It is interesting to note that, according to esoteric Tradition, the grail was actually used c.700 eh to inaugurate the Western Aeon. Authorities concur that the grail of legend was not a chalice but a large crystal, as per 'Nine Angles' rite (qv. Phereder and ben Beirdd. Von Eschenbach revealed part of this truth when he called the grail 'lapsit ex coelis'. The distortion into a 'Nazarene holy vessel' began with a Nazarene hermit, remembered by Heliandrus).
The rites of Chaos Magic enhance 'old aeon' values and archetypes because they provide an illusion within the individual of 'achievement', 'understanding' and participation in the psyche. Old aeon values, particularly those adhered to by Thelema, are Nazarene distortions of the Western Tradition. Consider "Baphomet":
The name of Baphomet is regarded by Traditional Satanists as meaning "the mistress/mother of blood" - the Mistress who sometimes washes in the blood of her foes and whose hands are thereby stained.
The supposed derivation is from the Greek and not, as is sometimes said, from the Attic form for 'wise'. Such a use of the term 'mother'/Mistress was quite common in later Greek alchemical writings - e.g. Iamblichus' use in "De Mysteriis" to signify possession by the mother of the gods.
Later alchemical writings tended to use the prefix to signify a specific type of 'amalgam' (and some take this to be a metaphor for the amalgam of Sol with Luna, in the sexual sense). The prefix originally refers to being 'dyed/stained' or 'dripped' in blood - qv. Euripides, Hercules Furens.
In the Septenary System, Baphomet, as Mistress of Earth, is linked to the sixth sphere of the Septenary Tree of Wyrd (Jupiter) and the star Deneb. She is thus in one sense a magickal "Earth Gate" (qv. the Nine Angles), and Her reflexion (or 'causal' nature - as against Her acausal or Sinister nature) is the third sphere (Venus) related to the star Antares.
According to esoteric Tradition, the Antares aspect was celebrated by rites in Albion c.3,000 BP (Before Present) - towards the month of May. Some stone circles/sacred sites were said to be aligned for Antares. In contrast, the Sinister aspect of the Mistress (i.e. Baphomet) was celebrated in the Autumn and was linked to the rising of Arcturus, Arcturus itself being related to the Sinister male aspect (Mercury - second sphere), later identified with Lucifer/ Satan. Thus, the August celebration was a Sinister Hierosgamos - the union of Baphomet with Her spouse (or 'Priest' who took on the role of the Sinister male aspect). According to Tradition, the Priest was sacrificed after the sexual union, where the role of Baphomet was assumed by the Priestess/ Mistress of the cult. Thus the May celebration was the (re)birth of new energies (and the child of the Union). Tradition relates this Sinister, sacred Arcturian rite as taking place once every seventeen years, the sacrificial aspect being regarded as necessary to retain the "Cosmic Balance" - in modern terms, to keep a Nexion open (and thus preserve the associated higher civilization, etc.). The Chosen One, or 'Opfer', was able - because of the sacrifice - to partake of an 'acausal existence' - becoming thus an 'Immortal. Thus, willing sacrifice was possible, although it is easy to imagine that in later times the Opfer was not so willing. Once again, some sacred sites in Albion are said to be aligned to the rising of Arcturus, over three thousand years ago. The association of Baphomet with Satan probably derives from the 10th or 11th Century. The Traditional depiction of Baphomet - a mature woman (often shown naked and seated upon a pile of skulls) holding up the severed head of the Sacrificed Priest - is undoubtedly much older.
To some extent the Templars revived part of this cult, but without any real esoteric understanding, and for their own purposes. The adopted Baphomet as a type of female Yeshua, but with some bloody/ Sinister aspects - and contrary to most accepted ideas, they were not especially 'Satanic'. Rather, they saw themselves as holy Warriors, and became a military cult with bonds of Honour, although their concept of "holy" differed somewhat from that of the church of the time, including as it did dark/Gnostic aspects. Their sacrifices were in battle and not part of a specific rite.
There is another tradition regarding the origin of the name which deserves recording, even though it is not regarded as authentic, having no present-day proponents. This tradition regards the name as deriving from the Greek name for the Egyptian goddess Bastet, recorded bu Herodotus (2. 137 ff). It is interesting that Herodotus identifies the goddess with Artemis, the goddess of the Moon. Bubastis was regarded as the daughter of Osiris and Isis, and is often represented as a female with the head of a cat - cats were regarded as sacred to Her. Artemis was a goddess unmoved by love, and she was regarded as Apollo's twin sister (the indentification of Her as a 'Moon goddess' followed naturally from this, since Apollo was linked with the Sun). Like Apollo, she often sent plagues and death, and was propitiated with sacrifices. It is interesting to note that (a) a derivative of the Greek name for Bastet - mentioned above - is the Pythagorean name for 'five' (qv. Iamblichus: Theolugumena Arithmeticae, 31) - perhaps a link with the pentagram? The Templars were said to have worshipped their deity in the form of a cat.
Thus Baphomet could be regarded as a form of Artemis/Bastet - a female divinity with a 'dark' side or nature (when viewed via conventional morality) to whom sacrifices have been - and continue to be - made. Sinister Tradition regards Baphomet to be the bride of Satan/Lucifer - this would fit well, since Lucifer is often regarded as a form of Apollo; Artemis is the female form (or 'sister') of Apollo. Here it must be remembered, that Artemis and Apollo were not aetherial, moral and lofty divinities (the classical gods have been romantically misinterpreted) - they could be, and often were, deadly and dark; both 'Sinister' and 'light' (cf. Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, where Apollo is invoked as Lyceus: a patron of wolves, a hunter who destroys his enemies - and not the 'god of light', as is normally translated). Further, the epithet given in "Electra is not 'wolf-slayer' but "killer-wolf".