Greetings,
When I started my PhD research about magical practice in virtual worlds
I got a lot of criticism from the academy that it wasn't a real
endeavour, but rather some kind of cute, pretend thing that the younger
generation was mucking around with that wasn't worthy of our attention.
Essentially that it was 'just a game'. Having spent five years doing
rituals in virtual worlds I am now in a position to say that rituals can
be excellently effectual in virtual worlds and though, for some, these
worlds are 'just a game', for others they are the foundation of strong
community and real religious activity. This understanding would have
been impossible without doing the thing.
The way rituals are done in virtual worlds is quite particularly
different to meatspace rituals and it is only by performing those
rituals in a virtual space that one learns how the virtual mechanics
work and how to increase their efficacy. Building interactive props, not
dissimilar to the technohoodie, is on of those ways. You can't
stimulate all the senses in virtual space, there is no sense of smell
for example, so you have to work out ways to increase sensory
stimulation to compensate for that loss.
The main thing virtual rituals teach one though is to consider more
widely the nature of the real and not get hung up on things being 'not
real'. The ancient Egyptian conception of effectiveness is useful in
this case. A good thing is an effective thing. Don't worry about real or
not real, but rather see what works and go with it.
Regards,
Morgan Leigh
PhD Candidate
School of Social Sciences
University of Tasmania
On 10/12/2013 3:40 AM, Pitch313 wrote:
> Aloha,
>
> On Sun, 08 Dec 2013 21:48:21 -0800, Morgan Leigh <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>> I was made - see http://hyperritual.com/blog/technomancer-hoodie/ I like
>> the idea but its a bit ugly imho.
>
> Honestly, I think that this example of clothing that casts magic spells
> shows
> us a different vector of occultural learning/practice that I, for one,
> do not
> quite know what to make of. The technomage hoodie provides feedback on
> the practitioner's posture/gesture/performance--so that the spell is
> accomplished when the practitioner behaves according to the clothing's
> parameters.
>
> Conceivably, a Lodge or Trad or School could encoded the postures/
> gestures/performances that characterize its magical outlook into the
> clothing,
> and use that encoded clothing to pass along its style and outlook.
>
> Or the clothing might accomplish something else magical that I haven't
> imagined.
>
> I shared the technomage hoodie holding it to be a sort of stagey accessory.
> But I can envision it (and similar such clothing) as having
> possibilities for
> innovation and the formation of postmodern magical outlooks and
> organizations.
>
> (OK! An example. Here in the USA we hold Pagan Pride Days with parades
> and festivities. A groups of practitioners wearing technomage hoodies
> marches
> in the parade, performing choreographed spells that they have learned from
> wearing their encoded clothing.)
>
> Musing I Suppose That We Ought To Wear Techno-Magical Clothing
> That Does Effective Magic With Us! Rose,
>
> Pitch
>
>
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