#vampyre culture

[blackrosesociety-vampyres]

Vampire Community Research: Social History and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires

This article has originally been published on Black Rose Society's website: https://blackrosesociety.sauromatos.com/vampire-community-research-social-functioning-and-narrative-identity-themes-within-self-identified-vampires/

We interviewed our very own Luna Luv about her ongoing research project on the narrative themes in identity development and social history of people within the Vampire Community. In providing you with a closer look into some of the goals, challenges and other details pertaining to this research effort, it is our hope you will be motivated to be part of the survey and tell your friends.

Black Rose Society is assisting Vampire Community Researcher Luna Luv with hosting a survey that hopes to identify trends in the social history and identity formation of self-identified vampires. The results of this independent study will be drafted up into an article/paper titled “Social Functioning and Narrative Identity Themes Within Self-Identified Vampires,” which will be published and distributed exclusively within the vampire community, including the Black Rose Society’s website.

You are invited to share the link to this survey between your friends within the community. We are looking for responses from all corners of the Online Vampire Community

Our purpose: Self-identified vampires, that is, people who choose to identify themselves as a vampire or as possessing vampiric traits, often come from vastly different philosophical and ideological backgrounds. This survey asks for historical accounts from individuals who identify as vampires (or vampire-adjacent, i.e. medsangs, vampirekin, etc.) which pertain to both their identity and social development. Responses, while anonymous, will assist us in finding trends in social history and identity narrative development that may exist between identity types, or further serve to individuate them.

This survey will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete. Responses cannot be saved to come back to later, so please set aside appropriate time for yourself to complete the survey. Please provide as much or as little information as you are comfortable.

NOTE: SIGNING INTO A GOOGLE ACCOUNT IS REQUIRED TO PREVENT APPLICANTS FROM FILLING OUT THE SURVEY MULTIPLE TIMES. NO ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED OR RECORDED BY THE RESEARCHERS INVOLVED.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Interview with Researcher Luna Luv

BRS: What motivated you to conduct a survey?

Luna Luv: I’ve always had a lot of interest in why people do what they do, vamps included. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a concise answer to that question, but I do think that there are ways of getting a little bit closer to that understanding in some cases. Extending from that, I thought that this research area might be very valuable, especially since psychological perspectives have generally been considered distasteful within the community — and definitely not for no reason. Most articles in psych journals mentioning “real vampires” are often sensationalist or align us all with sexual deviancy and/or pica, which in my opinion displays a fundamental misunderstanding or perhaps disinterest in our psychology. I thought a survey like this would be a way of showing the community that a psychological approach isn’t intrinsically invalidating, and can actually serve to provide us with meaningful insight into what makes us align with the archetype “vampire.” I figured a survey would be a good way of obtaining some qualitative and quasi-quantitative data on the topic.

BRS: How have the responses been so far?

Luna Luv: I’ve really been surprised by how much interest this has gotten. The survey has only been out for around 3 months and we already have close to 60 responses. I definitely see us being able to hit our goal of 100 by the 1-year mark, and hopefully if this keeps up we’ll be able to greatly surpass it. I’m really humbled by how many people have reached out to me and expressed the potential value they see in the study, and I’m so excited to share what we find with the community.

BRS: Can you tell us about your background?

Luna Luv: I’ve got a Master’s degree in mental health counseling and am currently working out of the US, with hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology in the future. Consider this survey practicing for my thesis, haha. As for my relationship to the vampire community, I’m a lifelong medsang who only discovered the word roughly 5 years ago. I’ve dabbled a bit in the offline scene but I’ve made my home in the online spaces, primarily Black Rose Society.

BRS: What are your goals for this survey?

Luna Luv: My primary goal is to identify if the existing relationships we’ve seen between one’s social development (how they learn where they belong) and identity development (how they learn who they are) can extend to the development of one’s vampiric identity, and if so, what the primary influential factors are. What lessons have we learned to tell ourselves, and when did we learn them? Or what other struggles may run parallel — perhaps our vampiric self-discovery coincided with other unique discoveries about ourselves, such as our gender identity or sexuality. I believe it would be worthwhile to see if we can find any significant correlations in these areas.

BRS: What is the timeline for obtaining the results?

Luna Luv: Initially, I wanted to run data collection from March 2024 to March 2025 and have the paper out by the end of the year. However, considering how much traction this survey has gotten thus far, and how we’ve only recently begun expanding to other social media sites, that deadline is likely to be pushed. I wish I could give a definitive answer — all I can say is that I’m going to try for December 2025, but this may not end up being feasible. 2026 at the latest! Haha

BRS: What challenges did you encounter while organizing this survey in the OVC?

Luna Luv: Honestly, and I should’ve expected this — mistrust. Which is entirely fair; the Vampire Community holds anonymity as something sacred, and in designing this survey it was my intention to preserve our respondents’ anonymity as much as possible. The purpose of utilizing Google Forms to host the survey, in addition to not having access to a more secure survey-hosting site at the time of development, is to prevent (or at least minimize) the submission of multiple responses. However, this requires a respondent to log into a Gmail account, which a few people were not thrilled by. This is why I make a point to emphasize that no account data is stored or recorded by any of the researchers involved in the study, and the email address utilized to access the study is not collected.

BRS: Are there any potential biases, either from your role as the survey organizer or among the participants?

Luna Luv: Oh, absolutely. The primary one being that the survey is being shared almost exclusively through social media, and as such the majority of the responses involve people who primarily participate in the online community. Unfortunately, I personally do not have much access to offline community spaces which may be able to blast this study to community members who may otherwise not see it. Regarding my own biases, I definitely have my own perspective on vampirism based in my personal experiences and knowledge-base. I do not intend on hiding this fact — rather, I simply wish to add my own perspective to the pool of discussions surrounding the nature of whatever it is we’re all going through. Perhaps we will find a more substantial relationship between the specific flavor of one’s vampiric identity and other common factors in their social development history, or even demographic information.

BRS: Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to our readership?

Luna Luv: I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to even look at my little project. I’m not trying to pretend that this is some extremely thorough and well-put-together study that’s going to have groundbreaking ramifications on the community… This is just something that I’m really interested in and passionate about, and I’m so humbled by how many people have expressed interest in what I’m doing. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for the support I’ve gotten. Thank you all so much for reading, and participating if you have!

BLACK ROSE SOCIETY 2024

[wanderlust-psifang]

What a vampire is not:

A sociopath, although we may be indifferent on certain issues or have a morally grey perspective. This is a serious mental health condition and not a buzzword that should be thrown around to define something you fear or dislike. Same with narcicism (below).

A narcisist, although we value and love ourselves. In folklore vampires can't see themselves in the mirror so they had to develop self love in other ways.

A murderer, don't let true crime and Satanic Panic miasma poison the well. Yes, in folklore they were murderous stinky, disease ridden blood drinking monsters, but we've evolved. Don't let our past kick us in the ass (yes, a Blink 182 reference!).

A sexual predator, no means no, maybe means no, only an obvious and excited yes means yes. Consent is key from feeding to sexual intimacy. In folklore, vampires had to be invited in, remember?

An immortal, only if science gives us the tools to extend life, we die like everyone else. Spiritual immortality is an uncertainty and is largely based on ones spiritual beliefs.

A cult member, although we may be part of communities of like minded individuals, we worship no human nor god. I have been involved in a very real cult and am still healing from the trauma of it all.

A roleplayer, yes, they exist and they are part of the community. Being that the original public Vampire Community was based on Vampire the Masquerade, and other fictions, it only makes sense it would attract roleplayers, but not all of us are.

A Satanist, although I am a practicing Satanist, that is my personal choice. Vampires have a variety of religious and spiritual beliefs, some going as far as using the concept of vampirism itself as a spiritual practice.

What a vampire is:

A condition, where we need human lifeforce to sustain us. This need can stem from a variety of issues from medical, psychological, or spiritual.

A magical practice, where lifeforce is not a need but a way a witch may utilize human energy as a catalyst for their ritual. Some may use it as an offering in place of blood.

A philosophy, where life is meant to be lived to its fullest pleasure and potential. This philosophy can stem from a magical perspective or a mundane, LARP perspective.

Conclusion and note on Otherkin and Alterhumanity

Vampires are still humans, we just have a set of needs and desires that make us different. Some may consider vampirism as a kin type, the vampirekin, but I personally do not.

I am not, nor ever have seriously been involved, with otherkin nor alterhuman specific communities. I am in shared spaces with otherkin and alterhumans and have no issues, but I do not consider vampirism and otherkin or alterhumanity mutually inclusive.

Picture sources: Krysten Ritter from the movie Vamps

[reno-matago]

''Cᴏᴍᴇ ᴏɴ ʙᴀʙʏ ʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴍʏ Fɪʀᴇ'' - Tʜᴇ Dᴏᴏʀs

26 avril 24

[orderofthejackolantern]

🦇Strigoi Night🦇

-November 30th-

“Listen to them—the children of the night. What music they make!” -Dracula

In Romania, November 30th has been held in folklore as a night in which vampires are said to be the most active and dangerous. In this, the end of November in Romania has come to resemble many aspects of Halloween. And so, on Strigoi Night, we celebrate the attributes and traits of the vampire and all they represent.

This holiday can be celebrated by:

feasting

merrymaking

throwing a vampire-themed party

watching a vampire film

communing with friends.

[mrsdenasaan]

Since people wanted to see what the asterisks were like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC6HLP1H

[userbox-factory]

"this user is a vampire"

[victorianvampyr]

Traditional ink/blood drawing I made from pig’s blood awhile ago

[i-am-trans-gwender]

Something about Hotel Transylvania that bothers me.

Count Orlok from Nosferatu (1922) is a a ripoff of Dracula but ended up being the inspiration for many vampire stories including future Dracula stories. Many vampires look like Orlok and the movie is also where the idea of vampires burning in sunlight originates.

Anyway back on topic. Hotel Transylvania 2 introduces Dracula's dad Vlad who looks like Orlok. This makes him a ripoff of a ripoff of his own son. I understand wanting to homage Nosferatu but it was still a weird choice.

[sangaverage]

So what do I mean by Eclectic Witch?

This might be a long one so text will be under a divider (credit: here)

Well, here's a list of things that I do:

-I do not consider myself pagan but will celebrate sabats (I think the only ones I don't celebrate are Imbloc and Beltane, mostly because I forget) bare in mind I am not traditional with them and also do not consider myself a traditional witch, you can see what I mean: here (YouTube)

-I celebrate Yule and Christmas, Yule is a separate thing for me and is more about welcoming the darkness and the start of "true winter" whereas Christmas is a time for family and giving thanks and presents (I am not religious so Christmas is more like America's thanksgiving but with presents)

-I practice Demonolatry and have worked with some demonic divine (I still do from time to time, I am constantly nudged into different directions by different demonic that wish to work with me at the time)

-I have worked with (and still rarely do) the elemental dragons, Grael, Sairys, Fafnir and Naelyon

-I do a little pop culture magick and chaos magick on the side, it's not often but it's there when I need it or I can't think of a specific entity for a working

-i have used sigils in my spellwork, some by others, some I made myself (both work wonders but there's a thing going around where apparently your sigils are better as you have personally changed them with your creativity)

-My magick is 90% of the time Nocturnal, I draw more power and energy for spell work at night than during the day, that being said, I do occasionally do magick during the day (nocturnal magick and gothic grimoire aren't bad little books for this sort of thing if your starting out!)

-I do consider myself Vampiric and will incorporate that vampirism into my magick where I feel it suits, I also practice my own Variation of Vampire magick

-Some Spirits will just Visit me instead of me visiting them, Oftentimes these are lesser known or "Local" spirits, I am A-Ok working with them so long as they behave

☥

[neversetyoufree]

I have not stopped thinking about The Vampyre since I read it, so here's some extra trivia for y'all about Lord Ruthven's name:

VnC's Lord August Ruthven is, of course, named after the Lord Ruthven from the short story "The Vampyre." Written by John William Polidori and published in 1819, "The Vampyre" is often cited as the first piece of true modern vampire fiction. It makes sense for Mochijun to want to reference something so genre-founding.

However! The circumstances surrounding this short story (and thus the Ruthven character) are both deeply weird and deeply fascinating.

For starters, do y'all know the famous story about how Frankenstein was written? It started as a challenge between friends stuck inside due to bad weather—write a frightening story for everyone's entertainment. Mary Godwin (soon to be Mary Shelley) and her future husband Percy Shelley were there, of course, but so were the poet Lord Byron and his personal doctor: a man named John Polidori.

While Mary penned the beginning of one of the most famous books in history, Byron's own attempt at horror was abandoned partway through. He wrote a fragment of a novel about an aristocratic vampire and a foolish young man that traveled with him to Turkey, but he never inteded to finish it. However, after learning how Byron thought the tale would end, Polidori eventually came to write his own (complete) version of a similar plot.

The Vampire in Byron's fragment went by the name of Augustus Darvell, but for the majority of "The Vampyre," Polidori's titular monster calls himself Lord Ruthven. This name comes from the novel Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb, a book that openly parodied and mocked Lord Byron (Lamb's ex lover) with its main character.

Now, why did Polidori name the monstrous, cruel, almost parasitic monster in his story after a parody of his patient and boss? That's because their relationship was deeply fraught. I am not the person to speak accurately on this history, so let it suffice to say that Polidori did not have a rose-colored image of Lord Byron.

Byron was famously promiscuous and often in terrible debt. He doesn't seem to have been particularly nice to his doctor. If you read about their time together in any detail, it becomes obvious why Polidori might feel the urge to mock him as a monster.

Polidori wrote a vampire that seduced, tore through, and ruined innocent young maidens. He wrote this after traveling Europe with a man who was forced to flee England with a rake's reputation and a charge of sodomy. He named his vampire Ruthven, after a caricature of Byron, because his own Ruthven was also based on the man.

In other words, the first finished story to create the modern trope of the aristocratic vampire was in large part a parody of Lord Byron. It is a monster inspired by him and named after a character that existed to sleight him. It is also based on a story that Byron wrote.

And in addition to this being generally fascinating, there's something so fun about this in the context of VnC.

The Case Study of Vanitas is its own story, but it's also so chock full of allusions and references that you could almost call it a pastiche. Half its characters are half-crafted out of pre-existing characters and historical figures, but they're only ever halfway stolen. There's always something new built from the base of the reference.

And in a big way, that's what Polidori did back when he penned the first piece of modern vampire literature. His first vampire was partly a reference to a real man, partly borrowed from a pre-existing story (Byron's fragment), and partly conjured from Polidori's own imagination. It's history and literature and new content all bundled together, just like VnC is.

Lord August Ruthven is a reference to Polidori's Lord Ruthven, who was in turn a reference to Lord Byron. He's named after both Byron's Augustus Darvell and Polidori's Ruthven, and Polidori's Ruthven is named after Lamb's Ruthven (who was also based on Lord Byron). He's yet another layer on this tower of self-referential Ruthven-ness, now totally abstracted from any real Byron traits.

As much as Mochijun is playing with the tropes and ideas of this era of vampire literature, it's really fun to see how her tendency toward allusion and reference is itself a nod back to vampire literature's beginnings. It's another way in which VnC slots in as another link in this 200 year old literary conversation.

Anyway, if you want to learn more about the bonkers story behind the Vampyre, here's a link to a not super scholarly but very entertaining essay about it.

[vampire-roleplay-blog]

Have you ever been with any humans romantically before?

Yes I have, unfortunately they’ve all long since died. I have no gender preferences. It’s too bad that humans lives are so short, I still think about them sometimes.

[gothic-thriller-dawn]

[wanderlust-psifang]

My Issue with Vampire Organizations and Their Literature

I have an issue with Psychic Vampire Codex, Vampyre Sanguinomicon, and Asetian Bible in particular because all three claim long lineages, primarily with Egypt, with no historical evidence to support their claims. Vampyre Sanguinomicon does not push the Egyptian agenda so much, but they do claim a different centuries old lineage to the strigoi of Romania.

Maybe stop rewritting history to push your agenda and turn around and complain about roleplayers and LARPing within the community. Just a thought if you want to be taken seriously.

It's also a cricle jerk and flame war epidemic, just like with Satanism schism between the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple. Asetians have a lot of shade to throw on House Kheperu and Michelle Bellanger has a lot of shade at the Temple of the Vampire.

As a former member of the Temple of the Vampire, they have some of the best, and concise, literature on lifeforce vampirism. It is expensive, which was a perk of membership, where you get half off their books and audio programs. On that, like the Church of Satan, they are the only 'real Vampires' all others either stole from them or are just not vampires because they do not follow the Vampire Religion as set forth by the Temple Teachings.

I do like their methods and praxis, but I also am not against blood drinkers which is a high crime in their eyes and leads to immediate excommunication if you are caught even talking to a blood drinker. Sad, because I really did like being part of the Temple.

Aside from the Temple of the Vampire, the other issue is that blood drinking has become taboo in both House Kheperu and the Strigoi Vii as well. As a psi, I shouldn't mind this disparity, but as a vampire identified person, it doesn't make sense. The definition of a vampire is a creature that sustains on the lifeforce of humans through energy draining, sexual intercourse... and blood. You don't have to partake in it, but you should at least not make a big deal of it. This goes for blood fetishism (haematolagnia) as well. Vampires like blood.

I would like the community to be take seriously, but when the suggested reading consists of the Codex and Sanguinomicon, whos politics are based on Vampire: The Masquerade, and the aforementioned issues, it's an absurd battle.

Those books are part of the history of Vampire Culture, so they are important to the community for origin's sake, but we can, and should, also evolve and move past inaccurate and fiction based media.

[otherkin-therian-culture-is]

vampirekin culture is wanting to bite into everything with fangs and just being so so So mad that you cannot

therian/otherkin culture is

[seekingvelvetcastles]

Oh to be in a dimly lit room with just a flickering candle while you jot down your daydreams on parchment paper.

[mrsdenasaan]

Come get books!