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| Are We Anonymous ? |
"And thou shalt be the first of the witches known;
And thou shalt be the first of all i' the world
And thou shalt teach the art of poisoning,
Of poisoning those who are great lords of all
Yea shalt make them die in their palaces;
And thou shalt bind the oppressor's soul (with power)
And when ye find a peasant who is rich,
Then ye shall teach the witch, your pupil, how
To ruin all his crops with tempest dire,
With lightening and with thunder (terrible),
And with hail and wind...." Aradia : Gospel of the Witches
I am not a Witch in any traditional sense of the word but these words strike a chord with me. Is it time for sorcery to once again fulfill its role in civil rebellion? Again this is just a question that I don't yet have an answer for. I would love to hear others thoughts on this so please comment. Below is a recent video by Anonymous that inspired this post. Also check out part 2,
14 comments:
The sentiment is stirring, but I worry that what few legal rights magickal practitioners can claim will be eroded quickly if we're associated with groups the U.S. and other nations are quickly coming to see as a direct threat.
The revolution of ideas and perception we bring may be less satisfying in the short run, but is far more powerful in the long run.
I see certainly see your point. However I think that the US and the rest of the world are not going to admit to the public that sorcery is real and it works. So they would dismiss it for the most part. Now the tin foil hat wearing side of me says that governments have individuals in their employ that could trace the source of said magical actions, and respond in kind. It would be a very dangerous game indeed. But if your rebellion is safe, it isn't a rebellion in my opinion.
You bring up a LOT in this single article. There are a ton of topics you cover here, including the role of practical magick in day-to-day life, the role of practitioners or groups of practitioners in society, rules for the use of magick in society among many more.
You definitely should cover these topics in other articles both together and alone, in-depth. But for now we'll just focus on the topic of this particular article.
First, lets start off from the point of groups and organizations. People form groups and organizations to enact change and social-political movement. This is all well and good, but the far to often once a group is created and established and power struggle will ensue. Usually between those individuals who want to control the organization and use its resources for personal gain, whatever form it takes, and those who appose that idea and that person. Granted, this doesn't alway happen right away, but this does usually happen.
To avoid this, you have to form an organization in a different fashion they you would usually so. Take the group Anonymous for instance. They are defined by their simple yet board goals and member's rules. This is a good thing, for a few reasons. One is that it helps to clearly defined what is "Anonymous" and what is "not". If someone states they are a part of Anonymous, and conducts themselves outside of the member's rules or does something that does not fall with the goals of the organization, that shows that whether or not they are a part of Anonymous, their actions at the time and they themselves were not a part of Anonymous. For those who might be a bit confused, whatI just stated is that unless and individuals actions fall within the guidelines of Anonymous, their actions and they themselves cannot be consider a part of Anonymous or conducting actions on behalf of Anonymous.
To maintain some sense of order and balance within a group, without any define leadership, you have to define the actions of the group in simple yet broad terms, which makes it clear what is "group business" and what is "personal". Also defining member conduct will help to define, who and when someone is a "member" and when they are a "non-member".
This is a VERY intriguing concept. I'll definitely keep in touch and see how things are going.
Whoa, you said a mouthful. My experience with forming magical groups has been similar to those of being in bands. Everyone wants to be the Paul or John, nobody wants to be Ringo. If something like this were to spring up there would be a need for protocols of some sort. Perhaps it will happen. I have been thinking about this for a while and recently decided I should follow the old phrase "think globally, act locally". As a rootworker I should be more active in putting my time and skills to work in the local community. I am going to look at ways of doing just that.
LOL yeah, I can get a bit... "wordy" sometimes. ;-)
True that about everyone wants to be Paul or John. Personally, I'm a George myself. That statement is very true. Also by "thinking globally..." you think about the wider implications of your pursuit, not just the ones close to home. And "acting locally." lets you see in a small scale whether the idea can take off or not.
Keep me informed, I'd like to see what your come up with and where it goes...
But remember one main thing. Humans are prone to idolizing and hero worship, two things that can corrupt and/or destroy any organization and its ideals. And in America, we are BIG on hero worship...
wow, this is nice - synchronicity is out and about.
i just wrote a post regarding this type of matter and lo and behold, ANONYMOUS was the muse behind it, lol.
http://aliasmagus.blogspot.com/2011/06/with-great-power-comes-great.html
Audible smack as this insightful and ballzy post impacts the blogosphere. Huzzah!
That practitioners of alternative religions tend to be so conventional in their political, economic, social, and environmental views has been a bee in my bonnet for years. I'm still baffled by Conservative Wiccans and that Republican Odinist Dan Halloran who was elected in NY City.
Great comments all around. Austin, I understand, but we increasingly have no rights in this Corporatocracy anyway. With each tick of the clock we have less and to lose...
Have the same feeling of synchronicity that Mr. Black relates. I'm in the process of creating an unclaiming ritual to be performed at night in an urban wild place (wooded median, easement, right-of-way, etc.) where people aren't *supposed* to go.
True that. F##k the "MAN" and the BMW/Lexus/Audi/ Other lexury vehicle he rode in on...
I think it's interesting as telling that humans have always seem to work to either remain in balance with or control/dominate nature.
I think it speaks to something primal within us, that we aren't simply just "cog" in the machine that is Life and existence. That at least to our perception, we play a far greater role... though what be that role, you guess is a good as mine.
Heck yeah, down with the "MAN", and the BMW/Lexus/Audi/other Luxury vehicle he rode in on. ;-)
You brought up another interesting topic as well Mordred.
I've always found it interesting and telling that humanity has seem to work to create a balance between itself and nature. Be it work in concert with it, or attempting to command/dominate it. I think it should be explored why as humans do we feel a primal urge to see our selves not as "cogs" that are part of the great machine that is Life, but as devices of far greater potential and use.
i love this post. and would really love to speak with you about it in person. i will say here that starhawk's public magikal work has always inspired me, and coupled with more of the aradia sentiment, i think very effective.
also....please watch endciv.com
So much has happened in the three weeks since Brother Ash's original post:
* The Response was announced for August 6th
* The DC40 event has been announced to "Return DC to christ"
* A right-wing Christian went on shooting rampage in Norway.
Kind of makes this discussion seem more urgent, at least to me.
@Lukaya, I would love to discuss this in person. I will stop by the shop soon.
@Modred, agree totally. Its getting crazier by the minute.
@Modred, sweet baby jubus! The Christians are galvanizing now. I don't ever remembering the founding fathers declaring Christianity the official religion of the US of A.
But here they go, and should some horrific nature disaster befall the nation, what then... Is god not pleased? Did Jesus forsaken the ol' red, white and blue?
or maybe they both decided that were sick of the religious BS and figured they'd start cleaning house with the loudest bible-thumpers...
The old, primary conservative, and primary Christians fill their power and lives slowly slipping away. And like a wounded wild animal, they're going to start lashing out, hard and fast till either they craw off to die or they serious hurt some people. Then someone is going to pull and "old yeller" with them... Noe me of course, but someone will. ;-)
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