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Underground > Temple >

New occult magazine!

12:15 / 07.09.04

Should we start one?

I just realised Biroco is blogging again -- well, on an occasional basis anyway -- that boy has announced his retirement more often than Marcello Carlin. Sheesh.

Anyway, while nosing around his latest blog entries (typical content: "I have a garden, and nothing else. A cormorant hangs overhead. Christ I need a shag.") and I got to reflecting that KAOZ (this IS the correct spelling) number 14 (actually the ninth in the series -- not a lot of people know that) really wasn't that bad after all. Not a patch on the Cauldron, obviously, but better than Skoob. Maybe.

And then I thought -- why not start a new occult magazine! It would be great! Who wants to join in? If we keep it going for ten issues, we get to interview Alan Moore and find out about his skin complaint. And everything.

13:02 / 07.09.04

OK then. I'd be up for contributing some stuff, and could conceivably subedit and layout the pages on Quark. I haven't got a Mac at home though, and Quark on a PC using a small screen is horrible. Still, if the content was top notch stuff I'd probably be up for it.

The world needs a stylish sexy occult magazine that is crammed full of articles and approaches on magic that genuinely pushes the boundaries of magical discourse. New ideas. Something that seemingly comes out of nowhere and shakes things up a bit. Quality control is the key, I reckon. Every article has to be stunningly good, innovative and exciting. Something that makes people get really excited about going to their local occult shop to pick it up when an issue comes out.

I would try my hand at putting together something like this myself if I wasnt already involved in a million other projects, but just don't have enough time on my hands to do all the organising. Would definitely get fully involved if someone else was taking the reins of it though. I've got loads of experience of magazine production and can think of a few designers and illustrators who I could probably rope in to help out. I like the idea of a magazine like this being really well designed and cool looking. Something you want to be seen reading on the bus.

trouser the trouserian

13:18 / 07.09.04

Well the 'obvious' answer is to do something online, so obviating the need to look at tedious stuff like dealing with printers, taking subscriptions, advertising, distribution, who's going to cover costs 'til it starts making money, etc. Having said that, I do miss some of the great hardcopy occult 'zines that were around in the 1980s, like Nuit-Isis, Nox, the Lamp of Thoth, Both The Ones, etc. So, is there someone who's going to happily volunteer to do loads of tedious admin (and who's preferably got a couple of grand spare) so's the rest of us can have some fun?

13:23 / 07.09.04

That's the issue isn't it. I really like the idea of there being a really good hardcopy occult mag to write for. A website would be good, but there's something aesthetically pleasing about an actual magazine. However there's no way I can realistically devote the amount of time, effort and resources necessary to get something like that off the ground.

trouser the trouserian

14:06 / 07.09.04

I'm not saying it can't be done, just that before we get all starry-eyed, we need to look realistically at what's involved. You can put out 'zines without too much of a cash outlay, but dealing with distribution, subscribers, advertisers, etc., is still a headache. I've got some friends who do a small, underground pagan 'zine. It only goes out to people on their mailing list, and it's a low-budget recycled paper slapped together in MS Word jobbie, but it still costs nearly £200 an issue to produce and mail out.

17:38 / 07.09.04

Interesting responses. I wasn't entirely serious when posting but these are considered replies, thank you.

Yes, print is better than online. This is something me and my comrade in arms John Eden often talk about. Back in the 80s it was much harder to do things and meet people, and with the web you're a click away from... too much. Seems to me the real parameters for action are actually narrower now than they were then. Back then there were loads of zines, a lot of them really good, and smaller, more committed scenes (magical, political, artistic)... is it just nostalgia to say scenes are broader but shallower now? He always said the admin was not only magical, it was actually the principal element of magic in the publishing process -- but it's hardcore magic. I don't have the time any more.

Since I spent about four months of my life slaving over one magazine (OV Magazine), which precipitated (or at least coincided with) the collapse of the group I was in at the time, I probably don't have that much enthusiasm for doing it all again. (Dreams saturated with Xpress 3.0...) But still, there's kind of a yen to do something... I kept on flashing on how exciting it might be to see the header "new occult magazine" come up on Barbelith... I'm attracted by the idea of considered articles, on a theme, attractively designed, which acts as some kind of marker in time, rather than the momentary flux of fora... something to get your teeth into.

The obvious way to square the circle is to do it as a PDF, following the Kaos 14 blueprint... especially since something that struck me was that recycling forum discussions into articles could be both interesting to read and relatively low-effort to produce. You'd edit and reflect rather than originate. The PDF format preserves things like curly quotes and em-dashes, not to mention elegant typefaces, and that sort of stuff msatters to me. Most importantly, you could print it out and read it on the bog... though how many of us actually bother to print them?

What zines / mags are still published then? And what do existing zines teach us about what does and does not work in magzaine formats?

Both the Ones LOL! Haven't thought about that for a while! That was Mal's wasn't it? I'll tell him next time I see him.

Boy in a Suitcase

21:04 / 07.09.04

I'd be up to write some stuff for that.

05:15 / 08.09.04

All serious print occult 'zines will fail now that the internet is up. This is the reason they went away in the first place; in the 80s, the internet was such an infant that we needed magazines to stay in touch. Nowadays the role of communication medium among magicians has become internet forums like this one.

But I still like the idea of a PDF 'zine.

07:20 / 08.09.04

As far as I'm aware Starfire magzine is still going, journal of the Typhoonian OTO. But it's following it's normal erratic production schedule - one every few years. Production values must be sky high on that one.

Much the same as everyone else, I'd like to contribute but have too much on at the mo to get involved on any deep level. Maybe in a few months when things calm down a little.

08:07 / 08.09.04

All serious print occult 'zines will fail now that the internet is up.

Depends what's in it. If the content is top quality stuff that you cant get anywhere else, and it builds enough of a reputation in occult circles, people will want to get it. You might as well say that the publishing industry will fail now that the internet is up, and I don't really see that happening anytime soon. The reason zines went away is cos its cheaper and less hassle to do a website, as discussed above. If a print zine has enough USP's, which this speculative mag could easily accomplish, people will do all sorts to get it, as they do with out-of-print stuff like Grant & Bertiaux.

Having said that, a pdf would appear to be the easiest option. And there's no reason why a pdf can't be attractively designed and aesthetically pleasing. There's probably plenty of good material in the archives here to fill several issues, but I'd hate the job of collating and editing it into some coherent form and crediting contributors. Food for thought though, you could call it 'Temple Broadcast' or something.

trouser the trouserian

13:12 / 08.09.04

yeah, "Both the Ones" was done by the divine Mal - I think I've still got a copy knocking around somewhere. If you really want to get a chuckle out of him ask him if he recalls the editorial correspondence with Pete Carroll.

What zines / mags are still published then?

Let's see... Pagan Yawn (sorry) Dawn, The Cauldron is still going strong, Chaos International seems to have been revived, master Reed's other 'zine Runar still out there, Starfire (as Illmatic mentioned) and various witchy ones like The Pentacle.

I think one of the best pdf-based journals (in terms of formatting & diversity of content) is Ashe and editor Sven Davisson has just released a hard copy 'anthology' of the first year of publication via Mogg at Mandrake.

Oh yeah, and Stephen Sennitt (ex-Nox editor) has been in touch recently to say that New Falcon have just agreed to republish "The Nox Anthology: Black Books Volume 1" along with his "Liber Koth" chapbook dealing with Lovecraftian-based dribblings.

23:04 / 08.09.04

I'm well up for doing some designs / artwork for the thing, as long as I can slap it in my 'folio after i'm a happy bunny and I always work MUCH better if I have a reason for doing it.

Pot,

19:11 / 09.09.04

I'm certainly down to contribute content. A bit spread thin to do any admin stuff though. If it gets serious, I may be able to help out with publishing tools.

12:26 / 15.09.04

2step - "...you could print it out and read it on the bog... though how many of us actually bother to print them?"

I do! I've got printed, bound copies of KAOS #14 and "The Black Lodge" sitting on my shelf right now. You can't beat print for portability.

KAOS is, I think, a good inspiration: Well written, well designed, rare enough in hard copy to make it a treasure, and available via PDF for all comers.

I hope this happens.

20:15 / 18.09.04

also SilkMilk.

22:16 / 25.09.04

If the magazine actually comes together, any idea on where the home office would be located?

21:11 / 26.09.04

If the magazine actually comes together, any idea on where the home office would be located?
Whitehall. Though I have a hankering for Temple.

09:18 / 29.09.04

In terms of zines in print that are around there's my own zine Razorsmile over here, 52 pages A5 print and CD-Rom on the back. Third issue coming out soon...

I'd be interested in either printing submissions or collaborating on a wider project - Razorsmile is still a low-number disitribution venture really...

09:20 / 29.09.04

Razorsmile link (mistake on the code in previous reply)