Pagan Tea House

The first Pagan Tea House was formed as a member chat room on America Online in 1992 by Falc, Varian, and Juggler26, as a place where “we meet to chat, relax, and drink tea.” The word “pagan” was used because to the original members the word “pagan” also meant “All are Welcome Here, regardless of their chosen path, be it Wicca or Shamanism, or Christianity.” It existed then as a member created room designed to facilitate the discussion of Pagan issues, as well as to provide a forum for fellowship. It existed in this capacity for years before AOL made a public room by the same name. Many people assume that the public chat room is the original PTH, but obviously, it is not.

By the summer of 1994, the original PTH on AOL was being replaced by a public PTH (which exists today in Life). This led to the first popularization of the PTH, and a huge influx of people interested in Pagans lifestyles and themes. It also led, indirectly, to the dissolution of the original PTH, and saw a migration of the original members to various systems around the Internet.

Also in the summer of 1994, the first non-AOL PTH was formed on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) on the EFnet network by Damascena, alex_mcc, and others. While this channel initially disavowed itself of the original’s Pagan elements, declaring that the channel was “Pagan in name only,” it continued to have a strong Pagan element.

In 1996, the PTH Group was formed by Wicasta (mostly as a web site to house the PTH Webring). It grew into a full-blown server aimed at providing services to all of the PTH communities. Through 1997-1998, several other Pagan Tea Houses were formed, and eventually floundered, on IRC, on the DALnet, UnderNet, and UltraNet networks. In 1999, a new PTH was formed on the ChatNet IRC network. The PTH Group was closed in 2001 due to lack of interest from the individual Pagan Tea House communities.

Much of this information page was taken from a copy of an original introduction that I wrote in 2000 for the Pagan Tea House Group. As such, some of the information may not be accurate. I’m going to be updating the information, as well as including links to the various existing PTH communities, web rings, and the like. Please bear with me. Some of these miscreants don’t want to be found. But I’m gonna find ‘em.

In the meantime, to each and every member of each and every Pagan Tea House community, I wish you well in the days, months, and years to come. We are all part of a vivid history that should be acknowledged and remembered. I intend to keep at least that spark of the original Pagan Tea House alive.

- Wicasta Lovelace

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