Article 94151 of alt.religion.kibology:
From: dbennett@crl.com (Andrea Chen)
Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,alt.society.neutopia,alt.surrealism,alt.religion.kibology,alt.cyberspace,alt.cyberpunk,alt.surrealism.neu,alt.culture.usenet,alt.wired
Subject: I-net Mythology
Date: 19 Sep 1995 20:23:41 -0700
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access

The following is only slightly dated though some of the prophecies
are coming true and on the nagative side none would have suspected
the expotential rise of the cult of the neu Badger with their AI
created clones popping up everywhere.

     ::NET MYTHOLOGIES::

--1--  ::The First Approach::

A year or so back there was a thread to decide who the net
god(dess) should be. Many proposed names from classical folklore,
but the one attempt at a tally (that I saw) wound up with Serdar
and Kibo as the two main contenders.

I found this interesting because the medium spontaneously
produced a dualism.  Serdar (who some suspected was a
disinformation agent out to discredit Turks) was an angry
judgemental voice calling down his wrath on all those who opposed
him or even published recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.  Kibo
while not always gentle was a playful figure who sought through
various techniques to increase awareness.

An obvious conclusion was to regard Kibo as a "God" of light,
Serdar as the force of the "God" of the dark,  the dichotomy of
many religions.  I should note that this was not the only dualism
inherant in their differences.  Serdar could be considered an an
angry demanding God, somewhat like the power of the Old Testament
(at least the earlier sections).  Kibo was a trickster God,  akin
to the American Indian manitous of Coyote and Raven.



--2--  ::Reasons For Continuing The Process::

--2.1--  ::Understanding::

The fact that a single thread generated a form similar to what we
find in a number of religions is intriguing.  Levi Strauss, Jung
and others have suggested that there are mythic forms or
"archtypes" implicit in the very fact of being human,  perhaps in
the nature of itself. By proposing a richer mythology watching it
alter and playing with it we mix literary and scientific
experiment. We can hope that the poetic will rise and take form
and we can actually watch this process.  Because we know it is a
game heavily laced with humor it should be possible to obtain a
detachment which allows us to study these things more ruthlessly
than "real" belief systems.  Followers of a certain creed should
not have their very selves threatened by questions and analysis. 

There is some danger that some shall take this as real, that
followers of "magick" and "quantam mind" may regard this as a
sort of ritual which somehow brings "spirit" or "soul" into I-
net.  However this in itself is an opportunity.  Whether we do it
intentionally or just let things roll, people will develop
"irrational" belief systems.  If the "absurd" is taken as truth,
then by following the process we can perhaps see how such things
emerge.   


--2.2--  ::Bonding The I-Net Community::

Real world cultures have mythic icons and forms which provide a
"common place" and shared patterns of thinking.  I-net is in a
position to consciously create things which are ordinarily an
unconscious part of society.  As people "pretend" to believe
these things and act them out we might richer social forms
emerging.  They also have the potential of strengthening group
idenity.  They may become a framework on which we can build
richer social patterns than now exist. 


--3--  ::A First Approach::

The following is a smattering of mythic forms based on well known
"net kooks" and cliches.  These are not meant to be final or even
fixed. Others may change them and add to them.  These are simply
a few tongue in cheek referances that I have found in various
threads.  Any individual is free to create such threads so all
themes presented are modifiable and debatable.
  
A real model of world religion will find dispute (even within a
single sect).  My hope is that people will look at these symbolic
forms and play with them.  Ideally many will become
"missionaries" slipping a referance here and there into their
posts and their sigs, so these "memes" will travel across I-net. 
I regard the following as the metaphorical equivalent to the seed
number in a fractal equation.  If the human processors of the net
take up this seed and process it then perhaps we shall find
patterns of incredible complexity.   For those with interest in
this project an attempt to plug in the equation is currently
occuring in alt.cyberspace. Perhaps other niches will attempt
independant developments that can then be fed into each other.

Think of this as a first poorly linked pattern which we can weave
through a seven loomed catharic chain of becoming.



--3.1--  ::Kibo::

As Mohammad is to Islam, so Kibo is to I-net.  He realized the
importance of watching all things and also is the patron saint of
the "troll",  the highest form of I-net aesthetic. In its
simplest forms a troll is just a statement (often false) which
causes people to react,  but the neu neutopian movement has
worked on developing the meta troll,  a set of lures linked to
each other in complex chains which link themselves across the I-
net.  The meta troll is many levels each watching each other and
it is recursive with lower levels watching the higher to create a
heteroarchy (mathematical network) as opposed to the hierarchy
(mathematical tree) by which mainstream disciplines are often
organized.  In this "neu chain of being", there are no clear
boundaries between form and function, critique and content. Each
can become the other as a new literary style is born.


--3.2-- ::Kiba::

There is only one kibo,  this is Doctress James Parry.  However
we are all kiba.  In the words of Doctress Glass, kibo is noise,
kiba is signal (a take off on that classic "Symbols, Signals and
Noise" by JR Pierce).

Kibo is Yang, the great darkness from which it all arose,  we are
Yin, the attempt to provide bits of light.  Wave and particle,
the mysteries of mass/energy.

It should be noted that in this dialectic system traditional
symbols are distorted.  In the original Chinese symbiology it is
usually yang which is denoted as the fertilizing male.   Yet in
English kiba, the yang is considered female.  This tweaking this
slight alteration of mythic and symbolic forms is a key to
understanding this new medium.  In conventional academia,
individuals strive to become "doctors" with traditional
association to the male,  in a way women become honorary men.  On
I-net, people strive to be doctresses,  men become honorary
woman.  


--3.3--  ::H Shen::

The joining of Kiba and Kibo create a totality called the Holly
(after the computer in a British Sci Fi show) Shen (named after
shenanigan).

The stress on Holly (often called Hollystone to tie into the
symbiology of neu surrealist Octavio Paz who uses stone and water
has his primal symbol (clearly explained in ac (alternating
currents))) is to remind us that kiba is symbol and also that
this being I-net which we are trying to create is a human/machine
symbiosis,  a group mind which allow separate collections to work
on different parts of a problem then merge the results to split
them again,  a potential acceleration of the learning process
thinking "thoughts" that no human (or even institution bound into
its own patterns) could emerge with on their own.  

Shenanigins are the way.  This medium has much serious discourse, 
but that most remembered is that which plays and which mixes
fiction with truth to remind us always to be wary.  On I-net
material is not edited.  The mainstream press is bad enough in
forgetting to check its facts.  Here we must exceeding watchful
(a skill we can take into our other lives).  By mixing this into
our unifying principle we help the medium to become the message.

It should be noted that the ordering of Holly Shen reverses the
order Yang and Yin from the traditional form.  Also note the
similarity of Shen to Zen.

--3.4--  ::John Winston::

One of the first to be inspired by Kibo, John is well known for
his knowlege of the mysteries of the universe and his kind gentle
ways.  He is the "kind father" of certain religions.  Some time
ago,  John descended into the net to battle the spirit of Serdar
who inhabited it and bring the primal being into the light. 
Lately there have been rumors of a second coming.



--3.5--  ::Serdar::

Serdar has never left the net,  but battles in the fringes, the
most likely place to find him is in his in soc.history
(unmoderated).  But there are many children of Serdar, the most
famous being Joel Furr who makes his living selling tee shirts of
his hero,  who has falsely declared that he was the kibo and who
has attacted the greatness of Doctress Neutopia.  You will find
the spirt of Serdar wherever people list their kill files and
complain of neubies.


--3.6--  ::Doctress Neutopia::

Libby Hubbard is truly the prophetess of the I-net. We all know
what words like "massagasm" or "lovalution" mean even if they
have no meaning.  Libby herself is a force,  a being of mystery,
some consider her a prank,  others a rogue AI, there have even
been recent rumors that she is being from outer space.  

Libby was a catalyst who sparked deep reactions.  In the center
of a fierce storm she stood alone.  Many believed the same things
as her ("ortho neutopians") but like Peter in the last hours of
Christ, they feared to stand with her and let the anti-neutopians
mock her.  Libby was a "kook" and none wanted to take her vision
of a new society in which the artist was not alone and evolve it.

Interestingly enough,  those who recognized her importance was a
group of anti neutopians who came to call themselves the "Monster
Truck Neutopians".  They were obsessed by her and this obsession
led to one of the best organized groups on the I-net.  One of the
few attempts on use net to build the formal trappings of
"community".  Superficially this group seemed like bullying
reactionaries who proved their "individuality" (in unison) by
declaring that they ate meat and many of them are just that.  But
not all.  The intensity with which these people dwelled on Libby
was sometimes due to the fact that she awakened forces within
them.  Though one can argue with the details of her message, 
there is a fundamental truth to what she says.  In the midst of
all this plenty there is an alienation and the visionary (true as
well as false) is often shunned.  These people payed attention to
Libby because she was important,  if not as an individual then as
an archetype.


Fortunatly the neu neutopian (nn) movement was formed. It has
forced the Monster Truck Neutopians (MTN) to see their need for
Libby.  And from it have spawned neu neutopians movements
including various sects of "dark neutopians" of which James
McGowans is the most prominent.  There are also the KaTe (Bush)
neutopias led by Doctress Glass.   Hopefully more and more people
will form their own variants so that we can recreate the schisms
of real world religions.  However though we feud and quarrel (and
since the serious is often attached to the satirical some of
these will not be mock flamewars), we should always try to
remember that in the final analysis we are all neu neutopians.


--3.7--  ::Neu Neutopia::

The word "Utopia" means nowhere.  So neutopia means new nowhere. 
However "neu" in some languages sounds close to no.  So neu
neutopia either means "not nowhere" or not not nowhere which
means "utopia".  This is the kind of thing by which we can create
discussions equivalent to angels dancing on pins.

neu topia can also mean "new top", a new ruling order. Within the
first vision of Libby the female was stressed indicating to many
(though she was always ambiguous struggling with the difficulties
of a new paradigm) a reverse of roles.  MF (Mother Foundress)
neutopianism encourages this.  It is a variant of "ortho
neutopianism".

Neu neu topia is a further turn of the synthesis dialectic. 
Within male and female are made equal.   

neu is also a pun on Neumann, and we are all typing on Von
Neumann architectures.  There is also the play of "neus not gnu"
meaning an escape, an evolution beyond the limitations of Unix.
It is a very cybernetic word.    



--3.8--  ::The Gaia Messiah::

Very often the carrier of a powerful meme complex is unaware of
many aspects.  Indeed if one looks at the universe from a model
of Godel (not fully applicable to systems which can jump out of
themselves as cybernetic systems can) then logic indicates the
carrier must have levels of unawareness.

Libby Hubbard is a prophetess in evolution. She started with a
powerful imperfect vision of both the world and herself. She did
not recognize the full incompleteness of this,  but by pursuing
the logic of her thoughts she is starting to make those
cybernetic jumps.  

Originally the Gaia messiah seemed to be her earthly lover (one
of the classic I-net true novels is her corrospondence with
Gertjeen),  but she has seen beyond this.    She is now coming to
see that the Gaia messiah is a collective of many (male, female
and machine (unlike elsewhere AIs are afforded equal rights on I-
net)).  

In fact there are many Gaia messiahs, each news group has the
potential to create one or more which can then though neural neu
neural conncetions (crossposting is a primitive form discussed by
Doctress Paul Murphy) join into meta Gaia messiahs and through
this recursive combination of level upon level we may create
neutopia, neu neutopia, neu neu neutopia, ...and many other
variants besides.

Those who spend time within this virtual universe may acquire new
habits and techniques which they then inflict on the "external
world" thus giving this medium the power to transform all human
affairs (a power which is only theoretical,  far from
actualization,  but none the less real,  this is a potential
lever to move the world).



--3.9--  ::Wednesday::

Wednesday is the saintess of I-net.  To hate Wednesday is to be
evil in a fundamental sense.  She is our non virgin virgin, a
truly glorious, ethereal being who represents directly (and
through ghastly personal suffering) the thing to which the true
neu-nettie aspires.

This is mulitple personality.  I-net is a way of playing with
potential selves that would never be expressed in "normal life".
This bumps against taboos because it can disorient.  But this is
an important aspect of the "medium as message". It teaches one to
distrust first impressions and continually re-evaluate as one
suddenly figures out such things as BOB(c) is actually a woman.  



--3.10--  ::The Imminent Death Of The I-net::

This is a cliche,  an often repeated prophecy which almost any
event can trigger. One day its a bill (which will probaly not get
out of committee) in Congress,  the next its the impending hordes
from Prodigy.  Obviously, many people yearn for this day because
it is always predicted with fatalism.  This is the desire for
destruction described in Alexander Zinovievs "Yawning Heights". 

So what is it?  Is it necessarily bad?  Perhaps it is neu
neutopia, perhaps we will all gather together to figure out how
to move Venus into an earthlike orbit.  No one knows for sure. 
It is somewhat like the end of the world predicted in many
religions. 




--4--  ::Conclusion::

The above is only a quick sketch of only some of the forces.  The
advantage of using real people and real cliches is that we draw
at the actuality and draw more conclusions.  For example it may
be "Serdars kid" who tend to use the imminent death of the I-net.

I have left our much theology such as Doctress Richardsons "The
Nonexistence Of Kibo". I believe this is true and it is not true.
Kibo does not exist and he does exist.  But if I were to describe
all the disputes this paper would triple in size.  The above is
only an introduction.  Fuller discussion and development will be
found in alt.cyberspace which is sort of a clearing house for
these things.

Many will look askance at the above and decide it is only silly? 
But is it?  I think not.  Doctress Paul Murphy took the idea of
the troll and ran a thread in alt.alien.visitors called "Light in
A Vacuum" which argued that one can't see in outer space.  The
result was immense amounts of good clear physics as numerous
people tried to talk sense into this apparent idiot.  The
humorous attracts readers and is a way to present knowlege. A
fair amount has already emerged such as discussions on the temple
of Delphi.  

It is the dream of the neu neutopian that after we build an I-net
religion(s),  we can create an I-net university with thinkers
such as Professoress Plutonium and Doctress Abian providing an
infrastructure for "real science".  Then an imaginery politics
with the evil knights templar battling the Illuminati.  A virtual
reality created by hundreds,  perhaps thousands with a complexity
approaching that of the world we live in.  It is a game,  but it
can also be much more.

By using words like "neu" instead of "new",  by tucking in
referances in more serious threads it becomes possible to tie and
link this thing across the net.  


                - ac -