So I originally posted that the woman from Ascension for All was gracious about the plagiarism situation.
Scratch that. She was New Age about the situation.
She originally seemed concerned about the plagiarism and unauthorized use of my solstice article and said she would remedy the situation. But as the e-mails went on, it became clear she was not willing to admit that this was, in fact, a case of plagiarism (ie. that it was wrong to butcher my article without my consent and then send it out to a mass mailing list of people under Tyberonn's name).
She said she was "not aware of the newsletter practise at Tyberonn's site." The lack of interest in what the policies actually are from a woman who republishes from that newsletter is telling.
She used the usual passive aggressive New Age tactics involving avoidance and subtle digs covered in glossy "love and light-y" words.
She pointed out to me that, according to her guides, there was no such thing as original thought, anyway (ie. so since this means my article was not original, no biggie) and that it all comes from the "non-physical" to be shared freely amongst lobotomized New Agers like her (yeah, my term there, not hers).
I pointed out to her that no astrology chart is exactly like any other astrology chart in history and that it most certainly is my original work.
She then told me that my information was "clearly significant" at this time and told me she wanted to help me "get the word out."
Yeah. It really is significant. That's why you're trying to get me on board, you see. I don't need you. You need me and people like me who are doing something real and relevant, unlike you and your crew who are firmly entrenched in same-old, same-old New Age dogma handed down through the hierarchy since the 1800s.
As I've written before, the New Age pyramid scheme supports and furthers itself using stolen energy. It's running on fumes these days at tail-end Pisces. The ideology is staler than stale, and so that the mass followers don't get wise, it's willing to fold in energy from anyone who has some edge, some originality, or some legitimacy, including from people who oppose it to the core.
As is always the case, stating full-on clearly to both the woman from Ascension for All and the woman from Tyberonn's site: "I am a critic of New Age and ascension ideology. I oppose what you are doing and saying and should not be involved in any way, shape, or form" had no effect. They don't hear anything they don't want to hear.
Why would I want New Age people, who represent something that insults me and disgusts me to the core, using my words to prop up their hierarchical ascension paradigm?
Anyone? Anyone?
No, I didn't think so.
The woman from Tyberonn's crew who pilfered the article in the first place also did not take responsibility. She glossed over the whole situation, claiming she combined information from a number of sources and merely forgot to credit me. (When she did send out a correction, she credited Willow's Astrology, which is not the name of my blog.)
This is not simply a situation where someone lifted some of my article and forgot to credit me. This is a case where she re-wrote large chunks of the article, added the New Age spin (either herself or from other sources that were not credited), and then sent it out as a newsletter, crediting Tyberonn as the author.
You have to ask: why is she writing a newsletter supposedly from this New Age channel Tyberonn using pilfered material in the first place?
8 comments:
Hello Willow,
This is anon who was ripped off for 20k by the crazy New Agers.
I am sooo sorry this happened to you. I wish I had some kind of practical solution to offer you to protect your work in the future.
I am happy that you are standing up for yourself and putting them on notice. I wonder if there is something more aggressive you can do?
"She said she was "not aware of the newsletter practise at Tyberonn's site." The lack of interest in what the policies actually are from a woman who republishes from that newsletter is telling."
I think she's lying. I knows she's lying.
"She used the usual passive aggressive New Age tactics involving avoidance and subtle digs covered in glossy "love and light-y" words."
I am having flashbacks. I think they all read from a manual. Or they are all brainwashed. This is soo common its scary. Its like well trained cultspeak.
I am wishing you luck with this and I hope that everything works out in your favor.
Willow, I did take your concerns seriously, made the effort to find out the problem and relayed to you the source I had received the info from and exactly what had happened - to the best of my knowledge. I maintained a dialogue with you, never taking the defensive, and desirous to resolve the matter to your satisfaction. Which I have done by removing the post from my site - as per your request.
Clearly you are bothered by the actions of Tyberonn and/or his staff. I hope you are able to resolve that with them.
I am guilty only of taking the information in his newsletter as correct. Prior to this situation I have had no reason to question the authenticity of the material I receive from him.
This incident has taught me the importance of extreme due diligence. I thank you for that.
Carla
Ascension For All
"According to her "guides," there was no such thing as original thought, anyway..." I would like to see that hold up in a court of law. Ignorance did not work at Nuremberg.
"She then told me that my information was "clearly significant" at this time and told me she wanted to help me "get the word out."
Why didn't she cite you –THE– reference? (I don't recall a citation reference to you anywhere in her post other than a very sloppy link that went to another post written by you.
As for my Moon being in Aries, I would issue a Cease and Desist Order! You can print them free from the Internet. :)
Actually, no, Carla...you washed your hands of any responsibility in the situation while putting your judgement on me about how I should just offer up my work freely for the supposed greater good of your mailing list/blog readers - all the while trying to pass the old "there is no original thought" off on me.
You had reason to question the authenticity of "Tyberonn the Earth Keeper's" newsletter as soon as you were presented with the evidence that my article had been pilfered. But instead of dealing with that perhaps unpleasant information, you glossed it over and passive aggressively tried to make it my issue - that I'm not "open" enough to just offer my work to a group that I entirely oppose.
It really is from the New Age 101 manual, Anon 2:24. Over and over and over again, the same loops. I wish they could recognize it.
Also interesting to note is that both these posts about being plagiarized were rejected by Elsa on AstroDispatch...
I wonder if I'm the only astrologer who is consistently censored there? If anyone knows other astrologers who are, dish.
The Cardinal Grand Cross is getting feisty.
I think it's time to pull some pranks. I'm actually planning on pulling a safe but confusing and funny one very, very soon on a douche who yelled at me in public for my disposing of litter today.
Apparently this person's trash can was off limits and, according to her, what I was putting in there would make it stink.
The reality was that what I was placing in there was sealed airtight. Yet, the person yelled and yelled and yelled aggressively at me for a couple of minutes. In public.
I waited quietly and poised 'til the crackpot was all done with her speech.
Then I said, "yeah, now I understand why your dog behaves like a rabid animal." By rabid, I meant hostile and extremely aggressive. But who was I kidding? She knew exactly what I meant.
Am I the only one who's never, ever, ever crossed paths with a trash can that's smelled like roses?
Our city's trash is picked up 4 times per week. And it's not like I was vomiting into it. I was simply doing my civic duty.
Alas, she's about to learn a whole new (harmless, intangible) definition of "stink".
GO WILLOW.
I love your bit in this post about these kind of people sucking up the last fumes of the Piscean Age. So apt.
As for the post, goes to show that passive-aggression can be just as bad as a slap in the face!!
Keep up the good work (even if others insist on plagarising it...)
Willow, it's all very simple. All you have to do is follow the money. Your plagiarized article is going to help them sell their seminars. I have read their articles and apparently they seem to be recycling the same old thing over and over. I've been thinking of removing them from my email list but after this they are gone. :-)
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