Before I start to explain anything about my research on the symptoms, let
me add a comment about what we are dealing with. When I want to talk about
symptoms, then it means physical reactions to the initiated change on a physical
level, or short the physical side of vampirism. I want to remind you all that
in the beginning [of the original site ~Sphynx] I mentioned the "first
step" on a path to knowledge. So you all can easily imagine that all
I am talking about is NOT the only view on the topic of vampirism. It is much
more than an amount of physical phenomenons. I can only offer you my limited
knowledge and experience. Yet there is much more to it.
And yet another thing.
The symptoms I will mention here are what I viewed and experienced. I have
to admit that every vampire is different, such as every human is. Thus, I
cannot speak for every and any vampire. So if you believe that I have not
listed an important factor or disagree with anything I say, we can talk about
it.
I have taken my time to watch myself and others in order to find out if there
are any physical phenomenons that we all or at least most of us share. Here
is a listing and explanation of the symptoms of vampirism that most of us
seem to share.
FEEDING:
As already mentioned before, vampires feed on sources of
life energy, such as blood or mental energy. The aforementioned psychic draining
is rather a magical act than a physical one, therefore I will leave it out
at this point, as I want to concentrate on physical feeding. It is said that
the older a vampire gets, the better he has the ability to control his urges.
It is also said that with the time passing, the blood comsume decreases. Yet
I cannot speak for myself. But simply the fact THAT blood is consumed stands
in contradiction to what is known about the normal human metabolism and body
chemistry.
Although in several cultures blood can appear as a part of specific meals
in small amounts, it is accepted as a general statement that blood cannot
be digested. For a normal body chemistry that is unable to split the specific
molecules into consumable ones I mean. This seems to be different for vampires.
But this is a topic for the offspring theory. The only thing that can be stated
right here and now is that the metabolism of a vampire is able to use blood
as a source of energy ad nourishment.
On the other hand, most vampires I know including me state that their need
to consume solid food has decreased. Obviously blood replaces a certain amount
of the normal human diet. To which degree this replacement takes place seems
to depend on the individual.
SUNLIGHT:
In contradiction to general mythologic belief, I have never met
a vampire that burned to ashes because of exposure to sunlight. And we are
not dealing with myths right now, so let us just stick to reality. It is mostly
the youngs that make bad experiences with sunlight. "New-born" -
meaning recently changed - vampires frequently feel pain while being in contact
with sunlight, burn easily or suffer from the heat related to sun. But approximately
all vampires suffer from the light concerning their eyes. Sunlight and sometimes
even normal daylight causes great pain to a vampire´s eyes. But normally
severe damage can be easily prevented by sunglasses and other protective means.
Some vampires have managed by the time to readjust to sunlight by mental training
and slow steps towards normal exposure. They can lead a nearly normal life.
Others lead a life in the shadows. They mostly live and work during the night
and sometimes don´t even make efforts to lead a life among the normal
human society. It might depend on how someone starts his new life. But even
in case a vampire has developed abilities to readjust to sunlight, it has
at least always a weakening effect.
DRUGS, MEDICATION & ILLNESS:
Every vampire has made bad experiences in his "life".
One of the most well-nown accident is a poisoning effect of "bad blood".
Bad blood simply means drug-poisoned blood. Nobody who has still control about
his senses would consume this poison willingly. It happens accidently. But
the effect speaks for itself. If one simply feels sick and has to throw up,
he can consider himself as lucky still. Depending on how dangerous the drug
is, the effect on the body is more or less hazardous. Some vampires ended
up extremely sick for days or at least until the next feeding. This already
gives a hint on the effects of chemicals on the metabolism in general. Drugs
and medicaments have a similar effect. Either the body simply ignores the
chemical or a drug/medicament taken in low or normal dose causes a poisoning
effect similar to overdose. In plain words this means a chemical treatment
of diseases or drug-abuse is nearly impossible. But what to do then? The answer
lies within itself. Vampires are mostly not affected by normal diseases, therefore
they don´t need medication. Those aforementioned affections against
outer influences can only be tried to be prevented, but not chemically cured.
Generally said, vampires are known for their effective protection against
most normal "health hazards" that normal human beings suffer from.
A good reason to avoid a doctor, but often confusing to the youngs.
This article is presented as part of an ongoing effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online vampire community. Those of us who consider ourselves vampiric don't always look at things from the same viewpoint due to our life experiences. As such, the views and opinions contained in this article are entirely those of the author(s), and may not necessarily be shared by SphynxCatVP. The webmaster is not under obligation to update or otherwise keep current the contents of this article. Most importantly, only you can decide for yourself whether this article or any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - you are responsible for using your own reasoning and judgement, so judge wisely.
