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Elders
Greetings to you once more, readers. I hope this article finds you well and safe on your own path. I am hoping tonight, to write a work on the subject of Elders in our community, that is to say, the vampiric community. And I find myself at a crossroads. You see, I hold the idea that to write about something, you have to live it. How can I really write about Elders when I am nowhere near to that state? But at the same time, I have had numerous dealings with many Elders in our community, some more infamous than famous and others more widely know then others. I have to say, my heart lies with the ones whose names often go unspoken. That is not to say that I do not harbor respect or at least acknowledgement of the accomplishments that others have achieved. I will not name names in this article. Let me offer you an explanation of the anonymity utilized here in my writing. Some will accuse me of cowardice however; a coward is usually the first to recognize those from his same mold.
No, my dear readers, I use this ambiguity so that you can draw your own conclusions about Elders without prejudice. The Elders I deal with know me well enough to realize that I will tell them how I feel to their face. Besides, it would make little difference for me to write about someone else, they already know what they are about. So this article will inform you of my dealings and thoughts with Elders.
“Elder” is a funny word, etymologically speaking. It came from the Greek word for grandfather presbyter when the word was translated for the Bible, which in turn became ealdfæder in the Olde English dialect and the Mercians (Anglo-Saxon people of the Mercia nation) developed it into ealdra and eldrost. It basically means someone who is older but has come to mean “one having authority by virtue of age and experience” (many thanks to Merriam Webster for that lovely summarization). In fact the word also is defined as an officer of a religious group. Many folks would choose to leave that last meaning out but I believe it holds relevance to the present state of Elders in any community. In the vampire community especially, and singularly in my experience, the word is capitalized as an official title. Instead of Presidents, Kings and Generals, our leaders (and sometimes tyrants) come to us under a neutral name with a capital letter. For the time being, I am casting away
that capital letter. Those who are true leaders and care-takers of our community have no need of it, in my mind. As for the rest, well, they’ll just have to deal, won’t they?
As I previously noted, I have known a good deal of elders in the community. Some have been effective, some to the contrary. Varying numbers have been positive in their impact and others have been neutral, while others have been poison. But they all leave their mark in some way. An elder, to me is someone who has been active in the community for sometime and has organized a piece of the community to suit the members’ needs. This leader becomes instructional to these members and attempts to help through their awakening to a great extent. This help can be direct or indirect. They may choose to appoint a mentor to someone, or they may choose to do so themselves. You may not always agree with the methods they use, and this will cause you to see them as a good or bad leader.
At this point in time, I would like for you to make note of the last meaning of the word elder mentioned before: an officer of a religious group. I take this time to discuss the destructive possibilities of elders. In a religion, there is a hierarchy of moral guides who help you transcend your mortal body and purify your spirit in order to reach the next state of being. In our community we have the same idea. We have Houses which are structured around an idea of focusing our vampiric and/or human “abilities”. We develop a code of ethics/moralities/honor through which we choose to live our lives and focus our vampirism. This can be something as small as choosing to repeat a mantra everyday or something as large as choosing to take energy only from willing donors. We create symbols, text and ritual to enforce our path/House. We have House founders, leaders, officers, sometimes priests as well. There is always the possibility of the founders building themselves up
as gods. I have seen this and I have seen the destruction it can cause when people begin to idolize the elders of the community. It happens all too often in our own community. The fact someone has been around a community longer than you does not mean, in any way, that you owe them anything. It also does not constitute you as being less of a person than anyone else. I have seen too many people get taken in by people claiming to be, or who actually are, elders in the community who use their influence to use, abuse and exploit others. Some of them may be bad people and some of them may be decent people who do idiotic, hurtful things to people because they have lost touch with goodness.
I realize that I am probably scaring some of the newer and younger members of the community reading this now. There are good people in the community as well. I would not have stuck around for the last couple years if that were not true. There are those elders who take it upon themselves to care for others. They build networks so people who are awakening can speak with others who are also going through the same deal and with those who have been coping with it longer. They host events where there is neutral ground and you can socialize with others who are experiencing similar things as you are without feeling judged or inhibited. They encourage you to find your own path and work at your own pace.
The elders whom I respect and recognize are those that have gone out of their way to create a safe, informative community for those of us with energy deficits. They have intentions that are honest and not self-serving. They tend to think about the whole before the individual. They tend to be teachers who just end up having so many students that they become leaders without really being aware that they were given the title: then they try to give it back. They work hard, not for the recognition, but for the results: an informed community.
It is up to you who you will recognize as an elder. No one can force you to respect them or see them as one thing or another. So much of life is about perspective. I have great hopes that the leaders in this community will make the compassionate and upstanding choices in regards to their dealings with our community. No one can be a leader without someone to follow them. The sooner they all realize they are nothing without the rest of the community, the better for us all.
by Laura Kabelka
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