Psychic Vampires Walk Among Us

Obviously, not all vampires come from Transylvania.

They don't necessarily have any unusual aversions to sunlight or garlic, and they don't "vant to suck your blood" any more than the average person. If they all sucked blood and vampirized every victim with every bite, then there'd be a hell of a lot of them attacking from pretty much every shadow by now, so obviously that can't be true, right?

Obviously.

So, then, once all the hackneyed stereotypes are thrown out, what exactly is a vampire? Perhaps more importantly, could such a thing ever truly have existed?

There was the real-life Romanian folk hero Vlad Tepes. Vlad did some crazy things, like impaling folks from anus to mouth on long, oiled stakes, which he would arrange in various geometric shapes.

To be fair, he did this to drive the invading Ottoman Empire's troops out of his homeland. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was probably the original “sanguinarian” (or blood-drinking) vampire.

The real vampire is a creature that steals its victims' life energy, whether through blood or other means. Stealing vital energy from another to feed the self is a predatory lifestyle that many parasites have adapted to immaculately.

Not all people who claim to be a part of the (mostly American and European) underground vampire subculture drink blood.

Many of them claim to be “psychic vampires,” and even they readily admit that “vampire” is not the right word.

Remember Qi (phonetically: chee)? If not, it's the life force that Traditional Chinese Medicine states flows through every living thing. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are some people who are naturally low in this vital energy.

In the East, these people are recognized as suffering from a medical condition that can be fatal if not treated by a qualified specialist who can perform the proper acupuncture and acupressure, as well as teach the individual the proper Qi-gathering techniques.

If you're in the West, though, you'll encounter medical doctors don't believe in Qi or any vital energy. Those theories were supposedly disproven hundreds of years ago, they believe.

Due to the non-acceptance of this theory in the West, people with naturally low levels of this energy typically don't have access to proper care for their condition and often resort to taking this vital energy from others to survive.

If they don't, their bodies will begin to deteriorate, leading to organ malfunctions.

Eventually, they will die. Since there's no other word for one who takes the vital energy from others, they call themselves “psychic vampires.”

One of these “psychic vampires” visited USA on Oct. 21 and gave a presentation about this elusive subculture.

Michelle Belanger agreed to sit down with USA's Parapsychological Investigators (PSI) afterward to talk more about what exactly makes a psychic vampire.

Belanger described a typical “feeding session” for us.

She begins by envisioning life energy as “light” emanating from her willing donor.

After meditating to enter an altered state of consciousness, she envisions connecting the light of the donor to her own, as if completing a circuit, and then draws this “light” from them to herself.

Belanger is a strong advocate of responsible energy transfer, and has done much to promote safety and responsibility in all of the general vampire subculture.

She stated that in college she tried to quit taking the life energy of others cold-turkey, with nearly fatal results.

According to Belanger, she became hospital-bound within weeks, suffering from severe chest aches and heart problems, so much so that a doctor recommended a heart transplant.

Supposedly, these psychic vampires tend to exhibit other paranormal activity as well. Belanger considers herself an empath, a psychically-sensitive person who can paranormally gain knowledge of another person's emotions and intentions.

USA PSI asked Belanger to participate in an impromptu Zener card-guessing experiment, a classic parapsychological test used to determine extrasensory perception (ESP) ability.

She scored seven cards correct out of 25, an average of 28 percent accuracy. Pure chance scores would be five cards right, an average of 20 percent.

To get a complete idea of one's ESP abilities, notable parapsychologist Dr. Carroll B. Nash insists that a minimum of 250 trials be conducted (as in USA PSI's own ESP research study that concluded last week).

Belanger was unable to produce electromagnetic field (EMF) fluctuation, citing travel-related issues and no access to an energy source.

She declined when USA PSI volunteered themselves as energy sources, indicating that she refused to feed off of strangers. Belanger claims to be highly sensitive to human energy fields under optimum conditions.

If you ignore the stereotypes and consider that parasitic vampirism is perfectly natural, the vampire as a human energy-taker becomes much more interesting and less fearsome.

USA PSI must insist that you do not try to take anyone's life energy unless you have no other choice, and then only if the donor is willing.

Psychic vampires have been very careful to keep their good name intact, and anyone who ruins it for them will inevitably have to face a whole demographic of pissed-off vampires.