Dear Julia:
I've been reading about psychic vampires, and now I'm wondering if the belief in blood-sucking vampires stems entirely from this sort of phenomena. Are there real vampires, and do they drink others' blood?
- Bart
Dear Bart:
If we define a vampire as a being who steals others' life force energy, then yes - vampires are real. If we define vampires as people who drink others' blood because they believe it will benefit them in some way, then there are apparently a growing number of vampires in the world today. If, however, we define vampires as immortal supernatural beings, then if they do exist, it's probably not in this physical dimension.
Myths about blood-sucking vampires can be traced back to ancient times and are found in many different cultures around the world, which suggests that there must be at least some grain of truth in them. Most of us are quite familiar with the characteristics of vampires, or at least with the notion that they are beings that feed on the blood of other living creatures - usually humans.
Personally, I think that belief in blood-sucking vampires probably results from either too literally interpreting subtler energetic phenomena or from misinterpreting other conditions.
For example, in the original myths, one could only become a vampire after death, when one's corpse was animated by some evil force or entity. The vampire legend may have begun when people dug up dead bodies and misinterpreted their grotesque condition as representative of something far more sinister than biological decomposition.
As far out as this sounds, at one time it was actually a common practice to dig up one's dead relatives to check if they had become vampires, and if they had, to drive a metal stake through their heart, behead them, burn the body, or take other ghastly measures. Nearly all of the signs that a corpse had become a vampire are natural developments of decomposition, however, such as swelling of the body, blood draining from the mouth and other orifices, continued growth of the hair and nails, contortion of the body (which could cause it to change positions and thus appear as though it had been moving), etc.
Additionally, whenever plagues or illnesses hit certain areas, there was a tendency for the frightened locals to fear that something supernatural was to blame, whether that meant that "God" was punishing them for something, or there was some evil force at work.
Despite these practical arguments, we can't dismiss the whole notion of vampirism as foolish fantasy, however, which may be why this myth persists to this day. There ARE people who feed on others' life force energy, and there are lower astral entities that do the same thing.
Blood has long been associated with life force energy. No doubt ancient man saw people bleeding to death from a severe injury or from childbirth, and presumed that death is caused by a loss of blood (which it certainly can be). This could have led people to deduce that blood is what gives us life in the first place.
This connection is echoed in the Bible, which states that "the blood is the life," and even prohibits humans from drinking the blood of other people. (Genesis 9:4) The practice of Holy Communion also reflects the notion that drinking the blood of another (even symbolically), is a very powerful thing to do. It is interesting that communion is believed to be a holy rite, while vampirism is deemed to be beyond evil. Though it didn't start out this way, perhaps vampirism today is a subconscious perversion of the communion ritual.
Which brings us to point one: there are a lot of strange people in the world, and if they believe they are vampires, or think they can benefit from drinking others' blood, and they therefore start to act like vampires, they actually become vampires in practice if not in essence. There have been a number of serial killers who drank the blood of the people they murdered, which to me is just as horrific as the monsters of lore.
As for where the notion of feeding on others' life force came from to begin with, I'm betting one major source is lower astral entities. I see lots of evidence to support this theory, not the least of which is the cross-cultural belief in vampires. When we find the same supernatural beliefs throughout history and in remote cultures around the world, it's usually because they correspond with something real in another dimension.
In early myths, vampires were invisible to all but a few sensitive people like young women and small children. Similar to astral entities, they could "fly" and did not cast a reflection in mirrors. It was also said that vampires couldn't cross running water and were repelled by garlic and sunlight, and all of these are considered true of lower level astral entities.
The vampire also supposedly has to be "invited in," which is believed to be true of spirits, especially in cases of possession. For example, using a Ouiji board is "inviting in" spirits, while using drugs and alcohol is like leaving your auric doors open. If there are such beings in the lower astral, they could influence people in the physical to do their bidding, just as earthbound spirits of alcoholics and other addicts do.
This brings us to the most common source of vampiric phenomena: "psychic vampires."
Every "exchange" between people involves an "exchange" of energy, and our language reflects our awareness that some people unfairly take more than their share. For example, we call people in certain greedy professions "bloodsuckers," and if we're being drained of our financial resources, we say that someone is "bleeding us dry." When it comes to personal relationships, we often say that we find someone "draining," or even that heavy or highly demanding situations are "draining the life out of me."
Each of us knows at least some psychic vampires, though they do come in different forms. Some are obvious: they talk endlessly about themselves, dominate conversations, and make it awkward for you to break away from them. Others seem to be addicted to drama: they are constantly stirring the pot, trying to start conflicts and keep our attention on their needs and problems.
Psychic vampires are not evil; they simply have a hard time tapping into Source for their own energy needs, and somewhere along the line, they developed the habit of drawing on the energy of others in order to survive.
It's like all of us on earth are given a garden in which to grow our own food, and a psychic vampire either has trouble getting things to grow consistently, or finds it easier to steal from her neighbors' gardens. The rest of us are bartering fairly: I have lots of carrots, you have lots of potatoes, let's trade. The psychic vampire, however, wants a whole basket of your produce, but she can only give you one turnip in return. (Mind you, usually all of this happens on a subconscious level.)
Whether we're conscious of it or not, deep down we know that every interaction involves an exchange of energy, and we know that balance (aka fairness) is important. If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, or I'll do something else like pay you money or shower you with love and appreciation.
Psychic vampires are the takers in life. Ideally, we will find compassion for them, for they are profoundly needy and never feel they have "enough," which is a pattern that can keep them earthbound in the afterlife. It's not a happy, rewarding, fulfilling way to live, which is why it's wise for us to know how to tap into life force for ourselves, and to practice fairness and caring in our relationships with others.
- Julia