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Shaytanah, why not come over and post on our new Oistar board on this forum?

Is that where I'm supposed to be?  Okay I'll check it out.

These are great examples.  Thanks!

I am pretty sure I would freak if I saw those before I knew about LS. :)

It's great.   ;D

But now I'm curious...do members of the DKMU observe the 23rd?

I'm intrigued...but would also welcome you to elaborate.

I'm in the Maryland/DC area and new to DKMU.  Looking to get some people together who want to do regular work in person.  Would be great to have someone with more experience with this group and history if possible, as long as they can be collaborative and affirming, and not too dogmatic. 

Hi.  I'm Shaytanah...one of the newbies.  (Oistars?)

Random insomnia and some nudgings prompted me to login here again and I'm reminded that I had committed to myself to be active here.

I'll chime in and say first, thanks for the original post and questions.  Good thinking.

Second, all excellent points here in my opinion, and specific ones that resonate with me are Wheat's, Frater's, Arjil's and Infidel's.  I also learned some things so I'm glad for the conversation.

Wheat's resonated with me a lot because I'm new not only to DKMU but also to chaos magick and its branches of evolution, but Frater's also was very helpful because one it gave sort of an introductory perspective or realignment of thinking, and two, it was empowering.

As someone who might be your typical interested, unsure lurker, part of what's held me back from jumping in is the feeling that I don't know enough.  Now, I'm a solitary practitioner of several years, and an avid, avid reader.  I read as much of the materials as I could, and I will be going back to them frequently.  But there are some things you really just cannot learn from reading, especially when what you're reading, despite intention, is still carrying insider implicit cultural references and assumptions.  Still I'm so glad it was there, and also really impressed...from a nerd/scholarly perspective, I was really blown away by the documentation of a modern "folklore."  So it was really cool.

All that being said, I get the sense from some of these answers that "knowing" isn't the point.  Waiting for overt leadership isn't, either.  DOING is the point.  So thank you for that.  I'm going to do just that and muddle through here as much as I can.  I've been successful so far.

For the purposes of the OP's information-gathering, fyi, I *am* into activist magick, and that was a huge draw for me to this group.  I had a friend into chaos magick years ago that told me about LS.  I was intrigued at the time, and I remembered it years later enough to ask about it again after said friend had long fell out of contact, and she gave me a lead to the materials which I read until I had a headache.  The reason her story stuck with me was because of how empowering it felt, and the sense of hope I got.  I also felt that sense of recognition when you realize you're NOT the only person out there who thinks the way you do...you're far from unique, and that's a good thing.

I LOVED the idea of marauders underground doing energetic work, the inspiring message from some of the media magicians on YouTube with the idea of assaulting consensual reality, and I will point out that magick (and prayer or other forms of faith, religion, spirituality and esoteric pursuits) has always been a favored power for those who perceive themselves otherwise powerless. 

So at the time, between around 2010 and 2014, when all that negative, demoralizing energy was going around in the world and everything was going wrong for most people (I'm sure you all felt it too), it gave me a sense of hope and purpose.  I have thought of and described DKMU as "the Anonymous of magick."  The part about that which appeals to me is the fighting back and taking charge.  (I'm less of a "spread chaos for chaos' sake" kind of person, but I can respect and honor the approach and people who have that energy to them...hell, I work primarily with destructive deities and tricksters.)  I know I'm a powerful person, when I remember to acknowledge it and actually do something.  So knowing there were people out there doing just that was incredible. 

The second thing that really stuck with me was the group work, especially that which occurred in person and drew people together from various distances.  That is something which I have craved.  I've been solitary until very recently, mostly out of a feeling of necessity.  I just didn't feel like I knew how to find people who had the same vibe as me, who wanted to do big things, challenge assumptions in magickal practice and paganism specifically, who felt truly comfortable with their own moral compass.  Ultimately, I'd have to say that's the number one reason I'M here.  As a means to an end, I intend to do my best to meet people I can work with locally, or virtually, if I have to, but definitely in other ways than by simply writing and talking.  Thank you for asking.

Whatever you all decide to do with the forum structures I'll certainly support, and while I might have made some suggestions along the lines of "institutionalizing," reading all the answers has me pondering that and seeing that there are other ways of being active.  So I will simply do my part to participate and keep the momentum going.  I don't think this work (?) group (?) movement (?) is likely to die...like, ever.

One last thing...I definitely agree with the ideal of NOT being on Facebook.  I'm an avid proponent of the power of social media in many other ways and areas of my life, but this would not be one of them.  It's so, so tempting, but when it comes to magick, sources are important, and Facebook comes from a source seeking to do the very things I suspect most of us are against.  It's a tool of control and oppression in *some* ways.  Maybe it's worth it to take the tool and use it against the origins of its birth, but I think if that were to be done then it would really need to be *done,* as in, committed to and intentionally (speaking energetically not like "hacking" or anything).  That being said, perhaps "killing" it is too exhaustive a task and not a good use of energy, and letting it "die" rather while the movement in general continues to evolve in other ways, such as here, is the best approach.  For myself, I'm simply trying to avoid the temptation to use it and choose to come here instead.  Forums are not my usual way of interacting, but I'll get used to it.

I look forward to being more active here free of Facebook.