Vampirism
More than just being the subject of popular books and movies, Vampirism has become a way of life for millions across the world. In fact so many have become involved in the vampire movement that is fits the criteria to be considered a new religious movement. “Currently there is a prevailing phenomenon of modern vampires whose serious commitment to their beliefs; community and culture meet the criteria for designation as a new religious movement. Vampirism is a specific to real vampires and is practiced in western society both individually and community through many different organized vampire groups variously referred to as clans, churches, covens, orders, houses and circles. There are many subgroups of the main clans and a significant number of individual unrelated less known groups. Similar to other new religious movements it is difficult to establish an accurate number of followers Estimates range from 1,000 to 100,000 self-identified vampires throughout the world “(Perlmutter (2004) p. 145)
With such a potentially large following and the possibility to be considered a new religious movement. Being part of the vampire movement is far from a passing fad. Over the coming years, the movement will be become and even more component of our modern society. Not only in America but across the world.
Juveniles and the Vampire Movement:
As with other occult involvement, Juveniles are attracted to the vampire movement for its counter culture or subculture elements. Some of the juveniles attracted to this movement will become hard core members and continue with the lifestyle, others will outgrow the attraction. The initial attraction to the vampire movement may be through books, television, the internet or role-playing games. While juveniles involved in the movement may seem odd in their manner of dress and speech, they aren’t for the most part violent. The acts of alleged vampire crimes are isolated incidents perpetrators will use their membership in a vampire clan as a justification for their antisocial acts not because membership requires any sort of violence.
Key Characteristics of the Vampire Subculture:
Modern Vampires
· Vampires are real
· Vampirism is a recognized religion by the us federal government
· Practitioners of vampirism are called vampires
· There are a variety of vampire religious groups referred to as clans, churches, covens, orders, houses and circles
· Vampires are part of an extensive subculture that also includes Goths, modern primitives and body modification and fetish scenes(Perlmutter (2004) p. 146)
Vampire Culture:
· Real vampires seriously committed to the culture and members of clans
· Vampire lifestyles identified with the culture but have not yet committed
· Vampire role players entry level participants in vampire role playing games
· Goth scene entry level through music clothes etc
· Body modification scene tattooing, piercing cutting
· Modern primitives body mutilation for spiritual reasons
· Fetish scene hard core sadomasochism(Perlmutter (2004) p. 147)
Common Terms:
· The awakening which alludes to initial attraction to the vampire scene and is also referred to as the birth to darkness or the becoming
· A sire is a vampire parent which can be parent/child, lovers or friends. Anyone who guides a fledging to his vampire nature
· The fledgling or chide is an initiate until he moves to the next level
· Mundane signify non-vampires and people who do not support the lifestyle
· Swans refer to those who are aware of the culture but choose not to partake
· Black swans are tolerant of the lifestyle
· White swans disapprove and try to persuade family members to leave the scene (Perlmutter (2004) p. 149)
Real Vampires
· The modern vampire is a combination of characteristics derived from a variety of historical and cross-cultural folktales, cultural myths and legend
Characteristics:
· Blood drinking and bloodletting (feeding circles)
· Sadomasochism bondage/discipline vampire as predator, hunter
· Psychic vampire was viewed as a ghost like figure as opposed to the contemporary conception of vampire who acquires immortality as a resucitated body. One of the two primary forms of psychic vampire relates to the concept of the astral body and maintains that there are second invisible bodies that can seaerate from the physical body usually at the moment of death. Astral vampirism is the ability to send one’s astral body to attack others
· The second more common form of psychic vampirism is sometimes termed magnetic vampirism and refers to the ability to drain the life-force of another person simply by being in his presence. Most contemporary vampire religious philosophers entail one or both forms of psychic vampire(Perlmutter (2004) p. 150)
· The ability to acquire energy from others called feeing in the vampire community is considered intrinsic to vampire predatory nature
· A group of member who imbibe blood are referred to as feeding circles(Perlmutter (2004) p. 150-151 )
Vampire role-players
· Vampire role players take on a role/character/personality/alter ego in a vampire role playing game and then act it out either on the internet or among a group in real life
· Role playing games are extremely popular among juveniles and young adults
· Games are based on occult ideologies and inspire acts of violence that are described in the role playing game
· Games inspire players to join vampire religious groups whose theology are similar to the game(Perlmutter (2004) p. 152)
Role-playing may be the first exposure that many juveniles have to the vampire subculture. Role players take on the persona of a vampire character. These games can either be acted out using pencil and paper format or they may be acted out live action. A good deal of fantasy is involved in role playing. Juveniles that may not have a firm grasp on reality may begin playing a role paying game and understand it’s only a game, but they longer they remain involved, the more they begin to believe that the game has somehow become real.
Goth Movement
· Goth is a counter culture movement a rebellion against the establishment
· Goths dabble in occult religions some get involved in Satanism, vampire religions or witchcraft
· For many the Goth movement is a phase they will grow out of others may be recruited into one of the many organized occult religions(Perlmutter (2004) p.156)
The Goth subculture and the Vampire subculture share some similar characteristics, however, not every Goth is involved in the Vampire culture and not every vampire is involved in the Goth Culture. Being a part of the Goth movement isn’t always an introduction to the vampire movement. The decision to even include the Goth movement in the section was difficult; the Goth movement seems to be more of a fashion, party, rebellion movement that juveniles quickly grow out of, while the vampire movement has become a serious lifestyle.
Vampires and the Fetish Scene:
This section is an article in and of itself. Some of the behaviors engaged in by vampires are similar to behaviors engaged in by members of the fetish scene. Not everyone involved in the vampire subculture will involved themselves in fetish activities, just like not everyone in the fetish scene will involve themselves in the vampire subculture. This section will be a very brief overview of some of the similarities between both subcultures. This section will be expanded into an article of its own at a later date.
Blood Rituals & Blood Play
· Throughout history and across cultures, people attributed sacred and magical qualities to blood
· Blood rituals entail everything from drinking to pouring on the body and variety of uses in ceremonies
· In some cultures it was believed that drinking the blood of a victim would endow you with the victims strength
· Similarly by drinking the blood of an animal you would acquire its qualities
· For modern vampires the use of blood is what separates the dabblers from the real vampires
· The use of blood is commonly referred to as blood sports, blood play, blood lust and blood fetishism
· Blood sports encompass all forms of body multination such as self-scarring play piercing in addition to cutting
· Blood play involves cutting the body than having another person lick or suck the blood from the cut
· Cutting is most often done with surgical scalpel or fine razor blade making shallow cuts in the top layer of the skin
· Occasionally blood sports entail using a syringe to draw blood and then drinking it or sharing the blood
· A group of people cutting and sucking each other’s blood is referred to as a feeding circle(Perlmutter (2004) p. 159)
Research on the nature of fethsim in general is difficult to come by. The community is closed to outsiders. Any information obtained about the nature of the lifestyle will be through actual involvement in it or from someone that is/has been involved. Both the vampire subculture and the fetish scene are secret societies. Their beliefs and rituals are closed to those not initiated. Just because something is a secret so not automatically make it bad. There is some danger involved in the blood fetish scene because of possible transmission of disease. There is also a risk of injury or death from bloodletting.
Dawn Perlmutter, author of Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crime describes blood fetish in the vampire community in the following manner:
A custom frequently affiliated with the vampire scene includes bondage/discipline sexual activity fetishism and sadomasochism. This is related to the characteristic is the vampire predator/hunter and is a mandatory ritual in some religious groups to achieve higher levels of spirituality participants are referred to as regant(master) and thrall(slave). This involves an aspect of vampire magic termed true name which is a variation of the sadomastic safe word
In vampire religion sadomasochism is theologically one from of feeding because according to the vampire codex a spiritual interpretation of vampire energy coupled with strong emotion is more fulfilling than simple energy alone
According to the codex the most intense emotion to feed off is fear and the next is ecasty either sexual or religious. Sadomasochism is the form of vampire religious ritual provides a combination of all 3 emotions hence it is an intense form of assimilating energy from another. Real vampires retain a high status in the subculture and are well respected within the vampire community (Perlmutter (2004) p. 151)
Again, finding any information of the nature of sadomasochism as it pertains to the vampire subculture is difficult. If you’re a member of such a community and would like to explain the nature of the lifestyle, the author would love to hear from you. An email address will be provided at the end of this article.
Conclusion
Vampires seem to be everywhere these days. Even a trip to the mall will reveal several vampire types. With this commitment to the lifestyle, the Vampire subculture meets the requirements to be considered a new religions movement. There is even a Vampire Church that is recognized as a religious institution by the federal government located in Washington State. Time will tell how this movement will affect the Modern American landscape
References
Perlmutter, D. (2004). Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC.
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