288 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
288 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
MAG-POL.TXT v1.1 Effective Date: 16 Jun 88 Page 1 of 5
|
||
|
||
Introduction to the
|
||
NEOPAGANISM, WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK
|
||
Echo Conference Network
|
||
|
||
1. Overview
|
||
|
||
In November of 1985, Senator Jesse Helms and Representative
|
||
Robert Walker each introduced legislation that would have
|
||
prohibited tax-exempt status for any church or religious
|
||
organization that practiced "sorcery" or "had a substantial
|
||
interest ... in the promotion of witchcraft."
|
||
|
||
The affect that these bills had on the magickal community was
|
||
electrifying. Groups and traditions that otherwise hated or
|
||
distrusted each other banded together into one large network,
|
||
bound together by the telephone and by U.S. Mail, to block their
|
||
passage. It took over a year, but finally both bills were dead.
|
||
They seem unlikely to return soon.
|
||
|
||
In early 1986, a programmer named Jeff Rush wrote a FidoNet
|
||
extension called EchoMail. It electrified and revolutionized the
|
||
FidoNet community every bit as much as the Helms Amendment and
|
||
Walker Bill did the magickal community.
|
||
|
||
In the very earliest days of EchoMail, Brad Hicks, sysop of
|
||
WeirdBase, a Discordio-Pagan bulletin board on the FidoNet in St.
|
||
Louis, Missouri (1:100/523) came up with the idea of finding
|
||
every possible Pagan and magickal contact person who could dial
|
||
into the FidoNet, and connect them all together, ideally via an
|
||
EchoMail conference. So he advertised quietly for such people in
|
||
several articles in FidoNews.
|
||
|
||
Initially, three other systems replied. In Berkeley, California,
|
||
Josh Gordon was operating a bulletin board for the Ordo Templar
|
||
Orientis called ThelemNet (125/93 then, 1:161/93 now). In
|
||
Gardner, Massachusetts, a local astrolger named MizMoon had a
|
||
horoscope area on Dave's Fido (1:101/27). And on the island of
|
||
Kauai, Hawaii, a hippy named Gene Clayton replied that he didn't
|
||
know much about the subject but surely was interested.
|
||
|
||
From these four systems was formed the very first EchoMail
|
||
conference set up to discuss a specific, non-technical subject:
|
||
the MAGICK EchoMail Conference. In its first month, it garnered
|
||
only a few dozen messages. It has since grown beyond belief, to
|
||
40 or more systems and dozens of messages =per night.= To
|
||
accomodate the increase in traffic (and the continuous stream of
|
||
the new and curious), the Neopaganism, Witchcraft and Magick
|
||
conference was separated into its three current components
|
||
(MAGICKNET, METAPHYSICAL, and MUNDANE) in March of 1988, almost
|
||
exactly two years after it was founded.
|
||
|
||
|
||
2. Content of the Neopaganism, Witchcraft and Magick Conferences
|
||
|
||
|
||
2.1 MAGICKNET...... Neopaganism, Witchcraft & Magick
|
||
|
||
This remains the normal Neopaganism, Witchcraft & Magick echo.
|
||
MAG-POL.TXT v1.1 Effective Date: 16 Jun 88 Page 2 of 5
|
||
|
||
Newcomers and the casually curious are welcome. As an aid to
|
||
such folks, we will compile a few messages' worth of standard
|
||
questions and answers which will be automatically re-posted to
|
||
the echo every month. However, discussions of only marginal
|
||
relevance to the topic(s) will be strongly encouraged to move to
|
||
MUNDANE.
|
||
|
||
|
||
2.2 METAPHYSICAL... Neopaganism, Witchcraft & Magick (articles)
|
||
|
||
This portion of the echo is intended to encourage members of the
|
||
magickal community to discuss points in common and points of
|
||
difference in detail; to promote scholarship and depth of thought
|
||
in the magickal community. Only messages of magazine-article
|
||
quality should be posted in Metaphysical. Replies to articles
|
||
posted in METAPHYSICAL should be posted in MAGICKNET. It is the
|
||
responsibility of each sysop to ensure that messages which belong
|
||
in MAGICKNET or MUNDANE do not get posted here. For example, the
|
||
sysop may choose to have users submit potential messages as files
|
||
to be converted (by the sysop) into messages, or alternatively
|
||
may only give access privilege sufficient to post into METAPHYS-
|
||
ICAL to trusted users who have had the policy explained to them.
|
||
However, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should unvalidated, first-time
|
||
callers be permitted to post in METAPHYSICAL.
|
||
|
||
|
||
2.3 MUNDANE........ Neopaganism, Witchcraft & Magick (sidetrack)
|
||
|
||
Many members of the original Magick echo derived great pleasure
|
||
and satisfaction from being able to discuss mundane and political
|
||
matters with other members of the magickal community. Unfortu-
|
||
nately, left unchecked such discussions can tend to crowd serious
|
||
magickal discussions. To allow both types of dialog to exist
|
||
side-by-side, the MUNDANE echo was formed. If a discussion
|
||
starts in either the MAGICKNET or the METAPHYSICAL echo that is
|
||
irrelevant to their topics, the parties to that discussion will
|
||
be =strongly= encouraged to move the discussion over to MUNDANE
|
||
(if not completely away from the Neopaganism, Witchcraft and
|
||
Magick Conference).
|
||
|
||
This should not be confused with a wide-open general chatter
|
||
echo. While the topics may range freely, only members of the
|
||
magickal community or those with interests in magickal topics are
|
||
encouraged to post here.
|
||
|
||
|
||
3. Rules of the Neopaganism, Witchcraft & Magick Conference
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.1 Nodes Required to Provide All Three Echos
|
||
|
||
All systems which distribute this conference or make it available
|
||
to the public are required to carry all three echos. Mail-only
|
||
and/or point systems which do not distribute the Neopaganism,
|
||
Witchcraft and Magick conferences or make them publically
|
||
available are exempted from this rule but are strongly encouraged
|
||
to carry all three echos in order to be able to follow
|
||
discussions which are moved to other tracks.
|
||
MAG-POL.TXT v1.1 Effective Date: 16 Jun 88 Page 3 of 5
|
||
|
||
3.2 Notify Coordinator of Local Distribution
|
||
|
||
Any system carrying all of the MagickNet echos may further
|
||
distribute them to any private or FidoNet node within their local
|
||
calling area. However, they are required to notify the
|
||
coordinator of this hookup at once, and to distribute to that
|
||
node or point the current version of this document.
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.3 Request Permission for Non-Local Distribution
|
||
|
||
No system except the main hubs (1:100/523, 1:161/93, 1:282/341)
|
||
may distribute all or part of the MagickNet echos to a node or
|
||
point outside their local calling area without first securing
|
||
permission from the coordinator. (The other two hubs may do so,
|
||
but should notify the coordinator as soon as possible.)
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.4 No Illegal Messages
|
||
|
||
No message which is blatantly illegal in content shall be entered
|
||
into the MagickNet echos. The only exception will be for
|
||
messages regarding legitimate religious practices or beliefs
|
||
which are or may be made illegal, in violation of the First
|
||
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the U.N. Statement on
|
||
Human Rights.
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.5 No Harrassing Messages
|
||
|
||
No message which is intended to harrass someone because of their
|
||
religious beliefs, or to convert them to another religion, shall
|
||
be entered into any of the MagickNet echos. No exceptions will
|
||
be made to this rule, even in the MUNDANE echo.
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.6 No Irrelevant Messages
|
||
|
||
No message which is irrelevant to the topics of Neopaganism,
|
||
Witchcraft, and Magick shall be entered into MAGICKNET or into
|
||
METAPHYSICAL. For this rule, a warning will be issued, and in
|
||
general the conversation will be permitted to continue in the
|
||
MUNDANE echo.
|
||
|
||
|
||
3.7 No Personal Insults
|
||
|
||
No message which contains unnecessary profanity or personal
|
||
insults shall be entered into any of the MagickNet echos. Only
|
||
one warning will be issued to any violator. (If you wish to
|
||
continue to insult each other, please use personal FidoNet mail.)
|
||
This includes messages in the MUNDANE echo.
|
||
|
||
|
||
4. Enforcement
|
||
|
||
If a user of any bulletin board system or point operator under a
|
||
Fidonet node naively violates one of these rules, it is the
|
||
MAG-POL.TXT v1.1 Effective Date: 16 Jun 88 Page 4 of 5
|
||
|
||
responsibility of the local sysop to take whatever action is
|
||
necessary to prevent it from happening again. In the event the
|
||
local sysop is unaware of the violation, the coordinator will
|
||
notify him or her.
|
||
|
||
If the sysop of the local node does NOT take such action, or is
|
||
the person responsible for the violation, then the coordinator
|
||
will request that system to leave the MagickNet echos at once.
|
||
If it does not, then the coordinator will request of the system
|
||
by which it is linked into the MagickNet echos that they cease to
|
||
deliver messages to or accept messages from that system, and it
|
||
will be forcibly exiled from the echos. Anyone who knowingly
|
||
provides a "feed" to a sysop who has been exiled from the
|
||
MagickNet echos will suffer a like fate. Likewise, if the exiled
|
||
system's feed refuses to cut the link, the link above the feed
|
||
will be cut - as high up as is necessary to successfully exile
|
||
the offending node.
|
||
|
||
In all but the most obvious and gross of cases, the coordinator
|
||
will seek a consensus, or at least an overwhelming majority, of
|
||
the sysops and contributing users in the MagickNet echos before
|
||
taking drastic action.
|
||
|
||
If this seems harsh, it needs to be pointed out that the until
|
||
and unless the International FidoNet Association and/or the
|
||
FidoNet Coordinators change the rules, this is the ONLY means
|
||
available to keep order within an echo conference.
|
||
|
||
|
||
5. The Coordinator
|
||
|
||
From its earliest beginnings, the Magick Conference has been
|
||
coordinated and moderated by Brad Hicks from his BBS, WeirdBase
|
||
at 1:100/523 (314-389-9973). As of this date, Brad still
|
||
coordinates all three echos, although this may be subject to
|
||
change in the future.
|
||
|
||
6. Revision History
|
||
|
||
|
||
6.1 Version 1.0
|
||
|
||
Original document issued 1 Mar 88.
|
||
|
||
|
||
6.2 Version 1.1
|
||
|
||
Revised on 16 Jun 88. Definition of METAPHYSICAL echo (section
|
||
2.3) clarified. Topology (section 6) updated and PC-Pursuit
|
||
markings added. Revision history (section 6 and subsequent)
|
||
inserted before the topology list. Page numbers added.
|
||
|
||
|
||
MAG-POL.TXT v1.1 Effective Date: 16 Jun 88 Page 5 of 5
|
||
|
||
7. The Topology
|
||
|
||
The following is the list of all known and authorized bulletin
|
||
board systems that carry the MagickNet. Not all of these BBS's
|
||
may have chosen to make the MagickNet echos available to the
|
||
public. BBS's marked with an asterisk ("*") may be reached via
|
||
PC-Pursuit.
|
||
|
||
TOPOLOGY (NET/NODE) CITY, ST BBS NAME PCP
|
||
<20> 100/523 St. Louis, MO WeirdBase
|
||
<20> <20> 104/610 Northglen, CO The 8th Sea *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 104/18 Federal Hts, CO Eusebiea Fido *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> <20> 102/744 Los Angeles, CA Cult Monitor *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> <20> 107/539 Hoboken, NJ Comp. Connections
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 104/20 Denver, CO Day's End *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> <20> 104/93 Boulder, CO Adelante *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 104/55 Aurora, CO Masterwork Opus *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 104/739 Parker, CO The Phoenix *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 104/904 Englewood, CO PCjr Net *
|
||
<20> <20> 109/728 Alexandria, VA TIDMADT
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 109/115 Falls Church, VA Arquimedes
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 109/606 Washington, DC The Blowtorch *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 109/712 Fairfax, VA Zonzr East BBS
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 363/9 Orlando, FL MaMaB
|
||
<20> <20> 141/222 Monroe, CT Excelsior AIBBS
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 141/375 Trumbull, CT Li'l Frog
|
||
<20> <20> 322/210 Pepperell, MA IBM Tech Fido *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 101/115 Westwood, MA Rainbows Edge *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 101/196 Wellesley, MA Heath Users Grp *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 101/667 Cambridge, MA Viking Magic *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 15/7 Sandy, UT Last Byte/PCB
|
||
<20> <20> 382/7 Austin, TX Black Ice
|
||
<20> <20> 382/1 Lake Travis, TX Crystal Palace
|
||
<20> <20> 382/2 Pflugerville, TX Touchstone
|
||
<20> 161/93 Berkeley, CA ThelemaNet *
|
||
<20> <20> 102/862 Los Angeles, CA Tahuti Net *
|
||
<20> <20> 103/602 Rowland Hts, CA House Atreides *
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 103/501 Tustin, CA Mt. Silverthorn
|
||
<20> <20> <20> <20> 103/507 Anaheim, CA Philosophers Log
|
||
<20> <20> <20> 103/503 Tustin, CA Astro-Net
|
||
<20> <20> 107/293 Brooklyn, NY BaphoNet
|
||
<20> <20> 107/416 Toms River, NJ Metatek Fido
|
||
<20> <20> 161/414 Kauai, HI Kauai2
|
||
<20> 282/341 Minneapolis, MN Terraboard *
|
||
<20> 124/109 Carrollton, TX The Diplomat *
|
||
<20> <20> 124/106 Dallas, TX Chai Way II *
|
||
<20> <20> 124/214 Dallas, TX Chrysalis *
|
||
<20> <20> 137/12 Sarasota, FL American United *
|
||
<20> 139/640 Appleton, WI Fox Valley Tech
|
||
<20> 147/4 Okla. City, OK Project:Opus
|