What Have You Heard?

 

Deacon Gray © graveyardpress 2016 Feb 18

There are many different creatures of the night. You hear about the Sanguinary Vampires a great deal, about the Psychic vampires at length, even were creatures and otherkin have a pretty well established standing in the diverse group that makes up the community of others. The Sexual Vampire, on the other hand, what do you really know about them?

There are a few groups for them, but they never remain active, there are a few articles out there, but only from a very few sources. They tend to pop up, at times gather, than slip off to their own ends fairly quickly. People talk about them, but seldom in depth, and when they do it isn’t normally too long before they are met with derogatory comments, and no small amount of criticism.

Are they Sanguinary? Are they Psychic? Neither group really embraces them, nor do they really seems to know what to think about them. Do they feed psychically? Do they feed on blood? Just what is with these vampires of a different shade of dark?

In truth, they can be either, or even both depending the vampire. The key identifier with a sexual vampire is the need to have a sexual component involved to feed, from my experience, it doesn’t really matter if you’re a vampire or not when it comes to a feeding source for the sexual vampire.

Sexual energy isn’t the same as pure psychic energy in my experience, and it can be harder to come by. Yes you can feed from other energy feeding creatures, and in some ways feeding from a vampire is easier…well it can be.

You see vampires, in my experience, tend to use more sexual prowess then others. This being the case they produce more sexual energy than most as well. But, it’s still not worth it.

Not many vampires are all that willing, and that’s a key point of discussion. About half of the drama queens in the community would run around yelling “Psychic Rape!” at the mere mention of feeding on the unaware, so sexual vampires, already labeled in enough ways that are derogatory, really have to consider how they feed, and be very considerate to the community they live in.

One of the main reasons you don’t hear from many sexual vampires, is because their practices tend to offend so many out there. I have heard everything from “you’re sexual predators!” to “You’re just trying to get laid!” The later comment I actually heard while discussing an article about how to feed without intercourse.

No matter what you heard, Sexual vampires are not sex fiends, they are not obsessed with sex, and many of them seem much less sexual to the general community than even your everyday Sang or Psychic vampire. Indeed rather than being charming seductive types, many are really awkward when dealing with the opposite sex.

The foremost thing to remember about a sexual vampire is that, they are well aware of the stigma’s and social perceptions around them. So don’t be surprised if you don’t meet many, who talk about it much, or are willing to engage in conversations about it.

If you are a sexual vampire, in any of its forms, I would caution against getting too far out into the open. The simple truth is, it is going to be harder for you to find people to talk to about it, and that’s just the way it is. If you do find some, don’t expect a general question to a group or room will get you much result that’s useful, instead look for those who you might be able to talk to in a privet message.

Finally I strongly caution against talking to Media types, or mental health professionals about this. Not only will they consider you nuts, but possibly dangerous. We like to think, and we are often told that we can trust these providers, but in my personal experience, that’s simply not the case.

Introducing the Gateway Halo

It is with great pleasure that we officially unveil the Gateway Halo of the state of New Jersey.

Traditionally, a Halo is a geographic division around a metropolitan area where there is a notable Vampire Community (VC). Inspired in the official regional division of NJ, and following suit to The Halo of Gotham (New York City Region, NY), Halo of Septem Civis (Virginia Beach Region, VA), Halo of Atlantis (Atlanta Region, GA) and Halo of Lightening Bay (Tampa Region, FL) among many others throughout the US, The Gateway Halo is now officially established for the Newark Region of New Jersey. The State of NJ historically divides itself into 6 regions: Gateway, Skyland, Southern Shore, Atlantic City, Jersey Shore and Delaware River – map. The Gateway Region, and similarly the Gateway Halo, encompasses: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, and Union Counties of Northern New Jersey.

Over the years, since the inception of the NJ Chapter of Bloodlines International in 2012, and specifically within the last year that the Iron Garden has been active, we have been repeatedly asked to clarify as to what Halo does the NJ VC belong to. It was at the behest of the denizens of NJ, that the Iron Garden was re-established in November of 2014, with its first public gathering at QXT’s in Newark, NJ, in January of 2015. Just last month (Jan. 2016) we celebrated its one-year anniversary with over 45 signed-in guests. The Iron Garden is the beacon, not only for the growing Gateway region, but opens its gates wide to all Nightkind hailing from near and far. It is time we give a name to the Community, People and Resources that have always been there – Gateway Halo.

Located in the heart of the Gateway Region of New Jersey, Newark is a large urban sprawl located in Essex County, boasting about 280,000 residents; whereas most Iron Garden members hail primarily (but not exclusively) from this very region. As always, we encourage local Houses to step forward, introduce yourselves at the Iron Garden and become part of the collective. We are also anxiously awaiting new houses to emerge, to witness a new surge of activity in NJ, and we would not be at all surprised to see new Havens and Courts surface in other regions of NJ, as the state of New Jersey is long, wide and brimming with untapped potential.

Currently there are over 5 households with membership in the Gateway Halo including: House Sahjaza, House of the Dreaming, House Sabretooth MacPhee, Clan Black Mist, House Ebon Dragon and others that we will be delighted to include in this list upon mention. The Gateway Halo is an amalgam of creative and colorful individuals, many of them intersecting with the Pagan Community and/or the Horror Community which are both vibrantly active in our state.

The Iron Garden offers a NJ Resources Page boasting many craftsmen, artists and community friendly individuals and establishments that offer quality services for our Nightkind Brothers and Sisters no matter where they may be, or what they may be looking for.

New Jersey has always held a great deal of respect and admiration for our brethren in Gotham; through the decades the Gotham Halo has been our inspiration, our trendsetters, and our greatest resource. According to the Gotham Vampyre Archives, the Gotham Halo is comprised of NYC and its 5 boroughs: New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond Counties of the state of New York – map. It is the intention of the Gateway Halo to continue to collaborate with Gotham, while seeking to maintain and improve friendly relations with all neighboring Halos, as we stand side by side in welcoming the new and old blood in a joint effort to provide the VC outlets for socialization, education, creative, charitable and spiritual pursuits. The Gateway Halo is officially Open.

With Best Regards

Madame X

On Behalf of Gateway Halo

Why Medical research into Sanguinary Vampires at all?

by Deacon Gray

(c) 2016 Feb 16th all rights reserved

 

So recently I have written about the new efforts by a small segment of the vampire community to make a new push for medical research. This research effort is the combined efforts of several people, though I believe Alexia Ashford is at the center of the push. These articles have surprised me a little in how some people have responded.

“Why do we need medical research at all?” “We know how to handle the issue, what more do we need to know?” “Is this just another attempt to build a clique for one group over another?”
There were more, but you get the point. So rather than speak to why they are doing it, I will simply tell you why I feel it needs to be encouraged.

There is a segment of the sanguinary vampire community who call themselves Med Sangs. It is a very small group, in action, but large in shared opinion. They believe that their need for blood is actually a medical condition of some sort, or, for those who balk at the term Medical Condition, they believe that there is a scientific explanation for their need.

They don’t believe it is a spiritual, or energy work issue, they don’t believe it is a fetish, or self-delusion, but a real physical need that can be identified. The issue is obvious, what scientific researcher in their right mind would even bother to work with a group who called themselves “Vampires?”

Sure we have had some people in the social science fields look into it with some with curiosity, if not for what makes us do what we do, but that we can be so normal and yet maintain such behaviors. But the simple truth is, they really don’t help us much passed not painting us to all be lunitics. The real unicorn isn’t in these fields, but a real medical researcher. And, without a lot of interest and a big grant, getting their attention is no small feat.

Back to the original question though, why do we need medical research at all? Well the easy answer is this, if we can find a source for the need, we can find a solution that could perhaps better treat, or even resolve the issue. Not all blood drinking vampires actually “Like” being such. Many find it not just emotionally taxing, but also very difficult to manage.

Not everyone can always have a ready donor on hand.  Not everyone even wants such a thing in their lives. The need, however, puts them in a position where they can be ridiculed, mocked, discriminated against, and even legal action can be taken, splitting family members apart. A treatment, or cure would significantly diminish this problem.

At the same time, a scientific discovery of a source for this need and behavior could validate the experience, and ensure that it’s not just some mental health issue. “No My mommy didn’t abuse me, I have a real medically recognized requirement that merely mimics silly myths.” Scientific recognition could result in greater acceptance and less discrimination all the way around.

 

“Is this just another way of forming some new Clique?” The answer isn’t a yes or no answer I am afraid. For some people it would divorce them from the community all together. For some it would offer them the affirmation needed to continue on their own path, and for some, it would bolster their ego, and arrogance. Pretty much just like everywhere else when a group comes to some sort of peace with their disposition. “We are all in the Army, but I’m an Infantry soldier!” “We are all in the infantry, but I’m an Air Born Infantry soldier!”

People always pair off based on their mutual interests, that’s just life.

So I am not saying we all need to join a medical research study, I am not suggesting we should all pair off and leave the community for our individual interests. What I am saying is this, there could be good things that come of it for some of our community, there could be bad things for others, but in the end not much will really change, and no drama, or conflict needs to come of it.

There is at least one more significant greater good that comes from efforts like these. It’s one that goes unspoken and it drives the contempt of the envious. Projects like this build leaders.

Our community is filled with people who possess opinions. We have thousands who wander through the community as shadows on the wall, and many who participate with no real sense of community obligation. What we don’t have a great deal of, are people who are willing to do the hard work, suffer the abuse, have success and failures all while slowly building the resentment of others.

While “I” don’t need a medical answer, I do need this community. And as some remember this community was once a project of a few people who even know take a lot of grief from those by standers and shadows on the wall for the very efforts that brought them together in the first place.

Our community is built off these kinds of efforts, and that’s why we need them.

A Higher Purpose: The Scientific Effort In the Vampire Community

By Deacon Gray © thegraveyardpress 2016

We all want to matter and to make a difference in the world, at work, or in someone else’s life.  Our Higher Purpose is how we find deep meaning and fulfillment in our lives by contributing to someone or something that is bigger than ourselves. The goal of finding a scientific reason for the sanguinary condition is just such a higher purpose and one that we, the community really should support to our fullest.

I honestly think that the majority of the Vampire Community takes no real issue with this goal. Indeed all of us are seeking answers in our own way, and to different levels of active focus. The real issue doesn’t come from objections but fears.

You see science doesn’t care about offending people. Science doesn’t care about anything at all other than answering the question before it. Science is inquiry without consideration for fears, or offense, and as such it spooks people when they hear about it, if not consciously, than on a subconscious level.

For a second consider what it would take just to start a real scientific study, and how many people could be offended, or dismayed at what the conclusions might be. Some of the natural questions people will have could very well be:

1. Will this actually be scientifically valid at all?
2. How will you know the difference between who is real, or who’s just playing the part?
3. Once you develop a method to decide who’s a real vampire, a “litmus test” what does that mean if I’m not part of it?
4. Does this attempt to invalidate my experience and personal identity?
5. Will this make a new “elite” class, of people who consider themselves. ”Real”?

While these are just a sample of the questions people might have, these are some that I would like to look at for a moment.

One of the biggest issues many scientifically minded people face, is in dealing with people who don’t look at science as objective, but instead, look at the political, or social response to the research.  Just as science doesn’t care about offending people, challenging their beliefs or hurting their feelings, many of the people who conduct research like this don’t spend a lot of time focusing on it either. It’s not because they are cruel or uncaring, it’s because it adds nothing to the science.

So, let’s get back to the questions.

Will any scientific efforts actually gain scientifically valid information? The efforts themselves might not be scientific, but they lead to resources that might help establish communication with the people who could do such research. Much like the Atlanta Vampire Alliance’s survey’s in themselves weren’t all that scientifically valid, (no subjective survey is) it did lead to interest from people in fields of study from outside the community.

How will they know who is a real vampire, and what if I’m not considered ‘real’ in their study? Well that is a little more difficult. People will balk at the idea of developing any kind of ‘litmus test’ that determines who is, or isn’t, what they believe themselves to be. Of course the real issue is that, this isn’t the goal at all. Again Science doesn’t care what you believe. But the goal isn’t in finding who is ‘Real’ or not “Real’ The goal is to find people with common denominators that help define a study group.

If you want to do a study on red heads, you have to decide exactly what defines that for your purpose, or you’ll end up with a lot of shades of red. Does this mean that a strawberry blond isn’t a red head, or perhaps, people with blond hair, but a red beard and body hair isn’t a real? No, it merely means that a specific group is being looked at and defined for the purpose of the study. Science needs to have controls, and it doesn’t care if you get mad because you’re hair isn’t red enough for their needs.  You’re still who and what you are, just not at the center of focus, get over it.

So let’s look at the next question. Does this attempt to invalidate my beliefs and personal experiences?

I would like to start by saying that the only one who can invalidate your beliefs or experiences except you. Regardless of what might eventually be found, the answers they find are meant to help the community as a whole, not invalidate anyone else.

Will that lead to a new Elite Class of Sanguinary Vampires? There will always be those who use such things as a point of personal exceptionalism, but that’s really no different than thinking being identified as a diabetic means you’re better than someone with hypoglycemia, or someone with Fibromyalgia. There is nothing better or worse involved, just differences, and if research into a specifically identified group of sanguinary vampires can help a larger segment of sanguinary vampires all the better. Just like research into type 1 diabetics might help develop a drug that helps hypoglycemic individuals as well.

 

The biggest fear people face isn’t the seeking a real scientific study, it’s the idea of new leadership stepping forward in their segment of the community. Efforts such as these can lead to some level of notoriety, even credibility. Just as Merticus’ survey brought a lot of attention to him and the AVA, this effort could also propel someone into the lime light, and even make them seen as leaders with in the community.

Truthfully, that’s because they are leaders. These are the people who are stepping forward in their segment of the community and really attempting to do something significant. It doesn’t mean they speak for the whole community, or even that they speak for that segment, but it does afford them the place of being able to speak to their efforts, and let’s face it, people will be interested in what they are doing. I can’t fault them for that. Indeed, many of the current leaders in the community have long admonished the complainers about the current community to undertake such efforts.

In the end there really isn’t anything to get worked up about, the efforts in themselves could take decades or longer to produce anything of scientific value, and when they do, and I say ‘WHEN’ because I believe it will, then it still won’t change anything for the rest of the community. Simply because one group is able to validate their personal experience with a scientific result, wouldn’t mean anyone else’s experiences are lessened in anyway, and all of us can still enjoy the vampire community for those things that appeal to us.

We have never been a single faceted community, and thankfully, we never will be. We are diverse, but a community is only more colorful for that diversity.