Books by vampires, for vampires

I’ve added some more books to the “non-fiction: vampirism” section of the PH bookstore. I figured I would make a list of books by vampires that might be a helpful resource, especially concerning awakening and turning.  I have not read all of these, so it’s up to you to discover how useful they are or whether you agree with the contents:

Practical Vampyrism for Modern Vampyres
by Lady CG

V Special Edition
by Father Sebastian

Of course, I had previously listed:

The Psychic Vampire Codex
by Michelle A Belanger

and

Vampires in Their Own Words
by Michelle Belanger

I’ve also added:

The Ethical Psychic Vampire
by Raven Kaldera

Vampires: The Occult Truth (Llewellyn Truth…
by Konstantinos

and

Emotional Vampires
by Albert Bernstein

Happy reading!  And as always, if you have any opinions about any of these books, please post a comment.

BB,

Vivienne

P.S.: If you enjoyed this post, please share it by clicking on the “share” button below. Thank you!

Vampire Awakening and Turning: is it Even Possible to be Turned Into a Vampire?

I’ve got a new article uploaded to Article Base on the topic of February’s vampire meet up. It can be found here.

Please let me know what you think. I encourage you to leave comments here and at Article Base on the article. I’m looking forward to having a great discussion about all these ideas at the meet up.

BB,
Vivienne

The Science of Vampires – review

Lady Amethyst of Nephilim United and the Sanford Vampire Meet Up loaned me this book as a resource for the February meet up, which will be discussing vampire Awakening and whether Turning is possible (see my previous post for details).

The Science of Vampires, by Katherine Ramsland, Ph. D. covers a wide range of topics: fictional vampire characteristics, psychological illnesses and serial killers, vampire spirituality, the vampire subculture, the physical basis for bliss and the nature of evil.

Ramsland first discusses fictional vampires and how modern science might explain their abilities, using Dracula as a jumping off point.  She points out how tuberculosis and decomposition might have once been mistaken for vampirism, and then goes into the cellular process of aging, and the properties of blood.

She goes next into how literary vampires have evolved in popular culture, discussing the many paradigms and types of vampires and vampire mythology that have blossomed over the last century.  From this she leaps to quantum physics, psychology, psychic research, and a description of porphyria (an illness that has many symptoms in common with traditional vampire weaknesses, such as heightened sensitivity to the sun).

Next Ramsland discusses the bliss of a vampiric embrace in terms of certain brain functions, techniques such as hypnosis, meditation and trance, drugs such as DMT and LSD, and brain chemicals like endorphins (”inner morphine.”)  In this same section she discusses the possible results of being “embraced,” or how a normal human might be “Turned” into a vampire.  She suggests DNA and genetic mutation, viruses, and pathogens.

Next she goes into what I find to be the most disturbing sections of the book — a discussion of Vampire Personality Disorder, Renfield’s Syndrome, and a list of serial killers who may have fit these profiles.  She chooses to follow this up with an explanation of how forensics and profiling might solve a “vampire” killing, but she uses as her example fictional vampire qualities.  In other words, if Dracula really existed and really had the abilities he had, how might a CSI lab examine the crime scene, analyze the forensics, and profile the killer?  I find it unfortunate that she chooses to confuse real life serial killers with an aberrant psychological disorder, with fictional or literary vampires as if they really existed and a CSI lab would be faced with really trying to figure out what was going on.  I would have found it much more responsible if she had discussed how these forensic labs and profilers dealt with the actual crimes committed by the real life murderers.

Even worse, Ramsland then chooses to describe vampire hunters, and how to kill a (literary) vampire.  I call these portions of the book the most disturbing, because I have no doubt there are confused individuals out there who will be unable to draw the distinction between the “fictional” or literary vampires she discusses, the real-life serial killers she catalogs with legitimate psychological peculiarities, and the modern vampire subculture.  Oh, she throws a few lines in each time she begins to discuss the latter, stressing that they are not psychologically disturbed nor serial killers, but there are disturbed individuals out there who consider themselves to be self-appointed “vampire hunters,” and have attacked members of said vampire subculture.  I can easily imagine such disturbed individuals taking Ramsland’s discussions of literary vampires and the detection of their “crimes” as “real,” equating them with the real-life serial killers she also discusses in such close proximity, and from there making the leap that members of the  vampire subculture, are both “real” literary vampires and serial killers — especially since Ramsland jumps back and forth so frequently and freely between these three types in her explanations of various topics.

I was further disappointed that she chose to follow these sections with a discussion of psychic vampires and vampirism as a spiritual movement, while blending this with a discussion on the nature of evil and  an analysis of Dracula as a dark shaman and alchemist.  This unfortunately adds further credence to the idea that vampirism as a spiritual path is inextricably linked to the nature of evil.

Ramsland saves her “hook” for last — her discussion of vampires and sex is the next to last chapter of the book.  She goes briefly into a discussion of whether vampires can breed with humans when she mentions the dhampir in the vampire hunter section (supposedly the offspring of a vampire and a human), but not until this chapter does she get into the mechanics and hydraulics of sex.  She talks about the different vampire paradigms in various novels and explains whether their physiology would render them impotent, sterile, or capable of having sex and reproducing.

In this chapter she also discusses the attraction the vampire archetype has for the homosexual community, another so-called “deviant” or “outsider” community supposedly drawn to the similar status of vampires, who are seen as sexually uninhibited and similarly unbound by society’s sexual mores.  She follows this up with a discussion of AIDs (a very real problem for sanguine vampires) and the cross over of the vampire subculture with the S&M/bondage subculture, including the shared attraction for dominance and submission role playing.

Ramsland closes by equating the dark allure of the mystery of the vampire, and its ever shifting and elusive nature, to the dark matter of the Universe that scientists are still struggling to explain.  A bit of a stretch, but I like her poetic turn of mind when she makes such comparisons throughout the book, and her ability to think outside the box.

All in all, The Science of Vampires is extremely well researched.  Ramsland does a pretty good job of keeping a wide variety of seemingly unrelated topics well organized, and she has a lot of fascinating information that should appeal both to fans of vampire fiction and to members of the vampire subculture alike.  I do believe she tried to be responsible in her presentation of real vampires amongst discussions of evil, serial killers, and literary vampires. If you can overlook the dangerous potential that certain unbalanced individuals might get them all confused, you should find a lot of very useful information, as well as many resources for further research in her well-cited text and extensive bibliography.

If any of you have read this book I would be very interested in hearing your take on it, and whether your opinions jive with mine.  Please do leave comments on this post and let me know what you think.

BB,

Vivienne

P.S.: If you enjoyed this post, please share it by clicking on the “share” button below. Thank you!

Sanford Vampire and Shadowlore February Meetup – “Being and Becoming”

Hello again everyone, and welcome to 2009!

Hope your year is going well so far.  I’m diving right in with new avenues of magickal research, so I hope to do a lot more blogging here to talk about my new discoveries and make recommendations for books, podcasts, websites, and other resources.  I’m also hoping to start a Persephone’s Haven podcast.  I figure I’ll be able to get more teaching done, and more in-depth reviews, in an audio format than I’ll have the time and energy to write, though editing a podcast will take a lot of time too.  I’ll give it a shot.  If there is any particular topic you would like information about, please let me know (you can post a comment here or email me).  If enough people are interested in doing so, I can set up a regular Talk-Shoe conference call so we can all talk together about any particular topic and post it here as a resource.

***

I’m working on a new article for Article Base, on whether it’s possible to be Turned into a vampire.  That’s the topic for our next vampire meet up, the first Friday in February.  I’ll post the meeting notice and the Talk Shoe conference call information in my next post.

***

Nephilim United is in the process of finishing our first video in our educational how-to craft series, carving realistic foam tombstones.  The video is in the editing process right now, but as soon as it is up and available for sale I will post here and let you know.

***

I’m probably going to be replenishing my stock of tarot decks and maybe buying some new books for my eBay store; in the meantime I need to get some more of Carla’s belly dance costumes up, and the t-shirts and spaghetti-strap tanks similar to the tote bags with her art work.  I’ve got lots of my used books to get up, too.  Too much to do, too little time!  But I’ll get things up here and there.  If there is a particular deck or book you are interested in, please let me know.  You can post a comment here or email me.

***

I’m going to be receiving my Warriors soon (in Lucumi).  Then I’m going to receive Ayao sometime later this year.  Don’t forget to check out my godfather’s books in the a-store (my Padrino is Ocha’ni Lele).

***

I’ve been on a crazy puzzle phase lately.  I’ve loved crosswords and other puzzles since I was a kid, but the last few months I’ve been voraciously consuming puzzle books!  That seems to be petering out a bit now, as I get more into some new craft projects.

I just finished crocheting a queen-size afghan for my parents and gave it to them for their Christmas wedding anniversary.  The last few years I have been on an afghan kick, each one a year-long project.  Now I’m interested in doing smaller, more challenging knit and crochet projects again, so I’ve gotten lots of patterns for various kinds of bags, and have been making pouches, iPod sleeves, and so forth for carrying all my different accessories.  I want to do a laptop bag next.  I’ve also started latching a rug, and at the same time I bought that from Herrschners, I also bought a needlepoint pillow kit that will go very nicely with the finished rug.

Maybe once I get my own necessities made, I will make some bags in goth colors to put up for sale at eBay.  If there is any particular kind of bag or item that you think would be popular or particularly useful, please let me know.  I won’t be able to mass produce anything, but I figure I can put up the occasional one-of-a-kind hand-made item for sale.

Okay, enough of the general update stuff.  I’ll get the vampire meet up notice up next and go from there, giving more details on my research and what I’ve been reading.

Happy 2009!  Happy Obama Presidency!

BB,

Vivienne

The Truth About Vampires

I was invited to write an article about vampirism for the Instant Magic newsletter. It’s published in their October issue, right hand column, “The Truth About Vampires.” The publisher mentioned that several members of the local Pagan and Wiccan meet up groups have been asking a lot of questions about vampires lately, and making a lot of comments, some positive and some negative, so he asked me to write an article that would answer some of those questions and hopefully dispel some of the negativity. Please tell me what you think of the article. Also, the original version of the article that I created to post at the meet up groups themselves, is posted at the Sanford Vampire and Shadowlore meet up in the files section. I plan on turning this into an Article Base article soon, as well.

Please take a look at the articles and comment here to let me know what you think, how I can improve further articles on the subject, or if there is anything about the subject that you would like to know more about in another article.

Enjoy!

BB,

Vivienne

P.S.: If you enjoyed this post, please share it by clicking on the “share” button below. Thank you!

Friday’s vampire and Shadowlore meet up conference call in information

You have been invited by viviennedavalon to join a live Community Call. Sanford Vampire and Shadowlore Meet Up (Join in) Host: viviennedavalon – vivienne_davalon@yahoo.com Episode: EPISODE8 – Sanford Vampire and Shadowlore Meet Up – history and folklore Well, we didn’t have access to the community room at Panera Bread last time until mid-way through the meeting, but hopefully that doesn’t happen too often. Otherwise, it has been working out quite well for us. It is quieter for our recordings, and Kirra continues to come through for us by bringing her great mike. Of course, it helps if I remember to hit the “record” button on Talk Shoe, so there is actually a podcast for people to access later! eep! Last meeting’s topic was suggested by Vampiress, and she took the lead on this one. We addressed the relationship between vampire and donor, how to appropriately begin such a relationship, how to delineate the parameters of the relationship, spell out the responsibilities each has to the other, and avoid problems. It was a very informative meet up, and I am just kicking myself to here and back that I forgot to hit “record!” We will have to repeat the topic sometime down the line so we can have a podcast on the subject up for handy reference. Our next meet up on October 3, 2008 is our last meeting before Halloween, so Mordred suggested we talk about history, folklore, and other topics that are usually addressed by Hollywood and TV documentaries during this month — facts and fallacies, near-misses, myth and legend, etc. If you have any books along the lines of the “Vampire Encyclopedia” and its ilk, please bring them with you for handy reference and to share around. *** As our meet up matures, we want to continue to reach out to more like minded people in our area who need some networking and social acceptance, and who want the opportunity to learn and to teach. Our members have mentioned being rather insulated because of family issues, or the underwhelming enthusiasm of at least one local Wiccan group for vampires, or social drama online. We’ve been teaching specific topics and gotten some good discussions going, and want that to continue. We’re here to be an educational resource and support network, and the more talented people we get who are willing to share their experiences, the better that resource will be for all our members and for the larger community. There is a lot of creative cross-pollination going on, and I want us to continue to create a space and network that encourages productive, creative interaction, personal growth, and community cooperation to make great things happen! Looking forward to meeting more of you at October’s meet up. BB, Vivienne Call ID: 17560 Personal Message from the Host: This host did not include a personal message. Scheduled Time: Date: Fri, October 3, 2008 Time: 07:15 PM EDT How to participate: Call in: Dial: (724) 444-7444 Enter: 17560 # (Call ID) Enter: 1 # or your PIN Join from your computer: Click here to join the call or just listen along (Optional) Become a TalkShoe member Facebook user? You can join this Call directly through the TalkShoe Community Calling Facebook application. Listen to the Recording: If you missed this event or want to hear previous recorded episodes click here. P.S.: If you enjoyed this post, please share it by clicking on the “share” button below. Thank you!

3” diam. buttons – McCain/Armageddon/Apocalypse – pinback or magnet back

I’ve just added three new fixed price button listings to ebay:

A Vote for McCain is a Vote for Armageddon

- or -

If you Vote for McCain you Vote for the Apocalypse
(2 designs)

Designed by Magus Dethen
Exclusive to Persephone’s Haven

$2.99 each; up to 5 buttons ship for $1.99
Discounts available for multiple purchases – See other listings at Persephone’s Haven for sets of 2 for $5, and bulk orders of 10 or more for $1 each.

3″ diameter pin-back and magnet back buttons – please contact me to specify which design you want and whether you want pin-back or magnet-back

white and red lettering on a black and white background

“A Vote for McCain is a Vote for Armageddon”: a semi-transparent head and shoulder image of McCain is superimposed over a nuclear mushroom cloud, with the phrase overlaid in white and red lettering.

“If you Vote for McCain you Vote for the Apocalypse”: a semi-transparent head and shoulder image of McCain is superimposed over a painting of souls writhing in agony at the end of days.

Neither of these is an exaggeration:

• McCain was endorsed by Rev. Hagee, an apocalyptic dominionist preacher who believes Armageddon must be fought by the United States against Iran and that the Holocaust was God’s way of forcing the Jews back to Israel to fulfill end-times prophecy (McCain Gets Hell For Embracing Armageddon Sect“; McCain, Hagee and Armageddon as Foreign Policy“; “McCain Courts “Apocalypse Pastor” Hagee“

• “The pastor McCain calls his ’spiritual guide,’ Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a ‘false religion.’”

• McCain thinks singing “bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran” was funny (see You Tube video footage here and has made it clear he plans to go to war with Iran;

• McCain has said the nuclear option is on the table and Bush recommends a pre-emptive strike against Iran (”Iran: Bush’s Nuclear Option for a McCain Victory.” McCain wants to solve the energy crisis by proliferating nuclear power plants; (”It’s Time for the Nuclear Option, Says McCain“)

• McCain has had so many lapses of memory and made so many mistakes that many have called for him to be tested for senility — this is the man who would have his finger on “the button”:
  • He couldn’t remember how many houses he had or what kind of car he drove;
  • He didn’t know the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims and had to be corrected three times in the space of a few seconds by Lieberman;
  • He thinks Iraq (rather than Afghanistan) shares a border with Pakistan;
  • “Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: ‘The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.’“

• McCain’s Vice Presidential pick, Sarah Palin, is a “stealth dominionist.”  Dominionists believe Christians should take over the world by force so they can impose their version of ”Christian” law on everyone in the world, which includes the death penalty for gays, abortion providers, pagans, and anyone else who disagrees with them.  They also believe the Apocalypse is a good thing, because they will be raptured into heaven where they can laugh at the torture and suffering of those left behind.

The fate of the world literally hangs in the balance with this election.  Warn as many people as you can with these buttons.

BB,
Vivienne D’Avalon

P.S.: If you enjoyed this post, please share it by clicking on the “share” button below. Thank you!

Update on the Sanford/Casselberry Vampire and Shadowlore Meet Up

I’m so happy about how well this meetup has been developing over the last several months!  We’re getting more and more people in attendance and pulling in people from around the country and around the world through the talkshoe conference call set up!  (I’m so happy I went to the effort of getting that set up and so grateful that I have such tech savvy members to help me keep it up and running and continually improve the sound quality.  Thank you Magus and Kirra!)  The comments people have been making about the quality of the content are also quite encouraging.  So far it is everything I hoped it would be, and that makes me even more ambitious for what we can achieve for our members in the future.