3 Comments

1. Ragni
   Posted October 4, 2009 at 9:47 pm | Permalink

   In The Psychic Vampire Codex, Michelle Belanger discusses the experience of being a psychic vampire, and also gives instruction on various aspects of a vampire’s abilities. The main focus in all of this is the Vampire House she started, House Kheperu. Despite this, there is much value in this book for non-Kheprian psychic vampires, as well as -and maybe not so surprisingly- for anyone who works with subtle energy. In this book, she demystifies the psychic vampire and reveals it for what it is: a condition or state, whether desirable or undesirable; not a choice.

   She starts the book out introducing herself and her personal story, as well as stating that a lot of this work is intended for use by those psychic vampires who are Kheprians. Then she gives a history of the psychic vampire (or psi-vamp) movement, and then about her own efforts in it. She dedicates an entire chapter to an introduction of the actual Codex, including how to use it, defining certain aspects of her wording, and which parts are applicable to whom (Kheprians, other Psi-Vamps, and anyone working with energy).

   Then comes the Codex itself, the heart of the book. In this, she gives practical instruction for the psi-vamp about using their abilities, how-to’s on various types of feeding, and even the nature of their need for energy. Indeed, she does define the basis for psychic vampirism as a need for energy stemming from, most often, a lack of ability on the part of the psi-vamp to live off most types of subtle energies. This imparts that need to supplement these energies with the vital energy of other living things, most often other human beings. She even postulates that this can give the psi-vamp various psychic abilities naturally that others without that need might have to work for. She even introduces two aspects of working with energy which, while I’d never heard of before, I found I had done many times before in exercises like the Circulation portion of the Qabalistic Middle Pillar exercise.

   After the initial Kheprian and psi-vamp focussed parts of the book, she moves on to energy work. And in this part I was most impressed, as I’m not a psychic vampire and couldn’t necessarily make the most use out of the Codex. In this section on energy work, she really provides a complete set of basic to intermediate energy working skills along with practical intruction. I think that a few aspects of the energy work as presented by Belanger were depicted in a slightly limiting way. For example, she instructs on how to do a house cleansing, and tells you to do the cleansing with your hands. I’ve done cleansings by moving energy with my thoughts. Now, while I thought Belanger’s approach to things like that were *maybe* limiting, I can see how it would give more focus, and simplicity for those just beginning. The only other beef I had with the energy work she presented was in her treatment on the section on heightening energy. While the discussion about the concept was good, I just didn’t feel there was enough practical instruction from the viewpoint of energy working. But overall, the entire portions of the book dedicated to energy work were spledid and are incredibly useful. I’ve worked with energy for years, and I learned quite a few things from this book.

   For the book overall, I really appreciate Belanger’s efforts and I applaud her work. She wrote this book in a really nice conversational style that does not get even remotely condescending. In addition, she doesn’t dumb it down nor confuse the reader with obscure words and phrasings. From the aspect of energy work, it’s not really for the brand new beginner who has had absolutely no exposure to the concepts of subtle energy and working with it. It can, however, definitely be used by the beginner who has at least become familiar with how to move energy. Like I said, I learned a few things from this work, and I considered myself intermediate. This book is more than worth the price.

   If you’re interested in knowing about psychic vampirism, if you’re looking to advance your skills with energy work, or if you’re looking for both; get this book!

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2. Vidal
   Posted October 4, 2009 at 9:51 pm | Permalink

   Excellent book. The author explains at the beginning what Psychic Vampirism is and what it’s not. She clears up misconceptions and describes situations/people that either resemble, think they are, or want to be vampiric. Since I don’t have any experience with Psychic Vampires I can’t say whether what she says is accurate, but I do have alot of experience studying human nature and can say that based on that, what the author writes on the subject is credible.
   What really impressed me about this book was that it is exactly what the title claims: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work. This is a straightforward, clear, concise, no-frills manual on how energy works and how to work with it. As one just beginning to explore and work with energy, this book was extremely informative, eye-opening, and answered a lot of questions I had on the subject. No imperious, irrelevant, or baffling mystical language here, just useful presentation.
   For information on Psychic Vampirism, energy work as relates to Psychic Vampirism, and energy work alone, I highly reccomend this book.

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3. Anonymous
   Posted October 5, 2009 at 2:27 am | Permalink

   The vampire subculture has been growing for a long time now, and while a few books here and there have tried to look at the culture and history of movement, none delves as deeply or is as honest as this book. In it, the reader is taken beyond the usual romantic view of the classical myth of the vampire into the subculture and practice of psychic vampires (or vampyres, though the author uses the former spelling to eliminate confusion). While the first section gives a detailed overview of the history the vampire subculture over the last 25 years, the meat of the text is the Codex itself…a series of short articles which outline the psychic and magical practices of a psychic vampire House.

   Most interestingly, the energy work outlined in the Codex applies far beyond just the workings of psychic vampirism itself. The practices can be applied and/or modified for non-vampiric workings as well. Discussed are such universal concepts as chakras, meditative breath, forms of deity – things which any seeker has probably read before. The difference is the lens through which the concepts are viewed. This shows a different angle, something beyond the obfuscated texts. While the old (and most of the modern texts) explain the concepts in relationship to Deity, Guides or Higher Self, or universal energy forms, this work shows the complex nature of energy work between active participants. This subject, rarely covered in such depth, makes this volume one worth having, even if one is NOT a psychic vampire. It could be used in healing or other energy work. The nuances are discussed, expounded upon, and then reviewed…as well as the consequences of misusing such practices. Ethics are everpresent in the text.

   This one is worth your time. It is no romance novel, nor is it an expose. It is a useful compendium of techniques, history, and perspective which is rarely seen in print these days.

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