Psychic Vampires

It may come as a shock to many that vampires walk among us.  Not the caped and fanged creatures of popular fiction or the bloated corpses of legend but people that are, more or less, like everyone else.  Some of these individuals do partake of blood like their mythological counterparts but for this post I'm going to focus on the vampires that are perhaps less well known (and perhaps less swooned over):  psychic vampires.

The term "psychic vampire" has come to mean more than one thing.  There is the purely psychological definition of a psychic vampire as someone that is emotionally draining, constantly demanding your attention, and constantly fishing for gifts and compliments.  These vampires are perhaps as bad as the bloodsuckers of myth as they can end up taking everything from you if you let them.  These are not the vampires I'll be discussing and some prefer to use the term "psychological vampire" as they find it more accurate and it effectively differentiates these people from those that are commonly called "psychic vampires" in occult circles.  (That is largely a matter of preference though, as some view psychic and psychological vampires as the same vile creature, always to be avoided.)

The definition I will be using (and perhaps the one gaining popularity) is of a person that draws the life force energies from other people in order to increase their own energies.  This is done because, for some reason, the psychic vampire has a deficiency and they cannot produce enough vital energy for themselves, or it can be done by those that simply want to take from others to fuel their own endeavors with extra energy.  Outside of the vampire community this type of vampirism is usually seen as on par with psychological vampirism, but in a more esoteric or metaphysical sense.  These vampires will most likely not crave your attention or try to inject themselves into your life, at least not consciously.  At most they may try to get you upset and then retreat.  Their goal is to siphon off your vital energy rather than your money or attentions, although there is some overlap in behavior between unrestrained psychic vampires and psychological vampires.

Most psychic vampires that behave like psychological ones are not even aware of their deficiency.  It is possible to have this issue without even knowing and all that may be necessary is informing the person of what they are doing and teaching them how to reign themselves in.  This is where the vampire community can be helpful.  Other people may have no legitimate need (origin of the need aside) and may do this simply for the rush they get or for the power boost.  The ones without need are usually seen as addicts of a sort as they continue to perform vampirism even though they do not have a need for the energies they take.  Some of these vampires take energy from others to power magical operations or their own psychic abilities.

It is good to know that most of the psychic vampires that I've come across that are aware of what they are doing know how to control themselves.  Rather than taking from a single individual they choose to feed from crowds or from the energy given off by large groups of people in clubs or at concerts in order to mitigate the effects.  Their goal, typically, is to be as non-intrusive as possible when it comes to satisfying their need.  The vampires with the legitimate need are usually the nicest and most courteous about this process that many in the occult world see as nasty and invasive.  To the vampires it is unfortunate but necessary.  As usually seems to be the case, the selfish and the greedy give a bad name to those that don't necessarily deserve it.

In a future post I hope to give some tips and techniques that may help in identifying and stopping a psychic vampire.