Defining a Vampyre

By Deacon Gray 2008

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.