Looking for a Metaphysical or Witchy Discussion Group

[Persephone Emerald]

I would love to find people who play in SL & have a serious understanding of metaphysics, spirits & magic. I want to discuss ideas with others who can think outside of normal thought boxes without totally losing rational thought. Does anyone here know of groups in SL that actually have in-depth discussions of metaphysics, spirits or witchcraft, particularity as they relate to Second Life?

Some examples for discussion topics:

How do you use magic in SL?

What places in SL feel magical to you?

What kind of spirits would be attracted to a computer generated virtual world?

 

That last question is one I've been thinking about lately. Witches who don't play in SL seem to think such ideas are too far out even for them, yet we can extrapolate from principles we know into new areas of thought.

For instance, spirits can manifest in all kinds of realms, both physical & non-physical. Take the example of the dream plane as a non-physical dimension in which spirits of dreamers, spirits of the dead, angels, demons & deities call all manifest at times. If people can create places on the dream plane & non-human spirits can manifest there, then couldn't they also manifest in a computer generated virtual world?

What kinds of spirits would be attracted to SL? Well, Like calls to Like & spirits feed on emotional energy. So if people in a virtual world generate creative energy, enthusiasm, affection, lust, fear & addiction, all of those energies could draw the attention of "like-minded" spirits. Some deities would also be more likely to be attracted to a virtual world, such as Crossroad deities & those of technology, creativity or communication.

If they could manifest, how would they be likely to do so? Would they be limited to a region or a server? If they were tied to a virtual object (which is really just a program that appears to be an object), what would happen to the spirit when that object is taken into inventory? or if it crosses a region border?

I want to have serious discussions that blend knowledge of Second Life with Science Fiction & Metaphysics, so really far outside of normal thought boxes.

 

[Pixie Chaffe]

 

I have pretty much given up on looking for pagan groups in SL, most seem very fluffy or based towards beginners, which is great, its just worrying when quite a few don't know what they are talking about. I am very aware I sound like a snob, but being an active member in my local pagan community as well as being a point of contact for people who are interested in magic and paganism and want to find out more in my area, I get really angry when someone flicks though a glittery book and think it would be cool t be a witch or even worse a HPS without doing any research and then just spout utter drivle. So that is why I have avoided most of the fluff on SL.

 

Another reason is that paganism and magic is a natural thing, I do all my rituals outside (even if its a blizzard outside in the middle of January) and sitting behind a computer screen is the antithesis of this.

 

Since SL is a world in itself I would separate it from RL completely in terms of magic. I don't think magic performed in SL could effect RL and vice versa so and magic that is performed should be done within the limitation of the world we manifest it. This is what my instincts say, but I am interested in hearing other ideas about this.

 

As for Magical places, I think it depends on the effort put in the time and energy someone spend to make a place beautiful is what makes it magical. SL doesn't have ley lines or ancient temple, nor does it have solid objects that can absorb energy the same way as standing stones do. So the energy that does resonate is the love and commitment that has been put into creating it.

[Persephone Emerald]

Thanks for your feedback, Pixie.

I'm not a newbie to magic, but I haven't been fully trained in one tradition either. I understand what you're saying about the fluffiness & beginner stuff. That's part of the problem I'm finding in SL. There are nice places in SL for people who are interested in witchcraft (especially Wicca) on a beginner's level. But I'm not Wiccan & I'd like to get past the basic classes on Wicca, the "law of three" & all that.

In my practical experience, spells cast in SL can affect results in SL, but seem to have little if any effect in physical reality. When I cast money spells in RL, I get money in RL. When I cast them in SL, I get lindens in SL, usually from someone buying something I made or land I was trying to sell.

In the tradition I've been taught, everything is considered to be natural, so thinking of plastic or computers as unnatural & therefore not suited to magic is a false belief. If one believes something won't work, then it probably won't work for them. But if one believes that magic is not limited by rigid rules, then they can probably use it in many ways (much as a chaos magician might).

Imagine using a piece of paper & a pencil to write out a spell & then burning it in the flame of a candle. The paper, pencil & candle you used were all man-made & were thus not natural in the purest sense of the word. On the other hand, the human ingenuity used to make all those items is natural, so all those things are natural too. A plastic toy or a computer program are a few more steps away from their natural components, but they are still man-made things made by human ingenuity.  Another example is the use of rum or Florida Water as offerings in some traditions, both of which are manufactured products.

If we look at a computer program as being analogous to a book, both are the symbolic writing of a person that conveys ideas & instructions. If a physical book could have a spirit bound to it, then couldn't a program have a spirit bound to it too?  Spirits are not limited to manifesting in only their native realms, If they can manifest in a physical or dream realm, couldn't they manifest in a virtual world as well?

 

(Edit to add)

I suspect another problem with witchy groups in SL is the territorial nature of people & groups. I like the group at witchfest, but they're bound to be directed by a sort of group-think that favors traditional Wicca. I heard one well-established member say there that he walked out on a witchcraft lesson in RL in which the teacher didn't cast a circle first before doing her spell. The problem with that kind of rigidity is that many traditions don't believe casting a circle before doing spellwork is necessary. It isn't done in many forms of traditional witchcraft, it isn't done in hoodoo & it isn't always done in Feri.

[Pixie Chaffe]

Sorry I should have explained better what I mean by natural, I totally agree everything comes from the earth at some point so it is natural in that respect and I don't see my computor as 'unnatural' . I guess what I mean is being outside make you closer to to the tides and rhythems of the earth you know its late summer/early auterm because you can experiance it. You can pick fruit to eat, hear leaves crunching, see bare fields . Sitting indoors with the heating on you cant experiance these things, and in SL althought their is a day cycle, you have have the ability to manipulate it so you can literally goe from bright sunny beach to a winter woodland at night in less than a miniute, seasons and phases havelittle meaning. when you consider that magic in RL relys on phases alot (especially lunar) how does that work in SL when the moon is always full? certain things are btter done at night, but does night have the same meaning when you can just click a button and its dark?

[Ganelon Darkfold]

I haven't tried any magical work in SL.  Some places here and there feel like they may have something to them, but I haven't gone looking for energies or spirits.  I ran across a little chapel/shrine once in SL where lights had been set for various people and needs, and it felt like there was something to that. 

So far as what kind of spirits might be attracted, well SL has been around for something like 8 yrs I think?  I'd say that at the very least, the spirits of people who lived and played here and have died would be a definite possibility.  So far as how they might manifest, well, you could try checking for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena)?  Maybe you could go someplace quiet that feels like there might be something present and use your voice chat to ask a question or invite them to speak to you, then turn your own mic off and record directly off the computer's output with a digital or tape recorder or use the computer itself it you are familiar enough with that sort of thing.  Try listening back to it very carefully or take it into your fave sound editing program as a file and use the noise redux and high amplification method.  There's quite a few "paranormal" sites on the internet that have a bit of info on how to check recordings for EVP, if you haven't ever done it. It might at least be a place to start looking.

Kind of an intriguing thought, that haunting SL might be an afterlife option.

So far as objects and etc in SL being just a program, well a sigil is just a few symbolic lines and yet they seem to work well enough?  I don't see why it shouldn't be possible that something might not be constructed in SL that could house a spirit or some sort of a magical virtue.  It might take some thought and experimentation to come up with, but I'd say it's at least possible.

So far as manfestation in the usual sense though, I personally don't find close proximity to computers to be the best for it.  But psychic impressions via the "link" felt from a chat program are common enough.  Myself, I prefer to step away from the machine and set a light in the physical world, though.  

 

Anyway, it's an interesting idea.  I'm sure some folks will have great entertainment making fun of all the ideas involved, but I hope you get at least a reasonable number of serious replies.