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"Specialisation is for insects" - Robert Anton Wilson

They say if you can be a jack of all trades and a master of none, but they also warn to not put all your eggs in one basket. As a result I have a number of seemingly disconnected skills that make up my person and diverse interests.

Pirate:
Despite my picture, I'm not that great a pirate. I have robbed no ships. I have only a level one sailing certificate and I feel a deep connection to the water. In the photo the water in question is Loch Ness, near where I live. I like to spend time on or near the Loch. I also love the open sea. And freedom. And when is dressing like a pirate not immensely fun?

Technologist:
I qualified as a computer scientist with a BSc from the University of East Anglia in the mid 90s, and have since worked for a number of institutions and companies, focusing on web development. I have experience as a full stack developer, with a preference for a LAMP backend, and good knowledge of html, css, javascript and jquery. In my free time I have worked on plugins for a number of open source cms projects, most notably wordpress. I might use steem to rally a team for more complex projects than I can manage myself. After all it seems like there might be a few techie types here.

Magick and alchemy:
As an author on such subjects as chaos magic and alchemical symbolism, and a practitioner of magical and mystical practises, I may decided to write about such things. I engage with open source magical groups rather than closed orders. So I'd be likely to discuss my involvement with the currents of DKMU, KIA, Free Illuminism, EGnU and other similarly free networks. Much of the old grimoire tradition is also pretty open source at this point. One might say it always was. I've noticed a few chaos types posting here already, although some have already abandoned ship. Magicians are sometimes extremely thin skinned. I hope to prove that isn't always the case...

Fiction:
I also write fiction. I have an idea about how to use the steem community for the purposes of writing both short stories and eventually perhaps even a novel. My idea is that proofreaders can be encouraged by providing comments with suggested corrections, that will themselves be upvoted by myself and any other readers that agree. Such corrections might be simple, such as spelling, grammar and word flow, or they maybe complex, such as critical feedback, continuity errors and the like.

Art:
I dabble in artist projects. My best art is an extension of my Magick. Some of it incorporates technology. In this I largely collaborate with my wife, @danavarahi. A media specialist, we have made a number of short films together as part of our magickal art projects.

So there you are me hearties! A creative pirate techno mage at your service.

Any questions?

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Welcome to Steemit!! Cool intro, looking for your illusionism stuff!! There's any possibility that you show us the Loch Ness monster?! ;)

Nessie, as we lovingly call her these days, is probably a survival of a pre-Christian serpent river cult. As such seeing her is probably a mystical experience. Photos not withstanding...

Oh, what a pity​!! Ahahah ;)

But then again, there are reports of very large sturgeon, a mythical long necked seal (the Royal Society had a stuffed one once but it is long lost), and other creatures. And perhaps there really does lurk a creature there. And mystical experiences shouldn't be undervalued in anycase, even in a materialist paradigm they can prove of great psychological and transformative value.

Having a scientific formation it's hard to believe in mystical experiences. But I'm not a total disbeliever​, and I think it's cool to keep some stories and promote this kind of experiences.

Mystical experiences happen. What they are is the question. But I don't think even science denies that they happen. The most hardened materialists tend to dismiss them in the same way they dismiss dreams, but they don't deny either happen.

You made a good point! Guess I have a problem with the word mystic because science wants (or at least tries) to give an explanation for all the "phenomenon's".

hello @antonchanning ! Welcome to Steemit! You now have a new follower!

Hey Anton, welcome to Steemit :-)

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