Regency Shuffle At SAVA

Following Lunah Valur Eir’s shock resignation from House Valur and from her position as Praetor to the Regent of the SAVA some weeks after announcing the closure of Coven d’Eir, a new successor has been appointed to the position of Praetor.

Seraphim Valur Nereza, also of the late Coven d’Eir and previously serving as Secretary to the Regency, today assumed the role of Praetor.

Another housemate of the erstwhile Coven d’Eir, Dagan Valur Nightalon, has assumed the role of Secretary to the Regency.

The Regency of the SAVA now consists of Octarine Valur (Regent), Kay Valur Vakir (Praetor), Seraphim Valur Nereza (Praetor) and Dagan Valur Nightalon (Secretary).

Congratulations to the new appointments!

Due to inactivity, the social Orders formed last year as committees to address social functions within the SAVA have been nullified. SAVA members will be encouraged to participate in group activities or projects on an ‘as needed’ basis.

The Magenta Dragon – by Christina Engela

Most in the South African Vampyre community who have done a little research into the history will know that this community’s recorded history began in May 2010 with the foundation of House Valur. Most will know that the community only began growing and taking form with the founding of the South African Vampyre Alliance (SAVA) in June 2011, but little if anything is known about the community in the time before that.

Sometimes though, one finds little gems that shine a new light on what we already know. This being the case, we examine the recollections of one of the community’s earliest builders from before 2010. Also, we will examine the initial overlap of Vampyre culture with other subcultures and societies at the time – in this case, South African Pagan culture. We will also examine the role played by vampyric Pagans in laying the groundwork for the growth and formation of the VC independently of the Pagan community in SA – and the important role these events played in the subsequent relationship between the Pagan and Vampyre communities. First, a little background.

Amy Mah To Succeed Octarine Valur

It was announced late yesterday by the Regent of the SAVA, Lady Octarine Valur, that she would be stepping down in favor of Lady Amelia Mah who would be assuming full control of the South African Vampyre Alliance as well as all its associated groups, sub-organizations and online resources.

As Regent, Lady Mah – who owns a large number of OVC Facebook groups – would also represent the interests of the SAVA in all international VC representative bodies currently attended by Lady Valur.

An open letter to the South African Vampyre Community – by Octarine Valur

I am Octarine Valur. You may have heard of me, you may have heard a few interesting things about me. Some of them may even be true. I’m called the founder of South Africa’s VC. I’m called ‘Regent’ of the SA Vampyre Alliance. Some have called me ‘despot’ and some have even mocked me by calling me ‘Queen’. You may wonder which of these things is true, and you may be wondering what the SAVA is about.

Despot? Queen? No. I am neither of those things. Anyone who knows vamps, knows that getting a group of us to face in the same direction at the same time is like herding cats. Not all of us would agree about anything at the same time or in the same way, and neither would all of us get along or see eye to eye. A strong leader gets things done, a passionate leader holds on until it is.

I am Regent of the SAVA, yes. I founded the SAVA, yes – after spending several years in search of the elusive South African Vampyre Community online, and of finding nothing more than a handful of solitaries interested in becoming something more, something bigger, and more real and significant. An actual community. A family.

That’s what the SAVA is about – making the community around it into a family. The SAVA is an organization started in May 2011, and its purpose was to build the SA VC, beyond the isolated little FB groups and offline solitary vamps scattered across South Africa – to create a thriving network of real-life Vampyre covens, courts and social groups. To some degree, SAVA has succeeded.

Today we have at least one House in our community, House Valur and its two covens, d’Eir and Veritas – and the SAVA and its various projects are our legacy. Today, thanks to the efforts of the SAVA, vampyric Pagans can participate openly in Pagan groups and within the Pagan community with understanding and without fear of prejudice. Thanks to the SAVA, the SA VC has a face and a voice. Despite the criticism brought against us over the years, our critics have never delivered anything worthy of compare to the SAVA.

This is to let you know – the Awakened of South Africa – we are here. We’re here for you, and we’re not going anywhere. Take our hand – join us in making the SA VC better!

The Future of the SA VC – Decided

The survey launched on last Friday has now closed. As promised, the results are tallied and posted below for transparency.

Despite the survey being linked to and distributed across all known South African VC groups as well as cross-posted to in local Pagan groups and even a few international VC groups, and several admonitions to complete the survey, the number of responses received in this week was only 25.

SAVA Undergoes Metamorphosis

The South African Vampyre Alliance, a body which has been active in building the SA Vampyre Community since May 2011, is in the process of undergoing major internal restructuring, with several changes already in process.

The Regency decided over the past week that the purpose of these changes is to streamline functioning of existing internal SAVA bodies, to determine which of these are redundant, and especially to increase member participation as well as the total effectiveness of the organization itself within the SA VC.

Very importantly, among the things that will undergo radical change is the SAVA hierarchy and structures which are already well known in the general VC.

Shadow Senate Confirms – Group Affiliations Are Back!

At the most recent meeting of the Shadow Senate held on February 4, 2015 it was decided that the previous ruling which prevented Covens and Houses from affiliating with the SAVA was stifling the growth of the local VC; in that participants no longer saw the need to form groups of their own to service the needs of their own areas.

This ruling, made in 2012, was effectively overturned.

SAVA Senatorial Elections Held 23 January 2015

Internal SAVA elections were completed this past week to select Senators for the SAVA Shadow Senate in accordance with the parameters set by our Membership Mandate.

2015, A Year Of Change & Growth

With each new year, SAVA continues to change and grow from strength to strength. Starting the new year off with a bang, we can see that 2015 will be no different!

Among the changes already apparent very early in 2015, we see a resignation and several promotions, and the likely announcement of imminent Senatorial elections.

SAVA National Gathering & Awards Ceremony 2014

On November 1, the SAVA held its first National Gathering, generously hosted by Coven d’Eir in Durban. The venue was the Winston Pub, and aside from the members of Coven d’Eir, some of the other local VC participants also attended, as well as some of the local Gothic society, as well as some interesting seekers who had been keeping up with the local VC wanting to make contact with us for some time.