Vampires

Those of you who've read Braum Stoker's novel, or just lived in the Western Hemisphere during the last hundred years or so, have probably heard about vampires.

The current image is a bit of a mix of traditions. The originals are too numerous to mention here.

You probably already know this, but people don't come back from the dead to suck people's blood or life force. So you can put away the wooden stakes and blessed wafers.

There are people who claim to be vampires, however. Some drink blood, but apparently there's an increasing population that forgoes blood and rather drains life force. Supposedly the life force draining 'vampires' have larger electromagnetic auras after a feeding than before and their victims show holes in their auras. Very odd, and a tad disturbing. (I can tell you right now, I would not want to be drained, no matter how sensual the experience.)

This isn't a so much a paranormal issue so much as a personal safety issue. Reliable research on this is a bit hard to come by. Most of my info comes from documentaries on Discovery and History Channel. Usually, vampire culture seems to be not only very goth but also super sexual. There also seem to be a lot of sharp, pointy objects involved.

So these vampires may talk about tolerance and such nice sounding things when they're interviewed, but I can't say I'd trust one. Maybe I'm being closed minded, but I can't say that the image of darkness and erotic display helps make them look any better.

What I don't know is if these vampires also participate in any spiritual activities. So far all my concerns about them are strictly physical. Rather odd, given the vampire's origins in myth and folklore. Do they have any occult or spiritual connections?

Mysteries always intrigue me. This one also disturbs and frightens me.