Vampires...real or myth?

[KageMori]

Vampires have intrested me for years. Ive always loved learning about them and reading next to anything about them. I bought a book by an author called Constantine Gregory. He claims to be a professional vampire hunter and wrote this book as a guide to all Vampire hunters and watchers. Its seriously written as a guide to with some handwritten deifinetions and notes as well and also has some photographs in it to.
My question to everyone else here is whats your view on the legend of the Vampire. Do you belive that they still exist or atleast did at one time? Do you belive in them at all or just think their stories that are made up?
There has been some evidence found that cant be explained by any normals means so i quess i belive in them on atleast some level. But let me know what you think. I really like hearing diffrent peoples views on things like this.:)

[David19]

I do believe that vampires exist, but I don't think I'm likely to run into one on this plane/realm, on another plane/realm, it's very likely, though.

The only ones that you're likely to meet on this physical plane are the psi and sang vamps, although never say never to the more mythological ones (even though a lot of mythological vampires are incorporeal, you do get corpeal ones, like the Norse Draugr, a reanimated corpse that is similar to the stereotypical vampire in some regards).

Hope that made some sense, and cool topic, BTW, I'm also interested in vampires.

[Trithemius]

Umm, if this book mentions watchers, I strongly recommend you take it as seriously as you'd take the Zombie Survival Guide. In other words, not at all. It sounds like someone trying to cash in on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As far as my view on vampires, my user title says it all. I am extremely doubtful that the vampire of folklore, the undead blood sucker, ever existed outside the realm of legend.

[KageMori]

The title of the book im currently reading its "The vampire watchers handbook. A guide for slayers."
Contrary to what you may think it does encourage that people first look for reasonable explanations and keep an open mind about the cases you go after.

[Black Pearl]

To my knowledge the only real vampires are spirits that suck energy to keep themselves "alive". Usually by accident but it's believed that someone with alot of training and will could come back and stay in this realm as a ghost by sucking the energy of others.

[mayu]

I belive in vampires

there are several in kind.

psychic vampires for example, i dont know if you have heard of these but they deffinatly exsist people can be a psychic vampire without realising it,

but i am guessing your posts relates more to the blood sucking variety, well these exsist too although i have not met one who is dead yet.
there are groups of people who derive great satisfaction from drinking blood, some people call it an addiction, they generally dont go out in sunlight, and dress in the stereotypical black, they consume only small amounts of blood as the stomach will not take in great amounts of blood without making you sick.

As for the dead variety, well different legends on these, the ancient egyptians belived in vampires, although they were of a spiritual form, if offerings were not kept up at the 'grave site' of the departed they belived that the soul would look for sustinance elseware untill it had made its journey, although i think there are far more qualified people on here to fill you in on that one than i am.

Dracula obviously is known and this type of vampire, well i have no idea if they exsist.

you might want to read a book called monsters by the author Greer, i have unfortunatly packed all my books away and i cannot remember his first name, sorry, he covers most types of vampires in this book, its a bit toungue in cheek in certain places but the information is correct.

[Lady_Saslic83]

A good book that gullich brought me yrs ago is vampires the occult truth by konstantinos, its a really good read and goes though all different types of vampires, I couldnt put it down lol.

[Caitlin.ann]

A good book that gullich brought me yrs ago is vampires the occult truth by konstantinos, its a really good read and goes though all different types of vampires, I couldnt put it down lol.

Good for information on mythological vampires, not real vampires.

[Valnorran]

Well, you've got people who get their kicks drinking blood. That really isn't my idea of a vampire. Then you've got your psi vamps. I've never bumped into one (at least as far as I know) but I can accept them as a possibility. Then you've got your undead vampires of folklore. I'm pretty sure those don't exist.

[Caitlin.ann]

Well, you've got people who get their kicks drinking blood. That really isn't my idea of a vampire. Then you've got your psi vamps. I've never bumped into one (at least as far as I know) but I can accept them as a possibility. Then you've got your undead vampires of folklore. I'm pretty sure those don't exist.

I'm an admin of a vampire community, although I'm not by any means an expert on the community, I do know my share of psychic vampires. My fiancee is one, lol. What you mentioned above, people who get their kicks from drinking blood are called "bloodists". Vampires are then divided into sanguines (those who obtain energy from blood), and psychic vampires (those who obtain their energy from psychic means). And of course, the undead vampires are myth and fiction only. :)

[KageMori]

ive read Konsantinos' book "vampire the occult truth" it isnt really just folklore like you mentiond. It talks about pshyic vampires and mortal vampires like what you called "bloodists"

I do belive that i have been attacked by a pshyic vampire more than once in my life. At first addmittdly i didnt know what it was. It wasnt untill after i started to do research on vampires for my book that i even found out they exsisted. heh. imagine my suprise when i found out.
:jawdrop:

[Caitlin.ann]

I have the book sitting right beside me now. It does a wonderful job describing the fictional brand of vampire, but does a horrible job of describing real vampires. Thats simply my opinion though and there are much better books written on psychic vampirism. Also our definitions of psychic vampires are different. I don't' believe in the type of entity that astrally creeps into your room at night to drain your life force, which tends to resemble hag attacks. Those aren't in my definition of vampire. But to each their own, right?

[Valnorran]

I'm an admin of a vampire community, although I'm not by any means an expert on the community, I do know my share of psychic vampires. My fiancee is one, lol. What you mentioned above, people who get their kicks from drinking blood are called "bloodists". Vampires are then divided into sanguines (those who obtain energy from blood), and psychic vampires (those who obtain their energy from psychic means). And of course, the undead vampires are myth and fiction only. :)
Yeah, that was my basic understanding of it. I tend to keep people, even those I'm close to, at arm's length. Maybe this is why I've never had a problem with a psychic vampire.

[Agaliha]

Umm, if this book mentions watchers, I strongly recommend you take it as seriously as you'd take the Zombie Survival Guide. In other words, not at all. It sounds like someone trying to cash in on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As far as my view on vampires, my user title says it all. I am extremely doubtful that the vampire of folklore, the undead blood sucker, ever existed outside the realm of legend.

The "Watchers" thing sounded too BTVS to me as well. :2G:
Here's the amazon link to it (http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Watchers-Handbook-Guide-Slayers/dp/031231504X).
I haven't read it, so I don't know.

As for what I think about vampires, I'm with Trithemius.
I think vampires are folklore, but I do know there are people out there that drink blood and feed of energy. I don't think those people are the same as the legendary vampires though. They're just people.
I like vampires-- the idea of them (I watch vampire movies/shows, read books, etc)-- but I don't think they're real. That's just me though.

Here's an interesting book though, saw it at my library:
The Science of Vampires (http://www.amazon.com/Science-Vampires-Katherine-Ramsland/dp/0425186164/ref=sip_rech_dp_3/104-9944262-3679933) by Katherine Ramsland

She applies scientific methods to the study of vampires, so it's a little different than the re-hashing of folklore books.

[FaeSpirit39]

Here's an interesting book though, saw it at my library:
The Science of Vampires (http://www.amazon.com/Science-Vampires-Katherine-Ramsland/dp/0425186164/ref=sip_rech_dp_3/104-9944262-3679933) by Katherine Ramsland

She applies scientific methods to the study of vampires, so it's a little different than the re-hashing of folklore books.

I have read this book many moons ago, it was a very interesting read indeed.

I believe in the realm of Vampires, but then again, I believe anything can be real if you believe in it. As, to give it a name and believe in it, is to give it power.

I am not so sure about all the hollywood hooky pokey of things, of the undead and forever living vampires, but again, never say never.

I do believe strongly in psi Vamps as it took us a while to figure it out, but my estranged Hubby is one. He has a soul of a Vampire of Old, or a Vampiric Spirit, but nothing like hollywood legends. Still learning more about that part of himself, so I can't really say much more than that, as I don't really know at this point.

As for the blood, I know there are people out there that must drink blood or have blood in some form or they rot and die, (there is a medical term for it, can't remember it at this time). But blood purely for energy, I can't say.

[Rosselin]

Personally, i do believe in Vampires, but you do have a problem of definition.

my sister, for instance, is a fully living human who happens to need blood to survive. She is also a witch but that is somewhat besides the point. The medical condition is called Propheria (sp?) and is actually just a need for hemoglobin which is found in blood. By this definition, it is medical fact, and most of those with this condition do have slightly longer, pointed eye teeth. I dont know anyone that has this that is not some other form of being with powers so i dont know if a vamp in this sense neccesssarily means having powers.

Now, I also know of a more powerful witch (MUCH more powerful than my sis) who says she feeds off of a person's life force by using astral projection to put herself into their body and feeding off their soul or "life force". I havent seen proof of this and really dont desire to -the witch kinda scares me to be honest- but it is, in my opinion, possible.

Now, as to the legend of the vampire, i do think that it is quite possible that it may be true. Blood curses are not altogether that uncommon in the old religions of the world and many wiccan spells also need blood or hair to be completed. I am not, however, sure that it has anything to do with real vampires today of whatever definition.

[MonSno_LeeDra]

Rosselin.
Now, I also know of a more powerful witch (MUCH more powerful than my sis) who says she feeds off of a person's life force by using astral projection to put herself into their body and feeding off their soul or "life force". I havent seen proof of this and really dont desire to -the witch kinda scares me to be honest- but it is, in my opinion, possible.


I might accept the notion of a Dream Walker but I highly doubt you have a driver. I equally doubt that this "Witch" is entering their body in astral form and feeding.

Sorry that sounds to much like a scene from the movies where the spirit of a deceased jumps into the body of a reader and takes control but that is also usually allowed by the reader.



Now, as to the legend of the vampire, i do think that it is quite possible that it may be true. Blood curses are not altogether that uncommon in the old religions


Blood curses are not vampiric in nature. They are used to curse a given family blood line so the curse is carried to suceeding generations. Many times they may also be specific to gender. Most are also set to be released if some member of the cursed family performs some type of honoring action to the cursors family.


of the world and many wiccan spells also need blood or hair to be completed.

Can you please tell me where you obtained that info? I know of few Wiccan's that will even think of blood magics in that fashion. Hair is typically used in curses or in poppets but that is also a rather specific subset and more aligned to the Afro-Caribbean religions like Santeria, Voudon or magical practice of HooDoo.

Blood maybe used to stregthen a "Spell" or "Ritual" but it is not required for the action to be affective.

[Rosselin]

I guess its hard to put skepticism into words sometimes. I am also not sure that I believe the other witch although she was attempting to teach another vampiric witch the practice, thinking it could be a substitute for the blood.


Blood curses are not vampiric in nature. They are used to curse a given family blood line so the curse is carried to suceeding generations. Many times they may also be specific to gender. Most are also set to be released if some member of the cursed family performs some type of honoring action to the cursors family.

Can you please tell me where you obtained that info? I know of few Wiccan's that will even think of blood magics in that fashion. Hair is typically used in curses or in poppets but that is also a rather specific subset and more aligned to the Afro-Caribbean religions like Santeria, Voudon or magical practice of HooDoo.

For the blood curses, i was referring to the legend (atleast as i heard it), supposedly of a guy being cursed by blood, and thereafter becoming a vampire.

as for commonality, i only know that any time one of the 3 witches i know says something about starting a spell, they seem to ask for blood. perhaps it is simply because they are somewhat weak so they need it to make their spells actually come to be?

[MonSno_LeeDra]

Rosselin Wrote: I guess its hard to put skepticism into words sometimes. I am also not sure that I believe the other witch although she was attempting to teach another vampiric witch the practice, thinking it could be a substitute for the blood.


Wait now are you saying that one of them was or is a Sangrine vampiric witch? You seem to be implying that one is a psychic feeding witch and one is a blood feeding witch. Yet not only psychic but also an astral projecting psy vamp that enters the body to feed.

Hell even the sucubus nor Incubus managed to actually enter the body.



For the blood curses, i was referring to the legend (atleast as i heard it), supposedly of a guy being cursed by blood, and thereafter becoming a vampire.


I do not know about the vampiric community but I know it is in the Lycanthrope legends and in hollywood vampires.

Yet those that I knew or know in the vampiric underworld do not consider it a blood curse to my knowledge. Granted been a long time since I ran with that group so it might have changed.


as for commonality, i only know that any time one of the 3 witches i know says something about starting a spell, they seem to ask for blood.

I went through that stage in my youth when I was a play Satanist. We used menstural blood and our own blood. It made everyone think we were so much more and we really didn't know anything.

But I admit they sound very hollywood to me.



perhaps it is simply because they are somewhat weak so they need it to make their spells actually come to be?


Please don't take this wrong but there is more urban legand and hollywood in this stuff your saying than I have ever seen. I think I shall bow out of this one now for it seem's to made up for me.

I wish you luck in your journey where ever it may take you.

[Rosselin]

ahhm... I dont watch many movies so if what i say seems hollywood-esque, it is most-likely purely coincidental. yes, my sis is a witch who happens to have propheria if i am spelling it right-the medical condition and since she has been a little while without feeding, it is getting somewhat scary to be around her. she's getting quite dangerous.

now the other witch is the one i'm not so sure of, like i said. Her idea seemed a little far fetched to me but i was more than willing to let sis try whatever. I really dont feel like getting bitten.

Also, the legend as i heard it came from another witch whom was completely upset at me that i didnt know it to begin with. so if this is false information, i am sorry but it is hard to forget after her temper.

[Rae'ya]

My question to everyone else here is whats your view on the legend of the Vampire. Do you belive that they still exist or atleast did at one time? Do you belive in them at all or just think their stories that are made up?

I don't believe that the mythological vampire is a corporeal creature on this world. I believe that there are several forms of the mythological vampire which exist in the Otherworlds, but not on this one. As much as I love the image and modern vampire mythology, I don't think they exist here. lol. We also have to remember that the modern vampire myths are just that... modern. The vampires of Dracula and Buffy and Ann Rice and Underworld and Twilight and other modern films and books aren't truly based in historical myth or folklore. They're a modern synthesis and retelling of the myths and folklore which have been romanticised and beautified in order to appeal to us.

Sang vamps and psy vamps I do believe exist in corporeal form on this world, because... well they do. There's an entire subculture of both forms to be found online and in phsyical existence, and there are enough active in the world that you can't deny their existence. They are just people though, as Agaliha said. I have seen sang vamps claim extraordinary or superhuman strength and speed as well as heightened senses, but I'm not sure that I give that claim much credence.

Psy vamps are fairly common, and it's possible for a person to unconsciously 'feed' from the energy of those around them. It's a fairly well written about phenonenom in the neo-pagan community, and most books that include a section on psychic defence include info on psychic vampires. There are also several published books that are solely dedicated to psychic vampirism, both 'ethical' and of questionable ethics. Not to mention the particular flavour of magick known as vampiric sorcery. Psy vamps aren't generally of the malicious 'leech' variety though... even those who feed without prior permission or knowledge aren't wandering around at night finding victims to suck the life force out of... most psy vamps will tell you that's not a part of the general community. I do know of at least one author though who advocates a form of astral vampirism as a viable way to predate upon people.

Sang vamps I have mixed feelings about. They exist, there's no doubt about that, but I'm not sure that the 'need' for blood is an actual physiological requirement as some of them claim. I do believe that it's an energetic or psychological need, and that without the energy they absorb from blood, they do feel depleted and depressed and lacking in life force. But I'm not sure it's a physical ailment any more than psychic vampirism is a physical ailment. They're just two different ways to obtain the energy that they can't produce themselves (though the sang vamps will tell you that it's psychic vampirism isn't always adequate and that it's just not the same as energy from blood).

I've seen a lot of conflicting information within the sanguinarian vampire community as to what the actual need involves. There seems to be two main reasons... the energy factor, and a craving for the blood itself, in a physical and taste sense. But then they talk about 'blood substitutes' (mundane household drinks and foods) that can sometimes curb the cravings for a bit, though it doesn't help with the feeling lethargic and unwell from not drinking blood. BUT... then a lot of them go on to say that while they NEED blood and feel unwell and sick without it, they don't get to feed regularly because of lack of donors etc. Which seems very contradictory to me. If they're only feeding once in a blue moon, then the need can't be all that strong or they'd not be able to function, right?

Very few of them talk about the thrill of the hunt, and while only a few will accept fresh animal blood as a substitue, a lot will use rare steak as a substitute. Which makes no sense to me at all. Personally for me... rare steak is NOTHING like fresh blood. Nothing. Not only does it not have the energy that they claim to take from human blood, it's not even blood. It's raw flesh that has had the blood drained from it. The pink juices that you see coming out of the steak aren't blood per se. I really don't get how dead raw flesh is a substitue for human blood while fresh animal blood isn't :?

I'd like to know what actually defines a sang vamp. Do you need to feel it is a regular requirement? Or does the drinking of human blood by choice make you a sang vamp? Personally, I enjoy bloodplay and I also experience actual bloodlust and cravings for the taste of blood, especially human. There is a whole gamut of both physical and psychological sensations and cravings that make up my bloodlust. But I don't consider that makes me a sang vamp, and I don't know if sang vamps experience the same cravings and feelings. (I also find it there is a spiritual component too... I'm drawn to work with certain bloodthirsty deities, and there is one in particular who responds to my predatory instincts and is much more interested in me when I'm bloodlusting. I've not seen a large spiritual focus within the sanguinarian vampire community though, but perhaps I'm just not looking in the right places?) I've personally found the sang vamp communities that I've lurked on to be unsatisfying and kind of... contradictory. I'm not sure if it's just the online medium or if there really is a difference of tone between the psy vamps and the sang vamps, but either way I find it rather offputting.


As for the blood, I know there are people out there that must drink blood or have blood in some form or they rot and die, (there is a medical term for it, can't remember it at this time).

Porphyric haemophilia :)

Though it's a common misconception that they have to drink blood. Even for those with porphyric haemophilia or other porphyrias or haemophilias (there are several kinds of both), drinking blood is next to useless, because the stomach digests red blood cells and breaks down the components of blood beyond their useable form, so it's not an efficient way of obtaining the chemicals they need anyway. Other forms of both porphyrias and haemophilias require blood transfusions or i/v treatments with haem, but oral routes just don't work. Not only because of the digestion factor, but because the human stomach can't handle blood in large enough volumes to be any good anyway.

True porphyric haemophilia actually doesn't have any treatment or cure as far as I know, and can be fatal. It can also cause psychological symptoms and a kind of madness, as well as photosensitivity and a tightening of the skin around the lips and gums, which can give a false impression of prominant or enlarged incisors. This is why it's been linked to mythical vampirism. But realistically, there's not actually a practical link. There have been cases of people who believed they would be cured by drinking human blood and it's kind of sad that this belief is out there, because the reality is that it doesn't even do them any good, let alone cure them. Not all forms of porphyria are the same, and not all the treatable ones are treated in the same way. It's true that some are treated with certain constituents that can be found in human blood, but you can't ingest blood to get them.

[XxBluexHeartxX]

Vampires exist.

There are sanguine and Psychic (Psy) Vampires.

I am a sanguine vamp.

[[V]]

Heres how I see it...

Vamping is an energetic skill. People who like to vamp like to believe they are vampires.

I believe its completely a choice, your not born a vampire. Perhaps people can grow into an emotional vampire via years of conditioning & have no idea of it.

There was a time when I would vamp people all the time. I got really good at it over the span of six months until the point where I convinced myself I was an actual vampire.

Heres how vampires are created:
You think your a vampire -> So you vamp people -> You confirm your belief.
OR
You start vamping people ->You tell yourself your a vampire -> You confirm your belief.

Our beliefs have a way of reinforcing themselves in our behaviors.

After a while I got tired of the whole vampire thing and just stopped vamping people. I don't 'crave' anyone's energy. I stopped the whole vampire thing shortly after Twilight was released. That just killed the fantasy for me. Im glad too lol.

In my experience, Vampires are just glorified psychics. They like to associate basic psychic skills like crowd control/mood control with their 'species'.

There is absolutely nothing a vampire can do that non-vampire psychic cant... Except feel a 'craving' for other people's energy. Now, if you vampires can take your mind-control abilities to the next level, and remove the cravings within your OWN mind, then voila your suddenly not a vampire anymore!

So vampirism is just a state of mind that people of a particular nature like to explore. Personally I don't find anything wrong with it. Its fun to live a fantasy. It just bugs me when the vampires I know start referring to themselves as a particular 'species' or when they exaggerate their "need to feed".

[Newbieoffractals]

I believe psi vampires exist, but I do think they can go without energy if they had do. It might require some help from someone on how to control it, but it can be done. Surrounding them with people with crazy painful shielding might be enough. I've gotten friends who were just a little curious as to what I was thinking to bug off that way. I don't think draining people is any different than just accidentally asking friends for some energy because you're tired, and because they're your friends, or just overall kind people(or ignorant of how to say now), you just take it. I know when I've been tired, I've made my friends around me tired. Same deal when my friends are tired. However, that's just that humans are social beings and take our emotions after others.

Sang vampires do exist, but I believe that they're people with either a medical condition, or an interesting sexual habit, from what I understand.

As so far as the mythical vampires, perhaps they were people with various illnesses, and given that drinking was common that era, if you saw a poor beggar woman, who kinda looked like your redheaded sister who killed herself years ago(Common historical depiction of vampires), maybe you'd think that she was a vampire. Maybe you'd tell your little children that your sister(who killed herself, a common reason why people became vampires) would drink their blood if they stayed out at night to protect them from wild animals. Maybe it's just a story a person made up with the amazing powers of their imagination to entertain people at night! That's where I think the lore comes from. Perhaps it's different on the psychic plane, but as so far as things in the mundane world, I think the mythical vampires were explained by mundane reasons, or just people making stuff up. Or just people being really strange and people seeing them, and such.

Now, that being said, black pudding is good stuff! If I wasn't vegetarian, I'd eat it! Does that make me a vampire of cows, or just a person with odd eating habits? (XD)