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Originally posted to the Sanguinarius.org Message Forums as "The past
has brought? What we can bring the future", on 1 February, 2001.
I was looking at what I consider problems in the vampire subculture:
Young (and old) fools who go around asking everyone wearing black to “turn”
them.
Violent people who take advantage of the Vampire subculture in many ways.
I.e., “Hunters”, stalkers, the criminally insane, yada yada...
Posers who get all the attention for being “real vampires”. (Oh,
look at that real skinny guy dressed all up for the clubs! He must be a vampire!)
The Ricky Lake Show comes to mind…
Petty squabbles between different groups arguing over who gets to use the
word vampire
Widespread ignorance about vampirism.
Well, all these things can be traced back to one thing: The combination between
Mythological history and the Entertainment Industry.
The mythological history of vampirism throughout the years is for shit. Let's
face it, folks, there is no real scholarly history dealing with vampirism. There
is only myth and what is built upon it. What is built upon it is always under
attack. People have tried to show me that vampires were never portrayed as having
long teeth until this time in the 1800s…that how certain diseases that
recede the gumline could be attributed to that…and that the theory that
vampires can die in the sunlight was only an adaptation in the movie “Nosferatu”
in 1922. And that the idea that drained corpses was due to breakouts of diseases
like consumption…and that breakouts of diseases like tuberculosis (TB)
could explain vampire attacks…and how rabies got confused with vampirism
at one time…and the term vampirism has also entered the psychiatric literature
to explain pathologic behaviors similar to those of the mythical vampire, particularly
ingestion of blood and necrophagic and cannibalistic activities…BLAH BLAH
BLAH…
There is NO real scholarly history on any sort of vampirism. There are only
theories and postulates and complete crap that was made up. It's all a bunch
of mashed up stuff that has been used by different people for their own uses
and mixed up throughout the ages.
That alone is fine. All of history does that to people. Just look at some of
the stuff that people are running around now doing…Native Americans are
busy spending money trying to figure out what their ancestors really believed
in because most people don’t know. Their ancestors got wiped out by disease
and war. Mixed in their beliefs are badly translated facts and customs from
other tribes. It’s not the average progression of history where customs
and religion are changed over a long period of time; it’s a dead end. That
is Mythological History. You can’t study it because for some reason or
another it isn’t there…
So, fine, that would be OK if that happened to vampirism…Who cares?
Well, the Entertainment industry cares. Ever since the first rumors were spread
of vampires to today's shitty media coverage, vampirism has been a kicked around
subject. In the Middle Ages, there are some cases where priests lied about vampires
to get people into church and raise more money. Today every rag newspaper and
movie shows whatever side of the vampire that will make them the most money.
So fine then, you say…WHO CARES? Who cares if the media and Entertainment
industry wants to make some money off some old legends? Who cares if some morons
wanna run around in search for stuff that doesn’t exist? After all, it
doesn’t affect most people dealing with vampirism today, does it? Modern
vampirism really doesn’t have much to do with the movies and all that crap;
perhaps similar in some ways, yeah, but different enough where people will know
the difference. I mean it's something to laugh at. It is entertainment.
Well, a tide is turning, my friends, and you are in it.
There will be a point sometime soon when the old legends won’t be used
anymore, because people will find out about modern Vampirism in all its forms.
Think about it. If so much trouble has arisen because of beliefs built upon
mythological history what will happen when more people get involved in modern
vampirism?
All the problems I listed before will be nothing compared to what will come
in the future. There are already too many people out there getting hurt trying
to get involved in fantasy and myth. What will happen when more and more people
get involved in it for REAL? The so called “Buffy Complex” people
out there are just fooling themselves. It’s the highest form of fun though.
They are having a great time living out their fantasies in the real world.
But you gotta wonder, though…what will happen when those same people learn
more and more about real vampirism. It’s one thing for a poser or a wannabe
or a hunter to look for the incarnate evil of the undead; they will have a hard
time finding it. But what happens when people find the same allure in modern
Vampirism? As time goes on, modern vampirism ain’t so hard to find.
If people are getting into so much trouble trying to find something that isn’t
there then what happens when they settle for what is there? That’s when
a hunter or a wannabe will settle on bothering someone that posts in this message
board forum. That’s when people get hurt.
Therefore, the whole point of this post is to remind everyone that this isn’t
history. Vampirism, like it or not, is on the rise. So when the shit starts
to hit the fan, and when the masses start to fall into that tide, you have to
ask yourself a question: Did you make sure that you did your best to make the
transition a smooth one? Pretty soon a lot more people are going to stop looking
at Mythological History and Entertainment bullshit and look toward the real
world. What did you do to make sure that the real world was secure? How can
we stop people from making the wrong choices? That thought must be first and
foremost on our minds.
This is the real world, like it or not -- whether it be on the Internet or
in our home towns. And eventually this world we created will become what people
think of when they think “vampire”. Like it or not, we have a responsibility
to make sure that name doesn’t carry the foolish notions or fantasy it
does today. We have the opportunity to stop the bullshit here. Don’t friggin’
forget that.
This community needs to work together to make sure to remember that, in the
future, people aren’t going to automatically equate Dracula with the word
vampire; they are going to equate that word with you and the actions you take
in life. Rid the problems of the future in the present.
Just a reminder…Little more than that, I suppose.
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.
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