Secret Societies

We’ve now had a chance to see several of Albion’s secret societies from the inside. Time to talk a little more about that! I’ll be referencing books in which they’re relevant below (including one that’s not out yet!) but nothing that involves plot spoilers. 

Secret societies, the overview

Albion has a number of secret societies – far more than are listed below. These seven, however, are the most notable. Some are quite private about their members, others are more public, or at least some of their members are. All seven are represented at Schola in some form. Some also have a strong presence at various of the other of Albion’s Five Schools. 

Invitations

In general, these societies invite new members in the second year of schooling (the year in which a student has turned 15 before September 1st). Five societies will also consider apprentices who aren’t attending any of the Five Schools at about the same age. All seven will also consider adding someone as an adult, if a potential candidate comes to their attention. 

Each society has its own method of initiation and related rituals. They also well as a wide range of customs about how they get together, what they do in such meetings, and how people relate as adults.

They maintain various spaces for group gatherings, and most of them provide a range of services in those spaces, like other social clubs. These include meals, social gathering rooms, at least a few bedrooms for people staying overnight, and other resources. Members usually pay dues to support the building, staff of the building, and a certain amount in the way of routine refreshments (tea, snacks). 

Being a member

The obligations of membership vary from society to society. Generally, they involve some degree of dues or other practical support for the society and also participation in whatever they’re doing. That can ebb and flow with other responsibilities, however.

It is theoretically possible to be a member of more than one society, but in practice it basically never happens. It’s complicated to coordinate in terms of schedule and impact when people are at Schola or at school. As an adult there are concerns about people being pulled in different directions.

It’s more common (as people become adults) for there to be some sort of informal recognition of someone as a friend of the society, perhaps with defined guest privileges in their spaces. Lydia at the beginning of Point By Point is a good example here: she’s welcome to wait for someone to chat to in the general gathering space. But if she wants food, she’d have to pay for it, rather than some of it being covered by her dues. 

The secret societies

Each of the societies has a particular focus, and also a range of members, noted below. 

We’ll be seeing more of each of these when we get into the next 1920s series. My plan is for each book to focus on one of the societies during the 1920s (or maybe a little earlier), with a romance involving at least one person from that society. I’m looking forward to figuring out how these interconnect! 

Animus Mundi

Focused on ritual magic, Animus Mundi is highly respected. The gatherings usually have an educational focus, a lecture followed by a meal. They maintain a clubhouse in Trellech, as well as a country estate. Both have multiple ritual workrooms with particular design features that can be reserved for specific rituals. The grounds at the country estate also involve various features useful for extended ritual work such as a flat green space, a maze, and a pond with an island. Members tend to be highly intellectual with a good attention to detail. 

Animus Mundi usually invites 2-3 people in a given year, exclusively from Schola. They add an adult every three or four years, usually because of some particular event or notable activity. Cyrus Smythe-Clive is a member, and solidly established as one even before he joins the Council. And Edmund Carillon is a member, invited in his second year. (This one has come out in Ritual Time, on the Patreon. It’s also mentioned in Apt To Be Suspicious, Edmund’s romance, coming out in November.) 

But not all of the notable ritualists belong to this society. For example, neither Geoffrey Carillon nor Alexander Landry are members. Geoffrey was not particularly notable in his second year. Alexander was invited to Dius Fidius. But if he hadn’t been, his background made people wary. Alexander is on reasonable terms with a number of the members in adulthood, however.

Members tend to be better off (ritual is not a cheap specialty, due to the materials cost and space requirements). The members are roughly balanced in terms of gender. 

Dius Fidius

This is the descendent of an older society from before the Pact that focused on support of the feudal rights and maybe responsibilities. Technically, they’re focused on good faith in private affairs. The current name comes from an epithet of Jupiter, calling on him as holder of oaths and laws of hospitality and loyalty. In practice, well, they’re interested in having the sort of good time that involves rich foods, excellent wine, perhaps some imported cigars, and not a lot of fuss. 

They usually invite 4-5 people in most years, again always solely from Schola. Most all of the Fortier family direct line have been members (until Ursula turned them down), and their numbers include a fair range of other Lords and Ladies of the land.

They run about 4 men to every 1 woman, but Livia Fortier was also a member in her own right before she married Garin. (The women tend to be particularly well-born and accomplished. Not people you want to annoy.) 

Alexander Landry is a member here – something facilitated by the Fortiers, for the benefit of the family. Jehan Knox is a member, and so is Claudio Warren (as is his father, Hesperidon).

Dwellers at the Forge

The Dwellers at the Forger are trouble-makers. So they say, and other people think so too. The trick is that the Dwellers try to apply their trouble-making in the best tradition of Prometheus bringing fire down to humanity. They want to inspire – and create – something better, and they’re willing to do the hard grinding work to help make that happen. It’s the society best known for forming strong and loyal friendships.

We’ve seen the Dwellers in three books so far. In the Cards and Point By Point both involve Galen and Martin. They’ve been best friends since they were invited into the Dwellers in their second year. The Magic of Four also spends time with the Dwellers. 

As a society, they tend to particularly nurture cross-generational and cross-speciality discussion. Their building in Trellech has a large social room designed for easy conversation with a number of people, along with meals easy to nibble on while chatting. (It also has shared workrooms, personal laboratories and workrooms for some individuals, sleeping rooms, and a substantial costume store for when people need specific clothing or items for particular projects. A lot of their lore and ritual comes back to the forge. It’s all about making something out of raw ingredients that can be used for the work to come. 

The Dwellers invite 2-4 people most years, but are one of the two societies most likely to add people as adults. That’s especially true if someone’s been around them for a while and interested in their projects. They draw from all walks of Albion’s society, but particularly crafters, magical specialists, and people interested in sharing information (including several journalists). They’re about evenly divided between men and women. 

The Four Metals

Focuse on magical crafting – and to some degree magical innovation – in all its forms, the folks of the Four Metals can often be found having a heated discussion in their house in Trellech or their larger property in the country. That latter space has a wide range of workshops and spaces for all kinds of different crafting activities. 

The Four Metals folks feature particularly in the Mysterious Fields trilogy (Vitus, our hero, is a member). They have a particular tradition for funerals of the friends in the society cold-forging a linked chain stamped with their names that is buried on top of the coffin. That might give a sense of the close relationships that can form, and the way they last for extended periods. 

The Four Metals are one of the societies most likely to invite people later in adulthood. Sometimes it takes a while for someone’s talents to be visible. They’re about evenly divided between men and women. 

Many Are The Waters

The name everyone calls them by is actually one of their ritual sayings – none of them are sharing about their name! (I’ve been asked if I know what it is, and no, I don’t yet. I’ll figure it out by the time I write their book in the next series.) 

As you might guess from that phrase, they have a particular interest in water-focused magic, including anything related to healing or the rivers. They invite a non-trivial number of people from Seal House at Schola, but there’s also a sister group at Alethorpe. Their interests do extend to the coasts, at least at times, with a few members from both Dunwich and Forvie. 

Besides coming up in The Magic of Four, we’ve seen two people identify themselves as members so far: Rhoe Belisama (who talks about it in Sailor’s Jewel) and Mabyn Teague (who touches on it in The Hare and the Oak.) They have a moderate majority of women. 

The Nine Muses

Here are our actors and musicians and performers. As you might guess by their focus, the Nine Muses tend to be rather public about membership. They’ll often collaborate on performances, both at Schola and in Trellech and London. They tend to run about 2/3 women, with 7 or 8 new members added most years, mostly from Schola. 

Victor, in Perfect Accord, is a member. Charlotte’s take on the society in that book goes like this: 

Not that the Nine Muses were actually all that secret, seeing as how it was tricky to throw lavish performances and hide who was part of them at the same time. She went to perhaps a third of the parties now. They tended to be a lot of avant-garde art, some of which Charlotte liked and some of which she had very little patience for. Writing an entire cycle of poems without using the word ‘the’ was an interesting personal challenge, but it should perhaps not be let out in public without warning.

We’ve also seen some of their members briefly in the beginning of Mistress of Birds: both Thalia and her friend Hilaria go to a number of their parties in London. Thesan helps supervise a revue largely organised by members of the Nine Muses in Eclipse. 

Society of the White Horse

Last but by no means least, we have the Society of the White Horse, probably the most mystical of the seven societies. (Many Are The Waters would probably concede this point, but those two societies tend to collaborate regularly and well together.) They focus on an agricultural take on the land magic, horses, with certain amount of liminal psychopomp work that never quite strays into the realm of what the Council deals with. 

They take most of their members from Snap, as the agricultural school, with occasional members from others. Unlike all the other societies, they have a very deliberate method of seeking out new members. It’s described in Grown Wise (chapter 5).

They do batches of divination on everyone in the relevant age year (second years at the Five Schools), including everyone apprenticing or not at one of the schools through the autumn. For any batch that comes up with something unusual, they do more individual divination. If needed, that includes people going out and having a ritual dreaming session on a personally relevant bit of landscape. Out of that, they’ll make 5 or 6 invitations, sometimes a few more. 

They have their own series of seasonal rites and celebrations. Grown Wise shares the ones at Lammas and autumn equinox, and mentions a few others. 

More to come

Obviously, there’s a lot more on my mind about all of these groups. I’m looking forward to exploring them in future books. Drop me a note if there’s something you’re especially hoping to find out more about!