NMR ISSUE 44

Astrological Forecast 44
Celtic Perspective on Samhain
Editorial 44
Empowering Your Imagination
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
How to Vote for Your Kids
Jaguar
Letters 44
Murry Hope
Namaste, Part II
Other Editorial 44
Pagan Safety
Ritual for Samhain
Spirit's dance
The Angel's Kiss
The Corn Wolf
Things That Go Bump in the Night
Wasp, Bobwhite & Barracuda

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Letters

Please address letters to New Moon Rising or otherwise make it clear that your letter is available for publication. Please let us know how you would like it signed. Opinions of authors in New Moon Rising and especially in the Letters section certainly do not necessarily reflect those of New Moon Rising.

Cuddly Vampires?

With the burgeoning interest in vampires and the increasing beliefs in psychic, spiritual, astral vampires in particular, I was wondering how those who work in the realms of the psychic, the spiritual and the astral react to such entities. What is the official Wiccan, Neo-Pagan stance on psychic vampires? Do they exist? What are their potential effects on magickal workers or their rituals? Are such beings considered evil by Witches or students of the occult, and if so, why? Are there any covens or circles anywhere that knowingly tolerate or perhaps even accept the presence of such a being in their midstor are all psychic vampires, regardless of their religious convictions, barred from public and group ritual because of their potential to disrupt the energies gathered in such a rite? Please let me know I welcome a wide range of opinions and views.

Michelle
Hinkley, OH

There is no official stand on vampires. All I can give is my opinion. I am not an expert on vampires; however, I am a Queen High Priestess and have been a teacher in the Craft for many, many years. I have been privy to some very unusual information, confessions, and situations people have gotten themselves into.

I have met a few wanna-be's caught up in the romance of all the great vampire movies and TV shows. (I confess, I'm a fan.) These were mostly young people wearing black lipstick and wearing black clothes, saying: Look at me, I'm rebelling and driving my parents crazy, too. It is a subculture fad. The ones I met were nice kids, having fun at the expense of society's prejudices. Actually some young people become witches for the same reason. But that's all right, many stay with the Craft after they realize what it truly is. Young people need to find and express themselves, why not have fun doing it?

However, one chilling incident happened years before the fad. A couple walked into a party late one night, one that went on nearly every weekend. (Pagans don't just party, they party-party.) No one questioned strangers being there, everyone was always welcome; but all conversation died when they walked in. We all turned and looked at them. They were both thin, pale and sickly looking, but the woman was dominant and had more energy than the man. They had apparently met someone in a bookstore who told them about the weekend gathering of Pagans. Since we always welcomed new people, our host introduced himself and asked them some questions while the rest of us went back to conversing (and sneaking looks at them).

We are friendly people but no one could so much as smile at this couple. The darkness around them was evident even without the Sight. My stomach was turning over. They left after a few minutes, obviously feeling unwelcome. Without a word we formed a circle and blessed and purified the house. The couple tried to insinuate themselves in the community, showing up at different functions. The woman was a psychic vampire who used sex to entice and snare victims. The man she had with her was her latest depleted victim. Sex is the usual pattern they work through, although I heard from another High Priest that the woman tried to attack his infant on a different occasion. When a psychic vampire can no longer get sexual partners, they have to look for other prey. When one follows a path of chaos (some people say evil, I say destruction) one ages faster and degenerates physically, as well as spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Indeed, every body (we have seven all together), every cell, every atom is affected by what you do, think and feel.

Psychic vampires draw off other people's energy instead of generating their own. It's like siphoning gas off your tank without permission, with far worse consequences. Their intrusion leaves a residue that invades like bacteria, and each time it gets easier to drain you and harder for you to fight off if you figure out what's happening. You get sicker and sicker and can die from this if you don't stop it. Would you tolerate a murderer in your home, around your family? Would you associate intimately with someone who had a very contagious fatal disease? Would you want to draw more of their kind into a circle?

Dion Fortune stated in Psychic Self-Defense that during the World Wars, some soldiers from the Balkans, where vampire and werewolf legends abound knew enough to keep from going through the second death. They could prevent the death of the more subtle bodies, ordinarily following physical death, and so stayed earthbound to prey on others from the astral. These soldiers did not want to lose the ego/personality of this particular lifetime. Rather, the ego/personality of that lifetime did not want to be reabsorbed back into the All. And so, vampirism spread with the movements of Balkan soldiers. Someone who is psychically drawing off another's energy may in turn have an astral vampire leeching off them and urging them on. The astral vampires are like the spirits of dead alcoholics or drug addicts. Earthbound because of their additions, urging people on this side of the veil to drink or get high so they can enjoy it vicariously. They get some kind of essence of whatever you drink or take. You are being USED.

What religious convictions would such a person have? One is usually weak-willed to get drawn into something like this. Plus this kind of karma takes many lifetimes to overcome. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics, who stay addicted after death, vampires reincarnate into messed up bodies many times before they get back to where they were. IT IS NOT WORTH IT!

Your soul is immortal but not indestructible. And the Dark is never satisfied until it has taken you completely. When one deliberately chooses chaos over order, one chooses destruction. I do not use the word evil myself. I have come to believe that there is only one power; the Light. However, on this physical level there are all the appearances of evil. That which is harmful or painful to society we usually call evil and guard against it. If you mishandle fire and it burns you, that does not mean fire is evil. However when one deliberately hurts oneself or others, that is the evil on this level. INTENTION is all. That is a magical truth. A vampire's intention is to feed off you.

JR

Attending to Aries

If I may, I think it would be a great idea to dedicate an issue to military members who follow/practice an alternative (spiritual) path. My experience (15 years/Military Police Investigator) has shown that as long as we are professional and respectful of others (belief/practices), we are normally treated with respect. Unfortunately, there are those who lack discretion and maturity and as in the civilian community, demean the rest of us by examples set. Perhaps it is time for more of us to step forward and show that military/magick (other) can and do co-exist... Bright Blessings!

Marvin Hansen
Silverdale, WA

Our issues are oriented around the Wheel of the Year, other than that we don't do themes. That's partly because I don't like theme issues, I prefer more variety. But it's mostly because we don't have enough on any one subject at a given time to manage it. Ah well! The possibilities of an issue dedicated to military Pagans are broad enough that I would be happy to do one. I invite readers to send us appropriate art and articles! It is an interesting subject that deserves our attention. The military can play a key role in society. Truman showed how much changing the military could do in the race issue. In the sexual preference issue, Clinton showed hard it can be and thus how critical is our support and attention.