The Well Honoured Dr. Jan DeWitt has been invested as Sandus’s and the Sôgmô’s first heir in a day-long event held at the Appartement du Sôgmô in Quercus Candida. The event featured a public ceremony in which the Sôgmô and heir elect opened þess Buddhist altar, made a vow of office, and gave an affirmation of a civis.
I solemnly swear to uphold the Sandus values of Buddhism, Socialism, and Sancta, and to support the Sôgmô in þess duties as leader of the people of Sandus.
Serment du Homard de Sandus
In so doing, I will advise them to the best of my ability on matters administrative, ideological, political and personal, and strive to live up to the values of this society.
Finally, I would like to the thank the Sôgmô for þess vote of confidence that this appointment represents, and for their support these past few years.
Next, both began a conclave called the Sôgmônis Doctrina or the Sagamorial Instruction, where það instructed the new heir in matters concerning the Sandum republican constitution, our national philosophy and political theories, Sandum culture, diplomatic affairs, and the Sôgmô’s role in Sandus. While much of the content referred to public material, the conclave was closed and was listed on the day’s schedule as “operta secreta et arcana,” Latin for “closed secrets and arcane things.”
It was by this educational conclave that the heir was formally invested, much like the moment of anointment in a coronation.
Both discussed the role that the heir could carve out for himself in Sandus, as well. That role appears mostly to act as a representative of the Sôgmô and to continue to develop Sandum culture along side and parallel to the country’s monarch. One element the heir discussed was the need for a larger, epic narrative, much like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey or Vergil’s Aeneid. The Sôgmô mentioned the appropriateness of satire, a mix both of Horatian satire and Juvenalian satire, as well as making the epic into a farrago or a melange of different styles, themes, stories, and genres.
Finally, both invited a select retinue of guests to come attend a reception at the sagamorial residence where a four course meal was served: Three Sisters soup, chicken pot pie on homemade Southern-style biscuits, vegan lobster roles, and puls Punica or Punic porridge. Also served was a commemorative cocktail, the Homard bleu, as well as beer and wine.
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