definitions...

[kadiera]

So...I was talking with a non-Pagan friend of mine, and he asked:

What exactly is TechnoPaganism?

So, I put it to you:

Define TechnoPaganism and TechnoShamanism

Is it about deities and spirits related to computers? Is it about using technology for magickal means? Something else entirely?

Comments

[wibbble]

There's a couple of links in the profile to when this has been discussed before.

I don't really see it as something that's changing so rapidly that the meaning'll've changed since then.

What exactly is TechnoPaganism?

[gleef]

Is it about deities and spirits related to computers? Is it about using technology for magickal means? Something else entirely?

Yes.

Definitions

[soleklypse]

Technopaganism always seemd like a really cool concept to me, but to be honest, every time I've ever looked at a book or website on the subject I've been disappointed. I guess I continue to watch this list because I'm hoping that someday someone will define technopaganism (perhaps not explicitly, explicit definitions usually come later) in such a way that seems meaningful.

However, if you want an answer to give your friend, what I might say is that technopagans generally believe in a spiritual aspect of technology and attempt to connect to that spirit in various ways.

Re: Definitions

[kadiera]

I think that's where I'm having the biggest issue with this...

If it was so well defined already, and with as many members as there are on this community, you'd think there'd be more...useful? interesting? intriguing?...information out there.

Instead...I'm finding it truely difficult to send him to read anything that doesn't sound like utter crap someone's pulled out of their ear without knowing half of what they're talking about.

Re: Definitions

[soleklypse]

I'm finding it truely difficult to send him to read anything that doesn't sound like utter crap someone's pulled out of their ear without knowing half of what they're talking about.

Yup.

Of course, you could always tell him, "technopaganism doesn't exist. Don't worry about it." :)

Re: Definitions

[kadiera]

Tried that....just got more questions.

Fortunately...or maybe unfortunately....he's even more of a geek than I'll *ever* be (and this from someone who's geeky for your average engineer)...and he's very much a skeptic of all things mystical...but then he says his networks speak to him, and he wants to know what suggestions I have to give him to make the conversation a duplex connection. :-)

[nancyblue]

I'll just give a bit of a personal answer here. For me technopaganism is not only using technology as a magickal aid it's also about engaging in a new magickal paradigm and style. Many magickal groups draw their inspiration from ideas of the past and "tradition." I think technopagans/shamans tend to draw more inspiration from the shiny and the contemporary. Using a rave as a place to do magickal working is one example or setting up a TAZ on the internet is another.

[velvetdahlia]

I like this answer. I have turned to technopaganism because I feel the essentialist concepts on which Gardnerian Wicca and other "traditional" Pagan paths are based are constructions, but are often not perceived as such. There is a myth that some forgotten truth can be uncovered in the Old Religion-- and I am more interested in a new paradigm, and its relationship with old spirit paths-- this hybridity is exciting.

I'm very curious about the setting up of a TAZ on the internet-- have you seen it done? Can you tell me more about it? I know I could Google it, but I'd rather hear about it from a fellow technopagan! Thanks.

[pope_guilty]

I think the word you're looking for is "data haven".

[nancyblue]

I have read accounts of people who have organized TAZ stuff online, mostly where people would connect to the egregore individually and then connect up in various ways, also posting about it to a newsgroup later for others to reference. Chaotes do a lot of this sort of thing. I've never taken part in it because I'm a bit of a loner :) I'm probably not the best resource for that sort of thing here.

[annamaryse]

I have two cents to put in, which might illuminate this from a different angle.

Many years ago when I first got onto the internet, I was astounded to discover that one could get a strong sense of someone's energy when communicating with them through the internet using IRC or other forms of webchat.

As I am psychic and do readings, it was incredibly interesting to me that I could do a reading through this medium, through these channels, quite accurately.

Someone wrote a book about five years ago about the power of collective consciousness as could be channeled through a large group of people rallying together throught the internet, and the religious implications thereof.

In past time, the Rosicrucians taught that words have weight, and written words even more weight... so the very act of writing out our thoughts and hopes to one another through this medium can be a powerful tool of divination and a means by which we can make this or that our creation.

These thoughts of mine, I believe they have their place in a discussion of

[velvetdahlia]

Do you remember the title or author of the book you mentioned above?

[annamaryse]

I do not. Wish I could be sure. I didn't *read* the book, but listened to a discussion about it on CBC Radio in Canada, which sometimes has great thought-provoking discussions. If you go to this page:

http://www.socio.demon.co.uk/magazine/7/issue7.html

... it may have been either one of these two... TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information by Erik Davis or The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet by Margaret Wertheim.

It was about 1998 when I heard the radio program, and I came away from it with a gist of what was said, much convoluted in my own mind since then I'm sure.

[velvetdahlia]

Thank you! This is very helpful.