ARE VAMPIRES REAL?
Yes, we are. And no, we're not going away. :P :)
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF VAMPIRES?
In the vampire community, the "types" can typically be broken
down into one of three categories: Sanguinarians, psivampires, and hybrids.
Sanguinarians are vampires who physically drink blood, and do not feed
on energy. Psivampires ("energy vampires" is another name)
are vampires who feed exclusively on energy and do not drink blood.
Hybrid vampires feed on both blood and energy.
Psivampires and hybrid vampires, depending on the individual, may be
broken down into further subtypes depending on their preferred / most
effective feeding methods.
WHAT MAKES A PERSON A VAMPIRE?
Sanguinarians (blood drinking vampires)
Vampsires that feed only on blood, not energy. For this category, attempting
to subsist using energy feeding methods may be damn near impossible,
even when they do know how to do it. Some people swear up and down there's
energy in the blood, others swear just as much that there isn'tl...it's
been the cause of many a flame war over the years. Blood can be gotten
from different sources: donors, eating rare steaks, etc. (If a sanguinarian
has no donor, what often happens is that they're in a perpetually Thirsty
state of mind when they are without adequate substitutes. This is one
of the reasons I have the getting
blood from a steak article on this site.
Psi-vampires (psychic vampires,
energy feeding vampires)
There are many "subtypes" that fall in this category, with
the type names (such as "elemental vampire", "tantric
vampire", and so on) mainly used as a reference for the preferred/most
effective feeding method. No matter how it's described, it's still *energy*
in some form. For other people, the differences seem more important,
swearing they can use one type of energy but not another.
However, some things get lumped in this category that really shouldn't
- like some people's descriptions of themselves as an "empathic
vampire" - At it's basic level, being an empath means you're able
to feel people's emotions. In some cases, or with unguarded or particularly
strong empaths, they actually EXPERIENCE the other person's emotions.
(Now picture that in a crowd, and you understand why some people just
CAN'T deal with large groups of people for very long...) Taking on someone
else's emotions is not a vampiric trait, just an empathic one.
Vampires can also be empaths. Not all empaths are vampires.
Hybrid vampires (utilizing both
blood and energy)
This seems to be a pretty typical combination for the majority of vampires
online, at least according to Suscitatio's survey results. These are
the vampires that can use - or need to use - both blood and energy feeding
for best results. Just one or the other doesn't seem to work as well
for long periods. The types of energy used will likely vary per individual,
the same as there are variations for people who are just energy vampires.
IS VAMPIRISM A RELIGION?
Vampirism is NOT a religion. There are people and groups who incorporate
vampiric aspects into their faith path, but that is their choice - not
a reflection of the real vampire community as a whole. Most vampires
tend to have widley varient faith paths, outlooks and life philosophies,
the same as any collection of people would. There are vampires who are
Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, Wiccan, or any other religious (or
non-religious!) path you can think of. Those that promote a "vampire
religion" are not selling anything any more valid than any other
religion - so just hold on to your wallet, mmmkay? :)
ARE VAMPIRES IMMORTAL?
I have not met any immortals personally. I am aware there are those
on the internet who claim to be immortal, but that always begs the next
question - why is their grammar and spelling so terrible, or another
example, why do they only speak in "Internet shortcuts" or
"txt spk"? If they've truly been around for a few hundred
years already, their grammar and spelling would be substantially improved
- and without excuses such as "using internet shortcuts" (I
actually got that as an excuse from one person...) to save time, because
that REALLY hampers communications, and anyone with such advanced age
as they often claim would find it at LEAST as annoying as I do, if not
more so with their longer exposure to proper grammar.
CAN VAMPIRES GO OUT IN THE SUN?
It's possible, yes, but there are varying degrees of tolerance and/or
discomfort that's often associated with sun exposure. Some of us can
tolerate it better than others - this is in part due to genetics, and
in part due to factors we *don't* understand yet.
For a genetics example, someone with pale skin will already be prone
to sunburn if they're out in the sun too long. Someone who tans easily
certainly won't burn as badly under "average" exposure times,
if it all. If someone gets chronic migraines to begin with, they may
find that any bright light - not just sunlight - is a migraine trigger,
or even any UV source, such as blacklights, flourescent bulbs and LCD
screens, in addition to sunlight. Moving to a more equatorial region
(hotter and sunnier for longer during the year than the original location)
will often find their sun tolerance has dropped - but for the merely
mundane reason of being exposed to stronger sunlight rays than they're
used to. (This particular problem is an issue for ANYONE moving to a
more equatorial region, not just vampires.)
Personally, I'm a big believer in liberal applications of QUALITY sunscreen
(I have a list over here),
and keeping a good portion of my skin covered while in the sun. Keep
an eye on the UV Index for your area, so you know how thorough your
precautions have to be.
DO VAMPIRES HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BLOOD-BORNE DISEASES?
Absolutely! Blood itself can carry more diseases than you probably
realize, and being a vampire does not make you immune to them, regardless
of what some nutjobs out there would have you think.
Some typical blood-borne diseases include: HIV/AIDS, herpes, gonorrea,
hepatitis and syphillis. Some "stomach bug" or food poisoning
germs may also be transmitted by blood as well. Speaking of food, spongiform
encephalopathy (otherwise known as "mad cow disease" - the
"spongiform" part of the name refers to the condition of the
affected brain, which has an appearance similiar to a sponge.) has been
transmitted in the past by blood or meat contaminated by spinal/brain
fluids from infected cows. The areas of the cow that are known to harbor
that particular germ are now considered off limits in food processing
- I mention it as an example of things getting INTO the blood that may
not be there under normal circumstances, and which can have deadly consequences.
So yes. Blooddrinking carries risks.
CAN VAMPIRES EAT NORMAL FOOD?
*burrrrp* Yes, and enjoy it quite well, thank you. Rare steak anyone?
There are some foods that tend to not agree with some of us, but which
foods disagree are not the same for everyone - believe it or not, some
of us CAN tolerate garlic quite well, and eat it regularly. There are
still food allergies
to consider, and ailments like Chron's
Disease or Celiac Syndrome
that will prevent a person from eating certain foods, however that would
be an issue whether or not a person is also a real vampire.
AREN'T PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE VAMPIRES JUST CRAZY?
We're actually more sane than you think.
But consider this.....crazy relative to what?
Religious fanatics who refuse to have a reasonable conversation with
anyone who doesn't agree with them? Politicians who insist on taxing
the poor and giving to the rich (as if THAT is ever a sane way to support
a country...)? Sports fans who paint their faces and bodies in the teams
colors and run around half naked, screaming, during half-time? People
driving while talking on their mobile phone, and being unable to control
their car as a result? "Crazy" is all a matter of perspective.
:)
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
any of the author(s) other views are useful or applicable to you - use
your own reasoning and judgment.
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