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Okay, so let's try and thrash out a list of what we do and don't want in the Temple. I'd like to keep the piece as positive and supportive as possible, so kicking off with the "yes more of this please!" part would be best.
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Barbelith strives to be a place with a high standard of discussion and debate. The Temple forum is held to the same high standard as the rest of the board. This thread is here to help you get the most out of the forum. Before you start, we recommend reading the Wiki entries on Posting etiquette and the Temple. [include links.]
What we want:
Magic: The Temple is a place for "reality-based" magic. Material written from personal experience. We want to know what you've been up to--your pet projects, your strong suits, your greatest successes--and the things which could have gone better, too. All approaches and trads are welcome. Whether you're working within a tradition or making it up as you go along, we don't care--so long as you're using and testing what you make up in the latter case and mindfully exploring and examining your tradition in the former.
You might have noticed that certain terms, like "the astral plane" or "energy work," tend to be used here with a degree of mockery or a jocular tone. This does not mean that you're going to get flamed or attacked if you talk about these things or use this terminology. What often happens, though, is that these concepts are often thrown around in a very uncritical and unthinking way. Concepts which might be accepted unquestioningly elsewhere get challenged here.
We like to crack them open and have a good old rummage inside to see what makes them tick. If someone asks you "so what do you mean by 'energy' here?" they're not on the attack, they're trying to get a more meaningful understanding.
Spirituality: Discussion of all forms of spirituality are welcome in the Temple. This can include reasoned and respectful critique of religious systems. It's important that everyone feels safe and welcome regardless of their path, so that means mutual respect and no bashing of trads. (Please note that respect for others' spiritual beliefs does not mean that it's okay to express beliefs such as "unmarried mothers should burn in HELL!" See the section on "what we don't want" for further details.)
Questions: Asking questions is encouraged. Before you post, though, make sure you look around and see if your question has been answered elsewhere. We have the "Stupid Questions" thread which will do nicely for most queries [then list things like the Potions 101 and the Minerals threads where more specific q's can go.]
What we don't want:
Threads with little or no content. A thread asking "what are the magical properties of amethyst?" will get locked and the topic starter referred to the Questions thread or one of the 101 topics. If you start a thread beginning "hey look at this book/band/website," you need to kick off the discussion in a meaningful way. Why do you like this book? What grabbed you about this website? Why does it need a dedicated topic instead of being included in an existing one? If you don't do this, your thread is probably going to get locked. It's nothing personal, we just like our topics thick and meaty round here. [make a note that the search is borked and provide link to Google site:barbelith.com] If in doubt, use the Questions thread--if an interesting discussion develops it can be spun off into its own topic.
Bigotry: Racism, sexism, slurs on the grounds of nationality, gender, ability, religion or sexual orientation will get you into hot water pretty damn quick and may well lead to your being banned. We have a zero tolerance policy on anti-Semitism.
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K, that's my rough outline.
As an aside--since it's a recurrent problem not just on the B. but in modern magical discourse generally, it might also be useful/interesting to have a thread specifically about anti-Semitism in occultism. The history, how it survives in modern magic, the damage it has caused, what we can do to combat it, etc. I'd like a nice one-stop shop that we can send all the handwringers to when they start bleating about frea speach and why aren't we allowed to even TALK about this etc etc. |
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