Noddism

Noddism is the study of lore pertaining to Caine and Enoch, the term comes from the land of Nod, "East of Eden" where Caine was banished after the murder of his brother Abel. Noddist scholars are also generally interested in the activities of the Antediluvians and Gehenna

Religious And Secular Noddism
In Vampire: the Masquerade, Noddism takes at least two paths. In the Sabbat, Noddism invariably refers to the Path of Caine, a Path of Enlightenment devoted to emulating Caine. As a Gehenna Cult writ large, the Sabbat uses Noddism as a theological cornerstone, complete with a recognized heretical cult (the Path of Lilith). Noddists provide the intellectual reason for the Sabbat: as an agency for Caine to work his will in the Final Nights.

Outside of the Sabbat, there are a variety of secular Noddist scholars, the foremost (or at least most famous) being Beckett. Secular Noddists may accept part or all of the Caine myth, but do not attach the same eschatological significance that the Sabbat do. Modern Noddist scholars are likely to be influenced by scholarly trends among the Kine and interpret Noddist material in a more worldly sense; Beckett is famous for arguing that the Caine and Abel story is a metaphor for agrarian and hunter-gatherer communities in conflict.

Noddist Activities
Noddists spend a lot of time hunting down source material. The most famous Noddist source is the Book of Nod, which details Caine's wanderings after killing Abel. The Book is not one single volume but a collection of different fragmentary texts which are assembled under one narrative. Noddists also seek out archaeological information on early vampiric civilization but generally do not focus their study on much after the fall of the Second city when conventional (that is, Kine) history provides an overarching narrative.

Major Noddist Scholars

 * Beckett
 * Aristotle De Laurent
 * Sascha Vykos