Barbelith Underground > Temple

I've worked with various energetic models on a regular basis for about 15 years, and have also explored Vampirism both in terms of Psychic aspects as well as Psychological for about 5 and 3 respectively. There are about two dozen points that have been made since I last posted in this thread and whilst I'd like to address them all, that would be a rather large expenditure of energy - a phrase, concept, and activity which I don't approach lightly, and as such I will touch on the main ones and hope they also speak for the minor.

Acupuncture as a psychosomatic cure for vampirism

Earlier, Nytemuse suggested that some evidence which supported the concept of blocked chakras could be found within an anecdote of a person who went to an acupuncturist, who received several treatments that resulted in the patient no longer needing to vampiricaly feed. To me, this could be interpreted as evidence of a blocked chakra (or in this case, a blocked meridian/channel) however it could also be interpreted as evidence of accepting an aspect of one energetic model -traditional Chinese medicine- to support ones own model -vampirism caused by energy blockages- which led to the resolution of the patients problem via psychosomatic means. Put simply, the patient may have no longer had to feed as they were told by the acupuncturist that their blockage was cleared.

Now, Nytemuse made mention that Doctors have used placebos to cure patients, and questioned that if it works and doesn't harm anyone, than so what; this was in response to EmberLeo's statement that if a symptom is psychosomatic along with its cure, than whatever works as a cure is fine - something being psychosomatic in such an instance is not a problem. To me the problem with this sort of mentality is in definitions of harm - I find it harmful to be bullshitted to, especially if such bullshit leads to the acceptance of a life-model which is false and ultimately self defeating, even if it has some redeeming qualities. The reason I see this as a problem is that should I pursue such a model than by means of opportunity foregone, I cannot pursue one that is (relatively) true and of greater quality.

This isn't to say that my position on Vampirism is that it is a false model and a self defeating one, though I do have reservations about how it is often presented both by those who practice it and those who critique it. Nor is it to say that my qualms with such a point of view are restricted to my search for truth alone. If a vampire feeds on others than isn't there an ethical consideration as to how this energy is utilized, especially if it is gained through means that would (presumably) leave the vampires donor/prey/target in a state that is less beneficial? Isn't there a responsibility to use this acquired energy to pursue a model that isn't a waste of energy, especially if its proponents consider it to arise from inefficiencies and deficiencies in energy production? Whether or not a vampire truly feeds on another or not, if they believe they do than shouldn’t they pursue a path which respects this feeding?

Acupuncture as a physical cure for vampirism

Perhaps the acupuncture was responsible for the patient no longer needing to vampirically feed. Perhaps it's too simple an explanation to say that it was a psychosomatic response. I've had experience with acupuncture to alleviate issues caused by body-building and poor posture, such as muscles that have been strained or set in constant firing patterns (knots, tenseness, calcium build-ups, etc) and impinged nerves. I've found such ailments to be draining and the treatments to be relieving -pain and cure is like that- and perhaps this is similar to what occurred to the patient mentioned by Nytemuse. Perhaps it was a physical ailment as opposed to a blocked channel, though this in itself doesn't explain why this person needed to vampirically feed off others.

Talks to Strangers spoke of hir experience with working within the energy model, and the physical sensations that arise from this -heat, cold, pressure, tingling- which I believe is what Nytemuse was referring to when zhe spoke of how psychics etc. are sensitive to energy and its flow, or some of the ways they are sensitive to it. Such sensations can be reproduced without a third party (see NEW by Robert Bruce) and whilst such sensations are not proof of some sort of Reiki-like energy, they are proof of these sensations in and of themselves - they may or may not occur in the areas they are felt in (i.e. hands) or be hallucinations and/or delusions, however they do occur.

I think that some of the vampiric feeding process, if not most of it, can be attributed to such sensations. I'm not so sure if this process indicates the transfer of energy between two parties, if this is a movement of energy within oneself alone, or if this energy (speaking in new-age terms, not physics) isn't simply electrical impulses within the nerves in a form of body control akin to that undertaken in everyday muscle movements. If it is the latter explanation, than perhaps the person which underwent acupuncture and no longer needed to vampirically feed, had to vampirically feed in the first place as this alleviated their physical problems in a manner similar to a good massage or heat pack. Once the physical issue was resolved through acupuncture, such as via correcting a misfiring muscle group, the need for such self healing (interpreted as vampiric feeding) vanished.

The energy of vampirism

One of the most common arguments I've seen against the concept of vampirism, from those that accept the energy model concept at least, is that energy is everywhere and within just about everything - why would someone need to feed on humans to gain such energy, when they could reach up to the sun or the moon or the stars and feed from them instead? Surely these are better sources of energy, both in terms of quality, amounts, and ethics, to take from. It seems like a logical argument though only on the basis that all energy is the same, just as the argument that a person could eat grass instead of cows is logical if we perceive all matter to be the same, at least in terms of human consumption. A vampire is someone who can't (or perhaps won't) feed on energies that aren’t human, at least not in a manner that is fully sustainable to them.

One of the most common arguments I've seen for the concept of vampirism is that it isn't energy as we in the west would normally conceive of it, but rather Chi or Prana in eastern concepts - the conversation then tends to end there, rather than explore whether or not this is true in part or in full. I've got more knowledge of Chi than Prana (though think they're pretty similar) so I will speak of it alone, with the first thing being that "Vampires feed on Chi" is a misnomer just as "Vampires feed on energy" is. Chi, like energy, doesn't refer to a specific 'thing' in itself but rather is a category or capacity. For instance, electrical energy is also known as dian chi, however to say that a vampire feeds on this would be misleading, unless you wanted to pursue my earlier thoughts regarding stimulation of the nervous system.

Whilst Chi can be subdivided into such individual categories just as energy can, such as heat (Re), it can also refer to states than energy is in such as being alive or dead. Further, it can also refer to the three major powers within the Universe -heaven (stars/planets) earth (mountains/rivers) and man (plants/animals)- and in each case, as with electricity, Chi doesn't refer to a specific thing; Heaven Chi for instance is known as Tian Chi. The reason why Chi is so often used to refer to humans is because, quite simply, most aspects of Chinese culture which deal with it do so in relation to humans, such as in QiGong or Chinese medicine. Whilst the vampiric concept of energy may at heart be similar, i.e. energy is used as a term because it refers to human energy most often, it rarely seems to me to be because of this reason and rather because such practices of Qigong are quite similar to those in vampirism. As far as the actual energy that vampires feed on is concerned, Xie Chi is perhaps closest to the term that is being sought, if one wishes to bastardize one system to incorporate it into another - I can't help but note that this is something which the vampiric community is prone to doing.

Otherkin