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I originally used to post on the old 'Invisibles' mailing list in the days before Barbelith, which I enjoyed immensely not least because you could get intelligent and informed discussion on the various diverse subjects often generically classified as 'magick', without having to deal with peoples tedious and gargantuan ego trips like every other 'magick' related forum I'd checked out. Besides which you could also talk about comics and films and anything tangentially related to Mr Morrison's comic.
Eventually I had to unsubscribe as the volume of posts in my inbox was getting to high for me to wade through, and around the same time I heard that there was this place called The Nexus starting up.
I checked out the Nexus and found a similar set up, but in a message board format which was ideal for my purposes - no more vast downloads of e-mail - I could pick and choose what I wanted to look at. I've been here ever since in one disguise or another and expect to stick around. I've made a lot of friends IRL via barbelith, and I can say without a doubt that it's my favourite place on the web.
I've always found this perception of The Magick as the ghetto forum to be a little skewed, as in my opinion it's one of the best things about Barbelith. I may be way off the mark, but I'm inclined to think that the only people who call it a ghetto are those who aren't particularly interested in that area of discussion, and therefore don't look at it very often.
If this isn't the case, and people are actually interested in the subject areas covered by its remit but scoff at the level of discussion that goes on there, then shake things up a bit. Ask awkward questions, put people on the spot, challenge instances of complacency, and encourage Magick forum regulars to question these strange beliefs they appear to have. This is what the magick forum should be about.
Something that Haus posted in the Head Shop prostitution thread irked me slightly, can't remember the specific quote but it was something along the lines of "this isn't the Magick forum, a higher level of discussion is expected in the Head Shop" (apologies for clumsy paraphrasing - don't have time to get quote).
A higher level of discussion should be expected in The Magick as well. It ought to be the place where the various subjects that are clumsily grouped together as 'magick' receive the same level of critical attention and deconstruction as you get in forums like the Head Shop. One of the hurdles to this is probably that a lot of subjects in this area can be incredibly difficult to talk about at anything more than a superficial level. For instance, there's a lot of stuff related to my practice and experimentation with magick that I just wouldn't want to share with the rest of the world, or would have trouble expressing in terms that would mean anything to other people.
But having said that, I would probably visit Barbelith far less frequently if it wasn't for The Magick forum, as it really does supply something which you can't get anywhere else on the web. I think one of the major reasons for this is that it exists as a sub-forum of a larger community - some of whom don't have any time for magic or magicians - and this impacts on the way communication takes place.
There's less ego and self-aggrandisement, less clique-ness, inter-order politics and bitchiness, which leads to a more relaxed climate open to those who don't know much about the subject, and even those who are actively aggressive towards it. It has been a bit stale of late though - and I think, if anything, this recent 'magick is a ghetto' spat should be taken as a sign that it's time for us to sharpen up our act and set to work discovering new perspectives on magick, and new ways of discussing, thinking, and writing about the subject. |
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