The Circle Round

What is a Webring?

Imagine yourself and a bunch of friends or people you share an interest with, in a circle, all holding hands. everyone's left hand links them to the previous person in the circle, and everyone's right hand links them to the next person. now imagine that you're a website, and your hands are hyperlinks. that's a webring! and if you click next on every site, you'll eventually get back to where you started.

Back when search engines weren't very good, this was a useful way to connect your website with more users, and users with more websites that have similar content to stuff they already like. people still like to use them now because 1) we're all nostalgic for a simpler time and 2) they feel like a more honest and organic way to discover content on the internet.

(A description of webrings by garlic.garden)

There is a place on the east
Mysterious ring, a Magical Ring of Stones
The druids lived here once they said
Forgotten is the race that no-one knows
Clannad

This webring is for pagans, polytheists, occultists, and people with new age interests to find each other.

What is the small web?

The internet is a wonderful place for our scattered community to find one another - but falls short of what it could be due to corporate control. We try and make connections to one another and the infinite in spaces designed by entities hostile to human flourishing, which drain us of energy and time incentivises conflict, and puts profit and power in the hands of the few

Rejecting mainstream social media gives us the opportunity to be hands on with the format, as well as the content, of what we create. It can help us to be more intentional, less distracted, more thoughtful, more in line with our environmental or political values, more diverse, more ideosyncratic, to listen better, and be more committed to one another.

The small web includes:

• Personal websites
• Neocities
• Blogs (preferably self-hosted)
• Mastodon
• Dreamwidth
• Email and RSS

If you have never made an independent web space before and want to learn more, visit the community at 32bit Cafe

Sign Your Mark in the Black Book

No matter your path, your posting frequency, whether your writing is personal or formal, we call on you to join the Circle Round.

Webring Rules

1. Your website is about pagan, occult, new age, historic polytheist, or other similar topics; or has a section about it
   • (if you are pagan but don't write about it, this is an excuse to make a little page! Ideas include an magical about page a digital shrine, a tutorial, a correspondence list, a list of recommended books...)
2. It is primarily non-commercial
   • (if you also publish books, say, that's alright so long as your blog is pleasurable to read for non-shoppers. It can't feel like a shopfront or advertising for services/products. When visiting your site, it must feel like commercial activity is secondary to your online presence, not that you run a blog as a marketing technique to drive sales.)
3. Strictly no racism, anti-semitism, conspiracy theories, transphobia, xenophobia, nationalism, etc.
4. The site is outside of the mainstream web. It could be a traditional forum, a blog, a neocities, a personal website - but not big social media, Substack or Medium.

Be not afeared: we want to welcome you & nobody is turned down without a strong justification.