City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001

Techno-Temples

THE LAST OF THE NEW TEMPLES do not even occupy a physical space. This sacred site exists in what is now known as cyberspace, a nonphysical “place” created through the vast networking of computers called the Internet. Through the Internet, we have access to a wide array of information and services. People can communicate through electronic mail, whose letters are sent over the computer with no physical paper. Material can be published on Web pages, creating electronic manuscripts through which anything can be shared. Once posted, anyone with Internet access and a Web browser can view them. You can “talk” with other people in real time through the use of chat rooms. Here, in these virtual, electronic spaces, words are exchanged. Some claim that this lacks the personal, face-to-face contact, or the tone of voice of a phone conversation, but there’s no doubt that, with the Internet, you can reach people you would not otherwise see or call. Discussion can also take place through mailing lists, mass e-mails to large groups of people who join the list, and through bulletin boards, places where lists of messages on various topics can be posted for all to see. It is in these virtual meeting places—truly “a space that is not a space and a time that is not a time”—that many of similar interests meet, discuss, share, argue, and, now, even do magick.

The computer itself has grown with modern culture. Starting as a simple tool, it has become to many an indispensable part of daily living, like running water, electricity, and heat. It is not a necessity of life, but try telling that to people who do their communing over the computer and telephone wires. The phenomenon once attracted only computer-philes, but now entices average students, businessmen, housewives, accountants, and artists, right down to nature-loving pagans, witches, shamans, and other spell casters. The Internet is a simple way to network and Web-weave with your peers across the globe.

Many draw their sense of community and well-being, not from those physically around them, but from the computer. Mailing lists, groups of people who share one large discussion on a mutual interest, can create a great sense of community, support, and even love. Particularly for those interested in magick, witchcraft, and off-beat spirituality, the on-line community can be a safe outlet through which to explore new experiences they feel can’t be shared with those physically around them. Kundalini experiences, alien abductions, and witch coming-out stories bond people of similar backgrounds because they feel no one else can understand. If you want to be a witch, but have no one around to teach you, much of your learning can take place through the Internet. You can get more feedback from real pesople than from books. You can ask questions. The Internet is really a temple of information. I’ve learned a lot about magick and even many life lessons from my Internet communities. Some of us have met in the flesh and had wonderful experiences. Some will always remain electronic friends, so to speak, but their advice and opinion is valued more than that of many other people in my life.

Modern spell casters often use computer terms to describe psychic powers and magical phenomenon, showing how pervasive the seeds of these symbols have grown in the fertile mindscape of our collective consciousness. When learning about auras, I was taught to act as if your psychic abilities were computer programs. Bring up the aura program and there it is. When consecrating and charging magical tools, bring up the charging program. Keep it simple in your mind and the reality will be simple. Spells are often seen as analogous to a computer virus, a self-replicating program that goes out and grows, until it completes its function. Although most modern computer viruses are programmed with harmful intentions, they don’t have to be. The creation of thoughtform entities and constructs, often known as servitor spirits, through such things as protection spells, are akin to the creation of computer programs or even artificial computer intelligences. A construct is a spell lasting indefinitely, one that will perform a set of instructions when given the proper stimulus. The spells can be simply to shield the home when someone threatens it, much like a program written, “If x = y, GO TO ... ,” completing the next set of instructions. The group consciousness of a coven or other ritual group can be seen as a collective program that each member taps into during ceremony.

The age of the magical computer is upon us, whether we like it or not. This section is not meant to be “Computer and Internet 101” for those unfamiliar with the World Wide Web and the possibilities of the Internet. That would require a whole book in itself, with little room for magick. Nor is it an argument to do all magick on-line and break away from normal human contact and traditional ceremonies. Like many traditionalist who might be reading this, horrified at the prospect of computers and magick mingling, I, too, prefer face-to-face contact in a physical space. I prefer to hear someone’s voice next to me, not to read typed words. But I cannot deny the impact that discovering the on-line magical community has had on my life. For many, this is not only their sole outlet for magical interaction, but, arguably, a preferred way. Everyone has his or her own personal preferences. This is only a resource for those looking to explore the possibilities of techno-magick in its early stages. If you are unfamiliar with computers in general, perhaps this will persuade you to look at them a little differently. Look at them for a moment with your magical eyes.

The strongest archetypal trait of the Internet is its vast potential for storing and sharing information, cutting across geographic lines. Perhaps only in the fabled library of Alexandria did we ever have such information. The sheer volume of information on so many topics in the modern world has doubled and doubled again, many times over. The most wonderful aspect of the Internet those involved with magick is the accessibility of this information. No longer is magical wisdom and specific information obscured from our sight. No longer do we have to study in far-off places and join unusual groups. Much of their information is now shared freely, available to those who know where to look. We live in a vast sea of information. The Internet is just one way to navigate this sea. It is a way to both give and receive treasured secrets.

The beautiful chaos of this cyber world, where anyone can share anything, leaves us with another, perhaps less fortunate, archetypal aspect of the Internet, that of the trickster. Quite literally, anyone can tell you anything, truth or fiction. People can lay claim to any title, any experience, and there is no way to verify it. On the Internet, a ten-year-old can pretend to be a nuclear physicist, and, if that ten-year-old knows more about nuclear physics than you do, perhaps you’ll believe him. In magical communities, many claim to be the masters of centuries-old magical traditions and secret societies. Some may very well be. But if they are so secret, and you have never heard of them before, then why are they revealing themselves to you now, over the Internet? In the best of circumstances, many share information they believe to be correct with novices in magick, witchcraft, and ceremony. The problem is that they either do not have correct information themselves, or they lack the skills to explain it correctly to others over such a medium. There are no “truth police” in the techno-world, and I, along with most others, prefer it that way. To whom would we give the right to determine what can and can’t be shared and said? To no one, is my answer. To do so would only start a computerized inquisition, and I think our civilization can do without another inquisition, computerized or not.

The trickster aspect of the Internet teaches us one of the most important lessons we can learn in life, both on and off the computer-discernment. As magical people, we have to cultivate our powers of intuition and discernment to be able to distinguish falsehood from truth. We need to learn how to differentiate between a potential fool and a potential adept, and be able to learn our lessons from each. In some ways, the fool has more useful life lessons for us all. In general, you must critique all experiences and people in this cyberworld, just as you do when joining any new group or community. You may lack the advantages of eye contact and hearing the voice, which for most of us are the tell-tale signs, but you can learn other techniques as you delve into this realm. If you are there now, you have probably already learned some of your own methods for to discerning fact from fantasy on-line.