The Threads of Fate
Timelines of Aristasia
Aristasia’s history is complicated. Uncovering what really happened typically involves either having been present or sorting through large parts of the Internet Archive, newspaper clippings from decades ago, and even old video games. Regardless, one person I greatly admire (Miss Starry of @Tellurian-in-Aristasia on Tumblr) displays her impeccable research skills and eye for detail in this timeline of the movement.
Click here to visit the general timeline.
This timeline focuses both on Aristasia as a movement and on the individuals involved in creating and maintaining it. The latter is a topic we’ve avoided on this site as much as possible, seeking to preserve their privacy. Miss Starry, in creating the timeline, links to publicly-available news clippings and websites, and her work is innocuous in that respect. Still, the Aristasian Reminiscence Project itself won’t be much discussing the people mentioned, so keep that in mind.
If you are primarily interested in newspaper clippings and news features themselves, consider checking out this ancillary timeline, also created by Miss Starry. This one focuses entirely on cataloguing and contextualizing Aristasia (and it's precursor movements) as they've appeared in newspapers, television programs, and other such media. It, like the first one, provides valuable context, and links are provided to the clippings in question.
Click here to visit the media timeline., and if you'd like a text list of media related to Aristasia, visit media page.
Using a site built for visualizing such things, both timelines are interactive, and easily browsed on desktop and tablets. I've not had good success sorting through either on a mobile phone, though. In general, they're highly interactive and will easily allow you to see and find various eras and information about Aristasia and events therein.
aristasia?
Though it no longer exists, Aristasia was a group of women who abandoned men and the modern world. Instead, they made their own country, just for ladies, with an elaborate belief system and mythology.
Fond of a unique form of roleplaying they called “life theatre," Aristasians were active online and in the UK for some three decades, with murky, secretive origins.
Oh, and early on? They also practiced in-character physical punishment, which they claimed was for correction rather than sadomasochistic purposes.
The group dissolved in the mid-2010s. Was it a roleplaying game, a unique fandom, a goddess-based religion, a lesbian separatist commune, or a sketchy right-wing cult?
why reminisce?
This unofficial guide aims to shed light on Aristasia by compiling archived materials, accounts, and context. I was part of the Second Life Aristasian community. I guess I was considered an outer-circle member.
Aristasia no longer aligns with my values, but I still miss the people involved. While I’m not endorsing Aristasia in any of its incarnations, it had a lasting impact, both positive and negative, on lots of people.
Even after its dissolution, traces persist, both online and offline. It introduced Filianism to the broader spiritual community and held other meaningful aspects worth further exploration.
Welcome
Welcome to the Aristasian Reminiscence! Since you've found this peculiar website, please consider signing the guestbook. You can also contact me if you've questions. To visit, and (one might hope?) follow this site on Neocities, click here.
While not featuring any overt nudity, nor pornography, this site is not appropriate for minors. It discusses sensitive subjects (such as sadomasochism, physical abuse, and even fascism) and presents links to archived material without content warnings. Proceed at your own risk.
As is traditional on neocities itself and the small web, I am providing the buttons above if one would like to link to this site. Please download them yourself. Do not hotlink, and do not link to this site from sites primarily featuring content for minors.
Keep in Mind
Regardless of what any past Aristasians or adjacent would've thought, this site and its webmistress will always be LGBTQ-friendly (obviously), and decidedly unwelcoming to TERFs, racists and other bigots (including misandrists). Lets all try to be better.
Aristasia's history as a queer women's movement is important to remember when trying to understand it, and that was how I originally found links to it.
Nevertheless, earlier Aristasian groups have been criticized for associations with right wing politics. Almost all of these criticisms are justified, and we will explore them. Read the Storm Clouds section for more on that.
I also want to say that the Aristasians I knew online (only) (circa 2000-2010) were, for the most part kind and genuine people. This situation is strange and complicated, and I admit I don't fully grasp how this all transpired.