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When the community first started happening online you saw Sangs everywhere.
Then came the Psi / Sang Wars. [Roughly
1999-2002. ~Sphynx]
The Psis fought for the right to be considered vampires by the Sang Community,
and part of the OVC community. Since many Sangs also feed psionically,
especially before they fully awaken as Sangs, the Psis won, and after
some hard-fought and well-won battles, became an integral part of the
community, actually outnumbering the Sanguinarians over the years.
Over a decade later there is now a resurgence of issues between the two
factions, mostly regarding “the proper way to feed” and I’m
about to weigh in on my very Sanguinarian side of the story.
For a minute let’s forget everything you may or may not have heard
about how and why Sanguinarians blood feed. Let’s start with what
few facts we have and move on to theory and how I view what and why Sangs
feed.
Among us, Sangs most often define Sanguinarianism as “A physical
need to consume blood to remain healthy”. Medical doctors, for the
most part, disagree with us, stating there is no physical need for a human
to ingest blood, but the doctors also admit they have no suggestions as
to why we crave it, either. What every true Sang knows is that if those
cravings go unheeded our immune systems break down, our health goes to
hell; apathy and depression soon follow. To stave off these crippling
symptoms, we find ways and means of consuming blood, and as long as we
do, we seem to be fine, both physically and emotionally.
Some folks would think: if it works, just do it, who cares why... But
like most things in life, it’s never that simple, of course.
North Americans have issues surrounding blood. No, that’s not an
insult, it’s just a fact. We get uptight about most things that might
be morally reprehensible and since the Bible says, “the blood is
the life”, many of our Christian friends and family show great concern
about our tendency to drink this substance. Not everyone in the world
feels the same. Blood is an acceptable food item in many cultures, from
the famous Black Pudding and Blood sausages of UK and Europe to African
tribes who prefer their blood mixed with milk for consumption. Blood contains
minerals, proteins, amino acids and other things our bodies need. People
who consume blood eat it for its excellent food value.
Are Sanguinarians actually any different?
Over the years I’ve consumed blood from animals and from live human
donors. I can honestly say here and now that I find no difference as far
as effect goes. Whether I feed from a donor, or from fresh animal blood
the effect is the same, and whichever one I feed from, I know I will need
to feed again in about 7 to 10 days –- less if I’m highly stressed;
longer if I’m relaxed and not doing anything unduly physical. I consume
more animal blood at a feeding than I do human blood from a donor, only
because the animal blood doesn’t care and is not harmed by my feeding.
I tend to take less from a donor due to guilt and a desire to inconvenience
my donor as little as possible. The only difference I can find is that
I prefer to have a donor when I can, because the intimacy is as delicious
as the blood, and much warmer and fuzzier than taking a cube of frozen
blood out of the freezer and letting it melt under my blue-rare steak.
Donors give a lot more than just offering blood. They give us companionship
and affection and a feeling of power. No animal can ever replace THAT.
For some reason all of that doesn’t seem to translate to the entire
Vampire Community and I’ve heard far too many times over the years
that Sangs make use of pranic energy or some other kind of energy, depending
on who you talk to, from the blood, making us another kind of energy feeder,
-- something that is actually a Psi Vamp trait, and not Sanguinarian at
all.
I see it on many boards, especially Psi boards. For some reason those
who are not Sanguinarians seem to be SURE we use energy like a Psi Vampire
does, even though there is absolutely NO reason or indication that is
the case.
Psi Vampires DO feed on energy for many sources. Without added energy
intake Psi Vamps can become as sick as any blood-deficient Sang. Psis
have been known to feed from humans, animals, crowds, elemental energy
and just about any other source of prana or energy that you can name.
Psis NEED energy, and I’ll never begrudge them what they need any
more than I’ll ever blame any Sang for needing what they need. The
fact we both get sick when we lack what we need, however does NOT mean
we are the same creatures using the same thing from what we feed on.
“So how do you explain Hybrid Vampires who can feed on both?”
THAT is a question that usually follows the above statements when I say
that Sangs and Psis are not the same creatures. So let’s address
that issue right now by allowing me to point out that just because a person
has diabetes, doesn’t mean they can’t also have fibromyalgia.
Just because a person has an energy deficiency that causes them to need
to feed on outside energy sources does NOT mean they can’t also have
a DIFFERENT KIND OF DEFICIENCY that causes them to crave blood.
While most Sanguinarians DO suck the energy out of everything around
them when they first awaken, most of us, after a number of years find
that Psi feeding no longer fills our need for blood in any way, shape
or form. It’s not that we do not know how to Psi feed… most
of us do, many of us have done so for years, either to supplement our
lack of blood feeding or just for the “high”. Many of us have
used sex feeding to help put off a feeding when blood feeding was not
possible or was inconvenient. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help for
long, and as we get older, in most cases, it ceases to replace a feeding
at all, other than use as a distraction. I know. I’ve tried. Almost
all of us have. Have you got ANY idea how much EASIER it is to take energy
than to get blood? It's night and day! And almost no one has any real
moral issue with drawing Psi energy from crowds, or elemental feeding.
That’s a lot simpler than having to beg a donor for blood or find
an animal source. If we could replace blood with psi for the good of our
health, don’t you think we WOULD? After years of trying, I can honestly
tell you all that we just can’t. It doesn’t work. We wish it
did. The fact of the matter is: We need blood, not energy.
In the end, it's apples and oranges. As the threat of the return of the
Sang / Psi Wars rears its ugly head, threatening to divide, yet again,
a community many of us are trying to unite, maybe both Psis and Sangs
need to cut each other a little slack. It’s not about how or what
we feed on that brings our communities together. It’s the fact that
we’re different, and our needs, that bring us together. We don’t
have to be the same. Sangs are not “unevolved energy feeders”.
Psis are not lesser Vampires because they suck energy. We’re just
different. If one can’t be “different” in the Vampire Community,
where can we be?
In closing I have only one thing left to say: It’s Ok to be Psi,
and feed on energy, and Sang feeding is NOT energy feeding, unless you
consider eating a hamburger to be sucking the energy out of a cow.
And THAT is my 2 cents worth on the topic.
~LadyCG (c) 2008
This article is presented as part of an ongoing
effort to present other views outside of, as well as within, the online
vampire community. As such, the views and attitudes 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
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