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One-time publication permission has been granted to
Michelle Belangar for publication in an upcoming book.
Details later.
HOW DO YOU FIND A HOUSE OR OTHER GROUP TO JOIN?
First
decide what philosophical or faith-based path you wish to follow, whether
it's from a "church", "house" or some other organization
or group, you have to decide what works best for you. (For the rest of this
article, I will use the term "group" to refer to any of the above
types of organizations.)
Second
Ask around - ask vampires that you know, on or off-line, or vampire-friendly
establishments. Run a web search if you need to. Most groups are fairly well
advertised in the online vampiric community either in a post about the group,
or in the profile of a group's member or representative.
Some questions you need to ask at this stage are:
What is the Path/Philosophy they follow? Does it mesh with yours?
What are the requirements for joining?
What is the most common age range? Are there age limits/minimums?
Are they primarily Psivamps? Bloodvamps? Or doesn't it matter to them?
If you are not in that group's area, do they accept non-local members?
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE HOUSE?
If the group is online, check out their website, see if they have any membership
information and requirements. (Most websites will have a link of this nature,
even if it's just to a page that says "Sorry, we're not accepting any
new applicants at this time.") Read the requirements before applying
for membership - if they expect a lot of in-person attendance at events and
meetings, and you're several states away, then it's probably not a good match.
Read the application carefully. Are you comfortable with the level of personally
identifying information it asks, such as a photocopy of your driver's license
or state ID, your real name, off-line contact information for you and possibly
your spouse/partner/live-in? Or perhaps they want even more detail such as
where you work? A request for proof of age IS reasonable, but how much information
do they want besides that, and how much are you willing to give out?
If/when your application gets a positive response, then you can start investigating
the group more thoroughly.
WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD YOU ASK WHEN INTERVIEWING A
HOUSE?
Essentially, anything you can think of to ensure that the group is the right
one for you. Ask questions on various issues to get an idea of their philosophy
towards fellow vamps and towards non-vamps of all types.
You need to interview the group as much as the group needs to interview you
to determine whether you fit in.
Some questions you should be asking are:
How is their hierarchy arranged? Is there room for promotion/advancement?
If so, how?
How often are meetings - is attendance expected? If so, how often?
Are attendance requirements enforced? Why or why not?
How active are the elders outside of the house and in the community? What
do they do?
How busy are the elders?
Are all more experienced members approachable for questions by new members?
How formal is the group - is specific etiquette required at all times or
is it fairly easygoing?
What other groups is this group affiliated with, if any?
What are the group's stated goal(s)?
What group(s) or individual(s) don't like this group? Why?
What group(s) or individual(s) does this group not like? Why?
HOW CAN YOU TELL IF IT'S GOING TO BE A GOOD HOUSE?
Talk to present AND past members of the group. Get their opinions on the
group. If ex-members would not rejoin the group if given the opportunity,
ask why - it may be a simple personality or path/philosophy conflict, or it
may be something more serious.
Just because a group seems to be in "good standing" reputation
in other places does not mean that's always the case - some things can be
hidden under the "surface" of what outsiders see, and are only known
by people who've been in the group and seen it for themselves.
If you are local, ask to meet group members at events and talk to them. Observe
how they interact with other members of the house. Find out whether these
events are official events (and thus, how formal) or unofficial "get
togethers" that happen for whatever reason.
Some questions you should be asking are:
How much drama is there?
How close knit are the members?
How many current members?
Has the member number been growing or decreasing? If it's been decreasing,
why?
How are lower-ranking members (if any) treated within the group and at group
events?
How are non-vamps treated?
How much respect is considered OWED to the elder(s) versus respect freely
given?
How rigid, structured or loose are the groups policies?
How rigid, structured or loose is the social structure?
How relaxed or formal is the interaction between members?
Also use the Isaac Bonewitz Cult Danger Evaluation
Frame as a guide for your questions and observations. Don't be swayed
by talk and promises often set up by con artists.
This article is presented as part of an ongoing effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online vampire community. Those of us who consider ourselves vampiric don't always look at things from the same viewpoint due to our life experiences. As such, the views and opinions contained in this article are entirely those of the author(s), and may not necessarily be shared by SphynxCatVP. The webmaster is not under obligation to update or otherwise keep current the contents of this article. Most importantly, only you can decide for yourself whether this article or any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - you are responsible for using your own reasoning and judgement, so judge wisely.
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