Our Covenant Says:

“We here at The Rosethorn Coven seek to invoke courage, wisdom, comradery, and evolution amongst our Coven and the greater vampyre community. We intend to venerate the traditions & legacies of our past through devotion to the vampyre current. We honor the community through continued work to archive & evolve teachings that have been passed down to us. As a group we strive for higher quality intelligent discourse and an open space for discussion on vampyric and witchcraft topics that stray from the “norm.” We hope to facilitate a stage that allows VC organizations from far and wide to come and have an audience, should they want it. By example, we lead a charge to raise the energetic vibration of the entire vampyre community.”

The Pact of The Rosethorn Coven is our family’s collective promise and oath to uphold the entirety of our Covenant & Code. By becoming a member of our Inner Coven, you agree to uphold this pact to the highest degree. By accepting the Pact, you are making a pledge to The Vampyre Coven, The Rosethorn Coven, and its Council to uphold our Covenant in your behavior, words, actions, and deeds.

Having a Pact means that you can break said pact. You’ll never go against our Covenant and Code of Conduct if you’re not an asshole. Because of that, we don’t take kindly to having our Code of Conduct broken. Therefore, please take the lessons in this course seriously.

Our pact is not hard to uphold. Breaking the tenets of our pact in a way that causes harm to other members is met with extreme scrutiny. Our council handles disputes fairly, but we protect our Coven fervently. Breaking our pact usually means you’ve done something fucked up to someone else, and we just don’t want that kind of energy in our midst.

When you get to a point of being considered for any kind of initiation, you are offered much deeper insights into protocols and expectations so you have a much clearer idea of what breaking our rules looks like.

Our Covenant Says:

Always remain courteous and show respect by default. Even to those who are less deserving.

That does not mean to allow people to disrespect you. This simply means you should handle yourself in an unemotional diplomatic manner whenever possible. Resolve conflicts privately when you can. Confront those who have offended you directly but without aggression. Know that you have the right to protect yourself, your honor, your family, and your home; but, you need to do it with respect. This means hate speech or bullying, verbal abuse, discriminatory statements based on race, nationality, gender, age, or sexuality will be met with a ban. Respect also means respecting boundaries. If you disrespect boundaries you break consent and you will be removed from the Coven. Consent is ALWAYS required.

Our Covenant Says:

While we are a space that allows the sharing of aesthetics, lifestyle, media, and fiction… we are also a space that caters to real vampyres, witchcraft and other occult subjects. We carry ourselves in a realistic manner and will not enable the sharing of make believe passed off as reality.

If you’ve managed to get far enough into the Coven that you’ve made it to this lesson, chances are you’re very aware of the disposition held by Madame Corvidae. We don’t take kindly to disrespect around here and have no problem challenging it. However, bringing respect to every scenario first is absolutely paramount. We will have further lessons on respect, conflict resolution, decorum, etiquette, and various things that will help you build upon your skills when it comes to handling conflict. It’s not always easy to be approached with hostility and remain grounded and polite in your interactions. Trust me, I know. But it is important to build checks & balances and support systems to help keep yourself in check. It is extremely important to know how to remain respectful and/or business professional whenever possible. 

Respect for reality should be a given. If you didn’t seem to have a grasp on this tenet, you probably wouldn’t be here. Nonetheless, it should be known that we purposefully keep a very grounded perspective about vampyrism. We recognize the differences in the practices of various vampyric groups and we recognize and celebrate the diversity in belief within our own membership. However, there are beliefs and theories that we do not invite into our spaces, and those things are usually laced too much in fantasy. 

Our Covenant Says:

 “We are the architects of our own lives; our thoughts, beliefs, and actions shape the reality we experience. We take responsibility for our lives and hold ourselves accountable for the results we produce. Our thoughts, our words, our actions (or lack thereof), and our beliefs will have an impact on our lives. You have a choice in how you choose to present yourself to the public, the way you talk to people, what you get yourself involved in, the research you put into things before you take risks, the way you behave in general. Personal responsibility is about accepting that we are responsible for our own Self Control and we are accountable for results we produce based on our actions. We cannot simply blame external circumstances for every negative (or positive) experience we encounter. Holding ourselves accountable means being honest with ourselves about the choices we make and accepting potential risks & repercussions should we make mistakes. It requires us to take ownership of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions and to make sure we’re making choices that align with our goals and values.”

Personal Responsibility is a huge deal in this Coven. Becoming a member of this Coven means you’re someone who fully recognizes that you are the architect of your own life. You walk your talk, you put forth effort to change things you want to see differently, and you put your money where your mouth is. You’re not a victim of circumstance and you will work to change your stars if that’s what you’ve got to do.

You know that your decisions have impacts on both yourself and others, so you know to slow down, contemplate your options, weigh risks and benefits, and make calculated choices. You have to take accountability for those choices whether good or bad. When you make a mistake or fall short of your goals, you take responsibility for those shortcomings or consequences and take steps to rectify the situation accordingly. This level of personal responsibility takes a lot of shadow work. It takes a lot of maturity to be able to hold yourself answerable for your actions, admitting your faults, and apologizing. If you’re able to do this, then you’ll be able to learn from your mistakes and experiences so you can avoid repeating the same errors in the future.

Radical Self Reliance is about understanding the importance of taking full responsibility for ones own life, decisions, and well-being. It’s all about training and trusting your instincts, learning how to make good judgement, and taking intitiative to address your own challenges without heavily depending on others.

Radical self reliance calls upon understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and values then using that awareness to guide your choices. It’s about owning your decisions and accepting the consequences of your actions, both positive and negative. It’s about proactive problem solving, resourcefulness, resilience, and connection with support and resources that help you along the way.

But at the root of it all, it’s all about you knowing how to help yourself in a world where there often is no one else there for you.

Our Covenant Says:

“Discretion is essential because it helps to maintain the privacy and safety of our Coven and its members. In our spaces, members may share personal information, secrets, and practices that are meant to be for our eyes only. Therefore, it is essential that all members respect the confidentiality of this information. On the flipside, understand that this is a public space and nothing is *truly* confidential. Use discretion when deciding what you share and with who.

Remember, you are an autonomous being who is allowed to talk about your nature and the things you are involved in. However, we ask that you show courtesy to your fellow covenmates and leave personal/heavy experiences and information here for our eyes only. Sharing personal information that reveals the nature and identity of others without their consent is strictly forbidden will result in a ban from all of our spaces.

Discern when it is appropriate to share, and when it is appropriate to keep quiet. This is not only a matter of keeping our business to ourselves, but also knowing when it is and isn’t appropriate to talk about Vampyrism and Witchcraft to “normies.” Not everyone can be out of the coffin or broom closet safely”

On the surface, this covenant of secrecy covers personal anonymity and respecting people’s autonomy. Basically, don’t discuss other people’s involvement in The Vampyre Coven. Our public FB group is just that, public. So there’s an implied level of openness about what happens in The Vampyre Coven group. However, it’s not your place to discuss another person’s involvement in our groups, period.

When it comes to the Inner Coven, anything you may be invited to that isn’t public operates as a secret society. We expect our members to keep our inner workings to themselves. Keep it like Fight Club unless instructed otherwise. Don’t talk about Corvus Club!

Our Inner Workings are bound by the trust of its members. To break discretion is to break the most delicate of oaths and it is excruciatingly difficult to repair such a bond. If loyalty, honor, and integrity are broken through the violation of our secrecy pact, you may be dismissed from the Coven.

This is not an oath of silence, we encourage you to use your voice against injustice no matter where it comes from. We’re confident it won’t come from us, so this oath of of inner secrecy is merely to protect the sanctity of our work and members.