Posts Tagged ‘Awakening’

Excerpted from an article written for the October issue of the Instant Magick newsletter (http://instantmagick.com).

Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series. Vampire: the Masquerade. History channel documentaries about “real vampires.” It seems literary vampires are more popular than ever, and there are more real vampires walking among us than most “normals” ever realized. They are coming out of the woodwork in greater numbers with every passing year – becoming more vocal on the internet, making TV appearances in documentaries, forming houses, holding conventions, and steadily increasing visibility as a community. The vampire subculture is experiencing a revitalization similar to that which Wiccans and the gay community have experienced in past decades. But who and what exactly are the vampires who walk among us?

Modern day vampires are a form of Otherkin. “Otherkin” is a blanket term for a variety of people including many who feel they have a non-human spirit in a human body. Otherkin include vampires and other vampiric beings; therians, which are were-beings like werewolves and were-leopards; faery-kin; angel-kin; dragon-kin; and many other varieties. Vampires are not to be confused with Goths. “Goth” is an artistic movement encompassing a “dark” aesthetic. Some, but not all, vampires are Goths. Some, but not all, Goths are vampires.

The vampire subculture encompasses many varieties of vampiric beings. The major delineations are: sanguine vampires, who consume life energy by consuming small amounts of blood; psy vampires, who primarily draw on psychic, emotional, or magickal energy; sexual vampires, which include incubi, succubi, and leannan sidhe (an Irish faery version of a vampire, succubus, and muse all in one); and of course, the donors, who are sometimes vampiric themselves, but often suffer from the opposite condition, having an overload of energy that they are constantly trying to siphon off.

Vampires are not simply playing a Live Role Playing Game (LARP or RPG) such as Vampire: the Masquerade; nor are they merely people who like to dress up in costume. Such individuals are called “vampire lifestylers.” Lifestylers do not have a physical need for blood or energy to maintain health and well-being, they just enjoy the vampire mystique. There is also a basic difference between vampires, who need energy from an outside source, particularly human, and those who are vampiric, who can take energy from other sources but don’t necessarily need it to survive and stay healthy.

Vampires may suffer from an energy deficiency for several reasons: they may be unable to access the natural, ambient, or universal energy that others have access to without thinking; they may be unable to “digest” or utilize that energy fully, like being unable to make the most of a particular vitamin; or they may naturally expend energy at a faster rate than they can take it in. This tends to be the case particularly with powerful magick users, who find themselves drained and needing to recharge after a big, sudden, or unexpected expenditure of magickal energy.

People who self-identify as vampires do so because they are conscious of what they are, and the vast majority of these choose to live by a set of rules and ethical standards designed to ensure their well-being and that of those around them. One of the best known codified versions of such a set of rules is The Black Veil.[1] Others are in the process of “awakening” or discovering what they are, which usually means taking some time to realize and acknowledge their vampiric tendencies so they can control them properly.

Most vampires are capable of harmless “ambient” feeding, drawing on the excess energy that floats around the room in large crowds of people, who naturally emanate such energy. Others “surface feed,” drawing lightly from several different individuals in a social setting (though many vampires frown on this being done without the individuals’ consent). The most intimate form of feeding is one-on-one feeding from a donor, and this must always be a consensual relationship. Deliberately targeting someone to feed from them without their consent is considered worse than rape by most in the vampire community, and one reason for this is the incredible intimacy of such a psychic connection and energy exchange. Donors often experience a kind of euphoria from sharing energy during a feeding, and many vampires are adept at refining the energy they take in, circulating it through their system, and feeding some of it back to their donor through their connection. Vampires are often donors for each other, especially when each is capable of taking in and using one particular kind of energy that their partner can offer, and easily outputting another, that their partner needs.

I recommend Michelle Belanger’s excellent book, The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work (Weiser Books © 2004) for a more in-depth exploration of the history of the vampire community, and for an introduction to modern vampirism, generally.

[1] One example can be found at Michelle Belanger’s House Kheperu site at: http://www.kheperu.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=41&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

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To read the full article go to the October issue of the Instant Magick newsletter (http://instantmagick.com).

To figure out whether it’s possible to be “Turned” into a vampire, first we must discuss the possible explanations for vampirism. The website “Drink Deeply and Dream” lists five theories: 1) that vampirism is a genetic trait; 2) that it’s a spiritual matter having to do with the soul; 3) that it’s the result of a parasitic or symbiotic entity inhabiting a human host; 4) that it’s a condition caused by damaged or missing chakras, energy deficiencies, etc.; or 5) that it is the symptom of a virus or other outside pathogen. (Read the post at http://www.drinkdeeplyanddream.com/realvampire/vampire-cause.html for full explanations of each paradigm). I’ll discuss each in turn, and give my theories as to how they may relate to the possibility of Turning someone who is not already a vampire:

Genetic

The Science of Vampires by Katherine Ramsland briefly discusses the possibility that vampirism may be genetic; either there is a recessive gene for vampirism (meaning both parents must carry the gene for it to be inherited in the child), or, alternatively, vampirism is the result of “junk DNA” becoming activated.

The neo-Darwinian evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins goes into detail about what “junk DNA” is in The Selfish Gene and other books. Briefly, the human genetic code has many genes that do not seem to code for any proteins — so-called “junk DNA.” The current theory is that this junk DNA became part of our genetic makeup through our exposure over our entire evolutionary process to viruses capable of injecting their DNA into our own. The ones that didn’t kill us became symbiotic, becoming part of our genetic code. Mitochondrial DNA (found in the cell nucleus and only passed on from the mother) is probably the best known example of this.

Genetics is a good explanation for the physical symptoms of vampirism. This would make being a vampire akin to being blond, having blue eyes, or being a hemophiliac. It could be inherited or run in families. The only possible way to Turn in this scenario, (as opposed to being born a vampire), would be through the activation of (possibly “junk”) DNA.

The Science of Vampires suggests that this might be induced through high stress and adrenaline levels, such as might be experienced during a vampire “attack,” or from the biochemical mix of endorphins and other pleasure hormones induced by the ecstasy that some donors experience from being fed upon. An additional theory expounded in an article on Sanguinarius.org suggests that the right biochemical mix must be achieved in the gene-carrier’s body to activate the gene for vampirism. See: http://www.sanguinarius.org/articles/DG_biochemical-theory.shtml.

There are spiritual or metaphysical paths that believe it is possible to affect one’s own genetic code with magic or other metaphysical manipulation. I am skeptical, but others believe it is possible.

Spiritual/Soul

Turning in this instance would more truly be an Awakening to your True Self, discovering that you are already a vampire in spirit, or have a vampire’s soul in a human body. To discover if you are already spiritually a vampire, you might ask yourself, why do you want to be a vampire? Explore the vampire archetype already within you, through meditation, visualization and role play. Research as much as you can and find out what, if anything about vampirism resonates for you (and there are many different kinds).

I would suggest, if this scenario were true, then it should also be possible to do some sort of magick or spiritual ritual to Turn oneself. There are those who claim to be able to do this. (There is one such person referenced in The Science of Vampires. She does not sound credible to me, but that is my personal opinion).

Parasitic/Symbiotic Entity

If this scenario is true, then there would definitely be a possibility vampirism could be passed on through physical or psychic contact, either like a physical parasitic infection or some kind of spirit possession.

In the latter case, it would theoretically be possible to summon a vampiric entity from the astral plane, invite it to join with you, and thus make you a vampire. Once again, this would mean deliberately Turning yourself, rather than being turned by another person (although it would require the assistance or cooperation of a spiritual entity).

Damaged/Missing Chakras; Energy Deficiencies; etc

If this is the explanation for vampirism, it wouldn’t make sense for someone to deliberately damage or handicap themselves in this fashion, so unless someone already has this condition, there’s no benefit in being Turned.

In theory, this kind of damage can be caused by giving too much or for too long as a donor, and I have heard of people believing they have been Turned this way. I have heard of more instances, though, of donors who only became vampiric temporarily, but go back to normal once they have “healed” or spent time away from their vampire. Michelle Belanger calls this “sympathetic vampirism” in her book, The Psychic Vampire Codex.

This is a subject of much debate in the vampire community. Many do not believe it is possible to be Turned into a true vampire, but only to be made temporarily vampiric until the effects of feeding wear off.

Virus or other outside pathogen

In this scenario Turning would be possible as a form of infection, but it would require exposure to another (vampire) who is already infected, or exposure to the environmental factor that has caused others to Turn. (At this point, such a pathogen is unknown; The Science of Vampires suggests chemical pollutants or nuclear radiation as possibilities). This explanation seems unlikely, based on vampire experience. I have not heard of any “infecting” their donors in such a fashion.

Of course, there are many kinds of vampires (see my article, “The Truth About Modern Day Vampires,” for an explanation of the various kinds), and more than one of these scenarios might be the “true” explanation for any given vampire. Therefore, there might be a variety of ways that someone could be “Turned,” depending on the type of vampirism in question and which paradigm(s) are accurate.