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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
? 100/523 St. Louis, MO WeirdBase
? ? 104/610 Northglen, CO The 8th Sea *
? ? ? 104/18 Federal Hts, CO Eusebiea Fido *
? ? ? ? 102/744 Los Angeles, CA Cult Monitor *
? ? ? ? 107/539 Hoboken, NJ Comp. Connections
? ? ? 104/20 Denver, CO Day's End *
? ? ? ? 104/93 Boulder, CO Adelante *
? ? ? 104/55 Aurora, CO Masterwork Opus *
? ? ? 104/739 Parker, CO The Phoenix *
? ? ? 104/904 Englewood, CO PCjr Net *
? ? 109/728 Alexandria, VA TIDMADT
? ? ? 109/115 Falls Church, VA Arquimedes
? ? ? 109/606 Washington, DC The Blowtorch *
? ? ? 109/712 Fairfax, VA Zonzr East BBS
? ? ? 363/9 Orlando, FL MaMaB
? ? 141/222 Monroe, CT Excelsior AIBBS
? ? ? 141/375 Trumbull, CT Li'l Frog
? ? 322/210 Pepperell, MA IBM Tech Fido *
? ? ? 101/115 Westwood, MA Rainbows Edge *
? ? ? 101/196 Wellesley, MA Heath Users Grp *
? ? ? 101/667 Cambridge, MA Viking Magic *
? ? ? 15/7 Sandy, UT Last Byte/PCB
? ? 382/7 Austin, TX Black Ice
? ? 382/1 Lake Travis, TX Crystal Palace
? ? 382/2 Pflugerville, TX Touchstone
? 161/93 Berkeley, CA ThelemaNet *
? ? 102/862 Los Angeles, CA Tahuti Net *
? ? 103/602 Rowland Hts, CA House Atreides *
? ? ? 103/501 Tustin, CA Mt. Silverthorn
? ? ? ? 103/507 Anaheim, CA Philosophers Log
? ? ? 103/503 Tustin, CA Astro-Net
? ? 107/293 Brooklyn, NY BaphoNet
? ? 107/416 Toms River, NJ Metatek Fido
? ? 161/414 Kauai, HI Kauai2
? 282/341 Minneapolis, MN Terraboard *
? 124/109 Carrollton, TX The Diplomat *
? ? 124/106 Dallas, TX Chai Way II *
? ? 124/214 Dallas, TX Chrysalis *
? ? 137/12 Sarasota, FL American United *
? 139/640 Appleton, WI Fox Valley Tech
? 147/4 Okla. City, OK Project:Opus