|
|
The purpose of this pavilion is to give visitors a little insight into what the Domain is all about.
To discover more, feel free to visit our website, or email the ur-Lord.
Introduction
The Domain and Realms of the Shadows and the Darkness(or simply the Domain) is a monarchy of sorts: a nation made up of twenty-seven Realms. Founded on the Winter Solstice of 2001, it's purpose has been to search for a preserve all things magickal and mystickal, as well as serve as a safe haven and middle ground for all those who believe in magick, regardless of race, religion, or whatever difference. Magick and the belief therein is the point that unifies our people.
The Domain's "area" includes the nations of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the majority of the Pacific Islands, and all of the Carribean. Our government is comprised of Nobles who are essentially appointed to their positions of rule over areas of the Domain by the Imperium. The highest positions are that of ur-Lord and/or High Queen: the aforementioned Imperium, which oversee, guard, and protect all that is within the Domain and Realms. Though primarily concerned with setting our own business in order, we are on friendly and cordial terms with other micronations, primarily through the forums of Micro-Nations.org.
The first High Court(capital city) of the Domain was Caer SnowCrystal(L'Anse, Baraga, and Bovine, Michigan). Currently, the Imperium resides in Caer Portshire(Port Washington, Wisconsin): Court of the Dells(Minnesota and Wisconsin). The permanent High Court: Caer RivenMyst(Dublin, Ireland), was to be established come the Changing of the Colors(the Domain's fall season). Plans changed, however, and Caer RivenMyst was established on Foundation Day(December 21, atop Tara Hill), in which the Domain celebrates its creation.
History
The realm known in short as 'the Domain' has been a state of mind that began in the everyday life of then Micah Foster(also known as Micah Eden), back in 1993. A believer of all-things mystickal, magickal, mysterious and unknown, Micah imprinted his thoughts and dreams onto the internet: creating a site that soon became known as the Shadows and the Darkness. Micah always knew and felt that there was more to Reality than what was just beyond his nose, and knew of others who felt and knew the same. Over time, amid long, eye-opening, and sometimes painful personal growth, two things happened in the life of Mr. Foster: the realization of his spiritual name(ShadowDarkFyre), and his discovery of the White Wolf gaming system, upon which much of his micronational ideas were solidified. It wasn't until he met the woman who was to be his wife: her Majesty the Queen of Snowdonia, Debra Leigh Waisanen(known as Snowaidene), that his ideas started to slowly come into focus. It wasn't until he started extensively reading through the White Wolf book, "Changeling: the Dreaming Second Edition", and studying the ruling hierarchy and the division of the North American map in the game, that his ideas about the state of mind of his micronation started coming clearly into view. It happened then that, along the months of November and December of 2001, that ShadowDarkFyre began discussing the forming of the micronation of 'the Domain' with Queen Snowaidene(who already saw the Upper Penninsula of Michigan as 'Snowdonia') and Lady Traser SyberJedi: now-ruler of the Domani realm of FairyStone. It came to pass in the final weeks of December 2001 that Lord Shadow: on the basis of the DarkFyre Heart he perpetually wears, and the SnowStar he gave his Queen in Summer of 1998, that he purchased the first of several buttons: gold plastic in the shape of a heart, with a transparent plastic red ruby heart in the center. Which is the closest resemblance to the DarkFyre Heart. Calling it a HeartDarkFyre, he coined it as a 'badge of office' from him to whoever rules a realm of the Domain. With Queen Snowaidene's agreement to the foundation, Lady SyberJedi's acceptance of the rulership of FairyStone, and Lord Shadow's sending of her HeartDarkFyre to her on the 21st of December, the Domain officially was founded.
Since the founding, twenty of the twenty-seven Realms have gained rulers to the growth of the Domain: Snowdonia(ruled by High Queen Snowaidene), FairyStone, Sil Magra, the Black Hills, Pacifica, Snake Mound, the Dells, Lumina(formerly known as Roanoke), the Dreamtime, Orinoco, ArkenStone, Plainitia, Aquaterra(formerly known as UnderBridge), LoneStar, Remal(formerly known as Brittania), Cascade, Astoria, Celtica, Southron, and Cibola. It is hoped that the remaining realms: currently territories under Imperial governance, will also acquire rulers in the near future, and also that the growth of our population will continue.
FAQ Section
"Why was the Domain and Realms formed?"
The Domain and Realms was formed to bring together people who believe in all things magickal, mysticakl, wonderous, and otherwise unexplained into a community whose common goal is to help bring a better understanding of the otherwise "unexplained" aspects of Reality; and to help bring magick back into the world a little at a time. This can extened to a broad spectrum of individuals: anywhere from Christianity and Wicca, to paganism and Buddhism; from therianthropes and sanguines, to seers and mediums, from scholars and teachers, to those who just believe;... and beyond.
"Is the Domain and Realms a roleplaying group?"
While there are some elements of description in the Domain and Realms that are taken in part from fictional sources, they are solely for the sake of describing certain things and places from a Domani point-of-view. The Domain and Realms is a serious community project with real citizenship, real goals, and a real purpose. No one and nothing about the Domain and Realms is a joke.
"Is the Domain and Realms a separatist/soverignity/sedition movement?"
The Domain and Realms is the type of micronation whose core purpose is to bring together a community of like-minded individuals to work towards a common goal. Our nation sees no real need to claim land or property in order to come together as a community. In many ways, we pattern ourselves after the Society for Creative Anachronism(SCA). While we do name different areas of the world where Domani can be found as Realms, this is done solely to give our project more of a sense of realism,... and not to lay claim on anything. We have no need to seceed from our countries-of-residence, assert our soverignity, or start a revolution of any kind to be a nation united. We are soverign in ourselves, united as a nation, and have faith in our purpose and goals. Nothing extreme is needed to do that. Simply to believe in what we're doing suffices.
"Are your population numbers real or just made up? Your population says one number, but there's not a whole lot of people who are actually in your forum."
All of our citizens are real, down to the last individual. But like all micronations, we also suffer from inactive citizenry. In the years to come, we hope to change this, so that everyone can participate in and enjoy the benefits of the goals we're working towards. But like all things worthwhile, it takes time and work to get to them.
"Is the Domain strictly an online community, or do you have plans to have it grow beyond online?"
In the past, the Domain and Realms was only an online micronational community. However, with the success of the Feis Domani annual gatherings, the Domain has taken a step out of Cyberspace and into the real world. We plan on continuing the Feis Domani events, as well as planning celebrations, meetings, and other types of gatherings in the future, so that Domani will feel that they're more a part of the community than just along for the ride. It will also bring us more into the eye of the magickal community, so those who may be looking for a group or community to belong to can look to us as well as other groups in the magickal community. That way, we're doing our part to help bring magick back into the world: a little at a time.
"What are your nation's goals and endeavours? what services do you offer to your community and the magickal community?"
Our goal and endeavour is to help bring more magick, mysticism, and wonder back into the world for the betterment of the world. To do that, we've taken up a few projects geared towards that goal.
1) The founding of our own education system, embodied in the Domani School of Belief and Magick, and the Library of the Domain.
The Domani School is being worked on even as we speak, by its Headmaster: Lord Flint Luchtaine ap Nine Death Storms, who rules the Domani Realm of Sil Magra. We're working on the curricula, semesters and scheduling, and gaining teachers to teach those who may wish to enroll as students. We even have a forum set aside for the School to be based in.
The Domani Library was made to be a repository for any and all documents dealing with subjects of a magickal, mystickal, occult, pagan, or paranormal nature,... to be utilized freely by the magickal community. Everything from spells, workbooks, poetry, stories, songs, and various other documents have been donated by Domani and non-Domani alike to the Library. Submissions are ever and always welcome, and we hope to have the well of information within the Domani Library grow for the benifit of the magickal community.
2) The revamping of our newsletter, Dreams and Faith.
For more than five years, the "Dreams and Faith" newsletter has been sent our to Domani citizens only, keeping those who cannae' always come online abreast of the goings on within our primary medium of communication: the Domain Forum. Since then, Dreams and Faith has grown into an E-Zine(with the much-appreciated help of Aratacia Galanodel, former Domani and former ruler of the Domani Realm of FairyStone's province of MountainMist), and a Podcast. Both are able to be viewed by not only the Domani community, but the magickal community as well: letting everyone know who we are, what we're about, and how we're working to do our part to bring magick back into the world. And in the future, we hope to have a printed version that can be distributed out in the real world, so that more people can be reached. For now, the e-zine and podcast are steps in the right direction: a direction that will lead to the Domain becoming a presence in the "real" world, and not just the world of Cyberspace.
3) The availability of our own webdesign company.
Nearly all the pages and design aspects of the Domain and Realms main website are possible due to the work of Shadows WebDesign: a webdesign company run by the ur-Lord himself. So all the updating and maintenance of the site is taken care of on a daily basis. Shadows WebDesign has also designed personal pages for other people in the past. For the most part, Shadows WebDesign has been little more than an email address up until recent years. And for the time being, the site has gone down. But in the near future, its site will be up again, complete with a list of rates and a "portfolio" of examples of the work that can be expected from the company, and its services will be available to the community: magickal and otherwise.
4) Our involvement in real world events.
The Domain has recently become involved in activist movements which directly affect us and our goals. One concerns the planned "development" of the legendary Tara-Skryne Valley, where the Hill of Tara: ancient Celtic holy place and seat of the ancient Irish High Kings is situated. The Irish government has plans to develop this sacred area, running a tollway through the center of the valley and developing a waste management site there. Another situation involves the senseless killing of wolves - the Domain's national land animal - by aerial shooters in the wilds of Alaska. The Domain and Realms has thrown its support with the groups who are standing against these injustices, to stand for the sanctity and safety of nature and sacred places everywhere. And by standing with groups such as the Defenders of Wildlife and the "Save Tara/Skryne Valley Campaign", we do our part to help save these resources for future generations. However much, however little, we do our best to help.
Map of the Domain and Realms
As stated, the "area" of the Domain and Realms spreads as far West as Australia to as far East as Great Britain. Macronations of Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Britain, are included in that area, as you can see below. The whole of the Carribean and a large amount of the Pacific Islands are also included in that area. Because of this, as you can imagine, weather varies in the Domain depending on the region you move to.
|
|
National flag: the CrossField -
National seal(s):
The Lesser Seal of the Domain:
The Arms of the Domain
National battle standard: the Hammer and the Sword - A warhammer and a sword crossed together in an "X" pattern, with the DoubleStar of the Imperium: representing the Imperial District of Fantasia, superimpised on the crux.
© 2004 to present The Domain and Realms of the Shadows and the Darkness...
 |
