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- Conscious Creation Review by Tiernan
Conscious Creation is not strictly speaking "Otherkin specific" but
it is a very good site geared toward the idea that we create our own reality,
and has many useful articles about ways of doing that. It's a well-designed
site, easy to navigate and contains a lot of content rather than just links.
The articles are drawn from a number of sources, and the publishers are very
good about respecting copyrights, getting permission and posting appropriate
attributes. There is also a lot of other fun things available such as
recipes, e-cards, and an image gallery. I'd recommend it for anyone on a
magical path, and especially for 'kin who are exploring the idea of conscious
reality creation.
- Dark Faerie Webworks Review by Tiernan
On the first page this site bills itself as a "Page and resource site for
The Darker Otherkin". Browse a few of the links, however, and what you
find is a site that is to a large degree one woman's obsession with Gazer.
There are three pages on this site devoted solely to Gazer. Ranting about
Gazer, rebutting reviews on Gazer's site and otherwise carrying on about
Gazer. This is a wonderful site if you're a fan of Gazer's, but as an
actual resource site it leaves something to be desired. Click on "Main"
from the link above and you'll see what I mean. The site is visually
appealing with only a few rough spots here and there on the graphics, but
the pretty pictures don't make up for the sparseness and incomprehensible
writing of what little original content there is. An example quoted from
her "Kin History" on Leanan Sidhe:
"In Truth, The Leanan Sidhe of Kin History started out as Three sisters,
(sidhe of course) who lived in the Wood, and
during The Dark of The Moon would commune with The dark Goddess, not dark
as in "evil" but Dark as in Hedge/kitchen/warrior aspects of Paganism.
These women soon turnt into a coven of "sisters" who would do a ritual
known as A Sangreal, which was Honoring their Coven's Dark Goddess with a
Chalice filled with Collective blood of the attending sisters, held up too
the moon and sky to bear witness, and then drunk of By each sister as it
was passed about the Circle." (author's note: Two sentences, well within
the guideline for fair use in a review)
It may be Shakespeare meets Poe, or modern paganism meets wishful thinking
but it certainly isn't the truth about Leanan Sidhe. She seems to have
fallen into the Llewlynist trap of believing that modern paganism is the
continuation of centuries-old traditions, not to mention that Sangreal is a
word derived from Middle English, a language that didn't even exist until a
fair few centuries after the Sidhe inhabited what is now the United Kingdom.
The only other thing the site seems to offer is a list of links to other
sites. Useful on any page, but links shouldn't be confused with content
unless you're running a search engine. That, and under "Cheers and Jeers"
a promise that yes, the lurkers really are supporting her in email and she
just hasn't gotten around to posting their cheers yet.
Graphically appealing and devoid of readable, useful content is my
verdict. Visit "TuathaPagans" and "All About Me" and what you get is more
examples of how obsessed with Gazer this webmistress is. You can find a
handful of other pages on this site purporting to provide info such as
codes of conduct and a history of the Sidhe, but the information does not
seem to have been researched from any credible source. Rather, it seems
cobbled together from an old copy of Anderson's Fairy Tales and patched
over in the bare places by her own imagination. If this webmistress took
the time she spends writing about Gazer and instead devoted it to some
actual research, she might ultimately have a useful, informative
website. As it is, however, this one's good for entertainment value only.
Editor Note: This website has pretty much closed for remodeling since this review. It now has a mostly
innaccurate rant and three links (one of which is broken)
- H.O.P.E.
Though not strictly Otherkin, this site is supposed to be an interface with an activist group
who want to help "alternatives." This site is organized in a reasonable manner, but generally seems to
talk more about what they are and what they aren't than providing any useful information.
In fact, the only sections that looked promising on that front actually turned out to be duds.
The "Mage Core" pages actually come up blank. Activism and Resources do provide some possibly
useful links. Not recommended for newbies and probably not useful for anyone else either.
UPDATE The Hope site has been updated quite extensively since this review
was written. There are no longer links that go to blank pages that I can find, although there
are a few "dead links" from some pages (understandable, it's still under development) There are
still very few resources actually ON the site, and what is there is now inside a log-in area which requires
a valid email address (most of which is better done elsewhere WITHOUT giving out your email address)
They now have forum boards which I can't review as I haven't visited any of them. Summary: Don't waste your
time with this one yet. It may improve but right now the ratio of bullshit to information is too high.
- The Lostkin Project
The support site for the mailing list of the same name. Fairly well organized and
includes a rather large list of mailing list links. The techniques subsection
isn't terribly organized, and the site as a whole isn't updated nearly often enough.
This site could be a valuable resource if the owner spent more time on it.
Still it could be a valuable starting point for a "newbie".
- Otherkin.Net
This site is full of helpful information. The color scheme is very eye pleasing. The information
is very well organized and updated frequently. They offer some resources available nowhere else,
like the WebWeaving directory of Otherkin, which will let you locate Otherkin in your area (if
they have added themselves to the database). This site is recommended for all Otherkin
- Otherkin Resource Center
This site is a treasure trove of information. If you want to find something out about Otherkin,
then this is where you should head first. If you can't find it there, then you're going to have a
hard time finding it. The organization is very good, and the content is impressive. The one thing I
could wish for is the abilty to get to other sections without going back to the main page, but this
is offset by the fast loading due to minimal graphics. This site is recommended for all Otherkin.
- TirNanOc
Originally the support site for the TirNanOc Mailing list this site has undergone
some changes. It's primary focus now is critical reviews of Otherkin Resources.
While the concept is a good one, the primary reviewer tends to take a very critical
eye in the reviews. Take his reviews with a grain of salt and form your own opinion.
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