23 Cluster's modalities, functions, spiritualities, desires, politics, and stances are best described in
following three chain-broadsides, first released in the beginning of January 2004. Those interested in taking part of the experiment are encouraged to simply do so. Contact any other affinity group or individual involved with 23Cluster, if you wish.
It is a Do It Yourself cluster...meaning there are no officials or leaders that will tell you what to do. If you agree with the broadsheets, then simply start participating, whether in the projects / experiments posted here or elsewhere, or by making your own.
23 Cluster is unambiguous in its use of and stance towards magic and the occult. It is mainly a magit-prop cluster. Those of you who neither believe, nor can stomach the idea of magic, should move on to more appropriate activities for yourself. 23 Cluster is not looking for expansion and growth of numbers of participants/members, except where that may affect the effectiveness and power
of our operational magic experiments. Results magic is what matters.
23 Cluster has already launched and completed several actions which you may hear about. Because of the nature of it being a loose cluster, some actions undertaken by many of us/you may never be known by the rest of the cluster, unless we/you let you/us know about them. Feel free to distribute and post any things you know about to the rest of the cluster.
This page has been posted by the PMM, one of the first groups to become involved with 23Cluster. But feel free to link or copy and post/mirror this page, along with any of your own 23C endeavors/ideas, any place you feel like.
This page itself will grow as more things are added to it. Feel free to send us any contributions at the email address for this site.
23Cluster also has a bulletin board which is a Live Journal Community. There may also be other places. Search for them if you wish, or create your own.
Many of the people involved in the start of 23Cluster are also involved in the Discordian Society, whatever that may be. So please don't feel too confused by anyone's mention of the Goddess Eris, Discordia, or the common motto Kallisti!
There are also many involved who are practicing Chaos Magicians or Chaoists. Do not be put off by that. Most people assume they know what Chaos Magic is all about until they actually start to investigate it. Do not listen to what you may have heard. Think for yourself.
No one but yourself is responsible for any prejudices you may hold.
(k)Kopyleft 2004. All Rites Reversed.
23Cluster: Broadsheet One
Declaration
23Cluster is a figment of your imagination. Had you not committed some small mistake in your past, you would have realized that life is playing a joke on you. The magical stochastic universe which you inhabit is about to drive you insane. And if you don’t believe us, we will use that disbelief to drive you insane faster than you ever could have thought possible.
23Cluster is also a figment of the imagination of several people, possibly too many people, possibly not enough. It is a social experiment and a growing work of art painted on the canvas of interactions between its members. It is an attempt at using neo-hermetic occult arts to spread the infectious ideas of freedom and pleasure throughout the media. 23Cluster is a group hex. Possibly the largest hex known in the world today. A hex against the corporate power structures which control the images and dreams of the mediated masses.
23Cluster has no leaders and no followers. All members lead themselves and follow themselves. It is a voluntary association of people who wish to share ideas, spread memes, and work operational magic. It has no geographical definition outside the mind/bodies of its members. Its bulletin board and central meeting place is the shifting sands of the internet…a global nervous system. 23Cluster’s art will be in the creation of new and/or beautiful thought-forms that will take shape and thrive in the intellectual wastelands of mediated cultures. 23Cluster’s aesthetics are ever shifting, ever morphing, polycentric, and chaotic.
23Cluster may become the figment of the imaginations of many people until this society is thrown upside down and all people can enjoy the benefits and fruits of their lives. It is anti-religion, anti-State, anti-ideology, anti-anything-that-chains-our-hearts, anti-anti. And it will not waste time in those semantic diddles beyond that sentence.
23Cluster is you. If you had not committed the error of dualistic thinking, you would have realized that. To take part in the experiment and the adventure, contact us in any way you know how to.
tribhis@yahoo.com
23Cluster: Broadsheet Two
23Cluster is the meme-creating chaotic cyberspace coven/circle/bloc/group your mother warned you about. It is an irreverent, hedonistic, life-affirming-and-enjoying ability and idea matrix of all those who participate. It smashes all gods who demand slavish obedience and posits a spirituality of the liberation of individuals. It is not about destroying the ego, but about exploding minds so that the individual flowers to their fullest potential.
23Cluster cares little for national, cultural, religious, spiritual, gender-based, ideological allegiances, except where they can be used in the dissolving of such allegiances. We are the witches of the Church, the infidels of Islam, the agnostics of the faithful, the occultists of the Marxists, the noisy people who refuse to stop questioning everything, and so on. We doubt the efficacy of Capitalism as much as we doubt the tenets of Marxism. And in the end we have the audacity to doubt our own beliefs, hopefully. Possibly.
23Cluster is the celebration and ecstasy of our desires being allowed to manifest in a society that tries to hijack them with morals and advertisements. It is a magical combat against those who would try to manipulate our dreams and stifle our meaning. We refuse to eat the predigested shit that the media craps out and insists are the important topics to take interest in. We will take that shit and recombine it into an aesthetic that irresistibly draws your minds towards freedom and pleasure. And thus, the media will become the largest temple from which we will cast our hexes.
23Cluster will subvert your dominant paradigms by using your habitual patterns against you. Every box in which you try to hide will be painted with our magical sigils activating your minds to blow. And failing that, we will laugh at your expense, knowing full well that it’s only a matter of time. And not much time, at that.
In fact it might be deceiving to say that 23Cluster is or isn’t something or other. That could only lead you further into more dualistic errors brought on by such essentialist diddlings. Are you crazy enough to desire?
tribhis@yahoo.com (for now)
23Cluster: Broadsheet Three
This is a call for a bona fide Do It Yourself revolution. You want to wait for leaders or elected officials or appointed delegates to tell you what to do? You want directives from some centralized headquarters? You want someone to show you what magic is? You want to buy bottled air? Unless you Do It Yourself, who is going to do it? Corporate masters and their State want you to sit back and let them show you how to live your life…how to dream and what to dream about. They will tell you what the limits of your imagination can be. They will render your desires to fit their bottom lines. They will be more than willing to let you take a back seat to your own life.
Neo-hermetic agit-prop is one way in which to resist this ensqualidating slavery that masks itself off as a ‘free society’. It is a defiant refusal to relinquish control of the imagination, and therefore of magic to the masters. It is magical direct action for anarchistic occult warriors who use skills and artistry outwardly deemed impossible by the pre-fabbed thought-fed masses who secretly yearn for its possibilities. It is a way of turning the unquestioned dogmas of our consumer society into pregnant questions. Resistance is fertile. Take action. Hex the State. Send voodoo dolls with pins to the office of your local TV station. Threaten the black djinn curse upon the CEOs who have just fired thousands. Create a sigil that is so beautiful that your target is entranced in a life changing way. Hang colorful Pagan banners up in an alley and declare it an autonomous zone. Make an exquisite vegan dinner to give to the first hungry person you meet. Design and print flyers and broadsheets calculated to be irresistible to all who see and read them…and then paper the cities with them. Spray-paint phrases from your own made up languages on the walls. Chalk draw your magical glyphs of desire across the sidewalks to awaken the pedestrians in rush hour traffic. By all means, follow your desires and see what leads you to pleasure. These are some possibilities.
Since the corporations control society and its imagery, then it is against their control that our magical operations and neo-hermetic agit-prop will stand. We are to invoke a tantric conspiracy of desires becoming reclaimed by those of us who will no longer wait for our dreams to be deferred by the empty promises of the bought-and-paid-for intelligentsia- those caged monkeys who would try to direct and control our ecstatic revolutionary impulses with the tepid theories of doubt. Do you doubt yourself and your will to freedom? Do you doubt your wish for pleasure? We should hope not. It is time to disarm the authorities of their imagery, to free up our minds, and to arm our desires with our own imagery.
Poetry and magic is made by us all but it is still up to you to make it. It is time to deprive society of the fear of the weapons of stupidity wielded by its masters.
[23ofMe & the Purple Monkey Cabal Affinity Group]
Quotes and Such
Here are some quotes to think about and lift inspiration. Please feel free to add more to this list, whether they are from your mouth or someone else’s.
"We live in a world subject to extensive and seemingly all-embracing systems of social and personal control that continually feed us the lie that we are each alone, helpless, and powerless to effect change. But magic is a doorway through which we step into mystery, wildness, and immanence. And magic is about change. Magic leads us into exhilaration and ecstasy; into insight and understanding; into changing ourselves and the world in which we participate. Through magic we may come to explore the possibilities of freedom." -Phil Hine
"Oppressive political systems can never ultimately control our minds. We are free women and men." -Noam Chomsky
"Government is the shadow cast by business over society." -John Dewey
"It’s extremely important to make other people, the rest of the population, believe that there is no such thing as class. We’re all just equal. We’re all Americans. We live in harmony. We all work together. Everything is great." -Noam Chomsky
"A wealthy man’s heart is a ghetto. An anarchist’s heart is a kingdom."
"Don’t liberate me. I will take care of that."
"If you don’t like something or your wages are going down—blame the government. You don’t blame the guys in the Fortune 500 because you don’t read the Fortune 500." -Noam Chomsky
"Whenever you act without waiting for official instructions or permission, you are an anarchist."
"A scoundrel’s worst fear is a society without money: for in such a society he would get the respect he deserves." -Ben Franklin
"Anarchism is the revolutionary idea that no one is more qualified than you are to decide what your life will be…It means not forcing your desires and experiences into a hierarchical order, but acknowledging and embracing all of them…It means refusing to put the responsibility for your life in any one else’s hands."
"Western man fills his pantry with groceries and thinks himself self-sufficient." -Gandhi
"You are free." -Eris
23Cluster: Simple Procedures
Please fwd to all interested people or groups:
PROCEDURES
Some of you may be unfamiliar with non-hierarchical structures. So let me explain how 23Cluster will work, at least from my opinion. Those of you with different viewpoints should share them.
23Cluster is a…cluster. It is a collection/focal point of a individuals and affinity groups. Decisions are made by consensus through direct democracy. Ideas are proposed, worked, and arranged by all participants. Not everyone will contribute the same things to different actions. Some may not even participate at all. That is fine. But those who do agree to certain actions should at least commit to the previously agreed upon principles and parameters of those actions for the duration of the actions. Using this method, we will naturally develop a flexible and fluid organizational style that everyone shapes.
There are no commitments needed to make to take part in 23Cluster. Any actions the cluster may elect to perform will be discussed before hand, giving everyone a chance to voice concerns or objections. Members and participants can always refuse to take part in any action. Everyone and every group has different needs requiring different responses.
If you agree with the first broadsheet then chances are you a very interested in participating. As of yet, we have no central information location outside of the Live Journal community that I have set up for you all to post comments, concerns and other stuff. Other than that, we have an email list of individuals/affinity groups that have expressed interest in participating. This should be fine for our purposes. Other ideas are welcome.
Each individual and group is autonomous. Your participation will not be demanded, only requested. We all recognize that not everyone is willing to do the same things, nor should they be forced to. Whatever you do or abstain from doing. Just please keep us informed where it may concern the cluster. You may find some ideas that work better for everyone. Who can say?
Another thing: Many people may be a bit wary of using their real names and info over the internet, etc. For whatever reason. This is fine. Your identity is your own. We ask that if you do not use your real name, that you pick a handle for the others in the cluster to know you by and try to stick with it, informing us if you decide to change it. (In fact, I myself encourage the use of a handle.) You have a right to share as much personal info as you wish, or to with-hold as much as you wish. Everyone involved with 23Cluster is their own leader.
Note:
The above was drafted way back in the beginning, even before the first media-hex. It has held good with the exception being that though participants in 23Cluster may wish to know what
other things are being done by other members, whether or not certain members wish to tell other members is up to themselves. So another operational principle, much similar to the Discordian idea, has become a staple: Tell the rest of us what you are doing if you wish. I am sure that many of us would be interested, and it may be a good idea to share any magical tactics you have discovered. But the choice is yours. This way the flow of information remains completely open
and non-coercive. If you do share, share with whom you wish.
First Action and Ideas
ACTION IDEAS
The first action is to be a media hex. The idea is to use magical techniques, such as the black djinn curse, upon a corporate body. The ritual has yet to be designed. Anyone uncomfortable with magic/occult practices or ideas should raise their concerns now. Not everyone needs to participate in the parts of the ritual. There are other functions such as brainstorming for designs, searching for ingredients, writing letters, or just simply remaining critical…that are necessary to the operation of the media hex. In any event, it may be useful to all participants to see the hex as a sort of disparate group theater which should bring upon us some sort of catharsis while tipping the scales of this system just that much further over the edge. That is all I have to say for now…send in your ideas and concerns over this action. It should take us a couple of weeks, maybe more, to design and carry this out.
We may also want to discuss guerrilla surrealism tactics.
Okay…the floor is always open for discussion. So please voice all your concerns. No voice will be left out, unless someone chooses to abstain.
(This letter will be emailed out. It is also to be posted on LiveJournal, in the 23cluster community journal.)
-23ofMe
Note: The above was obviously drafted before the first media hex (performed between a month to two months after the release of 23Cluster into existence) and subsequent sigil experiments, but it makes a good introduction for those
who may have just decided to participate. The media-hex has been very successful, at least among those of us who have communicated with each other about the actions and results.
Media Hex Ritual
Foreword:
This ritually was originally designed back in January/February of 2004. It was performed by the Purple Monkey Cabal group in Chicago, and by at least two other groups on the West Coast, as well as many individuals
across the country. That is as far as we know. The ritual was important in the launching of 23Cluster and is thus included here, for any of you to try out for yourselves.
The Ritual:
Here is the first ritual spell concocted by the furious and strange minds of the PMC affinity group. Prototypes of it have been performed. Note that this is an actual ritual…i.e. it was designed for the operation of magic. Those of you uncomfortable with that idea can still participate for the ritual’s sheer effect on the minds of the surrounding bystanders. The following is the basic outline of the ritual. Various individuals and groups will probably adapt it to their needs as they see fit. Feel free to do so, just let us know in case you find something that works better. Please be forewarned that this is Red Magic, i.e. combat magic, and those uncomfortable with the idea of occult warfare may not want to participate.
Items:
Sound recording device(s), sharpies, paint, cardboard for stencil making, talismanic-looking fetishes, candles, black robes with hoods (you can easily make these from sheets), miscellaneous occult-looking items for image value.
Ritual Timing:
Preferably around the rush hour; Mornings if you wish for the office workers to think about the spell all day; Evenings if you wish for the workers to think about the spell overnight. The evening may be preferable as this allows the spell to gain power to grow in unforeseen ways. As always, however, feel free to adapt to your specific and/or local needs. This ritual should only last a few minutes in its second phase.
Place:
The target company/corporation will have an office building in the downtown/city centers of most major cities. Those groups who can should perform the ritual on the public sidewalk in front or as close to the building as possible. People who adapt this ritual for private workings should at least find a symbol/logo of the target that they can enchant and leave on the company’s property.
Attitude:
The PMC members that actually practice magic are strange enough to believe they can rip holes in the fabric of reality. It is helpful to have such a positive attitude when working the ritual. Also have some damned fun with it. This description is bare bones enough to give participants maximum leeway in making changes, while still having the desired effect.
The work:
There are two phases in this spell. The first is the preparation. Here is where the enchantment of the sigils will take place. The target company’s logo is incorporated into an easily stenciled sigil. Construct the sigil with the intention being to cause the company’s business to collapse. (This is why it is important for you to research your target well beforehand.) One of your group will go to the area in front of the building and record ambient street sounds. After collecting enough ambient sound, edit in emergency noises and other random but urban background noises that portray sadness or doom. Play cut up with the sounds as much as you can. But make sure that the sounds will not be distinguishable to anyone on the street who happens to hear them. Make your ‘appropriately occult-looking robes’.
Upon arrival, one of your group is designated the Low Priest/ess. This person is responsible for playing the ambient sound cut ups you have prepared, at a volume that blends in with the street. They should also blend in with the scenery, preferably dressed as if going to work. They will not even appear to be affiliated with the robed and hooded occult weirdos. As you can guess, this sonic experiment is the majority of the actual magical operation during this phase, while the robed occultist thing is more for image effectiveness in launching the sigils.
Take your stenciled sigils out and place them in random places where they can be easily spotted by passersby and by company workers. (Some of you may decide to stencil your sigils on actual surfaces at the place, some of you may bring pre-made work on sheets of poster board or paper. As most of this is probably illegal, it’s up to you to decide.) Don’t forget to chant any company/corporate jingle you feel is appropriate. Walk around counter-clockwise, the traditional direction of hexing, to call up dissolution. A group of talisman wearing, hooded black robed occultists chanting and placing sigils is bound to be a memorable sight for everyone who sees it. It will also likely attract attention from law enforcement or security. Thus, it is good to finish this part of the ritual quickly. It doesn’t need to be more than a few minutes. If the law does show up, it will only speed the destruction of the target company, so don’t fret.
Now your Low-Priest/ess has played the sounds while you were doing your occult weirdness. You have left sigils in the area, and also whatever other appropriately ‘occult’ looking items you deemed necessary. You may include candles in the ritual for added effect, but keep it as simple as possible. There is no reason why this should take more than two or three minutes. Your group should practice, if need be. The PMC prefers the unpracticed method as we have found that chaos adds to the ritual’s effectiveness. You may have other ideas.
The company should experience difficulties with their business in a matter of weeks. If the sigil highly resembles the company logo, it will most likely start a chain reaction. The company’s egregore will most likely appear to be changed to those who are sensitive to such things. The spell will grow and replicate like a virus but you may continue to shoot strength into the spell by having your Low Priest/ess visit the spot at various times to play back the sound recording.
Banishment:
Go home and shower. For a few days forget the ritual even happened. Watch a movie. Eat. Praise Eris or whoever you blame this world on. Those of you who are occultists will probably have some more formal banishment methods and feel free to share them with your group, if you wish.
The Target:
This is something that still needs to be determined by the Cluster beforehand, so that we can chart the effects of the spell by following the fortunes of the company. It should be a media company, thus the name of the spell. However, as always, feel free to do this ritual now upon any target you deem necessary. We as a Cluster can determine a collaborative focus later on after we become more practiced. It appears that the Fox Network is a good candidate for this. Anyone suggest any other media group?
(Note: 23ofMe has a more elaborate private ritual that could be performed, but that may only appeal to the occultists out there. )
Note: As this ritual has already been performed on a few companies. The above about choosing the target(s) was decided to be left up to the groups or individuals who perform the ritual.
All Rights Reversed. (k)Kopyleft 2004.
Another 23Cluster Broadsheet
Do you worry about what your future will be like? Are you afraid of losing out to the social apathy that is in evidence all around you? Do you wonder what will happen if you lose your job, your home, your career, your loved ones, your reputation, and/or your health? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have The Fear.
The Fear is the most potent weapon of mass distraction that both the actual and would-be masters can wield, and they wield it all the time. The Fear makes you feel impotent and unimportant. It makes you worry so much about the things in your life that you have no space to care about any thing else. It drives you to myopic and claustrophobic perspectives as it drains your energy, day in and day out. The Fear is what keeps you from doing exactly what you wish. It keeps you from intuiting your innermost desires, while it places you into the prefabricated market-oriented groove known as 'freedom of choice.' What freedom of choice is that? The freedom to buy and sell aspects of the sort of life that they want you to live. The sort of religions that they want you to believe. The sort of outlooks that they have pre-approved for you. Step out of line; Do even the littlest thing that is outside of all you have been offered; Dream even just a little bit unlike what others have been dreaming, and you will get The Fear.
The Fear is what tells you that if you mess up, you will find yourself in a worse place than before. It tells you that if you step out of line, you will be left out in the cold. No one will want you around them anymore. The Fear keeps you from following your heart even while it tells you that your heart is a dangerous and twisted sinner, an animal part of your 'ego' that is not to be trusted. The Fear says to you that rules, laws, and religious doctrines are more important to you than your own life experiences.
The Fear must be dealt with, but you must PAY ATTENTION to your life and choose wisely. Why? Because you must participate in the great complex economic system built on The Fear. Everything has been reduced to money and everything you need in this life to survive revolves around money. Without money, how can you survive? So your condition directly correlates to the amount of money you have and/or your ability to amass more of it. Step out of line and The Fear can burn you so badly that you will find yourself unable to secure any amount of money. At least that is what those who imagine themselves as your betters (the self-styled powerful) and/or your rulers want you to believe. You may choose to no longer believe in The Fear, but you had better find ways to either to get money or to survive without it. Are you strong or creative enough to do so?
Of course you are strong and creative enough to do so. One way is to blend in with those who are under the pull of The Fear, imitating their modes and ethics while securing for yourself the resources you need. At the time, you can subvert the very sentiments that are necessary for The Fear to be effective. You can use the same mass marketed media forms, myths, and ideas which support The Fear, turn them around and make them work for you and the whole project of 23Cluster's celebratory subversion. This is what is meant by magit-prop and occult warfare. Can you do it? Do you have the guts to be an alchemical heretic in this information age? Do you have what it takes to carry out magical insurgencies? Are you willing to invoke your own desires into your life even when in opposition to the media thought-forms and commercial sigils that bend and twist your desires into mere 'profit-making' machines? Are you ready to illuminate the opposition?
You need not wait for official instructions or for some authority to tell you what to do or how you are going to be free. No one is more qualified than you are to decide what your life will be. It is time for you to refuse to put the responsibility for your life in any one else’s hands. Stop refusing to allow your life's true flavor to manifest. Stop listening to the words of the naysayers and the crapscreamers who have chosen a comfortable slavery of tepid desires because they are terrified of themselves and of any aspect of life that isn't pre-planned and/or marketable. Keep quiet if you must, but become that which you honestly wish for.
23Cluster can be the catalyst for this, but you must be willing to participate in your own life first. You/We are 23Cluster and this message has not been pre-approved nor does it have any sponsors.
[released for 2005 by the Purple Monkey Mafia]
Your System of Limitations is Not a Prerequisite for Our Actions!
