From Jason Louv:
A bit of information on the Global Alchemical Ultraculture.
Ultraculture is a term I (Jason Louv) coined during the process of editing the Disinfo anthology Generation Hex in early 2004, in order to connote a cultural movement I was witnessing based around the mass interest in magic and the concordent need to apply it to improving our thoroughly disturbed world. Ultraculture specifically means two things:
1) It is the name of a social networking system being developed by myself in tandem with LVX23, Bastart and others. Specifically, the idea behind “Ultraculture” is to apply the Indymedia model to magic, and establish open city-based “scenes” based around mailing lists and web pages where people can link up with people in their area interested in magic, esotericism, consciousness evolution, etc., discuss it in terms of how it applies to both their own experiences and their communities, and then determine their level of activity and involvement within that growing network.
Ultraculture is NOT another magical order, group or hierarchy, nor is it just another discussion forum; in this capacity it is only a social connecting system on both a local and global scale. Occultism has traditionally been the pursuit of the “Outsider” figure; Ultraculture then aims to situate magic more firmly as an activity of communities.
The central Ultraculture connector node, which will be established at ultraculture.org, will be opening in late May to early June. Large and thriving Ultraculture networks are currently active in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, with smaller networks in the planning or growth stages in London, Chicago and the Rocky Mountains. Anyone interested in joining one of these networks, or in creating one in their own area, can e-mail me at jason -at- disinfo -dot- com (address broken to prevent spam).
2) If Ultraculture can be stated as a simple ideology, it is “The creating of solutions through (but not limited to) magic.” We are not interested in opposing culture, simply creating our own—and hopefully funnier, more intelligent and more erotic—versions of culture through DIY reality solutions. (Hence the “Ultra.”)
That which identifies itself as “counterculture” is doomed to fail by definition and can only find “pure” expression in acts of violence (in which case it acts only to further validate reactionary forms of government) or in “selling out”; its internal contradictions are far greater than any detectable within late capitalism, if a “counterculture” can even be said to truly exist at all.
Following its utter collapse into self-contradiction at the end of the 1990s, the counterculture in the West is re-emerging as a magical power battery, now acting as a full replacement and upgrade for culture instead of a critical voice within that culture. Everything culture can do, Ultraculture can do better. Applies specifically to anybody using magic to improve the world. The full form is Global Alchemical Ultraculture.
Ultraculture is a TURQUOISE-vMEME approach to cultural stimulation and growth, for those familiar with Spiral Dynamics or Integral theory. It aims to consolidate, utilize and respect all previous expressions of the human endeavor within a progression towards the living mystery of “life worth living” and a global culture worthy of being called such.
Ultraculture aims simply to be a space in which individuals and groups can be free to dream on the social and global level, in the company of supportive others, and find the tools necessary for manifestation of those dreams.
Imagine a sentient coral reef of mystery growing on the surface of our boring-ass planet. Ultraculture is for ultraterrestrials. Interested? |
