Jack of Many Trades

the Mad One and the Lucky One

Originally posted: 2013-09-30

The Mad One is one of two aspects of Chaos that I've known, and yes, this starts with another pop culture story. I always see her as Delirium from the Sandman comics. She is the face of Chaos that sits across from the Enlightened One, and they are two sides of the same coin.

Delirium, the story goes, began as Delight. The cause of the change is never stated, but I first read the Sandman comics around the time I was first struggling with mental illness in a way that made it clear in my mind that something was wrong. I felt like I understood that change, that slipping away of everything you thought made you happy.

"One who knows too much eventually goes insane," she said, and when I prayed to her, I found some peace and some understanding.

The Lucky One, also known as Murphy, was the second aspect of Chaos I met. I've worked with her as a character from my own stories, Wilde, and as Mara's sister-goddess Laima, who is a goddess of fate and luck.

I associated her with Chaos for ages before I actually drew the dots between "chance" and "chaos." Randomness is randomness, though, whether it's in my mind or in nature.