Dealing with the Paranormal: The Living Vampire
Because the methods of dealing with the two different classes of vampire are so different, I thought it best to break this into two sections, and focus on each one in turn.
As discussed before, there are different types of Living vampires. Each has its own methodology of interacting with other humans, and therefore, its own set of guidelines for dealing with the vampire.
The psychic vampire (by far, the most common type of Living vampire) feeds off of energy. These vampires are also the easiest to deal with, on a personal level. While they are, in fact, living human beings (and therefore illegal to kill) and psychic vampirism is difficult to prove, even if it’s easily detected, there are simple ways to safeguard oneself and family. Learning to center, ground, and shield are the simplest ways to deal with this.
What do I mean by “center, ground and shield”? Let’s take it in three parts. First, centering:
To center means to find your own inner balance. Close your eyes and draw deep breaths, focusing on each indrawn breath and focus your mind on a kind of internal “white noise.” Feel your energy (the Chinese call this Qi) gathering at the center of your being. Some people like to meditate on the Chakric centers, which can definitely help the rest of the process move more easily.
Once you are still and focused, it’s time to ground, which is just what it implies. Like an electrical plug can have a grounding prong, meant to keep the item from drawing in too much energy, spiritual grounding is a method by which you expell those energies you do not want within you. Usually, negative energy attracts negative energy, and your negative energy will draw a psychic vampire more readily. To ground that energy away, simply continue to breathe deeply and evenly, your eyes closed, and feel internal hands pushing that negative energy away, either down into the earth, or up into the air. Most people report a sensation like a weight being lifted off of their chests as the negative energy flows away.
After grounding away your negative energy, you must shield yourself. Shielding is a method by which you bar unwanted outside energies and entities from access to you. You can visualize a shield as anything you want. I’ve known people who’ve used everything from Star Trek shields to rainbows, to bubbles of water. It’s been my experience that, when dealing with a psychic vampire, the best kind of shield is something reflective. Visualize a mirrored ball, or a highly-reflective metal like silver or copper. Something which directs the psychic vampire’s attempts to drain energy back at him/herself.
I know this all sounds a little strange, to some. However, it’s actually based on centuries of advice and anecdotal evidence expressing the importance of mirrors when dealing with vampires. When you understand that a psychic vampire’s energy is derived from stealing energy from others, it makes a world of sense to fight psychic drain with psychic defenses.
The other primary category of Living vampire - the Blood Drinker - is not so easily dealt with, unfortunately. Little is known about WHY they feel compelled to drink human blood (and no, I’m not talking about the underground Goth culture, here. I’m talking about living human beings unable to control their urge to drink human blood). Some theorize that it stems from a genetic encoding caused by Prophyria and, because the person’s body cannot generate enough blood cells of their own, they’re literally starving for the blood they can’t get otherwise. That the blood they drink does nothing for their need for sustenance (because it simply breaks down in the stomach) never occurs to them, and they go on looking for more and more blood, hoping to get enough. That’s one theory. Another is that there is a psychological condition involved, leading them to believe they need blood to survive, when in fact, they don’t. There are literally as many theories of why as there are recorded cases of Living Blood Drinkers.
Dealing with the Living Blood Drinkers is difficult, because again, they are living human beings, and also because we don’t yet know WHY they are compelled to do this. Most times, they end up locked up in mental institutions once they are revealed to the authorities. They should be considered highly dangerous and unpredictable, and should not, under any circumstance, be approached by anyone not trained to deal with them. They are reputed, through historical record, to be extremely strong (likely caused by an overabundance of adrenaline in the system) and very fast.
