Defining a Vampyre

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Defining a Vampyre

Postby deacongray » Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:33 pm

Defining a Vampyre

Defining a Vampyre


There has long been a rift in our community. While most have found ways to move past those rifts they exist. The rift is caused by terms and concept differences that for some reason some people in the community just cannot abide.

I feel poor word choices, the terms, are to blame. After all what IS a Vampire? Over time some groups out there have tried to change the terms used like Strigoi Vii, or Quintarism. Still the issue most of us seem to have is the labels, while currently charming to those using them, they seldom seem to really fit. I think this is because we are trying to build a concept around a term, rather than find a term that fits the concept.

Vampirism has its intellectual appeal, but it leaves way too much out, and the constant squabble over what makes one a Vampire or not has been waged since we started.

I think we are humans, with a spiritual difference than most. It is like being in a pack of wolves drawing dividing lines based on the color of our coats. We are Awakened...but to what extent is constantly up for debate. We believe we have lifted the veil on a much greater existence something bigger then ourselves and we identify with it in the ways that best suit us, and
our ability to understand.

We all seem to seek out ways that we can cope with what we are. Some push things to the most mundane possible, while others let loose their hungers in ways that are at lest unethical and at times even illegal. Either way and regardless of how one feeds it seems to me that the real issue is in figuring out how to cope with not being like everyone else.

The oncoming Hybrid flux is taking place in my current view because we are becoming more aware of each other’s skills, and talents, and have learned to identify more of our own natures. The hybrid flux is becoming a big deal not because there is a new special group out there, it is because we are all communicating more, learning other concepts outside of the current rhetoric with in our own little communities, and instead learning out side concepts…and seeing that in many ways the fit with our own perceptions.

While what we ARE I believe does not change, our Nature, so to speak, our Disposition can be very different depending on what phase in our life we are going through, and the limits we impose on ourselves to manage or day to day existence.

One of the issues that we all, in my view, face is that we are constantly at conflict. Our Natures hunger for things our Disposition cannot abide. Like “I feel like a predator, but I am taught not to seek weaker prey...”

The biggest issue always comes back to the terms and semantics. It comes when we try to force others into the boxes we have caged our selves inside. Practical Vampyrism, Spiritual, Mystical…Sang Psi…Eros…we all have different elements of these inside of us…we the Vampires, the Night Kind, complex multifaceted and unique gems, no two a like, but all precious in our own way.

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Postby Khan » Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:37 pm

I'll apologize in advance. I was house cleaning today, and found my long, lost soap box. This is nothing personal, but I have serious issue with the theoretical implications behind what's written.

We have, collectively, over-thought this issue into stupidity. Since I have started dealing with the collective, what any of us are has been shaped, redesigned, pc'd, and dumbed down so that turmoil seems logical. To have an acceptable definition of who or what we are now requires hip waders and a feel-good disclaimer.

Let's start with the basics. We are predators that have to feed. Anything else can have their own definition. How we feed on others is no matter. We feed from others for our own well being. Anything else is someone looking to find themselves, and they made a wrong turn. Not something to be upset about, as it happens in us all. However, let's not forget who we are in the process.

We are not diseased, have a redesigned or flawed spirit, or just working under a different set of rules. Our spirit feels when our physical being doesn't feed. I have no exact medical reason, but any vamp who went too long without feeding knows the body suffers the price, and the spirit pays later. The body and spirit are not interchangeable, but in fact work in conjunction. You are who you are for a reason.

No one turned you into a monster against your will in the middle of the night. Your path led to where you stand this very minute. But being a vampyre becomes more desirable everyday to many who simply like being outside the norm. I have met many a "psi vamp", but I will say honestly that more who claim such are an insult to true psi vamps than the real number.

Sangs have similar issues in that many blood fetishists claim to be sang, though they really don't feed. A sensual turn on and a need to feed are very different things, yet we try to be "receptive" and "understanding," because quantity is replacing quality. For some reason, the mentality is if we are weaker but larger, it will make us more accepted than fewer and stronger in our beliefs.

Hybrid? We all are multifaceted, so making a label for it would be senseless. We have to do so to adapt to our surroundings. It's called survival. Hybrid is an attempt to sound cool, in my opinion. Next, we'll see that replaced with "Universal" to sound intergalactic...

So maybe the best definition is the simplest. We are predators because we have to be. It's time being ashamed of that is defined as not vampyric. How does one become a victim and a vampyre? And since when did we need pre-ordained rules to hunt?

You can have ethics and still hunt. Native Americans hunted what they needed to survive, took only what they needed, and ensured the prey never got too scarce. I don't see us being much different.

What causes our schism is the need of those without many answers trying to make sure no one sounds more important than them. I'm tossing the bullshit flag...

I knew what I was when I got online. I didn't know why it was, what it was called,how to control it, and I didn't know all the tricks, but I knew that what I am is a predator. That was unmistakable. When I no longer interact online, I'll still be a predator that needs to feed. I don't need anyone else to define that, because nothing defines us quite like a mirror.

If you wish this split to end, don't let anyone define the shoes you walk in. Realize what you have in common with other predators and move forward, or we will continue to fall into the same mediocrity over and over again. No one needs to define you but you.

And when you reach your spiritual peak, you'll understand that what you are needs no definition. You exist, and that should be good enough.
Khan
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Postby deacongray » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:28 pm

I honestly don't see where this comes into conflict with anything I have written...

The only difference I see is a desire to stick with a term...one that defines nothing considering that everyone has their own way of thinking about it. You can be Predator...it is a Nature...you can act on it in its various forms and that is a Demeanor.



Indeed we are in agreement on most of your points, the only difference I can see is a desire to make a stand on about other points of view.

Some people see themselves as victims of vampyrism...of course they do if they cannot allow their nature to flourish, if they have to drawn back their own level of awakening in this aspect in order to deal with their true nature.

If you cannot abide your nature, what are you going to see your self as...blessed?

As far as spiritual peak goes...there is no such thing. Sorry I don't believe that. Yet along the way there is a opportunity for each of us to learn to grow to come to a place were we are and yet find a way to be so without forsaking our selves...some call it twilight.

I call it awakening and transcendence....

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Postby Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:49 pm

This is a complicated topic. Firstly because I despise labels passionately. I feel they greatly limit us and limit our ability to simply BE without restriction. Do we truly need a definition? No I don't think so. We know what we are, whether we know or understand why has little to do with it, we know and we know when we see others of our kind. Sanguine, psi, eros, incubi, succubi, otherkin, whatever we may use to definie who we are limits us. It is not these words that define us but the way we feed. When I meet someone at a nightside event I don't introduce myself as Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan of the Dreaming, sangoerotic vampyre, otherkin/angelkin, saurian, so forth. Those are minute things about me. They are not the sum of my identity. Psi vamp, sanguine, eros....all descriptions of how we feed, how we obtain what it is we need but not who we truly are.

We are predators yes, but predators with a conscience. We have the unique ability among predators to delineate right from wrong, form ethics, and codes of honor and to know effective means of feeding. This does not lessen our hunger but makes it safer to tame it, whip it into submission, and control it as one must control any beast. That this hunger can affect our body, mind and spirit is without question. It is without a reason, it simply IS. We are not monsters, we were once worshipped as gods. We have a proud lineage and one that should be accepted without fear, but that is a long road that one must choose to walk. Not all of our brothers and sisters can handle this walk. To those we must offer strength, wisdom, and understanding. Offering definitions may aid some, but it will hinder moreso than help.

My path has been a long one and I can understand the desire for self definition, a logical explanation for somethings that seems illogical. Even as a child I knew I was not like other children. I was not like my family. I felt a distinct separation from everyone and as a result I separated myself. I did not understand my need how could they? My true hunger did not emerge until much later in life, but even as a very young child I would sneak raw meat, gaze at the packages in the butcher's window and find myself mesmerized by the red gooey pools on the butcher's block. I continually got into trouble for licking my mom's beef packages clean when I thought no one was looking. I would notice things like the veins in someone's arms, the way their throats arched, and cuts were absolutely nearly irressitable.

My teen years found something a little harder....my first bout with real hunger. I became very lethargic, had a migraine that lasted for days followed by abdominal pains, depression, and nose bleeds. I had a good idea what I was exactly but was unwilling to put a name on it because I thought I was either crazy or utterly alone in a very small town. The desire for blood made me feel very much like a monster because certainly no rational human being would crave human blood.

My middle teen years brought something new...acknowledgement. I will never forget meeting someone who looked at me without disgust or fear and said quite simply, we are the same kind, blood of my blood, welcome to the family. Putting a name on it was never a part of that acknowledgement. We were something else, we were royalty and were treated as such at events and among each other. My years after that brought understanding, logic aside because logic simply is not necessary. I disliked the idea of hunting, the concept of feeding, that someone opened a vein willingly for me or that there were other ways of feeding. I disliked having to feed at all and fought it until I was too weak to sit up. I learned that survival is more important that pride or stubbornness. I learned safe ways to feed. I learned to stretch my mind in ways I never thought possible not in spite of my nature but because of it. Finally the last decade brought peace and acceptance.

Our natures are very much like the concept of God. It is simply too complex to fit into a nice neat little compartment. We are not hybrids, we are simply like anyone else in this regard...we are packages of information from our many many many hundreds of thousands of incarnations that carry files. As one file is open our minds stretch to understand itand our brain fights this understanding. At some point we have been a great many shapes and forms, we have fed in many ways, and we have had many different needs. That a sanguine vampyre may also feed from sexual energy is not anything new, nor is it anything new that a psi feeder may be elemental, or that he or she may occasionally need something warmer and redder to sustain his or her energy. Regardless of how we feed, we need this from something else to sustain our many layered Body. Adjusting our intake and means of draw is simply good common sense, safe feeding practice and stretches our minds. It certainly does not segregate us into different types of vampyre.

Our nature is a distinct part of who we are, how we feed is nothing more than a natural reaction to that nature, to the need that arises within us. The word vampyre comes from the same word as witch, umpire, or upire (if it's misspelled my apologies) but certainly not every vampyre is a witch. So how should we define ourselves? Is it truly necessary? For some yes. for others no. I agree completely that the need for labels (in some cases the entire vampier than thou sorts) does indeed cause segregation among our kind. We know our own. We can feel them, we can hear them. It is understood. Defining ourselves by how we feed, how we have evolved, our nature in general is a mistake to an extent. When we begin our path it is necessary for some. It can bring understanding for the moment, but we are not simply one energy or one need. We feel the need for labels and definitions because they appeal to our logical brain that says we have to have a disctinct explanation for everything. Considering your nature with your mind allows acceptance and opens the door to what it is that truly guides you.

Eternally,

Aislin
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