8/7/2019 What makes Septum Civis What It Is

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As I’ve been working on writing some entries regarding recent events andrevelations, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no way I can write just one piece to

cover all the issues involved. So I may be posting two or three documents to address

different concerns we face. Now, with that being said…

I guess the first area I want to discuss is the huge differences and challenges weface in Septum Civis (Virginia) Vs. Gotham (New York). I will state that I was never a

 part of the Gotham community. I did not live in NY at the time of its formation, or its

heyday. I can’t go on and on about the way things were or should’ve been. All theinformation I have is second hand from those who were there at the beginning. Even

those Elders have differences of opinion as to where it all went wrong. So I’ll go with the

info I have from different sources over the years.The ideas and teachings that later became The Sanguinarium, The Black Veil, and

such were not the creations of one man, however one man seems to have taken credit for 

them. It was Father Sebastian who took these ideas and published them, later marketing

them to bigger and broader audiences. Whereas growth in the community can be a good

thing, in later years, the community put the almighty dollar above ethics. Some of thosewho became “Elders” misused their position and people were hurt. Some of those Elders

did not enforce the Veil, or flaunted it, and admitted everyone and anyone into their households.

I’m not going to get into the argument about weather or not households and the

community at large should be open to Otherkin. That’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.What I do take issue with is some households taking in anybody who applies for entry. It

might be possible that the house did not define their purpose in the community, or just

decided that their purpose was to party, I don’t know. Being a Vampire/ Vampyre in myeyes was always about learning, study, and self improvement. It was a community that

didn’t fool around and took seriously the idea of being accountable for your own actions.

That doesn’t mean we don’t go out and have a good time when the time comes for it. Asmy father always said “When it’s time to work, work. When it’s time to party, party”.Gotham seems to have become the place for everybody who wants to party, not do the

work, and even more so criticize those of us who do as fools. I’m not saying that’s true of 

all of Gotham, however it appears that the gaja have taken over. Many of the Elders haveleft for greener pastures. From what I’ve seen of it, there might not be anything left to

save. Sometimes you have to destroy something in order to save it. Might just be time to

let it burn?In Virginia, Septum Civis was created by necessity (which is the mother of 

invention). We had a need that was not being met. We saw, time and again, cases of 

 people claiming to be vampires who broke mundane laws, and put the rest of us in

danger. In 96 we had to deal with John Bush and the tons of negative press from thatsituation. All was quiet for a few years, and then other problems showed up.

After Jonathan Barron was almost killed by members of his family, and the

unwanted media attention it brought, we decided to cast aside our differences and meet.During this first meeting, it was clear that for us to continue as a united force, dedicated

to serving the community (and each other) was the only way that we as a group would

survive. We decided that a court would be formed for the sake of settling disputes, so thatwe would no longer have people resorting to violence to resolve their issues. In Septum

8/7/2019 What makes Septum Civis What It Is

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Civis, we concentrate on the Vampiric community and the problems there. As much as

we would like to involve Otherkin, we can’t help others until our own house is in order.

We decided on a set of laws, The Black Veil and our local traditions. At this time, theCouncil has only exiled two members, one for sexual harassment, and another for 

 breaking mundane law (statutory rape). The main household in the area is Noctem

Aeternus (although we are welcome to have others join us).Within 3 years we have managed to restore positive relations with the Pagan

community and be somewhat tolerated within the local Goth community (both suffered in

the press due to the actions of irresponsible people not connected to us). Word had gottenout that as a community; we do not tolerate those who break mundane laws. We do

 background checks, namely to keep out minors, sexual predators, and the media (since

they are so damn pesky down here, lol). We also do this to check out those who show up

claiming to know “so and so” and what not. Usually one of us will know the person theyspeak of, and we can reach them to confirm or deny the info. This is one of the

advantages of a small community, we can keep in touch.

As much as we would love to have some sort of establishment where we can go

and be ourselves, away from the eyes of mundanes, this has yet to be done. All in goodtime. Right now we are all concentrating how best to serve the community, how to better 

ourselves and spiritual matters. You can’t help anyone else if your own house is not inorder. If you want to be an Elder, you must lead by example. We’re not looking for a

 bunch of guys living in mom and dad’s basement, and no dayside life. We have people of 

all walks of life, military, law enforcement, writers, housewives, college kids and retirees.

We have people of all religions and spiritual backgrounds. I still ask myself how we drawsuch a variety of people to our ways and teachings. For me it’s the spirit of community

and the drive to serve others, as I feel that is my responsibility as an Elder.

Lady Raven Cadwell (aka Darci)

Co- Reagent of Septum Civis