A Context for Readership: On our Community Section

Welcome back as we enter another week, now the fifth since launching The Occult Library. By now, many will have found our previous blog posts to be informative and explanatory in regards to the development of this project. Many will have also drawn upon the resources &  information contained in the Publishers section of the site. We would now like to take the time to introduce another unique space within the project. Namely, the Community section.

Within the Community section, a number of rich and valuable resources beyond the scope of publishers and books can be found. A sense of our purpose in constructing this section is in order. First, allow us to recall what is contained there:

• Authors & Artists

• Bookstores

• Artisans

• Events

• Multimedia

• Resources

• Museums

We found the inclusion of these pages to be vital to the project for a number of reasons. The overarching sense was that –  in a publication environment – no book, text, or writing develops in a vacuum. We always  find that the writing, creation, and dispersion of the texts cataloged on our site takes place within a unique and vibrant community context. This is also true of the readership of these materials:

Readers require information about the authors they dialogue with, places to acquire & purchase materials,  knowledge resources to contextualize and widen their engagement with written works, multimedia spaces to color their perceptions of a given field, and artisanal offerings to enact a living practice or commemorate their readership.

In turn, we felt it to be of great importance to aggregate and detail such spaces – both digital and physical –  in order to enhance and fulfill the mission of the cataloged text materials. Each offering or space found within the section contains links & information which will lead directly to a page or site for a given offering.

We also felt that, by detailing these spaces, we could ourselves amplify the visibility and health of the community by encouraging the use and support of established, reputable resources. Our approach regarding the criteria of established & reputable rests on a number of qualities. For example, does an artisan produce their own, original works – or resell those of others? If the former is true, their inclusion was apparent to us as a principle of  “going to the source.”

We also drew upon our staff’s own immersion in the occult community, and experience dealing with many of the listed offerings. In turn, we believe that the pages contained in the Community section reflect and lead to the most original, reputable, and vibrant resources that the occult community has to offer.

It is important to note that we do not consider ourselves to be the sole arbiter or decision-maker regarding these criteria. Indeed, we maintain  an open door to accepting the suggestions and recommendations of our site’s users. Each page within the community section contains a field in which users can suggest a resource to us for consideration or visibility. We gladly accept and consider the suggestions of our users, and welcome your recommendations as a facet of allowing users to help shape our site.

The first page found within this section, Authors & Artists, details the writers, authors, illustrators, &  artists who write and adorn the books of a given publisher. Their importance is self-evident, and often they work in conjunction with one another to write, create, and produce materials.

Another page, Bookstores, covers a wide span of digital and physical spaces for purchasing & selling written materials. We strongly felt that a book is only as good as its ability to be located, acquired, and engaged. In turn, it became evident that we needed to point prospective readers towards their desired works.

The Artisans page deals with makers, craftspeople, creators, and artisanal houses in the community. Many of the occult texts detailed on our site help to outline and enact a living practice which invokes the use of tools and ritual objects: the cone of incense, the ritual blade, the magical journal, and so on. We felt it likewise vital to direct readers towards such artisans for the sake of both practical use, and aesthetic appreciation.

An Events page has also been added to the Community section. Within it, a number of diverse conferences & gatherings have been added. Such events represent the common areas in which communities of practice dialogue, exchange, form bonds, and strengthen themselves.

A Multimedia page contains links to various podcasts, YouTube channels, and audiovisual resources. We believe that such media helps to color, enhance, and contextualize one’s readership. We find that it is always the case that hearing the perspectives and knowledge of others in the community widens the scope of our own engagement.

A Resources page contains links to sites containing primary source, historical, and contextual information. Many of these links lead to the collections of academic libraries, adjacent digital library resources, and knowledge-building materials. Again, this serves to widen the contextual scope of the books a readership may engage.

Finally, a brand-new Museums page has been added. Here, links to numerous museums & museum collections can be found. Our decision to include museums comes from a conviction that the curation and care of occult artifacts helps to preserve the heritage of the occult community. Museums also offer historical commemoration, and context to the community.

With these matters considered, we believe that we have constructed a unique and singular online space. One that not only details books & texts, but offers a unique context of information and offerings to assist readers in immersing themselves further into the occult community.

To amend the sentiment that “no book is created in a vacuum,” we assert likewise that no reader engages a book in an environment devoid of context and community.

We hope your explorations into our Community section  are eminently fruitful, and that they enhance and enliven your own readership. We look forward to hearing your experience with this aspect of our site.

All best wishes,

– The Occult Library Staff.