History of the zeta symbol? ζ (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2017-01-16 18:28:30 by BurnedRowan big ol' pupper
Can someone explain how this symbol came to be known as a signifier for zoophiles? What are the origins of the lowercase zeta's relation to us as both a symbol of our community and as a way of flagging for zoos?
I remember it coming about from the acronym "Zoophiles For the Ethical Treatment of Animals," a sort of quasi-movement many years ago.
It stuck because it worked for casual identification, mostly.
That's all I know/remember.
"Zoophiles for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" Goes back to Hermes Vivarium forum 1999 and the symbol was used for the Zoo Web Ring encompassing several Bianca forums including my first two. Use of the ZETA predates that by a little though, and if I remember correctly was first proposed by Proteus or Wolfheart on the zoo mailing list. I cannot remember who designed the Zeta circle, but know it was done on Hermes forum. There was a contest on the forum for designing a symbol all zoo's would recognize... the winner was a greek zeta in a yin-yang type design. I think it was one of those named above that gave the winning design.
Thanks for the more detailed reply. A lot of this happened when I was "only" 16 and not too active in the zoo community (what little activity I had probably didn't help my mental state much, to be frank).
thanks for the great explanation!
Do any of those sites still exist?
No. Like Zoo.org they've all gone the wayside over the years. I couldn't even find 'em on wayback anymore.
Is that because the people who made them deleted them? I do know that a few sites such as Beastforum.com have been around since the early 2000s and still exist.
Some, and some the hosts, like Bianca forum, disappeared. Others went another route and some just outlived their usefulness when others moved in. Beastforum appeared in 2002, and I was one of the first members there. The place is no longer a good place though if you're a zoo, great place to get outted though.
When you say "get outed", are you referring to that site's personals section? (The part of the site where people try to meet one another in real life). That is the only instance I'm aware of in which people are outed on that site (for example, in one of Joe Arpaio's traps).
That, and other ways. Some, by contributing home made porn, out themselves. Some by meeting unsavory types offline, yes, but many are just actively hunted because the posted a hello there. There are IMO, more antis and LEAs on beastforum than zoos, and have been for years.
That's not why it's a bad place fer zoos though, the 'zoophile' discussions are no more than thrill-seeker porn today, and actual zoo content is highly discouraged.
It is because the internet changes. With new software like Java introduced, old sites often get lost because no one puts effort in converting and maintaining them. When angelfire as one of the first cheap/free hosts went offline, many sites went down with AF. Formerly free homepages had to be paid to be maintained and many of the Zoo pages went down because no one wanted to give his Credit card info and become clearly identifyable.
Sadly, the origins are gone. Some little things like Actaeon´s "Zoo code" survived, though.
Java never really had much to do with the web at large. I mean what zoo site used Java applets?
It was more that free hosting is gone, as you noted.
Probably because it's little more than a text string describing a way to morph the furry code into a zoo form. What's your beef with it now, exactly?
My Austrian friend Tschoni had a homepage back then, he even paid for it. The only reason why his page went down was the introduction of new stuff like Java that made viewing of his page almost impossible. Some Swedes like Mooie had the same problems implementing up to date tech. Valadan also.
And would you please cut it out with your "Oooh , he mentioned this and that, he surely hates it" bias? Can´t I mention something in a neutral way without you jumping in, drawing wrong conclusions? The simple fact that you don´t know how important the "zoo code" once was for a short period of time in the IRCs proves how little you know about the past. I have no beef with it, understood? Maybe it´ll help if you pull your head back out of your arse, mate.
Tbh, it's hard not to form this bias with you... no offense.
You must be confusing Java and Javascript or something. Java hasn't been used widely in the web outside of webgames (ever played minecraft?). Either way, something is getting lost in translation as browsers can still parse pages from the 90s fine, otherwise wayback machine wouldn't work. Even for games and applets, Java and flash both are now being phased out now in favor of HTML5. Most browsers don't even support web-java and plugins anymore. I really don't know what you heard but you heard it wrong.
I don't claim otherwise. I know about the HTML/HTTP zoo community circa 2001-forward. That's really it. I would know about more but sorry dude, I'm only so old.
The irony here? You need me a lot more than you know, and I have TRIED on numerous occasions to work with you, I have the PMs to prove it. You claim the zoo community needs a digital front to fight and hack things like beastforum? I agree, and unlike you I've actually worked towards that as that's the thing I'm good at. I'm a techno-wizzard, and that's not me tooting my own horn. I have several who can vouch for that. I know every langauge known to man, can administrate and exploit most OSes from Apple, Linux, Windows, OS/2, BSD, whatever, and I've actually been a thorn in their side in a few projects of mine that you wouldn't even know jack shit about.
That's the real tragedy here. I could help you. But you're just content to toot your horn and do nothing... like always.
So who got ripped a new one here? lol
I need you? Sure about that? `Cause there´s only one guy on the entire planet who can run a computer? My gosh....and yeah, I´m not exactly a computer crack anymore, I was in the era of the VC20, the C64, the AtariST and the Amiga. Plus I had other things to do instead of sitting in front of a screen all day long...like taking care of my mare. Don´t worry, there are others who can do the job and have done the job. Guys who are a bit more stable and have more initiative to do something about our situation.
Funny how you shift between deep desperation and total enthusiasm for your own rhetoric, even when you have to admit you were not exactly that excellently informed about stuff afterwards... It´s always nice to learn things you witnessed, were part of these things and participated in them from people who never were part of it, but have the illusion to know everything about it. It´s always a delight to meet "experts"....;)
Does it hurt when you sit down, Rannoch?My advice: wash down the new hole with warm water at least twice daily, apply some Bepanthene creme to keep the new body cavity´s skin from dehydration and scarification and pretty soon, the new one won´t hurt anymore. Congratulations, you´re able to poop in stereo now.
What exactly have you done, 30-30? Besides talk I mean?
I've at least cut into Caldonias/beastforums movie profits by basically implementing a free streamer for their service. Porn is the bulk of their income. Like it or not, that will be a pretty major blow when it goes beyond the prototype site we have now.
I also never maintained I knew everything about the community, that was your illusion. My story has always been the same, and NEVER included IRC.
I'm really not feeling the 12-year old humor style anal reaming I'm supposed to have here, because unlike you, I've acomplished something tangible towards my words.
The real brutal irony here is the reason I keep reaching out to you is not desperation, but because we agree on more things than not. I guess I just forget that you're such an impossible asshole to work with, that you and my team efforts could never be productive together. You're right, I'm gullible as fuck, particularly towards you I guess.
Bottom line, you and I are going to be butting heads I guess, and I already have a mark against beastforum in prototyping... you'd better work fast if you want credit, cause you just lost my assistance.
To be clear, I was offering you a ready made exploit. Not that you need it, you got "other" guys for that, right?
Well, this one took 2 years and three coders, so gl guys.
You did WHAT? What are you expecting from me now? Applause? A friendly pat on the shoulder?
What you did is NOTHING. You even helped spreading animal porn even faster than it´s already... What a heroic deed... "Heya guys! You know this website with the vast archive of abusive animal pornography you have to pay for? I made it free for you..." Someone has to do a little "find the mistake" game, I think...
Rannoch: "Oh, here´s a platform that features THE main reason why zoophiles are constantly mistaken for bestialists. Let´s make access to what fucks us zoos up the arse for decades even easier, free and more comfortable. Take that,BF!"
You surely go out and want to "destroy" Coca Cola by handing out free samples, right?
I "lost" your assistance? What kind of assistance would that have been? Like the assistance you gave me by calling me a liar in this very thread although you apparently know nothing about it? "What´s this asshole sayin`? Oh, I know nothing about it, let´s contradict anyway..."
You really ask me what I did? Well, let´s see...I gave our community the zeta, I participated in and put lots of efforts in creating the zeta rules. Due to the nature of the IRC´s, I sat hours and hours scribbling down what was said in the discussions, serving as the zeta group´s "secretary", kinda. I paid lots of Deutschmark for the Internet cafe I had to attend because private internet was friggin´ expensive back in the beginning of the nineties. I was the one whose duty it was to research public and university libraries to rethrieve info that you can access with a simple click today. That´s what I have done...and all of that while I was an apprentice and later worked as a riding instructor from 6AM to 8PM. Oh, I actually led a relationship with my mare, too....what a lazy bastard I am...
And who do you think was DDos´ing BF? Yeah, Op Beast...exactly that Op Beast that was infiltrated by two very dedicated T.Z.A.R. zoos...hope you can add 1 and 1 here...when you´re not too busy in helping BF distribute their animal porn at the moment. That surely has taught them a lesson...the DDos attacks forced BF to upgrade Cloudflare for a shit ton of money, but that´s nothing compared to your little activities. You´re a real zoo hero. Free animal porn for all! Wasn´t that zeta rule number 6? 9? Or 14? Can´t remember ´cause my palms are sticky from jerking off...some fool made an app that makes it easy to download porn from BF, you know.... sigh
I'll take the chance to post a friendly reminder. Cyberterrorism brings more problems than solutions, as it brings very bad press. Just have a look at how badly considered the extremist groups that go around cracking government sites. Sure, the owners of a site might deserve to have the site defaced and replaced with political propaganda, but that does not stop the institution that lives behind it, and makes you look like a toddler cracking systems at random because you had a tantrum and didn't agree with the operators.
I actaully agree in this instance (which is why my plan could hardly be considered cyberterrorism, pm me for details, it's far more whitehat).
30-30 doesn't however, and has repeatedly voiced the "impact" "true" zoos hacking/defacing beastforum would have.
I was mainly toying with him earlier when I said I could help him in such an endeavor, as I never would do so. Could, but wouldn't as it's against my morals. I appologize for the immature implication.
Zoophile.org was around as late as 2015, but it wasn't being used in any signifigant way. I was a member there back in 2001. I'm sure it was closed because basically, it was obsolete. The whole thing was written in custom perl if I recall, and optimized for 640x480 screens (lol).
Hawk ended the personal site hosting in 2000 as I remember, but kept the forum going a bit after that. It was still somewhat active when I left there as moderator when he also disbanded the zoo council and forum moderation in 2002. Hawk had some personal things going on at the time, and decided to concentrate on the paying aspects of his servers, thus zoo.org as a forum got little attention after that and, yes, the site coding became obsolete. My first website "Love of Bitches" and my first taste of dealing with the fullness and variety of the zoo community, if you can call it such, were through Hawks generosity, as were many others. Petlovers forum was another, provided by Whiteshadow IIRR, and was in fact the very first place silverwolf ever posted a "Tippy" verse and story. Y'all can blame them, heh. You can still find some bits & pieces of Whiteshadows story archives online today.
My submission to the "zeta symbol" contest, which I still have, dates to March 4th, 1999 btw, and it already included the greek letter zeta, so that must predate the contest.
Z.E.T.A. goes back to 1999....how about No!
That's the date of Hermes Vivarium forum, not the symbol, necessarily.
Don't be so jumpy. The symbol originated in ancient greece, you know.
Doesn't matter how he explains it, as long as the old so-n-so explains it, heh. Reminds me of Wolfheart in my early days, impolite, arrogant and loving to rip us noobs a new one. He was also usually right though, and that's all that matters. I'm glad u/30-30 is around to explain things occasionally...
Meh, he's going to do a lot more harm than good if he keeps going around explaining things so aggressively, of that I have reasonable faith.
Well, Rannoch, your replies prove you really are in dire need of "getting a new one ripped"...;)
Nice try 30-30, but you pretty much just proved my point. I'd rather we started working together rather than ripping each other constantly, but you already knew that.
Horrifying how little is known about the origins...do U even history, bro? ;)
Let me explain:
In the beginning of the nineties, we, the early adopters, created the first few zoo online forums/IRC´s. Among them were alt.bestiality (later alt.zoophilia), Sleepy´s Net with its "The forest" port and Lintilla with its 5010 port.
Soon, a small but very dedicated group of zoophiles established the first online community in these IRC´s. We were discussing everything , from stupid "zoo" jokes to the most advanced ethics. Many of us were not content with the words used for our orientation and went looking for another word that stood out from the usual "animal fucker", "bestialist" and "sodomite" (in Germany, the term for bestiality traditionally was Sodomy). Some of us had been scanning books for info since they became aware of their orientation and it didn´t take us long to stumble across Richard von Krafft-Ebing´s term "zoophilia" from his 1886 book "Psychopathia sexualis".
The z-word sounded different to us, less harsh, more scientific and soon, most of us agreed on this word as our name. The z-word became familiar. The first one to propose using the lower Greek letter "zeta" as a symbol for us was actually me as the dead language nerd I was back then. I even remember browsing the web for a picture of the zeta, not exactly a pleasant thing to do with a 33 K modem...First , the zeta was meant as a secret means of identification for the "hardcore" zoophiles among us, the ones who took it more seriously as anybody else.
PETA, the well known animal "welfare" orga, was founded in 1980 or 1981 and became more well known with the growing popularity of the internet. Around 1990/1991, when I remember it right, PETA began to be "in the news" and many zoophiles sympathised with PETA as their goals seemed to match ours at least partially. There was no animosity towards PETA from us, rather some form of admiration for what they did. The first appearance of the acronym ZETA as "Zoophiles for the ethical treatment of animals" wasn´t to mock PETA, it was the result of some of us zoos demanding similar actions and activism to live up to our ideals. Only when PETA started to take a hostile position towards us, the mockery started, maybe around 1993 or so.
Some of us, including me, had been working on a set of rules that were meant to give guidance and an ethical foundation for us outcasts with a "strange sexual orientation". These rules became the zeta rules later on, btw. The lower Greek zeta primarily was introduced to identify those among us who obeyed the zeta rules, the term "zeta zoo" was what separated us from those who chose not to obey the rules. You have to know that these IRC´s had the possibility to "invite" certain folks into private discussion rooms, you had to "knock" to enter and were only allowed in when someone already participating in the discussion personally invited you to join. The zeta as a symbol of a zoo obeying the zeta rules was kept a secret from the "normal" traffic in the main room where everyone arrived logging in for a long time. The symbol and the acronym both weren´t "public domain" and never were meant to be...but when it became more and more possible to upload and maintain a homepage of your own (back then, this was expensive AND technically challenging for the vast majority of peeps ), some of us as , for example, Actaeon, Valadan, Hossie ("Mark Matthews"/George Willard) made their own homepages and used our symbols and wordings, technically snitching on us. This was where everything went down...the zeta as a symbol became known, but without its connotations and without connecting it to the zeta rules prohibiting selfishness, exploitation and sexual excess. The zeta became hollow and vain as a general symbol for anybody feeling fit, whether his conduct was or not...and when the IRC´s disappeared as the internet continued to evolve (around 1998/1999), there was no one left to protect the zeta and the zeta rules. The newer means of communication established, but we zetas never got into a position to reestablish our values and the meaning hidden behind the Greek letter, our symbol has been annexed, corrupted and torn apart by the hordes of beasties that invaded our areas for porn and wank stories. Today, everyone is spamming the z-word and waving around banners with the Greek zeta on it, but nobody realises how totally wrong this really is. As one of those who laid the foundation for what zoophilia is, defining it, creating the symbolism of our community, I am honestly disgusted with what all of this has turned into.
Hope this will give some folks in here a clearer view. Zoophilia as our name was established around 1990/1991, the zeta as "our" symbol was established around 1991/1992, the acronym ZETA as a half joking, half admirational kotau to PETA was established around 1991/1992 also. Please learn your history....who has no history, has no future....as our scene impressively proves everyday.
This is what all of you benefitted from, this is what laid the first stone. Show some respect by NOT handing out ill informed statements, please.
I knew it predated the contest on Hermes forum, just not how much or by who. Thanks for the additional history. Some folks forget the zoo community predated the heavy use of the internet starting in the later 90s. I knew some-one who predates me would give a better explanation, if egged on a bit...
Wow that's amazing!
In terms of giving historical insight, yes, it´s amazing...but the outcome isn´t at all... ;)
I think a lot of this has to do with the fact you are in english speaking zoo land and surprise, no one hear has visited your german neck of the woods to know your story because we don't speak german!
BTW, I remember Actaeons page and there was not a zeta symbol nor a mention of zeta on it, so strange you mention him as one of your "defilers" of this utopia. I'm quasi-friends with him to this day, and honestly he couldn't give a rats ass about the terminology.
I think little has to do with where each are from, as much as what being more in the public eye has done to vilify zoophiles worldwide and to encourage thrill-seekers and wanna-be tabooists, and abusers. Laws are stricter today mostly because of our own attracting attention to our lifestyle, especially in so-called "zoo movements" in my opinion. I have little use for the labels myself today, and less for the movements when they crop up. I think that what the online zoo community has become is what has caused the disappearance, or seeming disappearance, of many of the real old-timers. I might be wrong though, I sometimes am, but most of those from even my late appearance on the web have gone silent or changed who they are, and I know with a few it was for exactly that reason...
Most of them still exist. I'm friends with a good many of the ones from Actaeon's neck of the woods.
That said, you ask them why they withdrew? The answer is nearly universal:
"Drama."
's why I left in 2004. Still not really sure why I came back a few years ago. Seems like when I lose a mate, I gotta talk about it. That's what first brought me online, and prolly what brought me back. There're days I think my presence back then did more harm than good. When I feel that way again, I'll likely leave again.
I need the support to function. I can filter the drama. Maybe some can't.
Yeah, Rannoch, ´cause the IRC´s were strictly divided into nations and only Germans were talking with Germans....hoenstly, what kind of pretender are you? Actaeon used the zeta on his first homepage, as well as many other members of the IRC ,obviously your "memory" (or should I call it what it is, uninformed illusion) betrays you big time... "Quasi-friends"...hurrhurr...either you are or you´re not... And will you please shut up about people who invented the "zoocode", what per se is nothing else than condensing terminology into symbols for easier recognition of the different forms of zoophilia.
The more you vent your "opinions", the less I think you are what you try to make us believe, Rannoch.If you were a memeber of the IRC, what was your name? There was no way to read and participate without creating an account, so if you are an eyewitness, what was your name in Lintilla and Sleepy?
With such unqualified comments, you´re giving it away, Rannoch. Wouldn´t it be fine if you leave your fantasyland for one minute?
BTW, my Lintilla name back the was Thirty and I´m sure some remember me and what I contributed. What is it you contributed, Rannoch?
I wasn't a member of the IRC, are you really that dense? Please find any place anywhere I claimed I was.
I entered the zoo community circa 2001 (underaged mind you) and have always maintained this. And I was only present on the web part. Please don't put words into my mouth.
Maybe it's different in germany, but most english speakers in America are NOT bilingual. I learned of the zeta "code" from a website, so perhaps it is perverted and perhaps Actaeon changed his site.
I wouldn't know, because you've been coy as fuck about telling us what exactly your code is. Why don't you just frickin' post it, already?
Is everything black and white with you?
We had a mutual friend. That makes us "quasi friends." Said friend is dead. So we don't talk as much as we used to, but yeah, I know him.
Many have tried setting "rules" for being zoophile since then as I remember, and most failed. I judge myself by a set of rules passed to me by an old-timer early in my time online, who loved to flame me on zoo.org. Perhaps it is a version of the rules you mention, but I doubt it's age was as great as yours were. I gave up putting these rules on others when that person became a de-facto "anti-zoo" mostly for his disgust with pornography and frustration with beastialists in general. I've never been one for fanning flames, or forcing my personal ethics on others though, and so lost contact with him.
I at least recognize many of the names you mention though only a few I knew, and wonder if you remain in contact with any of them. If so, don't mention it here, just say hello from me to the ones who knew me in 98-99 and I hope they are well.
Note the term "knew" only applies to online contact. I've only twice allowed more personal contact.
Would you say the zeta rules are a failure? We managed to put up a set of rules that was relevant for our pre-animal porn hype community and gave enough momentum for our struggle towards a more relaxed approach towards zoophilia from society.
Well, the "getting increasingly hostile because of intolerable shit going on in our name" scenario sounds very familiar to me. I´ve seen many good people go because of that. Btw, why is nobody talking about THAT form of oppression? Getting fed up with everything because you are regularly confronted with stuff impossible to bear for any genuine zoo is another reason why our willingness to do something wilted away over time.
I surely understand why one shies away from imposing personal ethics onto others and see the impending danger it can present when someone like the Asshairs guy loses it in the process. But what would be the alternative? Should I just shut up when an animal rapist walks in? How honest would my love for animals be when I refuse to act accordingly to my beliefs? That´s the crux, you know. Either becoming someone easily accusable of authoritarianism or becoming someone who mistakes indifference for tolerance seem to be the two basic options here. I don´t know what you all are about, but I won´t sit and stare when an animal abuser walks in. My orientation makes it impossible to "tolerate" when misunderstood tolerance is paid by the animals.
Some of us simply cannot live with that and never will. Some like me decide to open their mouths, even after more than 25 years of "online zoo community" experience although they know how powerless they are against a legion of BF-esue "zoos", some others resigned internally and withdrew from any interaction with the community.
Yes, I´m still in contact with some of the veterans who had enough, also with some younger zoos who were able to peek behind the facade of "online zoophilia" very quickly. A few of the veterans joined me and helped to create T.Z.A.R. And before anybody demands info about it, don´t ask. Prove worthy of a membership, then you´ll be taught everything you need to know according to your purpose in the orga.
Some of the veterans work behind the scenes without you or anybody else noticing it until it´ll be too late. A few managed to infiltrate Op Beast. Others write and distribute pamphlets according to our gospel. Some prepare actions, actions that´ll leave a mark for sure. And a few like me are out there, scanning for possible comrades. Don´t contact us, we´ll contact you.
I´ll gladly forward your greetings, the veterans of the IRC I´m in contact with are alive and kicking.
Thanks for passing on my greeting, and no, I never said the rules were a failure, just that my implementation of them failed to do any good back then. I still hold myself to those rules I learned early on, and still haunt places like BF where I can put them to some use, though in PMs. Mostly warning the few zoos I see there to find better places, but occasionally to 'educate a wanna-fuck-yer-animal' type. I lost faith not in the rules, but in my ability to make a difference outside of my writings. There I've tried to at least set an example of sorts. And no, I don't mean my poetry, heh.
I think these are the only rules I ever read. Perhaps that's why I remember wrong.
My recollection is that it sprang from the collective minds of netnews sometime in the early-mid 1990s, specifically as an under-the-radar way for people to identify each other.
Almost right...read my post below
Folks, the OP's question has been answered, and we've all learned a bit of the history of our community. A lot of history for some of us in fact. Lets leave it at that, and agree to disagree on the other, personality issues coming up. I for one would hate to see the history lost in the squalor of an un-necessary shit-storm...
If you are refering to me and 30-30, I do appologize. There's nothing more to argue anyways, so fear not, we are done for now.
Lots of off-topic bickering recently that we don't need...
To add to this, I'm getting PMs from people talking about how this bickering is pushing them further and further from this community. It's one thing to disagree with eachother, but going for eachother's throats hurts everyone in the end.