Vampire Subculture
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