2-21-07

And lo and behold there were 3.

3 for the standard number of meals a day an average human consumes; 3 for the Divine Trinity espoused by Catholicism and other religious dogmas; 3 for the sides of an Isosceles triangle; 3 for the fictitious and yet interesting bond of magically gifted siblings destined to protect and world. But in our case, 3 for the very successful 3rd Gathering we had recently on February 3, 2007 at the activity center of Powerbooks Megamall which featured the 3^rd book in the Vampire Chronicles, Queen of the Damned.

 There were of course more than 3 Vampires in attendance, which accounted for its success. I arrived close to the designated time of 6pm at the central activity area with Rubymae, my colleague at DWIZ in tow. Having come from the talk show we do together, we were rushing and fearing at the same time that we wouldn’t have ample time to have the tables set and the mandatory props all in place before other members arrive.

We were pleased however, and much to our delight and surprise, to find that upon arriving, the center table was already laid with a basic white cloth on it and a similarly red cloth for accent and contrast. Anne’s books on loan from Powerbooks that day were also placed on the table. We quickly started putting on the additional props that I brought, from votive candles to incense to my Vampire Companion book along with my Athame and Vampire goblet, which became the objects of covetousness for the entire duration of the Gathering.

Jermaine, better known on the boards as Jestat was the first to arrive along with his girlfriend Marilyn. Almost immediately he quickly shared his impassioned declaration about Anne and his association with a local group that unfortunately had disbanded called The Talamasca, named after Anne’s fictional Order of Psychic Detectives that figure prominently in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches. In the midst of sharing, a girl strolled along the table and looked at the books quizzically and politely inquired about the purpose of this assembly. I told her that it was a gathering of our group and we were expecting the others to arrive. I invited her to join and like Jestat, Maria quickly expressed her gladness at having come to the bookstore and merely browse and chanced upon our Gathering.

Maria already saw the arrangements earlier and was curious to see what the fuss was all about and simply returned when she saw people seated. She was a UP graduate of Creative writing and started reading Anne when she saw a copy of The Vampire Lestat in the school library. She added that it was recommended to her by friends earlier but didn’t want to be pushed to reading recommended books up until she felt she was ready for it. Shortly, our Vampire Bianca in the person of Lynn arrived in pure Vampiric fashion with laced white blouse and a trench coat at that. She equally shared that she didn’t read the Vampire Chronicles in their written order but started with the 5^th Chronicle, Memnoch the Devil, and after that was hooked and devoured the Chronicles as a hungry Immortal would at the sight of blood. Her hardcover of Queen was equally worthy of attention.

Abby, a fellow member from the resident Megamall Powerbooks Book club also happened to stroll along the area and subsequently joined us. Boots, our Vampire Jesse, soon came afterward and I felt that slowly the Gathering of Immortals was starting to take shape as each member took turns introducing themselves and how they began with Anne. The same cycle continued when Beng, Boots sister came shortly afterwards.

 I remember that as more and more people joined, I would have to ask the store personnel to add more chairs to our growing assembly. I found this rather amusing and lost count as to how many times I had to do that. Soon thereafter more members from Lynn’s group, Talamasca started to arrive. There was Rich, our Louis Pointe duLac, a tall and dark brooding figure replete with the Brad Pitt hair and mysterious but alluring charm; Earl, a television segment producer for Studio 23 came; and Art who according to Lynn was the fledgling of another fledgling. I couldn’t be happier at the thought as I was growing ever more ecstatic seeing the gradual increase in our numbers.

Soon the discussion took place and everyone on hand pretty much agreed that the Third Chronicle was a quick read and that at the time of its publication and reading, most of the members felt an affirmation for kinship as the Immortals grouped in Maharet’s Sonoma compound as they await and prepare for the cataclysmic confrontation between Akasha & Lestat. Akasha’s plan of eradicating the male species just to liberate the females and to have them rule the world was certainly not agreeable to all. I pointed out that Akasha seem to embody traits of a Nihilist and that she was only acting upon a knee-jerk reaction. In fact most of the vampires in Anne’s books do.

Maria added and pointed out, that Akasha being a unique embodiment of that could not find any reason to see the world otherwise, as being uncivilized and deserving to be punished for she was not of this world. She slept for centuries with only Marius taking care of her and so didn’t know how to participate and be existent in the modern times. She was not given the chance to adapt nor did she seek that option out.

It was never decided whether it was either an option that Akasha felt she didn’t have or simply the desperation to cling to any form of truth was so dire in the presence of its absence for her and therefore clouded her mind to everything else. And having deemed also of her purpose as her true calling, men to her were regarded as lesser beings. This then allowed Rubymae, our newly christened, Mona Mayfair to quip her famous line for the night, “Men are Dogs.” And she would repeatedly drop her famous line at strategic points in the conversation, which had every vampire at the table laugh to their hearts content and quickly endear her to the group evermore. Truly, Mona in all her glory and precocity.

           Akasha like the vampires in Anne’s books are a metaphor for outsiders; for those who felt estranged from life and see no worthy purpose for it. How many of us at one point in our lives felt distant towards a person; a situation; one that clearly defines our participation and yet all we see is our need for detachment. Could it perhaps be an automatic trigger mechanism built in the human psyche that man distances himself almost automatically from situations that he feels he cannot control or simply unpalatable to what he has been predisposed to? If that was the case, then Anne clearly understood perfectly how it meant to be on the outside; for to be on the outside meant, objectivity. It meant seeing the situation for what it can be and not merely for what it is.

Lestat, in his own impetuosity and charm, sees his situation for what he wants and any regrets to be made or analysis of the consequences are made after the deed is done. Not before. He wanted to be a shining symbol of evil out to do good in the modern world. It is indeed no surprise why he is called the Brat Prince. And in his impulsiveness to make a name for himself in the public amidst warning from the Elders, clearly demonstrates how much of a human trait that is; to which the group readily and equally agreed. It is a trait that we at one point in our lives exhibited. And more often than not, it has gotten us into trouble. No different than the Brat Prince himself.

These ideas and more were at the heart of the discussion as the flow of topics would digress every so now and then but not before finding itself falling into place once more as the Gathering soon reached its climax.

In celebration of our recent induction into the New Worlds Alliance, I decided to raffle off some items for the group. Most of the members got the groups newly designed button pins but the luckier ones like Earl got a copy of Anne’s documentary, Birth of the Vampire and Rich, a copy of the audiobook of Interview With The Vampire which incidentally was the book that started his devotion to Anne. After that the group soon knew that the time had come to wrap up the Gathering as Powerbooks started to announce that it would be closing soon for the day. And so a quick Photo op was put together before we concluded the night’s Gathering.

It was a success by past standards and by sheer attendance of the Coven members, which totaled 12. But it was also a success from the point of all members giving their time freely by attending, discussing and simply sharing the effect that Anne had on them when they began reading her.

This incidentally also coincides with the very purpose on which the group was formed and that is to create and foster awareness for Anne and also for the value of reading, per se. All members of the Coven agree that reading at an early age enriches one’s vocabulary and also one’s sense of self. And if each member is able to embody that, be an unspoken role model for that cause and in turn affect one another and create the very same ripple effect on the next person within radius then we will have been truly successful. Not just for readers of Anne’s work but as individuals striving to create a difference in one’s life and in the lives of other people, through the personification of Anne’s myriad of reflective and flawed characters; the very reflection of the complex human being. 

                                                                                               CAZ

                                                                                    Aka. DAVID TALBOT

                                                                                      Scribe of the Coven