FAQ
MIDIAN FAQs
Where did you come from?:
Midian has had several incarnations through its first 20 years. Although I cannot say much about them, as I only became involved with it in my last year at Harvard, 1969. It was congealed finally into a coven called Dark Side of The Moon at Samhain of 1971 centered on Boston’s Beacon Hill. It was linked with Daniel Wheeler who was the “Master” or Holder of the Vampiric house also on Beacon Hill through many of it’s members.
Many of the members were satanic or ceremonialist pagans whose membership was always were in flux with a large number who lived in Cambridge, near Harvard and Inman Square. This was the major source of runaways and transient for the vampires clan’s feeding as well as a major cultural melting pot, with Timothy Leary’s researchers, students and other eclectics . Later, the coven split due to personal and “religious” differences.
In the early 80′s the core of “Moon” was totally absorbed into the pagan community as they broke up for good. The few who stayed in Cambridge, were not just the pagans but free agent vampires and hangers on from the simultaneous break-up of the Wheeler house.
This loosely knit group spent most of the time hanging out in the pit taking odd jobs. A vampire girl called Babylon from Seattle moved in with Stephen White and myself . We were at that time living just out side of Harvard Square, and between the three of us began to pull things together. Babylon as she attended Harvard became-a sort of unofficial mom, as people fluxed and moved through she stayed first with us and later moving to her own place in nearby in Somerville-created a sanctuary for psychic outcasts and this first became House Midian.
The name Midian comes from a legend concerning a group of Templars that raided a city on the edge of Midian-but instead of finding gold-they found books and information relating to Solomon Temple and the Ark of the Covenant. No one seems to know where the decision came from to call it Midian but it has been called such since the Somerville house in the mid 1980s
Babylon and Ejani (a New England priestess and bio-chemical engineer) originated the idea to incorporate as a church to establish a sense of community rather then the chaos that the untrained vampires and witches were making, and evolved it into the First Gothic Church of Midian in 1995.
How you are organized?.
There are several core “houses” worldwide. These “Holders”, teach and minister to the areas around their holdings. The People, who although may or may not have their own homes but are usually found “in house” the Hangars -people who are homeless and will show up in bad weather or when they are sick or hungry. And the Travelers or Flying Nuns-who travel all over.
The Houses are separately organized by their holder-there are only two that I have permission to speak of publicly. House Imildris is run as a private house with visitor rules, House Scythia-is run as a collective and public house, with space for long stays and the major library. Scythia also is putting together a business venture of Internet marketing. Cauldron is a farming community and campground that is affiliated with Midian but not a part of them. The Ravensguild is an cyberspace community also affiliated as is Mortis.org. Other members and friends can be found on Cyberspace.
Your main beliefs concerning vampirism.
That is covered mostly by Cathy on the website – she goes into some depth on the society and the laws she and Babylon were brought up with. As for the origin-she also goes into some dept on that too. There is much talk that the reverse form of Season Affective Disorder and Porphyria are vampiric genetic forms.
We are a church first and fore most we accept all types of magical belief and several of us teach. All blood drinking house and between involved partners. We do have psi-vamps among us-we accept it as we accept all forms of religions and personal preferences.
FAQ by Damian Alexander, Public Relations 10/5/95
updated by Babylon Dementia, 6/6/6
Pastor of Midian, former Priestess of the Pit