically Incorrect or /pol/.

/pol/ became one
of the few places

where the young
and disgruntled

gathered to talk
about the things

you can't talk about
in polite society.

Some genuinely felt

like this was their only venue
to express themselves.

And some were merely edgelords.

/pol/ is the site's attempt
at a politics board,

but, like many spaces on 4chan,

anonymity has bred a space
for extremist and fringe ideas.

Throughout the year preceding

the 2016 election
in the United States,

the representation of Pepe

as the "Everyman"
on the internet

came to signify much more

for the people who
wielded his image.

As demonstated by
the policing of morality

in Victorian England,

and during Prohibition
in the United States,

the more you repress something,

the more desperately
people want to do it.

Online cancel culture

has that same effect
in today's America.

Most people forced into
this environment

will end up longing for a place

where they can say
absolutely anything.

The chans offer them
that freedom.

[music continues]

(Packwood) I-- I drew

a frog magician on the bottom
of the Memetic Magic cover,

and it isn't just
that it's on the cover,

I mean, you'd have to have
my perspective on the world,

and understand all that
we talked about

to know why I believe that.

But it isn't just that.

This was also the first book
about meme magic.

and that's a huge coincidence.
It isn't just any book.

Pepe really was a casualty,
if anything,

because

I don't think that Pepe
was meant to be

involved.

It's just that
it all happened on 4chan,

and at the time,

Pepe was the face
of the anonymous poster.

And everybody had a Pepe meme,

and any time that you

didn't know what else

to have an image of
with your post,

you would post a Pepe.

So it just turned out that
when whoever started looking,

all these anti-Hillary posts,

all these pro-Trump posts
were all Pepe.

Just because

Pepe was the only meme
that was, like, left.

[low tones]

[ominous tones continue]

(Garrigus) Right.

(Garrigus) And that's actually
what I've been talking to

[beep]

You're friends with him right?

- Yeah.
- Yep.

About, uh,

that phenomenon that the Right
called meme magic.

Or memetic magic
- Yeah.

with the Pepe, and the Kek,

and they created that whole
mythos surrounding him.

(Garrigus) Why?

(Garrigus) Right.

(Garrigus) Right.

[dark oscillating tone]

(Garrigus) /pol/ is a place
of irreverence and chaos.

So when Donald Trump came
onto the political scene in 2015

his brash antics and rejection
of the establishment

fit the mold for them.

He embodied their frustration
with the status quo,

and he quickly became
/pol/'s candidate of choice.

Memes blending Trump
and Pepe's likeness

were blossoming
all over the chans,

and spreading out
into the internet.

Simultaneously, the slang term
"lol" fell out of favor.

In its place, a new term
of synonymous meaning

rose to common use.

"Kek"

Kek also happens to be
a frog-headed god.

He is the deification of the
primordial concept of darkness

in ancient Egyptian religion.

As a symbol of darkness,

Kek also represented
obscurity and the unknown.

Chaos.

Kek was also known
as the Bringer In of Light.

And who else, at that point,

had been declared a
Bringer of Light into the world

by zealous supporters?

Trump.

[dreamy electronic tone]

The users felt like something
was actually happening.

Something monumental
was being fertilized

by their shitposting.

They rallied behind Kek, and,
in turn, deified Pepe.

Their solidarity became known
as the Cult of Kek.

How could Kek become
so powerful?

The answer lies in chaos magic.

Flushed with excitement
over the synchronicities

involving their campaign
for a Trump/Pepe ticket,

the chaos magicians of /pol/

hurled themselves even further
into the cause,

leveling up
in this new simulation.

One of the core tenets
of chaos magic

is the creation of magic sigils

to codify and project
one's will into the universe.

Create an image that represents
your will and/or desire.

Focus on it.
Believe in it.

And the universe will work
on your behalf.

The philosophy behind
chaos magic

relies on spontaneous,
devout belief,

and then a suspension
of that belief.

The suspension, or detachment,

was demonstrated with irony
by many of the posters

who spread these memes.

Most people on these forums
only satirically believed

that Donald Trump was chosen

by the ancient Egyptian
diety, Kek.

Chaos magic tears down the idea

that dogma and strict doctrine

are the only paths
to your desire.

But the line between belief
and glibness can be blurred

when there's
an underlying mixture of

desperation for change

and a general sense
of alienation.

So without many other
social options,

this large group of people
on the chans

focused their united desire
towards a single sigil,

turning it into a hyper-sigil,

which amplified
its effectiveness.

Pepe/Kek is 4chan's hyper-sigil.

[silence]

(Mullen-Muhr) I still think
often when I talk about

memes with people,

they just think of, like,
funny internet pictures.

And I'l have to be, like, "No,
I'm talking about, like, ideas."

And kind of, like,
expand it beyond that.

But I think it's powerful,
and I think

the new information, um...

infastructure allows
the spread of memes.

Even including, like,
funny pictures, right?

You can, like, take a picture
of a dude with a hat,

and all of the sudden,
he's, like, Scumbag Steve.

And this is like, this thing
that's applied to everything.

But it's even more powerful
with ideas about

politics and culture, and more,
like, substantive things.

And it's a primary weapon
of the current, like,

insurgency,
the Trump insurgency.

(Garrigus narrates) I met Dave
in Los Angeles

at the beginning of my research.

He was
my best friend's roommate.

And I got to know him

through heated discussions
in their living room.

I definitely thought
Trump was Hitler-ish

when I voted 'cause I

posted this status on Facebook,

a picture of
my "I Voted" sticker,

and said, "Go fuck yourself,
Donald Trump." Right?

So like, I'm virtue signalling,

but, um, I believed it wasn't,
like, just a virtue move.

So that was election day,

but I feel like
it was, like, a month.

Because, shortly after that,

I read
the situational assessment.

And I kinda clicked things,
and then I was like, "Oh shit."

So definitely by--

the election was what? November.

I think, like, by
the end of October.

Or... October, November...

(Garrigus) December.
- By the end of December,

I was probably--

I, at least, like,
was questioning.

It's like coming out, you know.

First you have to
come out to yourself.

I came out to myself
as, like, "Oh, I'm, like

pro-Trump maybe."

And then it's, like, baby steps
to do it, like, more publically.

[electronic humming]

(Mullen-Muhr) There's a matrix,
and Fox News

is part of the Matrix
as much as MSNBC.

And you can get outside of it,

and there's a lot of
interesting stuff happening,

happening outside of the matrix.

Um, you just need someone
to offer you

a red pill, that
like fits your...

your worldview.

[ominous ringing]

(Brujo) Laughter, somehow,
makes stuff happen.

And, uh, whether it's because

the--the, like,
the banishing thing,

whether it's because it gets
your mind off of it,

or whether it's because

laughing has some kind of
invigorating energy,

you know, or,

maybe, you know, maybe

it's because
when you're laughing,

you're literally having, like,

an insanity-- you know,
temporary insanity.

I'm not sure.

Um, but yeah, there's
something about laughter,

and I don't think that the Left

laughs enough.

[pages turn]
[electronic humming]

(Brujo) It's just mass hysteria.

You know, you post
something, and

it might not even be magic.
It's just that...

lately, because of targeted ads,
and like, uh,

browsers and apps
reading all your posts,

so that they can decide
what ads to send you.

You make a post about something,

and then suddenly,
all your friends are posting

about the same thing, you know,

or all these ads are coming up
for the same thing,

and it seems like magic,
but it's really like

the ghost in the machine
feeding it back to you.

And that's really not--

There's really nothing
magic about that.

But, like, amongst
magic people,

we're looking for that.
We're looking for magic,

so we find it, you know.

So, like, we see a coincidence,

and we're willing to write off
that, you know,

the robots are behind it.

But you know,
on the other hand,

there's some stuff
I can explain.

(Brujo) The scientific method

is nothing more than

doing an experiment,

noting your results,

and seeing if you can repeat
that experiment,

and get the same results.

So, if you're a skeptic,

it doesn't hurt to try

to do a magic, you know.

To try and cast a spell.
To try and pray to a god.

Can you take a note?

Can you write down
in a journal

what day and time you prayed
to god for what?

And then make a note,
if you got that thing.

And if you got it,
try it again.

And if you can do it
a second time,

it's no longer
a matter of faith.

It's an experiment that has
calculable results.

If you can do it a third time,
and a fourth time,

then it's a fact.

That's how science is done.

[wind]

[people shouting]

[people shouting]

(Garrigus) While exploring this

dark application
of magic online,

I was searching for a physical
place to anchor myself.

I decided the root in Las Vegas

because it was the most
foreign place I could live

while still being a five-hour
drive away from my home.

One week after
moving into my condo,

the Las Vegas shooting happened.

Tragedy and shock.

But not even a pause before
people began to question

the reality of the situation.

This questioning community

became the cross-section
I invested myself in

for nine more months.

[somber music]

[wind]

One of these ladies

at my meet-up group
who sees entities

said that when she walked
up and down the Strip,

she was, like,

terrified because she said

she's never seen
such huge entities

as she's seen on the Strip
in Las Vegas.

(Garrigus) Entities meaning...?

Dark spirits, or what have you,
you know.

There's certain things
that will draw these spirits

into the people, and then

they're being controlled.

They're not in control
of themselves.

They're being controlled
by other outside forces.

She hosts weekly meditation
groups at her house

where she would gather various
healers, speakers,

and other figures involved

in the esoteric
spirtual practices.

[truck roars past]

(Carole) The other thing that's
really important to me

is actually the science
behind spirtuality

and also the science, um--

If you--
[scoffs]

When over two thousand
architects

and other major builders

go into a building and analyze

why it came down, like 9/11,

and they're telling you
there's no freaking way--

At least, especially
the third building.

There's no way it should have
ever gone down that way.

Only a Las Vegas
blow-up building

is gonna go down like that.

People are--

do not want to think
that their government could

hurt them. The United States:

"No, we're the--"
But geeze!

We're the only country
in the world

that's literally doing
what Hitler did,

running around, attacking
other countries.

And moving in, and taking over
their resources,

or what have you. I mean,

Why was it terrible for Hitler
to do it, and not for us?

I don't understand that.

I know that when
I make up my mind,

I'm guided to an answer.

I'm guided to where
I'm supposed to go.

I'm guided to what
I'm supposed to say.

- Is cam all ready?
- Yeah.

[door locks click]

(Garrigus) Hi!
- You're fine!

- Okay, ugh.

- Whenever you come
is always great.

- Yeah, hi!

- Always late or always better.
- Yeah.

(Carole) I'm like,
ten minutes behind.

Hi, hon. You look great.
[kiss]

So um, let me think,

what else I should
tell you, uh...

I think I mentioned
yesterday that

there are, uh--
there have been

things that have
happened in here

which are very strange.

Like, vortexes set up.

And I'm going to be

giving you a video, so you can--
if you wanted to

just show a little bit of that.
[ominous music]

So that people could see

something that
I've never seen before.

Right.

And I've just never
seen it before.

I think it's pretty amazing.

(Garrigus) It's a vortex?

Um, well, the fact that, uh,

this cat that I had,
that was very psychic. [laughs]

Anyway, had her
for eighteen years,

She's the one that
discovered it on the stairs.

And um...

And for eight weeks,
two hours a day,

she would go around in circles,

crying and scratching,
and looking at me.

There was nothing there.
- It was a vortex.

There was actually a hyperbaric
beam trying to get through.

And the cat was trying
to protect me.

[bell rings]

[chants in foreign language]
[bracelets click]

[chants faster]

(Carole) One time,

the father of my son
got very mad,

and he kicked my scroll.

And I warned him,

"Don't mess with that"
[laughs]

He kicked it on the left side,

and it went flying
through the air.

'Cause he was a violent person.

Two weeks later, he's walking

across the street
Sunset Boulevard,

but he decides to...
[vocalizes]

burrow his way out
as soon as it--

as soon as, um,
the light changes.

(Garrigus) Mhm.

And he got hit by the car
on the left side,

and he went flying
through the air,

and went right through
the windshield of the guy's car.

And then he didn't
get any money,

because the guy
had no insurance, so--

It's kind of a karmic thing.

[chanting continues]

[wind rustles over chants]

(Carole) People come here,
and they're, like,

"Why am I here? Why am I--"
[laughs]

They don't understand, you know.

They can't figure it out,
and it's not easy here.

It's really a struggle.

I-- I think that you are

you know, part of what's
gonna tell the world

like I was telling you.

People are gonna find out

that there is
a huge group of people

changing the world,
right here in Las Vegas,

and who would have though that?

[steady music]

(Garrigus) You don't have to ask

for proof of lineage in Vegas..

Logic is suspended.

It thrives on claiming
power and control.

Power of personal agency,

and the illusory control over
your experience of the world.

Coming in second to Sedona,

for having the most dense
concentration of "light workers"

or those actively involved in
esoteric spirtual practices,

Vegas is a repository
for these belief systems.

They fester here.

A common goal amongst
the group members

is to wake the world up
to the truth.

I'm curious of this mission,

given how many truths
there seem to be,

even within their own community.

There are multiple to be known.

They're interested in magic
to better the world,

while the trolls seem
to want to wield magic

to sow chaos and uncertainty.

I grew fond of Carole, despite
my knee-jerk skepticism.

I find myself burrowing deeper
into this place of chaos.

What am I actually
supposed to believe?

[silence]

[party chatter]
[breathing]

[muffled, chill lounge music]

[chatter]
[sitar strums]

(Garrigus) Right now?

(Garrigus) Really?

(Garrigus) Okay.

(Garrigus) Yeah. Well,
keep in mind,

this wouldn't be consumed by

anyone for at least
another year.

It's not--
[laughs]

Okay. You can leave out
all the--

You can leave out things
that you don't want--

Okay, so, base level,

[beep] can be very interesting,

and kind of hard to work
with as a person,

because of the way
that he thinks.

And he's pretty much
one of the purist shamans

that is alive
in this generation.

From the actual Toltec tradition

and the way that you shape
your thoughts to be fully

within the universe, and present
at every single point in time.

What [beep] and I have been
working on specifically

is a grand, unified theory
of physics.

Which is actually providing
a basis and a groundwork

to tie literally
all of the fields together

using the most simplest
methods possible.

And reducing everything down
to just

exactly what it is,
without any theory,

and without any guesswork.

Because everything we do
is purely observant.

And from this, we're pretty much

creating the mathematical basis

for the groundwork
of the next Golden Age.

And that's gonna be, like,

levitation, holograms...

you know, tractor beams,
teleportation,

all these kinda crazy
sci-fi concepts.

We actually have a mathematical
way to explain

how to accomplish them
with relative ease.

And be able to explain it
to the populace

without having them
blow their mind up.

(woman) God, thank you.

Yeah. [laughs]

His magic's actually relatable,

and he can teach you.

I literally am not able to teach
people how I do mine.

(Garrigus) Okay.

'Cause I work macro-scale,
as opposed to micro-scale.

And you need--
you literally need

madness as a foundation to do it

so it's very dangerous to teach.

Yeah.

The enlightened people,
having compassion

and having enlightenment,

they can look at someone dying,

or like atrocities
being committed,

can be like, "Okay, I see that,
but it's not me."

And just walk on.

And to the rest of society,
that's cold and callous,

but to yourself,

that's kinda how you need
to operate.

[dreamy music]

(Garrigus) Nick and Mason
are living at Carole's house,

while they work
on the math behind

a potential grand unifying
theory of physics.

They've been working together,
since living in Sedona, Arizona,

and their next stop after Vegas
is Mexico,

where they will be helping
someone establish

his sustainability b-corp.

What the shaman does, like,

when the shaman is chosen
by the people,

their job is healing,
first and foremost,

because they are
the medicine person.

But their other job
is storytelling.

And what they're meant to do
is help maintain

the story of the world,

and help tell
the story of the world.

That's why there needs to be
multiple shamans

all around the world,

so they can help, like,
maintain that

harmonic energic of, like,

the expression
of the Earth itself.

(Garrigus) What's your
definition of madness?

Pure and total free association
of thought.

So it's one, when you are
in, like,

eye presence, and, like,
just being then...

a thought comes out,
and it has no structure,

so it can literally freely
associate to any...

of the other levels of, like,
interaction and thought.

If you don't know
how to use it,

that's pure madness.
- Yeah.

That's schizophrenia,
- Right.

that's a lot of psychological...
- Which is most people.

Yeah.

If you ran ride that line,

[unsettling low hum]

(Garrigus) Whenever you have
tribes, you have shamans.

So in a sense,

you can see those same
aggressive spokesman for Pepe

end up being that tribal shaman.

Enough people will gather
around their teachings,

and carry them forward offline.

Our empathetic connections
with other people

get completely overwritten

by the sort of "meme-plex"

that's overriding our world.

And they get picked up
by the ideology

or the ideological vehicle.

If I'm one person,

I can't stop all these horrible
things going on.

But if I can somehow
get ahold of a god,

or a demon, or a spirit
to work on my behalf,

then I might be able to upset
this power differential

that keeps me powerless.

Any time you start getting
into an extreme position,

based on something
you hear or watch,

it's probably not you
that got there.

It's probably something
you picked up

and is now riding you.

[ominous ringing]

(Garrigus) The abridged timeline

of meme magic affecting
real world change

began during the Ebola
outbreaks of 2014.

The public announcement
of the epidemic

and its ensuing panic

inspired the Ebola-chan meme,

an anime character
with hair that looks

like the Ebola virus strand.

Ebola-chan first made her rounds
on 4chan on August 7th.

One day before
the World Health Organization

declared the Ebola outbreak

an international,
public health emergency.

Her image came with text,

threatening users with
excruciating pain and death

if they didn't reply
on the thread

with the phrase,
"I love you Ebola-chan!"

She spread like wildfire,

and a more nefarious intention
was concocted.

The plan was to filter
misinformation

into the afflicted
African countries,

claiming Ebola was created
by Westerners

with the sole purpose of wiping
Africa off the map.

In countries where there are
people already suspicious

of scientific treatment,

this memetic contagion
could have been deadly.

Even though many on the chans

considered her to be
their small success,

the desired outcome of total
and enduring pandemonium

didn't come to fruition.

The forums continued
to try their hand

at internet magic.

So in September 2015,

a user on /pol/ created a post

entitled
"Winter-chan will save us."

The idea was to create
a character

who would be used to summon

an especially harsh winter
throughout Europe.

This winter created by
the Winter-chan

would be painful or fatal for
those fleeing the Middle East.

Soon, the idea
was embellished upon

to include
Nordic runes and sigils

in an effort to attach the meme
to an ancient Norse deity.

Which in turn would increase
the efficacy of the posts.

While the European
winter of 2015

wasn't harsher than any previous
or following winter,

a crucial element from this
trial run was encoded.

The marriage between
memetic image and deity.

The necessary groundwork
had been laid out

for the Kek Wars of 2016.

[dreamy music continues]

[planes roar]

(Bell) She'd been helping out
a lot, and, you know,

she say that
she'd like to call us

"light workers", and...

you know, she believe
we come into her

and she sends us out,
so it's like, when we find her,

we already know
our mission in life.

What we need to do,
and, you know,

- Can we close this?
- Oh yeah.

And so we come to hers,
and like, we already know

what we need to do

to go against the evil
in the world, and

to bring light back into it,
and we just need, you know,

her word, you know,

and let us know
we on the right path, and

we're not alone

in this-- in this whole thing.

Yeah, we're ready to break
this world up.

(Garrigus) Sean attends Carole's
meditation groups regularly,

and is stationed at
Nellis Airforce Base,

right outside of Las Vegas.

He's grown tired and skeptical
of the military agenda,

and isn't afraid to let
people know.

[planes roar]

Uh, I joined the military
when I was 20.

I had a good friend
who talked me into joining.

I've been in the military
for about two and a--

hell, eight and a half
years now.

And it's been
an amazing experience.

I am a...

cybersecurity

professional in the military.

So I just monitor
the Airforce Network,

prevent hacks,
cyber-attacks from happening.

I say Vegas is a great place
to distract, you know,

people with a lot of lies
and things that go on.

Military is the same way, like,

even when you feel like
you're onto something, or

or I'll open up to something,
a big distraction will happen.

Like, we're going to war
with another country, or

maybe another terrorist
attack happened

that we can focus on.
People just get distracted

on just what's going on
around the world.

(Garrigus) And you're not
convinced that these

terrorist attacks are actually

done by terrorists?
- Well, yeah.

I'm not, uh--
So one thing about--

Yes, and no, like, um,
some things--

Like, I don't believe
in terrorism

in regards to people...

strapping bombs to themselves
and blowing things up.

You know, in being
in the military,

we take the oath, you know,
to defend the country,

against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, and

I believe it's also,
like I said, domestic enemy

you know, among us.

People waking up to today,
you know,

what's that sign that say, uh--

85% of the people are deaf,
dumb, and blind.

10% keeping them that way,

and then 5% is trying to
wake everybody up.

So it seems like
that's the way it is these days.

(Garrigus) You're that 5%.

I think I'm part of the 5%,
and I think--

I think people are waking up
by the hundreds of thousands

like, just every day,
like, you know.

Like in the military, and just,

abroad, like, people--

people are in uproar
everywhere around the world.

I believe the world was
waiting on America

to just, you know, to rise up.

(Garrigus on phone) Hello?

(man on phone) Hello.

(Garrigus) Hi! Hey, um...
[dog barks]

Are you okay to film today?

(man) Um, yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, okay, yeah.

(Garrigus) Okay, alright.
Three-- Three PM?

- Yeah, that works. Yeah.
- Okay, I'll see you then.

(man) Okay, goodbye.

[mumbles]
[water splashes]

[ominous music]

Oh what?

Oh, I think she's...

[ringing music]

(Garrigus) The same way
liberal elites

look down on Vegas with disdain,

they look down
on the middle class,

blue-collar workers,

Trump voters.

They spit onto and into
their mirror image.

For an accurate representation
is outdated,

Las Vegas isn't
a funhouse mirror.

It doesn't distort reality.

Rather, it inverts
the expectations we have

of our attachment and experience
of an everyday reality.

It mirrors American culture,

and so far, as it reflects
the behaviors of the public.

Looking down on Vegas
with disdain

is a common, accepted,
and encouraged practice.

As a physical
and metaphysical place,

it evokes shame.

But a displaced shame

that is easy to assign
to anyone except yourself.

A place to comfortably
deride and indulge in

state-sanctioned
self-deprecation.

The waste bin produced
alongside the consumptive boom

of the 20th century.

[ringing continues]

People generally
gravitate towards magic

when the society they live in
makes them feel small.

But even if you're denied access

to conventional
sources of power,

you can still exercise power
over your own consciousness.

Magic then becomes
the only option

for those who are:

A. denied any other way
of pursuing their goals,

and B. denied ernest solutions

for their economic
and social woes.

That's not to say
that magic doesn't exist

for the powerful and privileged.

It does.

But in a sanitized
and passive package.

Think: The Secret,
crystal healing,

and mindfullness meditation.

The sort of magic exists
to persuade its practitioners

that nothing can be wrong
with the world

because they're in control
of their own minds.

And that any remaining problems
can be counted on

to disappear in due time,

when the right policies
are implemented,

and the right people
are elected.

It is a tool to help them remain
as comfortable as possible

without the intrusive reality

that a large portion
of the population

doesn't have the same
tools of privilege.

Liberals take their privilege
of education and social status

to then deride those
who don't have

the same ethics or morals.

They attempt to cancel
and silence people

in order to maintain
an illusion of superiority.

Malleable by intent,
like any tool of the mind,

magic can be used
to uphold a system,

or destroy a system.

The pendulum will always swing
between the extremes.

And whichever culture
is forced to go underground

out of fear that they'll be
reprimanded by the mainstream

will experiment with tools
of change at their disposal.

With no one watching,

they're left to experiement
with total abandon.

Because they feel like
they have nothing left to lose.

A society in the face of crisis

experiences a double upsurge
in magic.

Among the excluded

as a way of changing things,

and among the excluders

as a way of hiding from
the need to change things.

[muffled footsteps]

("Marianne") Yeah,
I voted for Hillary

because I wanted the stability
of this--

just this idiosyncratic

desire to pretend like we
know what's gonna happen.

That's not-- it's just not true.

So am I gonna vote for
Trump next? I don't know.

Oh, is there going to be
someone more destructive--

Not destructive, okay.
Disruptive --

than Trump?

If they're will be,
I'll vote for them.

You know, I've been speaking
to some of my friends,

that are not my friends anymore,

because

they just refer to these people
as "people from the internet",

"anon--" just these crazy,
weird people,

but they are the ones

that are moving our society
to where it needs to be.

They're the ones
who look at this,

and go "What the fuck?

It has to change.
Things have to change."

You just go through your life.

and you're-- everything's fine,
everything's great.

You do your thing, you go
to college,

you meet your
college sweetheart,

it's so great.

And then--

And then you're constantly
anticipating something.

You're waiting for something
to come through,

and you're waiting for

the society to become
a certain way that--

that we're meant to become,
and it never happens!

It just doesn't happen,
and it doesn't happen

and it doesn't happen,
and things don't change.

People talk about
killing children.

Killing actual babies?

What the fuck?
What the actual fuck?

Like how have we gotten
to this point in our society

where we discuss these things.

It just...
[sighs]

Eventually, you look at

all of this from further away,

and you realize that
the only way

for anything to change
is disruption.

[silence]

(Garrigus) So we never--

we haven't spoken
about politics yet.

Right, okay.

(Garrigus) What's-- where
do you stand politically?

And I also--
I am not of the belief

that we shouldn't talk
about politics or religion

at the table. I think that
it's the reason why--

or one of the reasons why

people are unable to actually
engage in,

uh, tense dialogue

without becoming upset
or taking it personally.

Well, the thing about
politics is-- is very easy.

I'm not gonna just agree
with anybody because

they are not in control,

so it doesn't really matter
who is out there, um.

It's-- those that are in
control of the planet are not

our politicians.

The real people
that are in control

are behind the scenes,
and you can't see them,

and they're--
they go way up high.

There's the White Pope.

Then there's the Black Pope,
then there's the Gray Pope.

and then there's the family
[ominous music]

of the people that have actually
created all the religions

on the planet and everything.

But they work with both sides.

According to my sources,

Obama, uh, he actually...

he actually went to Mars with
one of the friends-- one of--

somebody that I interviewed
that was

in the secret space program,

and he time-travels
and everything.

He has time-traveled.
His father was in the CIA,

and he was time-traveling
at age five.

But anyway...

what kind of tea
would you like, darling?

(Garrigus) Do you have anything
non-caffeinated?

Probably.
Let me check things out.

[mumbles]

[wind]

(Garrigus) I had isolated
myself enough.

Magic is magic.

The only difference in outcome
is intention.

All that was left was
to finally meet Kirk in person.

[haunting spirtual music]

(Packwood) I'm a very
underestimated person.

I'm an extraordinarily
underestimated person.

I'm just-- You think,
"Look at me. I'm just some--

dude. I'm just--

perhaps a person whose..."

I don't know.

I don't look special. I may look
a little rundown, or whatever.

and that's because of my health,
and because of...

situations.
Hey, a giant squid.

I love them, um...

We could get a snap of that.

When I say that,

if I were to say something, like

in five years,

if I dedicated myself to it,

I could turn this whole
fucking country upside down

ideologically.
Me and a group of five people.

I'm dead serious.
I could do that.

How to put it... um...

Some people out there
are extraordinarily

serious about this
sort of stuff.

We may look unimpressive
on the outside.

We may be in shitty
economic conditions.

But, um...

we've already proven you can
transform an entire country

with a group of twelve people

focusing on-- just messing
around on the internet.

And that's because we're not
locked into the, um,

the-- the traditional ways
of doing things.

The ways to transform the world
have changed.

New opportunities have opened.

Now, my role in it...

Spirtually, I was the one
who set the framework

which in--
which this all happened.

All-- all...
(Garrigus) Which is?

Is the frog.
- Is the frog.

Is the frog and the way
it manifested itself.

- Okay.
- It's not a joke.

Yeah, sure. We'll try these out.

Which... you pick.

I can get 'em for you,
if you want.

'Cause you've obviously
spent a lot to come up here.

What do you like? I don't--
- Um...

Maybe just not the powder,

'cause I don't want to
get it all over myself.

- Yeah, yeah. Why don't we get
one of those sprinkles?

Alright, let's see...

(Packwood) Society tells me
I'm here.

I think I'm real smart,

and that I'm better
than what society says,

so I think I'm here.

I'm really here.

And you can't see that except

through the expression of
the spirtuality that

is evident in what happened
in the Kek movement.

The element of chaos
is important to--

really important. It's a
necessary part of everything,

because without it,
you get stagnation.

It's chaos, like...

I could do chaos right--
everybody could.

Which is a stupid example.

Let's say I see some woman
I think is attractive out here.

Even if I'm not attractive
any more at all,

'cause I'm immensely
out of shape.

If I-- I could change the course
of my and her life

by just approaching her,
saying, "Hi, how's it going?"

You know, "you look good."
Flirting with her,

trying to get her to ask out.

I could break
those social barriers.

I'm not supposed to approach her
because

I'm-- look like I do.

and I'm not like-- I don't have
a ton of money, and I--

I'm not running a business.
I'm supposed to be able to

attract-- approach
certain types of women.

But that's exactly
why I would do it.

That's why I do it, in my 20s.
It's-- You want to--

You wanna introduce
this element of chaos

to break down
social hierarchies.

[mysterious ringing]

[driving electronic beat]

(Garrigus) Inspired by InfoWars
and the likes,

the fringe theories that
accompanied the 2016 election

were prolific.

Some may remember
the many rumors

filtering in about
the Democratic candidate,

Hillary Clinton.

They range from claims
of her reptilian heritage

to claims that she was hiding
a serious health condition

from the media and the voters.

At some point, /pol/ focused
their efforts on a single goal.

To make Hillary Clinton
collapse in public.

There's an acronym used
by practicing mages:

T.S.W.

This Shit Works.

Used to describe the moment

you finally have a first-hand
experience of magic,

that transcends illusion.

The moment your intention has
an effect on the material world.

The chans went through their
own TSW moment

on September 11th, 2016,

because three things happened.

First, Clinton publically
denounced

Pepe the Frog as a right-wing
hate symbol.

Then, as she left
the memorial service

for the World Trade Center
attacks,

she swayed, almost fell down,

and had to be hauled
into her SUV.

The chaos magicians of /pol/
were shocked.

and had to face the potency
of their collected power.

Their shit worked.

Millions of people that
browsed 4chan

have imbedded the image of Pepe

with their hatred for Hillary
and the Establishment.

They wanted a Trump victory.

And that's exactly
what happened.

[crowd chants]
We want Trump!

(Packwood) The thing that
the Right has got going for it,

in terms of memes,

is they're like the spearhead,
or the vanguard of this whole...

the Alt-Right is the vanguard
of this...

meme magic thing. Now,
the way to explain it--

Another way to look at it is--

Let's say we're talking about
all this meme magic stuff

as information warfare.

If you look at it from that
theoretical framework,

(Garrigus) Like, uh... Sci-Ops.

Yeah, and it definitely is

partially that.
- Right.

I mean, it's just propaganda.

- Yeah, but it's...
- Basically. One side of it.

Sure.

But it's the very--
most modern, pinnacle form,

And that's kinda the point.
It's...

It's like warfare
in the sense that...

[calm music]

You've gotta focus on the new--
new tactics that work

at-- for a particular time and
a particular circumstance, so...

The reason why the US is able to
project so much military power

if you don't count things
like nukes,

is because of air superiority.

Our entire military doctrine
is based around

setting up conditions where
you can use that airpower.

Now if--

Without that airpower, we're no
different than any other--

It's not like our ground troops
are superior people

to the ground troops
they're fighting against.

The troops they're fighting
against can't even fire back

because they're getting shot at
by planes that are, like,

up there.

You can't even fight.

It doesn't matter how good
of a soldier you are.

You're gonna get beat.

Well, this is what's going on
with memes.

(Garrigus) I remember the first
Skype call we had,

and you said, isolation
breeds mutation.

- Yeah.
- And that was sort of

your experience in-- in...

transmitting that--
those experiences

into this world
that you created.

Or not even created,
that you tapped into.

Yeah, and the reason
is because I'm

not necessarily an outsider
by nature.

I like to be social
like everybody else.

But I've kinda been forced
to the edges.

So when I find people that

see the world
somewhat the same way,

it's always a shock to me,
because most of the time,

people are like,"You're not
really seeing that.

You're being paranoid.
They don't care about you

one way or another."

Well, sure they do. Everybody
cares about everybody.

Particularly if
you're intelligent.

I'm judging every single person

that we walk by.

Just quickly, you know, but...

So, and if you're intelligent,
that's what you gotta do.

[haunting ringing tone]

[synthy music builds]

(Packwood) Yesterday I attended
my mom's funeral.

I've been ideologically opposed
to funerals

for the last ten years.

I think what's most important

is how to treat a person
when they're alive.

I think it's less important

how you treat a person
after they've passed.

However, respect for those
who have passed

is important as well.

The death of my mom
was a tough experience

However, I realize now that it
doesn't really matter so much

if it was a tough experience
for me.

I'm being selfish,
even making the claim

"the death of my mom
was a tough experience."

The person for whom
the experience was tough

was my mom.

There's a lot I could say
about my mom and her passing.

Most of it, I'm not
going to say.

Even what I'm going to say
might be

the wrong course of action.

Our society and humans,
in general,

are very unforgiving of weakness

both at a conscious
and subconscious level.

By expressing my feelings, I am,
in part, demonstrating

weakness. Thus, I open myself up

to potential attacks, just

by talking about my feelings
and experiences.

[customers chatter]
[dreamy music builds]

I only tell my mom's brother
about this, and no one else,

because this is the sort of
thing I can't even talk about

with people I know.

But after my mom passed,
for two days there were--

there's real
poltergeist activity

apparent in our residence,
particularly around me.

It's not the first time
I've noticed

after a hugely charged
emotional experience,

poltergeist phenomenon
occuring around me.

I don't know why
it was happening,

but I think my mom was
trying to communicate with me.

Because the messes were
happening to me

and are happening around me,
and as far as I know,

not anyone else.

Perhaps she was trying
to tell me she was alright,

but I'm not really sure
what she was trying to tell me.

I'm not really sure
what the messages were,

but I saw the messages,
and that's been kind of a...

dynamic that's been going on
with most of my life.

I have these spirtual gifts, but
nobody-- nothing is telling me

why I have them, or what they're
supposed to be used for.

(Packwood) They probably have
six or eight good statues

out there in the rain too,
but, um...

but they change their stock.

(Garrigus) Why do you like
the statues?

(Packwood) Honestly, they've
got spirtual power in them

at this place,

and I think it channels
from the plants into the

statues, and it's also
the arrangements

Just an artistic arrangement,
if you look at this stuff.

I think it all combines

to make that spirtual power.

It also suggests whoever
owns this place

probably has some kind
of connection with that.

And I know that sounds strange,
but it's based on

genuine observation
over fifteen years.

So...

Let's say 30% of everybody

that uses Kek actually believes
in the magic.

And there's another 20--50%

that thinks, "Wow,
that was weird,

but I really don't believe
in magic."

And that's because society's
taught them not to believe in it

But they still saw it.

That's why they're thinking,
"That was kinda weird."

And they won't realize that

it's really real until ten to
fifteen years down the line

when they deprogram themselves.

[driving electronic beat]

(Garrigus) Whether Trump
was running a con all along,

or has simply been ineffectual,

more and more people
are starting to conclude

that the Trump train
has badly derailed.

Andrew Yang, a long shot

Democratic candidate
from New York,

acquired a band
of enthusiastic supporters

among the internet memelords

and underground influencers

that provided fuel
for the Trump candidacy.

Their support for him
was an anomaly

because of his
Democratic position.

But the fact that he mentioned
issues affecting white people,

was extremely validating to
shunned members

of the dissident Right

who want the interests and needs
of white America

to be addressed.

In despair, that the chance for
Trump to save the Republic

from liberal progressiveness
has failed,

they concluded that
America was dead,

and therefore should pick
over the carcass.

We saw memes of Pepe

being showered with money
by a smiling Andrew Yang.

Rather than plug the holes
in the sinking ship,

they lit small fires onboard
to sink it faster.

The attempts to replicate
the effects of the Kek movement

with Yang failed.

By the beginning of 2020,

meme magic seemed like
it had run its course.

Any attempts at creating
something like 2016

seemed facile.

But what emerged was a monster.

Kek has re-emerged on the forums
after a long dormancy.

Hello friends!

And a special hello
to all the witches out there

that are doing magical work to
protect protestors and you know,

hex white supremacy.

Um, a word of warning.

So I mentioned in
one of my videos last night

that you're kidding yourself
if you don't think

that the other side has people
doing magical work for them.

I got my ass handed to me
last night.

So as you can see

all the candles are burning
pretty well now.

That doesn't really have
much bearing on the spell,

but when I did these two...

This one was for protection,

and then this one was for a call
for change and road-opening.

Both of those
when I did the energy release

and lit the candle,
they landed super well.

But when I did this one,

which is the hex
for the guilty parties,

it was like running headlong
into a brick wall.

I instantly got slapped
with a migraine,

and I woke up this morning

feeling like I'd been
hit by a car.

Whoever is doing this work
for the other side,

it is a group of people
that are very powerful,

practicing magic
that is very old.

Be careful.

(Garrigus) What would you
see the future

application of meme magic being?

Or evolving into?

Uh, I kind of...

in a general, abstract sense
I see it

eventually evolving into
a situation where you--

like you see in sci-fi books,
like,

At some point, there's gonna be

much more intense forms of

thought, mind control
coming through propaganda,

and media transmissive channels.
It's already pretty intense.

Hey witches. Let's use
white supremacy,

and police brutality to learn

a little something
about magic today.

So you probably see these
numbers and this acronym

thrown around a lot here
on Tik Tok

and other social media.

But have you ever considered
that these are formulas

for evoking an idea?

So Trump

and the government have
their own witches at hand.

They have their own people
spirtually protecting them.

Whether it be practitioners,
witches,

or even a religion
protecting them.

They have something behind them.

They're a strong position
of power.

Of course, they'll have someone
that will protect them.

(Garrigus) The Left has started
to respond

to the magicians of the Right,

and have been using magic
in their own way.

The manifestation
and representation

of magic on the Left

makes sense in the context
of the liberal image.

Counterculture witches
that adher

to the same occult aesthetic.

There is no chaos.

Witches on the Left have
also gathered online.

There's a small presence
on the boards

that meme magic originally
sprung from.

But mostly we see them
on Instagram and Tik Tok.

Similar to the attempt in 2016,
following Trump's election,

and again in 2019
against Brett Kavanaugh,

The Black Lives Matter protests
gave them another chance

to hex Trump
and police brutality.

Which they did en masse for a
very concentrated amount of time

There were candles burned
and a choreographed call

to protect those
fighting in the streets

and to bring the perpetrators
into the light of justice.

[sirens]

But as soon as those calls
for magic came,

they soon quickly went.

As go the short cycles
of outrage online.

Merely weeks later,
the witches of Tik Tok

or Witch-Tok, were calling
on each other to hex the moon.

Once again,
divided and distracted

by their drive for individuation
within their merlu.

Without the same level
of detachment

can the Left be as effective.

[foreboding music]
[police chatter]

(Packwood) I can remember
at 26,

I went through some intense
stuff then,

and it took a real intense shock

to really shake me
out of my belief.

Um, out of my programming,

as a mainstream person,
to believe in

the kind of stuff I believe in
now. I mean,

It would-- took a shock.

And I'm sure a lot of them
went through

the same sort of things.
I think on the Right,

you've got a combination of
people that were drawn to it

or already real occultists.

And you've got people who've
experienced enough to know

that this stuff is real
to some degree.

It's not very controllable,
but it's pretty real.

And the Left, I think,

is starting where the Right
started before.

[spacy electronic music]

(Garrigus) 2016 was a shift
in consciousness,

and now we're seeing
the consequences played out.

The figurehead is
no longer important.

What came out of this journey

was the realization that
the true power laid

in the collective.

Though with that power
comes consequences.

And what we've seen is that
we can't be trusted either.

You have to have those warriors.

I feel like I'm a warrior
because

I'm going to tell people
the truth,

and I'm gonna go out
and make some changes.

And I think everyone should.

Yes, I will meditate.

Yes, I will send out
love and light.

But I'm not gonna sit on my butt
and not do anything

like a lot of
the spirtual people do.

Any spirtual people
that are listening,

you have to do something too.

Yes, improve yourself.
Send out love and light.

Forgive people.
Work on yourself.

Um, you know,
imagine a perfect future.

Um, I always say... I--

live in a beautiful,
perfect world

full of abundance, prosperity

peace, happiness,
love, joy.

Love, love, love.

[dreamy electronic music]

I'll guess I'll, sort of,
put this sort of on.

This was--

(Nick) It really didn't put me
down that much.

I'm just like kind of
hurt and annoyed about

the abruptness of
how this played out.

[people chatter]

Let's say, the truth
is at level one.

I've talked to you at around

level three,
occasionally dipping--

rarely dipping into level two.

I just can't go to level one
with anyone.

Because if I do, I'm afraid

you're just not gonna
want to associate with me

because you're going
to be scared that I'm

genuinely lunatic, or that--

You just won't believe it.
You'll think I'm...

hyping it out, so...
(Garrigus) I believe it.

Well, it's true.

and most people,
I won't go below

level seven.

- Yeah.
- I've been a level three

three and two with you, so

you know more than anybody,
besides me.

But even with you,
I couldn't go to one.

I just couldn't do it.
- Right, right, right.

Um, it's too much, and
- Mhm.

secrets like this have a very
good way of hiding themselves

because...

as you can see how hard
it is for me to talk about it.

Even with someone
who's willing to listen.

Even with someone who showed
support and believed in it.

I still am not doing it.

Secrets hide themselves.

I can't talk about it, so

that's why it stays a secret.
- Right, right.

- Alright.
- It was good to meet you.

Have fun in, um,

Houston?
- Houston, yeah.

- 70 degrees.
- 70 degrees.

- I kinda like Texas.
- It'll be nice.

- Well, see what you think of it
- Yeah, well...

- I will see you.
- I'll see you.

- Bye.
- Terrible at goodbyes,

but goodbye.
[laughs]

[chill electronic music]

(Garrigus) By way
of devoted practice,

Pepe unified and codified a set
of values yet unspoken,

and has changed the instruments
of influence

far longer than
its own relevance.

An influence that
can be harnessed

by anyone who wishes to.

What was being learned in 2016

has now become
standard practice.

The Kek movement didn't
just produce a meme.

But a model on how to obtain
power in the online century.

A model that has proved
infinitely mysterious

and bountiful.

There's a force, a magic,

that is being wielded by
both the Right and Left

to tip the scales of power.

The effectiveness of this power
comes down

to the devotion to a real,
rigorous magical practice.

You cannot say it isn't real

or it isn't happening.

But you can share
that these voices

are part of
a consensual reality.

[electronic hum]

Unfortunately,

a reality we all have to share.

[thuds]

[silence]

[menacing music]