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Agreed. Not sure whether this should go here or in the Magick thread., but have been chewing this over.
As a reasonably long-time Head Shop poster (although intermittent in the last few months) and relative newbie/occasional poster in the Magick, I think the comparison doesn’t do either forum any favours.
There are points of comparison, they’re both specialist for a, they tend to assume a level of knowledge, and background in a discipline in threads, and possibly have a broadly creative, constructive, investigative remit (or should do?) but they can probably best achieve this is very different ways. They’re more useful as complements to each other than as mirrors.
I’ve found my recent posting in the Magick to be really valuable; it’s provided a space to explore ideas, experiences and ways of working that don’t really have a place anywhere else on Barbelith. I’ve also found significant differences in the way that experiential knowledge is valued between the two fora.
Which is not to say that the Head Shop needs to value this (although I might argue that a rigorous attitude to experiential knowledge/work, so that it doesn’t descend into persona reminisce would be just as relevant in the HS as in the Magick), but that it’s valuable to have a forum which often attracts a lot of work, thinking, posting, and investment, that does provide a space for experientially-based disciplines They’re another type of creativity, energy, work and the perhaps ‘fuzzier’ style of the Magick allows them to flourish.
Eg I’ve found it very constructive to talk about counselling and psychotherapy/healing here, as although I could discuss the theory, it’s worthless without the experiential knowledge/practice…. And that there are ‘magic moments’, leaps of faith, that can’t be discussed within a deconstructive framework, as they simply don’t exist on those terms. It’s a space I’ve been able to talk about hunches, feelings, body language, physical tics, how I feel after a certain sort of trapeze class, and I’ve found that very inspiring/energising...
My own impression is that the Magick is slightly more welcoming to those who aren’t expert, or are new to the forum. I've felt much more comfortable venturing suggestions, hunches, guesses, there, which leads to a different sort of discourse.
Again, I’m emphatically not saying that the Head Shop should follow suit, its good to have different
‘personalities’ to the ‘heavier’ fora.. I do think they HS is a tough place to enter, but perhaps that’s as it should be, over in the Magick thread there seem to be people who wish there was a bit more of that to the Magick.
I agree that that Head Shop has become overidentified with Haus, and hir ‘haus style’ (boom boom) and that this hasn’t been good for it. I do to an extent also agree with Nick’s summary of how the Haus persona works in there. But it’s also worth noting that as ze seems to be having to do most of the moderating work in the HS, that’s not terribly surprising. I think that work should be recognised. Hopefully now Deva and Nick seem to be around a bit more, the ‘distributed’ element of the moderation should kick back in. I’ve volunteered my services, though I’m probably not really Head Shop material, but I really think it’s too much for what seems to be essentially one person to be manage. Even someone who spends as much time on Barbelith as Haus. 
Haus, I don’t think removing yourself at is at this moment the most constructive/useful thing you could do, but I can personally understand why you might be fed of the whole caboodle. I do think that the polarisation of threads into fights has been a problem, but that there are external reasons (as delineated on the first page of this thread) for that, and with awareness and a conscious attempt to back off/not get sidetracked into easy anger(which I distinguish from righteous anger), this is recoverable. Hence my attempt with the ‘redemption’ thread to start something that invites viewpoints, analysis and critique but that hopefully has less potential to evolve into a bitchfight.
Phew. |
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