Oh, I uhh... also bought a Panasonic AG-1980 SVHS deck. Those that know, know.
This might dictate some changes to my hardware setup, and see me eventually remove the TINK and the Magewell HDMI capture card from the mix, in a move towards SDI. TBD.
I recently revived a circa-2014 Thinkserver with a core install of antiX, and was pleasantly surprised. I went for the smallest footprint possible by installing only the core distro, and then choosing the packages I wanted/needed.
I'm not a head doctor, so take this just as an observation during the years of my involvement.
Occultism seemed to attract a lot of people who were ill, or at risk. It seemed to attract a lot of people that felt helpless or like they weren't in control of their life. These people commonly were looking for a leg up. Often that leg up was some sort of understanding of the bigger picture, or a toolset that would allow them to influence the world in ways favorable to them. My deduction is that, aside from those I'd refer to as "the scholars," occultism more often than not attracted the vulnerable in one sense or another.
It also seemed to attract the damaged, who wanted to intentionally share their damage. But I felt like they were rare, and they also fizzled out very quickly.
I really just meant I saw people lose their minds. Paranoia, schizoid behaviors, and generally being unable to differentiate between fantasy and (for lack of a better word) reality.
Everything I experienced was legitimate in some sense. I never dealt in miracles. I've seen and involved myself in lots of things that just never saw any fruition, except perhaps a momentary dopamine spike. On the other hand, I've seen and spoken to beings that I couldn't to this day in good conscience tell you I am able to differentiate as a real entity, or just the power of human subconscious.
The moral of the story is none of it had any positive effect on my life or mental well being. If I had at any point objectively involved myself in the uncovering of some sort of hidden knowledge, then it was hidden for a reason, and I'm happy to let it remain hidden. Living life in the basal world is complicated and involved enough.
Decades ago, I used to be a fairly involved practitioner of ritual magick, and developed and co-administrated a popular occult forums.
If you just want to know if I'd do it again, no. Living that lifestyle with a sense of dedication regularly leads to psychosis of varying types and degrees. I've seen it firsthand in many others, and I myself began to lose my footing in the immediate, "tangible" world. The more I tried to influence and expand my understanding of the world (seen and unseen) through occultism and magick, the more I actually just lost grip on it.
I escaped through pivoting to studying philosophy and analytical psychology, which actually taught me how to understand myself, how I fit into the world, and how to influence my surroundings to fulfill my goals.
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask. I may or may not answer them.
I'm familiar with vhs-decode, on account of considering a domesday for digital backup of my large LaserDisc collection. I decided in the end though, that both applications are just way above and beyond what I want to do.
It's excellent, if you don't mind finding a hair or two in it.