The Order of Maidenfear--A Brief History

Maidenfear...perhaps it sounds a bit frightening and yet somehow alluring at the same time. It is an idea that captures--at least in part--the essence of that which is vampire. "Maidenfear" is a literary device meant to convey the nerves of a new virgin bride going to the marriage bed for the first time...or really the giddy anxiety of anybody about to taste love for the first time. The Order was so named in 1970 after this romantic idea of mixing pleasure with fear of the unknown.

What is a vampire? There exists an entity of living energy all around us and in the universe. This energy is both alive itself and imbues all things with life of one degree or another. A vampire is an adept at energy play, an adept at tapping into this living energy for self-benefit. For some this is achieved through drinking blood, for others it is a matter of psychic living energy. A vampire knows how to take what energy they want and need and use it for their own purposes.

Over the years the vampires of the Order of Maidenfear have discovered many kinds of vamprism which overlap and compliment each other into a larger vampiric practice. Vampirism is the practice of one, or all of these devices, or of something entirely different, in order to make a circuit between ourselves and the object of energy, be it a donor or the living force of a wind gust.

The Order was founded in the practice of pranic vampirism. What is pranic? The word comes from the Sanskrit prana, meaning lifeforce. The pranic vampire is a creature who absorbs the energies of the living world--a creature of energy play. Blood is most often associated with vampires, and is of course a strong source of prana. But there are other ways of being a pranic vampire too, methods that involve the mind and mental ability.

Maidenfear does not claim to have the only true vampire way. The secrets you find will be secrets hidden within yourself. We do not claim exclusivity to the term "pranic". Vampires are a free breed, and the Order of Maidenfear supports this independence by offering a gentle society for those of a like mind.
If it seems difficult to be a vampire in this day and age, imagine how things were for our founder, Anne de Molay (1930-2002). She claimed descent from the infamous last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, and all documentation supports her claim that Anne de Molay was in fact her birth name.
In an era of horror film schlock, Anne investigated the archetype of the vampire and came to the conclusion that vampirism was a very real interaction with life energy that could benefit the practitioner. Having shared her vision, Anne was able to form a group of like minds and established the Order of Maidenfear in 1966.

Why "Maidenfear"? Why use a word with no obvious associations with vampirism to communicate the Order's existence to the world? Anne wrote, "I came upon this term, and for some reason it struck me deep, it resonated within me. What a perfect concept, the nervous excitement of fear and desire captured in a single word. For me, this word was so replete with energy itself that I could see nothing else but to apply it in my own form of vampirism."

In 1970, Anne inherited a generous amount of money after the passing of her father. She was about to turn 40, she was a history teacher, she had decided against having a family, and her one absorbing passion was the Order of Maidenfear. Anne invested in the future of her Order by buying a large Victorian house in Philadelphia, the building that became House Maidenfear. Dedicated to Anne's vision of the vampiric life, vampires from the city and the Eastern seaboard came to live in House Maidenfear.

In council on the Summer Solstice of 1970, the Maidenfear vampires wrote and approved the Maidenfear Entente, a document which would be the constitution of Order operations. Additionally, a special shrine to the universal guiding force, called Raven, opened within the house. For the next twenty years, House Maidenfear and the Order operated in relative obscurity. After all, this was not a philosophy that everyone was ready to hear. Like minds found and joined the order.

Anne de Molay was the first Grand Master and remained in that position until 1987.

What Is Vampgeist?

Vampgeist is where fact meets fascination and the real vampire is reimagined.

Vampgeist is the brainchild of individuals who are active leaders in the real vampire community. Vampgeist itself exists to serve the community, to serve those outside the community, and to serve people's endless curiosity about vampires. Vampgeist is its own community, an independent entity that welcomes everyone.

There is no one truth that explains away the personal philosophies of everyone who calls themselves vampire, but Vampgeist aims to explore and share a few truths. Vampgeist is not about cosmetic fangs or aesthetic sensationalism, but rather about thought, deed, and experience.

You do not need to count yourself as a real vampire to interact with Vampgeist--in fact, one of Vampgeist's main purposes is to be accessible to the general public as well as the media.

The website and online interface is new, but Vampgeist as an entity has existed for several years. Our interest in all things media has brought us online where we believe we will be able to supply information and assistance to a wide range of individuals. The driving factor for this endeavor is the concept of the vampire as being an archetype in the collective subconcious human mind--that is, where people are, there too will be vampires.
Vampgeist supports the activities of the "RVC", the real vampire community, and everyone it touches. You do not need to accept the possiblity of real vampires to reap benefits from this site, but we do hope that you will enter with an open mind. Vampgeist also supports the "FVC" or the Free Vampire Community.

Paradoxically, this would be anyone identifying with the vampire but prefering to be solitary. But in truth, Vampgeist is a site for everyone, a place of all things vampire, where the curious and the involved can come for more information and assistance.

We are media professionals aiming to monitor any and all mention of anything vampire as well as to provide other media outlets (researchers, producers, journalists) with accurate and quality information about the real vampire community and about what the real vampire community is not.

What is the operating idea? What is it we plan to offer those who come a seeking?

We are seeking to better understand ourselves through the vampire archetype. This archetype has been found in virtually every human culture around the world.

Vampgeist aims to describe a system of vampiric practice that can be understood by society in general.

While the origins of Vampgeist and its creators lie with the vampire Order of Maidenfear, Vampgeist operates independently of Maidenfear or any other vampire group.

Vampgeist operates independently of the real vampire community and of society at large. In this way, we serve both through information and education.

Vampgeist will assert that our paradigm is but one of many in the vampire community.

Vampgeist seeks to represent the real vampire community with respect and dignity.

Vampgeist is here to provide information to people outside of the community about the phenomenon of real vampirism. If you think people aren't perennially interested in vampires, ask someone.
Vampgeist hopes to provide timely and relevant warnings and cautions against media traps.
Vampgeist will mediate access to the real vampire community for those seeking to learn or satisfy their curiosity.
Vampgeist can provide provisionary legal advice to individuals who feel that their essential rights are being threatened.
Vampgeist exists to protect individuals from media predators and exploitation.
Vampgeist will produce quality non-fiction articles and press releases independently and at the request of Client-Members.
Vampgeist is a SERVICE, not an Order or a Court.
How can we do this? We are media professionals, with experience in print and broadcast journalism. Our basic tenet is that being a vampire is fascinating enough without needing to dress the part or throw in some stereotypical imagery

Meet The Founder

Let me begin with an assurance.  If in all my years of activity with the vampire community I had ever seen anything outright harmful, destructive, or otherwise detrimental...if I had not found that many of the ideas and concepts and philosophies have at least some sound grounding in logic, reason, and reality...if I had not discovered the metaphysical power and purpose of the vampire through my own experiences...I would not be writing this now.

I am here as one representative and one voice of the vampire community precisely because it works for me.  Sure, it probably sounds insane, and I don't bear a grudge against anyone who just can't swallow the idea of real vampirism and all of its attributes.  How could I bear a grudge when once upon a time I was in the same place?  What happened is that my mind was open and I began to hear thoughts that actually made practical sense.  If a metaphysical approach means working with energy, and that energy was the essential living energy of the universe (what one might even call divine), then how was that stream of real vampirism any different from what people call religion or spirituality?
I've simplified it here, but my point is that I was not seduced by promises of immortality or a hunger for blood or what have you.  The thoughts of minds that had gone before me captured my own mind and imagination, and my path as a vampire had begun.

I have been involved with the real vampire community since 1985. I am looking to continue working for the community, especially by bringing in my professional assets in the media and in publishing. Additionally, I am open to mentoring individuals who feel the pull of the vampire, but aren't entirely certain what they are.

This is the story of how I have arrived at this point without getting into dull Dickensian description or some morass of pointless self-promotion.  Let me begin by saying I was raised in a philosophically open family. My family encouraged me to use my mind and my imagination, to explore and discover. There was no such thing as taboo. Now I can look back and see where the roots of my vampirism are in my own upbringing. I was raised to be open and aware, and so I have continued to be.

My "awakening", as it were, happened on August 6, 1985--the fortieth anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima. Actually, that was the day when months of self-examination and reflection crystallized for me. I was not yet 14 years old. I hadn't known the words "empathic" or "psionic" and consequently could not have used them to describe what I had been experiencing. I knew I was living with a different and heightened set of senses, and that the whole of me hungered and yearned for something I couldn't identify.

I had come into the sphere of House Maidenfear, a vampire sanctuary, months before through initiated friends that seemed to really understand what I was experiencing. On that day, the puzzle pieces of my thoughts clicked into place. I too was a vampire. I decided that I would never deny that aspect of me--in fact, I could never deny it. I would embrace vampirism and my existence as a vampire.

For the following four years I spent a great deal of time at House Maidenfear, learning and developing my own abilities. My own initiation was in 1989, once I turned 18. However, I had to take the Maidenfear Way and my own life as a vampire on an adventure. I moved away to college, where I studied history and linguistics and became an expert vampire researcher. I was able to enhance that skill in graduate school in Florida. Wherever I went, I made connections with the local vampire communities. I came home to House Maidenfear in 2001 and I was elected to my current station in 2003.

I came to call myself Sappho after a thorough reading of her poetry. Her words have such an ability to wrench deep emotional energy that I came to regard her as something of a vampire herself.

I'm known affectionately as the "Vampire Philosophe" for the amount of time I've spent in the more cerebral aspects of the vampire existence. Here are a few of my thoughts.

There exists an entity of living energy all around us and in the universe. I mean that this energy is both alive itself and imbues all things with life of one degree or another. A vampire is an adept at energy play, an adept at tapping into this living energy for self-benefit. For some this is achieved through drinking blood, for others it is a matter of psychic living energy. A vampire knows how to take what energy they want and need and use it for their own purposes.

I believe we as vampires are at an exciting time in our history. At no other point in the history of the world have circumstances been so ripe for us to fully express ourselves and be true to what we are. My commitment to the vampire community is to help us achieve our greatest potential.
In the 1960's, there was a woman here in Philadelphia who was taking a second, third, and fourth look at the idea of the vampire. We all knew her as Anne de Molay, although whether she was an actual descendant of Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, remains something of a mystery (for one thing I don't think old Jacques had any descendants, but whatever). Her theory was that it wasn't the blood that vampires needed, but rather what was IN the blood--living energy, which she called prana.

In an era of horror film schlock, Anne investigated the archetype of the vampire and came to the conclusion that vampirism was a very real interaction with life energy that could benefit the practitioner. Having shared her vision, Anne was able to form a group of like minds and established the Order of Maidenfear in 1966.

Why "Maidenfear"? Why use a word with no obvious associations with vampirism to communicate the Order's existence to the world? Anne wrote, "I came upon this term, and for some reason it struck me deep, it resonated within me. What a perfect concept, the nervous excitement of fear and desire captured in a single word. For me, this word was so replete with energy itself that I could see nothing else but to apply it in my own form of vampirism."
In 1970, Anne inherited a generous amount of money after the passing of her father. She was about to turn 40, she was a history teacher, she had decided against having a family, and her one absorbing passion was the Order of Maidenfear. Anne invested in the future of her Order by buying a large Victorian house in Philadelphia, the building that became House Maidenfear. Dedicated to Anne's vision of the vampiric life, vampires from the city and the Eastern seaboard came to live in House Maidenfear.

In council on the Summer Solstice of 1970, the Maidenfear vampires wrote and approved the Maidenfear Entente, a document which would be the constitution of Order operations. For the next twenty years, House Maidenfear and the Order operated in relative obscurity. After all, this was not a philosophy that everyone was ready to hear. Like minds found and joined the order.

Anne de Molay was the first Grand Master and remained in that position until 1987. Myself I've been "Grand Master" since 2003, except that I changed the title to "Matriarch".

I come bumbling in around 1985, guided by Maidenfear vampires who helped me understand what was going on within myself (and in reality I came to the conclusion myself and they were there to support me). I was lucky to have Anne as a guide and a friend until her passing in 2003. But my point is that there was no Internet at the time. We kept in contact with each other the old fashioned way--snail mail or telephone. There weren't any publishers willing to snatch up anything about a real vampire community. If we wanted to come together, we had to work at it. And forget mentioning vampirism to anyone outside of the group!

Was it harder to be a vampire in my starting days than it is now? I think it might have been. We had to have strength and determination to see it through. But if we triumphed--when we triumphed--the experience made all the hassle worth the effort.

And so I don't know if this makes me any more or less real than any other vampire, but this is my heritage and my legacy.

The Creed of the Kindred

 

I am vampire.

I kneel before no other creature. I am an intelligent animal who has retained my animal intelligence.

This flesh of mine is a gift in which I revel in passion and ecstasy, but my lot in the convoluted universal matrix is to exist as a creature of energy. I thrive on the energy of the cosmos around me. That energy exists in many forms. It exists in lifeblood, in psychic forces, in the angry hurling of lightning bolts from cloud to cloud.

This diversity manifests on the earth in the many different and legitimate breeds of vampire which share the world with mortal humans. Knowing my lineage, I seek to mate my personal energy with that of magic and nature as a vital part of my existence. Pounding surf, rustling crisp leaves, magical ritual-all of these empower me, and I take what is offered or what I have made for myself.

As a vampire, I am a natural being part of the natural universe. I am not confined to this plane or this dimension. I am a cosmic being of fluctuating energy. The matter that makes my flesh and flows through my body drifted down from the stars over millennia. My sight and my vision are necessarily wider and broader. Life, death, what are these to me? They dance as close as hungry lovers. This is no two-sided mortal coin but one great continuum.

The impetus of eternity, then, is the power of the vampire. It is my power, and I claim that power for myself.

The Pranic Principle

You may have heard the expression "Zeitgeist" which literally breaks into Zeit (time, era, an age) and Geist (spirit). But instead of being the spirit of an age, Vampgeist is the spirit of the vampire--who we are, what we're seeking, what we're doing.  It's very real and it's happening right now.  Vampgeist is living energy, it is lifeforce.  It is PRANA. 

 

Literally and figuratively, everything starts with prana.

The word comes from the Sanskrit prana, meaning lifeforce or living energy.  Prana not only is in everything, but it IS everything, from what we call the forces of nature to the power that keeps our blood flowing.  It is all energy.

We were introduced to vampirism as energy play, or pranic manipulation.  The pranic vampire is a creature who absorbs the energies of the living world--a creature of energy play. Blood is most often associated with vampires, and is of course a strong source of prana. But there are other ways of being a pranic vampire too, methods that involve the mind and mental ability.

 

Let us look at what we mean by "vampire". We're not talking about ghouls, revenants, or other creatures from folklore. We're not talking about immortals walking around preying on the innocent. To us, a vampire is an individual who understands and indulges in energy play and exchange.

 

Science, specifically Physics, inadvertently supports the pranic principle.  The universe and everything in it contains energy, and it's not a big stretch to call that energy prana.  That energy cannot be destroyed, only changed, or manipulated.

 

We ourselves are beings of energy.  Our energy and the energy of the universe are the same energy.  The Vampgeist concept of vampirism is the practice of plugging ourselves back into the pranic matrix of the universe and engaging in energy play.  Vampirism is working with energy according to will.  There is never any energy drain, because what is taken and handled is replaced--remember the energy cannot be destroyed idea?

 

What's the benefit?  Why bother to learn this practice?  While it's true this pranic vampirism takes an investment of time and effort, the results can astound you.  Sharpen your mind, increase your perception, heal yourself more quickly, help someone you care about with a gift of prana, and step up to become a citizen of the universe.

Statement of Purpose

There are already more real vampire sites and projects on line than any online explorer could visit in their lifetime.  All right, maybe that's an exagerration, but there are still a lot of sites out there.

 

So what is Vampgeist?  What is the operating idea?  What is it we plan to offer those who come a seeking?

 

In short, it goes something like this.

 

First and foremost, we are seeking to better understand ourselves through the vampire archetype.  This archetype has been found in virtually every human culture around the world.

 

Vampgeist aims to describe a system of vampiric practice that can be understood by society in general.

 

While the origins of Vampgeist and its creators lie with the vampire Order of Maidenfear, Vampgeist operates independently of Maidenfear or any other vampire group. 

 

Vampgeist operates independently of the real vampire community and of society at large.  In this way, we serve both through information and education.

 

Vampgeist will assert that our paradigm is but one of many in the vampire community.

Vampgeist seeks to represent the real vampire community with respect and dignity.

Vampgeist is here to provide information to people outside of the community about the phenomenon of real vampirism.  If you think people aren't perennially interested in vampires, ask someone.

Vampgeist hopes to provide timely and relevant warnings and cautions against media traps and disambiguations.

Vampgeist will mediate access to the real vampire community for those seeking to learn or satisfy their curiosity.

Vampgeist can provide provisionary legal advice to individuals who feel that their essential rights are being threatened.

Vampgeist exists to protect individuals from media predators and exploitation.

Vampgeist will produce quality non-fiction articles and press releases independently and at the request of Client-Members.

Vampgeist is a SERVICE, not an Order or a Court.

How can we do this?  We are media professionals, with experience in print and broadcast journalism.  Our basic tenet is that being a vampire is fascinating enough without needing to dress the part or throw in some stereotypical imagery.

Please feel free to contact us for clarification of any of the above or if you have questions about Vampgeist's services.

A Loaded Word

Let's face it.  "Vampire" is a loaded word.  It seems to be one of several visceral words in the English language, words so powerful as to engender a reaction just by speaking them.  But let's take a closer look.

VAMPIRE

Etymology: French, from German Vampir, from Serbian vampir

Date: 1732

1: the reanimated body of a dead person believed to come from the grave at night and suck the blood of persons asleep

2: one who lives by preying on others

Well, all right, if you insist on frolicking in folklore and Saturday horror movie matinees.  Vampgeist prefers a different definition.

VAMPIRE

There exists an entity of living energy all around us and in the universe. This energy is both alive itself and imbues all things with life of one degree or another. A vampire is an adept at energy play, an adept at tapping into this living energy for self-benefit. A vampire knows how to take what energy they want and need and use it for their own purposes.

At Vampgeist, we are especially interested in the vampire archetype.  Our studies over the years have brought us to conclude that some variation or variety of the vampire exists in the common lore of human beings around the world.  In brief, this suggests that the vampire is an archetype we all have in common as humans, or perhaps it is further evidence to suggest a collective subconcious mind.  Whatever the case may be, the vampire has been humanity's companion since the earliest days.  Recent interest in the vampire--fictional and real--indicates that the vampire will be with us for a long time to come.

But let's go back to the vampire as a common archetype among humans.  Suddenly there is much more involved than Hollywood schlock, gothic fashion, and darkness.  The vampire and the human need each other.  What would happen to the collective subconcious mind if the vampire had never been?  What if it disappeared?  And why is it there in the first place?  If we study the vampire, we are also studying a keystone in the human experience.

Simply put, vampires move us.  Whether in horror or fascination or sexual excitement, we can't help the lure of the vampire.  This is why Vampgeist exists.  This is a transition place, a realm between worlds where questions can be answered and impressions expressed.  Our relevance is the relevance of the non-waking mind on human thought.

The possibility of human beings better understanding ourselves through the vampire--if that's not reason enough to move ahead, what is?

"Vampgeist?"

Is it catching? Should I be scared? Can I bring my mother? You may have heard the expression "Zeitgeist" which literally breaks into Zeit (time, era, an age) and Geist (spirit). But instead of being the spirit of an age, Vampgeist is the spirit of the vampire--who we are, what we're seeking, what we're doing.  It's very real and it's happening right now.   More importantly, Vampgeist has been coined as a term which is more or less synonymous with prana or lifeforce.  The only difference is that Vampgeist is this living energy as it pertains to the vampire and to vampiric practice.  In other words, it's subject-specific.

 

You may already be aware of what is called the OVC or the online vampire community.  Vampgeist exists in part to serve the members of this community, but it is not part of said community.  Vampgeist is independent of all ties and influences as it operates as a mediating entity between vampires of whatever community and the world beyond.

 

We are adamant about not bringing any biases or baggage with us when we are working for Vampgeist.  There is no favored few and no disreputable dregs--we are working on a level playing field.  We're checking personal gripes at the door.  Impossible?  Perhaps.  But still it's a worthwhile goal.

 

The individuals and groups and entities that have come together for this project have decided to be called the Vampgeist Cabal.  Of course the word "cabal" has a sinister life of its own, but we believe it seems to suit our subject matter better than "group" or "team" or, dogs forbid, "community".

 

The Vampgeist Cabal

 

Director 

 Sappho Wolf

 

Associate Directors

Brandon Gallagher, Philip Guevara, Seth Lachaise,

Marilys Mars, and Independence Quick

 

Associates

The Order of Maidenfear

The Order of Boismorganne

The Order of Soredamor

The Court of the Ka Ba

Hyaline Court

Adder House

Saturn House

Ouroboros House

The Knights of Morpheus

The Vampire Follies

The Beloved Dead