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Article written by Ulfric detailing personal accounts of vampires and magick use and energy techniques. Also, information on the practice of "shielding."
Vampires
First off let me say that I am what most in the Vampire community would call a Vampire Magician. Even though I have been turned I still use a fair amount of the magics to draw upon the energies that surround me all of the time. As opposed to the psychic methods used by Psychic Vampires or the bloodletting techniques of a Sanguinarian Vampire or blood drinking Vampire. This is probably due to the fact that I was, and still am, an active practitioner of various forms of magic and magecraft for the past twelve or so years. Give or take a month either way, it really doesn't matter. I started practicing at a relatively early age.
As such, it is needless to say that I have a rather different perspective than most on this topic. Especially those that feel that Vampirism in all of its forms is immoral, evil and the like. While I will admit that there are a couple of sinister adepts at the Vampire arts they are fairly few and far between in my experience. An observation which might be due to the fact that my area has a relatively low population of occult practitioners. And even when one does come across a person who is harming another through vampiric means they are usually totally inept it or simply doing so unconsciously. A girl in my mathematics class has been inadvertently trying to feed off of me during class to no real avail. I still have yet to confront her about this situation but have been waiting for the right moment as she has a relatively rigid Christian upbringing that will probably react in a negative way to this realization.
I have searched the net far and wide and have only come up with some fairly basic techniques in the vampiric arts. Which, for the most part, I just have to shake my head at the inefficiency and pure weakness in such techniques after practicing them for a certain period of time. For the most part they are only good for a light snack of psychic energy and nothing more. Though, with a heck of a lot of practice you might stumble upon some more efficient forms than those stated. Because of the amount of energy that is taken in it can hardly do any sort of harm unless it is performed over an extremely long period of time or done to a person who is critically ill. Though there are some Vampiric techniques that do allow you too feed off of the corrupted energy that is the illness, in effect, curing the person you are feeding off of while getting energy yourself. Yet such techniques usually require a fair amount of training, discipline as well as the natural ability to convert the various forms of energy into other forms within the body.
For the most part, the worst type of Vampire that you will come across is what is generally referred to as a Leech. They are people usually who do not know of their specific talents and unconsciously feed off of others without knowing it. These are the people with whom you will almost always feel drained around whenever you spend a prolonged period of time with. Leeches are rarely conscious of what they are doing and as such might have a distinct lack of finesse when they are feeding off another persons energies. Thus leaving some energy scaring that usually takes a week or so to heal, but nothing overly serious. However, if these people are conscious of performing such an action then things might get a tad more complicated though, for the most part being conscious usually diminishes ones effectiveness of a Leeches feedings to a certain extent.
Shielding
With all honesty I do not know where people come up with the idea that Vampires are out to suck people dry of all of their life energy. I guess it is due to the archetypal imagery portrayed by Bram Stoker and those that belong to the modern Gothic movement. For the most part Vampires have better things to do other than to harm people in any way through paranatural means. As attacking a person in such a way takes a fair amount of energy, control and effort. Which generally makes it easier to just hire a person to break your arms. And, for the most part, if a member of the Vampiric Community wishes to feed off of you they usually have the decency to ask your permission first before performing anything. So protection, for the most part is generally unneeded with a few exceptions.
Those exceptions would include the aforementioned Leeches as well as those that are idiotic enough to try and harm another person through vampiric means. Among the methods of protection that I most frequently hear are psychic and magical shielding. Let me say that psychic shielding is pretty much a waist of time when it comes to dealing with Leeches and rogue Vampires. With the magical forms of shielding being just as ineffective. The idea may seem crazy yet the logic behind this is so simple that it is not funny.
Question: What does a Vampire feed off of?
Answer: Energy in any shape, or form.
Question: What are psychic and magical shields made out of?
Answer: Energy.
Now, if you are able to see the connection between the two you can probably begin to formulate the total ineffectiveness that shielding of any form creates in a situation against a Leech or a rogue Vampire. They will just latch onto your shielding and absorb the energy slowly, without you knowing, from there. Actually, it is more effective to drain energy off ones shielding than to take it directly from the body as it is already in a focused format. Another disadvantage for the shielder is that you will not realize that you are being fed off of until long after the actual feeding is done and you withdrawal your shield back into the self. At which time you will probably feel incredibly drained for no apparent reason what so ever. Your confidence and faith that your shielding is going to make it easier for the Leech to drain off the energy from you.
As such, most forms of shielding are totally and completely ineffective in any way, shape, or form. Though there are a handful of techniques that one can use against the unwitting Leech or rogue Vampire. Among those techniques would be the various methods of grounding. Which, basically, involves directing any excess energy that you have after a magical working back into the ground that it came from. Hence the name - grounding. In the case of a person trying to drain your energy you first have to realize that a person or thing is draining your energy. Then you focus upon the place which you believe that the energy is being drained from your body and direct the focus of the drain down to the earth which will give the person or thing attempting to suck your energy a rather large jolt of energy equitable to drinking down five cups of coffee in a matter of seconds. This being due to the fact that the energies of the planet are rather potent as any practicing Wiccan or Pagan can tell you. Thus giving the person attempting to feed off of you a rather large jolt of energy that usually causes an overload of energy that results in the person or thing breaking off the attempt to feed. Especially if the party attempting the draining is used to the psychic forms of energy as opposed to any other.
Now the above would be one of the few forms to effectively protect yourself from a Leech, a person who is unconsciously draining energy off of others for those that skipped ahead to the shielding portion of this text. So, some of you are probably wondering about the types of defenses against a highly trained Vampire. I am sorry to say that there is none. If they want to feed off of you, they will feed off of you. The grounding technique that I presented above will only delay them to a certain extent. And if you have any form of shielding up, they can rip through it like a hot knife through butter if they so please. Trust me, I know from experience. My wife is a Vampire, the one that brought me into the fold none the less. One day I was talking about how my shielding was relatively strong and effective in most cases as I had never come across a time when they had truly failed me. She offered to test them for me and did something that would be equitable to unzipping a snowsuit, climbing inside with me and zipping it back up behind her. Which, really wasn't all that bad of an experience though it was quite a shock for a handful of seconds. The feeling of her hugging me tightly brought me back into reality. So if a Vampire really wants to feed off of you, there is really not all that much you can do. Though I really don't see why a Vampire that is adept enough at energy manipulation and/or magic would want to do such a thing.
Magic
Some of the keener readers among you will have realized at this point that a Vampire does not necessarily have too feed off of the energies of other human beings. Though there are some cases where a Vampire can not process these other energy formats for various reasons. There are a multitude of other energies in the universe around you that one can draw on with more ease than when one feeds off another human being or animal. There is energy within the air, within the water, within the earth and most definitely within the flames of the fire. These are the magical forces that one can draw on as an energy source. Most Pagan and Shamanistic cultures have been doing so since the beginnings of time. Most rites that include dancing around a large bonfire, beating of drums and chanting loudly draw up massive amounts of energy from the universe around oneself. For the most part, this energy is usually directed towards a singular intent or purpose. Yet, never the less, there will be a fair amount of excess energy that can be readily absorbed into the self or grounded back down into the earth.
Energy is everywhere around us, there are many techniques that have been used throughout the ages to draw upon this energy. Such examples of these would be the middle pilliar exercise that is found within most Kabalistic traditions, most chakra and Kundali techniques, in addition to a multitude of magical techniques which you can find within almost every esoteric tradition known to man.
Personally, as a Mage and a Druid I will often just find myself walking through the forests when I am feeling drained. Letting the natural forces of nature, the fairies, the sidhe and the little folk care for my body and rejuvenate my spirit as I walk down the forest path that is covered in pine needles and leaves of every sort. In addition to this natural form I also have a tendency to lean towards runic forms of power as one can readily draw on them if need be. Though I will leave the various uses of runes till another time.
A Vampire usually has a multitude of other energy sources available to him that are more readily accessible than any other forms. I don't see why some people go through all of the fuss of draining energy off of other peoples psychic energy. Honestly I don't and if people actually do so it is only because they are not very knowledgeable or strong.
What have we lost in the Online Vampire Community (OVC)?
Dennaveve
Drink Deeply and Dream url http://www.drinkdeeplyanddream.com/realvampire/ovc.html
Article written by Dennaveve, Webmistress of Letum
Have we lost something with the modernization of the Vampiric Community?
This is the question that I ask in all sincerity, since the beginning of the EZboard era where we have quietly yet firmly begun to display our websites and forums to more members of the internet (ie: the long gone discussions about protecting our websites from browsers that filter information for children), has the online VC lost some of the glue that held it together and made it the supportive community that it once was?
With all of the new people who flock to the boards and ask their questions have we lost part of that wholeness that we had at one point in time? It seems that some things stay the same, there are still trolls, slayers, flamers, newbies, and those who simply wish to be unknown. However it seems that with the dawn of this new era there is something we have lost, our real community. At one time there were a few small boards like Sarasvati's, Bloody Minded, and the Vampiric Community forums that were small and quiet and more in depth. It seems that now people think less, snap more and allow themselves to fall into the rut of answering others questions, instead of supporting each other. This is not to say that there are no longer places online where members of the VC can find their support, and it is not to say that because we are becoming a larger force on the internet that we are somehow cheapening ourselves, it is simply that with the expansion and release of more information that we have lost a lot of the close knit fabric of our complicated weave.
Yes Vampires are different and we are not something that falls into the basic areas of the 'real world' however it seems that now with the real world coming to 'us' we have forgotten what made us what we are. There are many of us who are still prideful and able to hold their head high and proclaim to other members of the community that they are a Sanguinarian, a Psi'Vamp, a Donor, Bloodfetishest, or any of the multitude of people that are in the VC. Yet there seems to be more children among us, this is not to say that children applies to those who are not of 18 years of age, but also to those who simply do not have the maturity to handle and comprehend the information presented. With the ability for more people to jump in and ask questions many of the discussions that once made the community something about self exploration has faded into the background. The long old arguments about Sangi's vs. Psi and other such topics are still there but the long community wide discussions about joint articles, and topics that mean something to everyone are dispersed and must be categorized into the correct forum or you may not have your article or thought read at all. And yet it used to be that people didn't need to be classified, donors didn't need to have their own forum because they were able to post their thoughts on a board and have EVERYONE'S responses to it if those people so chose. Now that there are forums and separations between so many things it seems that one must be dedicated to reading each and every forum to sift through to those subjects that they feel the need to read. It was my impression that we were trying to break free of boundaries, classifications, and categories for members of the VC. So that you could be anyone and be a member of the VC. Long gone are the days of coffee in the morning while reading one board at your leisure and taking 20 minutes to write each response. Now is the power coffee and quickly sifting through the multitude of your preferred boards to see what forums have the 'new message' icon and peruse through the many new topics that are one line questions like: "Wondering if there is any way to numb the skin before cutting it? Thanks!" that have been answered millions of times before but people won't take the time to read the FAQ's because they can simply click on a forum and type out a one line question and have it all brought to them.
Why is it that we must force ourselves onto these forums, sure there were EZboard accounts for Vampire forums but the fact is, we didn't always need them. When we had the troll attack last year that victimized Bloody Minded, Vampire Community, and Sarasvati's boards suddenly people began the move to Ezboards because of the things that could be done with the EZboard, but we as a community did not just move because of the fact they had the possibility to be more functional but because we were afraid and tired of trolls. Well now we don't have the old trolls around as much, we have the mindnumbing peons who ask questions that only take time and make it harder to find the real issues that made the community what it was.
So many people have disappeared from the community that it is amazing, all for different reasons but it seems that we don't seem to remember them. Sonja Blue left us because it was time to move on in her life yet not many people seem to remember that, her site that filled so many people with information and support, Mom/Sps who now maintains the old Vampire Community boards and can be reached in email but no longer lends her amazingly gentle hands to the new boards because well, they don't feel like home. Where is home these days? Nobody seems to remember people, like the normal people who used to pop around on the boards, people like Bane. If Sphynxcat leaves the VC will we remember her, do some of you know her? Will we remember people who have donated to the community in ways we can never understand? Like Johor and Lono, Sanguinarius, Tattunigma, Memory and Dream. Sure there are wonderful and amazing new people who have been brought to the OVC by the Ezboards but there is still a hole in the center of everything, there is no longer a connected vice of people.
Yes granted there are exceptions and as always there are still the amazing people that hold the VC together. There are still amazing discussions and ideas, it is the act of sifting through the multitude of worthless posts that make it so difficult for them to find. Yes there were problems in the old OVC, trolls and stupid posts that meant nothing, but they didn't remain long it was the good old 'delete' button to the rescue. I am sad, I am mourning I am wearing my black and bearing the flag of overreaction because I am saddened and disgusted by what I see. A loss of people who care, or maybe I am not looking in the right places....When I find one I'll let you know.
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