Within the Sabretooth Clan, our community Sanguinarium and corresponding Vampyre community, tradition holds that individuals often have chosen names, which are personal and descriptive pseudonyms which are informally known as “Nightside names” or formally known as “Sobriquets.”
Such names are similar to Nom de Plume (pen names) for writers and stage names for performers. These pseudonyms are used as a form of address within the Vampyre community. This name is often chosen by the Vampyre or given to them by another member of the community. It is formally bestowed upon them at their first rite of passage or a later point.
Examples of other traditions using such alias come mainly from the esoteric community, such magickal names are often employed and these are known as “Magickal Mottos.”Originally these took root in Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and continued in successive orders such as the Ordo Templis Orientis (OTO) and Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT). Those familiar with Wicca and modern Neo-Paganism will often be familiar with the tradition of “Craft names.” For example, legendary occultist Aleister Crowley used the moniker, Perdurabo, which means in Latin “I will endure to the end.”
Similar nicknames to sobriquets are in use in many other subcultures including the Burning Man community where they have “Playa names”, “handles” in the hacker community, call signs for pilots and in the BDSM community one often uses a pseudonym such as “Master /Mistress <enter name=”” here=””>.” Each community holds their own traditions on how to obtain such a name.
Like in the Mafia, fraternal societies or in the military, seekers will often have to earn their named Sobriquet or have it given to them by a senior member of the Sanguinarium. Often, it is the one who introduced them to the Mysteries. Earning a sobriquet from one’s peers requires one to develop a name based from inspirations of the subject’s personality and spirit or place they pass their first rite of passage into the Mysteries. Choosing or being given an appropriate name is a big decision as this will often stick with the individual their entire life and beyond. However, if an initiate wishes to change their sobriquet, this is traditionally done when passing through higher rites of passage.
Sobriquets are used to maintain a separation between dayside life and nightside life as well as protect the privacy and aid in the Awakening of an individual by adopting a chosen name. Wisdom dictates choosing a name from ancient languages such as Sumerian, Ancient Egyptian, Enochian, Celtic, Hebrew and other ancient languages. Other such names come from ancient deities, heroes of legend or found during scrying or meditation. Use dictionaries from these languages to look up good translations such as the Sumerian dictionary,Old Norse Names, Enochian dictionaryand Llewellyn’s Nook of Names is a great resource.
Names coming from role-playing games (such as VTM clan names), overdone lordly titles, fictional characters and video games are usually discouraged within the Sanguinarium and humorous. Choose a name which is unique, simple, easy to remember and interesting. It is wise to settle-in with a sobriquet that truly reflects your inner spiritual truths or quests.
Addressing someone by their chosen Sobriquet is polite, honorable, respectful and courteous, especially when interacting amongst Vampyres. It shows good character from the addressing party. In contrast it is considered rude, disrespectful, in poor taste and an invasion of privacy to address someone as their “mundane name” within the community, especially when they proudly display their sobriquet.
Over the years we have asked “what is vampyre music?” and the answer generally is “Hell I don’t know”, so over the last few months DJ Father Coven of BloodLitRadio.com, Lady A of the VampireSocialClub.com, Chad Savage of Sinister Visions, and our house DJS for NYC and NOLA DJs Aengel, V Christ put together this list to help kick start defining vampyre music. THIS IS NOT MUSIC, JUST A PLAYLIST…. for all Vampyre events worldwide.
Every designer, hair stylist, dentist, cosmetic surgeon, dance teacher, car company, etc. who creates for celebrities has a specific vibe. Some friends the other night were joking around with me about being “The Fangsmith to the Stars.” So this inspired me to put this blog post together. Not everyone here is an all out celeb, however this list is of notable people I have fanged and a little history behind them. There are a few pics and vids I am still looking for some pics for including Viona of Viona Art. I just put this list short list together this morning…
Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures TV – May 2013 – Met him in Paris on the set of a TV project.
Ashley Greene “Alice” from Twilight – 2010 – actually she told me “I signed up for this vampire movie because I wanted fangs, and then in my contract I couldn’t wear any.” Special thanks to Chad Savage and Alex Savage arranging this.
Fernando from the Band Moonspell – November 2012 – Made Mike the drummer fangs in 2008 at the Halloween Adventure Shop in NYC. Then in 2012 after returning to Paris from New Orleans they were touring and asked me to fang.
Artist Victoria Frances – October 2011 – She loved my work and came to Paris in October 2011 to get fangs. She is a lovely and very fun person.
Mark Benecke – September 2012 – Mark is a world renowned forensic psychologist and speaks all over the world.
German Alternative Model Ophelia Overdose – Made her fangs at WGT 2011
The Vampyre’s Rite of Transformation This initiation is required for membership to the Sanguinarium.net by Father Sebastiaan, edits by Silver Black (thank you) and Victor Magnus
An Analogy...
When the film The Matrix was released in March 1999, the months leading up to it the advertising campaign stated “What is the Matrix?” Few could understand what the Matrix was until they actually saw the movie and asking a question truly was a great way to make people think about it. This was one of the major shifts in the history of human collective consciousness, for the vast majority of humanity nothing would ever be the same.
After the first Endless Night Vampire Ball in New Orleans in 1998, everything was winding down from the excitement of Halloween. Then in Mid-November I was invited by Tony Timpone, then editor of Fangoria Magazine to go to the Warner Brothers screening room to watch the Matrix, 5 months before it released. From the Endless Night Emporium I piled my staff into the car and we drove up to 1325 Avenue of the Americas in New York and got to witness history. The film it was not fully completed with computer graphics and it had a different erie soundtrack. As we watched the film I saw the resistant faces of my exhausted staff shift to excitement and wonder. Their Vampyre Eyes began to open wider, as we were standing in the lobby they were in a trance like state and so was another person, Laurence Fishborne. His giant afro and beard during the movie disguised him until I could see him in the bright lights of the lobby, we had seen the Matrix together, both for the first time.
What is the significance of this and its relation to getting a pair of fangs? Well tremendous. For what happened to the five of us for the next few months until the end of March in 1999 when the Matrix was released was truly a change of consciousness. Only a few who were fans of the Cyberpunk genre truly understood what a Matrix was, but not in the fullness of a feature film. For that time, those few months we saw reality in a different perspective, a change of consciousness, like Louis in Interview with the Vampire experiencing his first night as a vampire. The wonders by just looking at reality in a different way, it reminded us when we first got our fangs and how we felt the first few weeks. While the rest of the world was still seeing things in a traditional way we say things differently. Then Matrix mania came afterwards and that answer to the question “What Was the Matrix” was finally answered to the masses and one more step towards the Singularity came to pass.
Another film in 1999 would shape the Sanguinarium even further and what it is like to see the world amongst other Sabretooth Vampyres, which means a shift in perception and that all changed again when Fight Club was released on October 15th 1999.
This is how I truly discovered the shift in consciousness which making fangs creates, using film relations to help understand.
The Oath
Laughter is the most difficult emotion to fake and the Sabretooth Oath is a core element of this experience. For years I tried to figure out how to get people in the spirit of getting their fangs, hyped up and at the same time explain how to take care of their fangs and never forget it. Then at New York ComicCon 2013 I began the Oath spontaneously, with the inspiration of a Whisperer. Before I would have people just raise their hands in a horn stance and just say “rock and roll.” This let me show them how to hold their pinky fingers so they would hold their lips up. Such an act was fun for a while then it dawned upon me.
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL NOT EAT WITH MY FANGS ON!
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL NOT SLEEP WITH MY FANGS ON!
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL HAVE GREAT SEX WITH MY FANGS ON!
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL SMOKE WITH MY FANGS ON! (if they smoke)
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL DRINK LOTS OF ALCOHOL WITH MY FANGS ON! (if they drink)
BY THE POWER OF SEBASTIAAN! (in a ridiculous southern accent).
I WILL NOT LOOK INTO THE MIRROR UNTIL FATHER SAYS IT IS OK!
Thus the Sabretooth Oath was born, it would teach people how to take care of their fangs, get them into the spirit and put their hands into a position to hold their fingers. You should see the reactions of people around.
The Oracle
With the very first pair of fangs I made and so on I witnessed thousands of awakenings, people shifting perceptions and opening their Vampyre Eyes. From this experience I took testimonials from the Rite of the Mirror and their experiences afterwards. I asked questions, observed, and compiled a collection of their ideas, desires, interests, responses and perspectives into a journal, where Sanguinomicon and all my other books came from. A few years ago I took 100 words from vampire mythology and wrote down into one page descriptions based on these testimonials. Combined with notes from Sanguinomicon a manifesto of sorts was describing in a new way a philosophy which I call Vampyrism. Spelling it with a Y instead of an I to differentiate between the mythological vampire and the philosophy. This is how the Red Veils were born.
My other book Sanguinomicon is a long, deep, esoteric manuscript which is not suitable for the mainstream world. So I thought Red Veils would be a much more suitable experience for my fang clients to introduce them to the experience of wearing fangs, especially since it came from a collective agreement of people just like them. So before the Rite of the Mirror I usually (if they ask or they seem to have Vampyric potential) do the “Oracle Rite” with them. Often other fang clients who have been through it aid me or show the fledgling through the experience.
The secret to the Oracle and reading Red Veils is, before looking at any part of the book look through the Table of Contents. All the Red Veils are listed there, then read the entire list. Once this is done, the fledgling goes through and choose one Veil which appeals to that individual’s interest and read it first, before any other part of the book. This is like a self done tarot card reading and most often this will be an amazing experience to add another dimension to the Rite of Transformation and aid in Vampyric Awakening.
The Mirror
Since that fateful day in November 1993 when I got my first pair of fangs I have seen the world differently. The most memorable part of my first Rite of Transformation was not having my fangs made, not holding my lips up, but looking into the Mirror for the first time and seeing myself in a completely different way. Over 14 months later I would sit my mother down on Christmas Day 1994 and put her through the same experience but I got to see it from the Fangsmith’s perspective. After this for almost two decades I have witnessed thousands of people look into the mirror for the first time and their lives changed, a small shift of perception occurs.
This is the first element of the Rite of Transformation which is “the Mirror.” You can see this ceremony done a hundred times on my Youtube Channel, everyone has a different reaction. Some cry, some laugh, some stare for hours, it is a moment like getting your first tattoo but still very different.
Out of practicality I had to keep people the curiosity from inspecting their fangs and critiquing them before they were finished, this also ruined the mystery and slowed down my fangmaking process. With these observations the Rite of the Mirror was born and I began stopping my clients from looking at their fangs until I am satisfied with them and can show them.
Vampyres?
Vampyrism as a philosophy? What? Aren’t vampires evil blood drinking, satanic, bunny sacrificing demons? Not by a long shot. What I discovered is a collective agreement on life between an extremely diverse client base of individualists from around the world. Vampyres (those who naturally and or by choice embrace the Vampyrism) are like cats, you cannot herd them or group them like mundanes, they are uniquely one tribe which each individual goes by the beat of their own drum and then form a collective chorus when they come into agreement.
No, I don’t say that Vampyres automatically will live forever, fly, generate a thirst for human blood or transform into a bat. Those are obviously misconceptions and metaphors. Vampyrism is a way of life, a perspective and a lifestyle which is as deep and far as the person chooses to take it. However one must have caution, those who define themselves exclusively by Vampyrism miss the point. Vampyrism should compliment the individual not wholly define them.
The point of Vampyrism is to LIVE (which is evil spelled backwards), live forever, have a hunger for life. This means engaging in life and enjoying all of the wonders which this world has to offer from a beautiful walk in a park in Paris, the satisfaction of learning a new skill, to climbing mountains to the pleasure of finding love or seeing a child be born. This is the true life of a Vampyre, not the depressed, energy diffident, cursed, miserable life which media makes it out to be.
The Awakening?
Often I hear “getting fangs does not make you a Vampyre” and this is true. However the ceremony of the Rite of Transformation and its components are a powerful trigger to make an awakening occur. I have witnessed this many times and many will testify to agreement, that this Rite of Passage has changed their life. The Awakening is the opening of the “Vampyre Eyes” a shift in perception into a new way at looking at the world, from a Vampyre’s perspective.
Our Story
Why do I think this is important? Why is the Rite of Transformation so sacred for so many? Because for people like you knowing the story behind it makes it more than getting a set of plastic fangs. It imbues the experience with unique power, you get an experience few others in this world get to experience, simply because there is only one Father Sebastiaan and fewer fangsmiths. I defined, honed and perfected this Rite with my clients over years and this is a story you get to participate in…
Remember it is not what you do but how you make people feel! We feel GREAT…. grrrr
Father Sebastiaan 
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