Let's get nice and weird! (Or at least, let's branch out and learn about something new.)
Nice Mailing List
Frendli-l
Mailing List
"Shiny happy people who don't know the meaning of the word 'flame.' A nice respite from the usual harsh stuff."
Still online? No, and it looks like it's a list that's down the electronic memoryhole, as I can't find any record of it now.
Weirdo Religions
Cousins (Wiccan Stuff)
FTP
"Keep up on the latest in Wicca. The Goddess orders you to subscribe!"
Still online? No, but 9 of (at least) 13 issues are archived here. (I'm miffed because while etext.org moved from an FTP to a website, it looks like the zine collection wasn't as complete as what was on the older FTP).
GASSHO: International Buddhist Electronic Journal
FTP
"Okay, a religion practiced by millions of people all over the world doesn't really qualify as 'weirdo,' but to most Westerners it's still a mystery. Learn something—read this journal."
Still online? Not via FTP, but DharmaNet is archived, which in turn archived four issues of Gassho, which was mentioned in a charmingly dated World-Wide Virtual Library page for Buddhist studies.
Still remembered? Yes, that, too, at the end of a really interesting article from Wired, published in 1994 and now online. The links are dead ends, and I doubt the old BBS numbers are still viable. But in more recent news, the world's largest collection of Tibetan Buddhist literature is available on the Internet Archive.
The Electric Mystic's Guide to the Internet
FTP
"The guide to religion on the Net."
Still online? No, but still remembered in this 1993 article on internet resources for religious studies, and in this digitized copy of Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists, which notes that the site was home to Bulletin of the General Theological Library. I don't find anything contemporary for that Bulletin, but I found Theology on the Web's archive of theological journals (though they're all about Christian studies, so it seems).
URANTIAL: The Urantia Book
Mailing List
"This religion revolves around bare-chested men wearing Egyptian headgear, a perpetually smiling blond matron prophet, aliens, and channeling dead spirits. Sure to teeter your world view just a little."
Still online? No longer limited to a mailing list, there's a website for the Urantia Book, which is online in full.
Pagans
Mailing list and FTP
"Pat Robertson's worst nightmare. The latest news and info from the Neo-Pagan community."
Still online? Not via that list and FTP, but possibly the origins of that community are discussed in this article on how paganism found a home on the net, and there's Green Egg Magazine, the online presence of the journal of the Church of All Worlds that started in the 1960s. Bonus: another interesting article from 1995, titled "Queer Spaces, Modem Boys, and Pagan Statues: Gay/Lesbian Identity and the Construction of Cyberspace."
Crowley
FTP
"Aleister Crowley—that nasty devil-worshippin' dandy—sure cranked out the text."
Still online? No, but the words of "the Beast" have found many homes online, including the Hermetic Library, and the Internet Archive.
The Necronomicon
FTP
"Isn't this the thing that caused Bruce Campbell so much grief in that cheesy horror flick Army of Darkness? Well, whatever you do, don't read this ancient evil text out loud after you've downloaded it, or else you'll summon monsters that'll destroy the universe."
Still online? Yes! Well, something is available there, but it doesn't look like it'll bring forth deadites. (And Ash was just one of the more recent to refer to H. P. Lovecraft's fictional book.)
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