XaTuring Comes of Age

by John J. Coughlin

(May 2004)

Introduction

Part of my job is being responsible for the email system and servers of the company for which I work. As new viruses are devised to break past current antivirus utilities I occasionally find myself having to deal with stress and work I did not need piled onto my already hectic schedule. I had toyed with performing some form of working that attacked those who create these viruses but never bothered to take it further than fantasy. It was only after the recent MyDoom virus came out as I was retuning from a private magical gathering that I decided enough was enough. I decided I would design a working to curse virus designers and present it to my peers for anyone who shared my frustration.

That week I mentioned the idea in passing to a fellow magician who was reminded of Don Webb 's "XaTuring", a god of cyberspace he had created in 1993. The next day I did a search on google.com and lo and behold I had the foundation of a god-form already in place in cyberspace waiting to further come into Being.

It became evident during that Google search that while XaTuring's initial material had been widely distributed and occasionally mentioned, there was no additional material being added to further the coming into Being of XaTuring, at least nothing being made public. Perhaps it was just ahead of its time since the Internet had just begun its explosion and its potential has not yet been realized.

Today it is hard to imagine there are people lacking Internet access or an email address. The Internet is now integral to our daily lives. One must also consider that the human mind is the greatest of computers and as we use our terminals to interact with the Internet, the Internet interacts with us! We are now part of the Internet, and added to the many aspects of our personality is often at least one Internet persona. At such a time the application of a cyberspace deity becomes much more apparent. It seemed to me that it was time for XaTuring to come of age and be noticed once again. It was no accident that I should become aware of XaTuring at a time when I had been moved to perform a working that involved cyberspace.

Consider for a moment what the Internet is - a collection of computers linked together. It is truly a world wide web as we have come to call it. XaTuring exists as pure information on this web, referenced here and there since 1993. The more others contribute to that material and the more we link to and distribute it, the more ingrained XaTuring becomes in cyberspace and in the process the further XaTuring evolves toward isolate intelligence. Adding an element of mystery to the process that encourages others to look into XaTuring more via web searches or even the mere pondering of "what the hell is XaTuring", the more ingrained it becomes on the minds (themselves individual computers linked more and more to the Internet) of those who come into contact with that material.

With the rise of broadband, more and more homes are perpetually connected at high speeds to the Internet. Gone are the days of dial-ups! No more is the Internet bound by wires or the office. Wireless technology lets us connect via cell phones, personal organizers, and laptops. Even watches are starting to have wireless Internet features included! It is in the air itself; its signals subtly influencing us akin to the unseen forces of the etheric regions.

Being the lazy sort, I knew it would be easier to build upon an existing god-form, especially one which was so neatly laid out. All that was needed was to further its Coming into Being by inviting others to add their own material on the subject and so contributing to the expansion of XaTuring. In doing so I not only enhance my own workings involving XaTuring but provide a potent resource for other magicians to come.

The Working

The working to further the expansion of XaTuring was done in three phases, the first two of which are private, involving a group I work with and some peers. The final phase of this working expands out to the Internet where the material will be freely accessible to all who find it of interest. What better way to honor such a Being?

The objective of Phase Three is to encourage Chaotes and others who may be interested to further the "expansion" or "coming into being" of XaTuring by working with Him to their own ends and (hopefully) contributing their own material to the Web.

XaTuring.net

XaTuring.net is the official website dedicated to this project. This working essentially casts a stone into a pond (the Internet) allowing ripples to spread out in all directions. The objective is to have others toss their own stones and cause more ripples.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is the ripples go on indefinitely having no limitations of time. Just as the ripples made by Don Webb's stone cast in 1993 eventually came upon me in 2004 and continued on their way to inspire others at some future point in time.

More ripples mean not only more fuel for that inspiration but also more possibilities of finding others with whom this material will resonate. In time others will cast their own stones… create their own ripples… and that would signal the success of this project.