Thank you Cerber for your realistic overview.Firstly,I did not 'have' to resurrect the post but I chose to in attempt to highlight how the forum was viewed from the outside.I receive lots of feedback on this and though it would be easy to simply ignore emails regarding how this forum has in their view degenerated into a notice board of silly thoughts,nonsensical ideas and a repository of pseudo-Occult information,I decided to review the topics posted and the 'advice' given over the last six months here.Cerber wrote:I understand where you are coming from, I do, but I'm terrible sexist and I just couldn't help but notice you launching missiles at a girl half your age for merely expressing her general disapproval, not aimed at only you, of what we have created here (or attempted to create). I wanted this place to grow out of a "book club" in to a "playground" where many different realities, even the wacky and crazy ones could coexist in peace. But it seems we still have long way to go [sadface]
I do not need to defend myself against attacks on my academic prowess that I use to pinpoint valid problems within belief systems that are often forged by authors who themselves have no experience in practising the things they advise others to take on.In highlighting flawed and even forged information the genuine and more commited Occultist is able to adjust,ditch or retain the information by comparison to and accounting for any new knowledge gleaned from ongoing research,empirical analysis from actual practitioners and of course from recourse to the actual original documents and MSS that are often at odds with modern interpretations that will lead the unwary into a cul-de-sac of error and inherent failure to accurately connect to the system in hand.
To suggest I need to study 'properly' is a rather bizzare and ignorant remark when in all fairness I had offered the chance for several people here to substantiate what were clearly not listed as a personal belief but arrogantly claimed as universalisms and truths that we should accept without question.Rather than attempt to substantiate or validate those claims,the response was hostile,abusive and destructive.Such responses added nothing to the chance for others to assess the information with any degree of accuracy but what it did acheive was to further oust any interest from serious Occult students who inevitably moved on elsewhere.
I can understand Cerber's idea of a balance between fun and the more serious side of things but sadly terms like 'playground' and 'wacko' has in rcent times reflected the sum total of this forum rather than an element of it.He is correct.There is a long way to go to achieve a balanced and friendly community wherein we can learn and evolve together.Critical is how we discern what is a personal belief and what can be safely accepted by the majority as a useable and reliable corpus of information that turns hypothesis into actual result.
Despite what people may assume,I find the 'Book Club' thing immensely boring but only a fool believes we should burn all learned works and rely only on the ideas forwarded by others.Another well worn myth is borne from an assumption that anyone holding academic based views is not an Occultist,witch or Shaman.In reality the reverse is true and many Occultist's past and present-and indeed the authors of the medieval Grimoires were and are academics often at the highest levels of scholarship.No-one needs to take my word on this but simple internet research will quickly show me to be correct.This blend of academia(or even mundane Googling)and reflections of undertakings by practitioners is aptly termed 'Occulture' and for the serious student it is the way ahead in a magical world haunted by advice from the un-Initiated,the mis-informed and books purprting their authors to be proficient and learned but in fact in places have no more experience than the student attempting to make sense of what they write.
I reserve the right to challenge information I suspect misleading,flawed or designed to instigate a spiritual undertaking that will waste peoples time.Forums are crammed full of it and today anyone who looks around will see how the internet has been beseiged by self-appointed experts who have commanded every known demon,enabled a direct line to God and everything one can imagine.These shouts are born from ego,a desire for an 'otherness' that quenches the fear of just being who you are and a desperate attempt to build an image that will fit in.
Finally,due to feedback received and antagonistic replies to postings I had made elsewhere,I ceased to post links to academic papers or articles that seemed to expose the fears of some forum members who had complained that the facts were a contraindication of their beliefs.
I also took into account how Desecrated had admonished my approach by reminding me this forum was not a 'Cambridge Meet-Up' and that he advised non-academic jargon wherever possible.Given that I still refuse to dumb-down in order to placate the cyber bully and the antagonist-however well they disguise their attempts.