|
"The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity-designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man, "stated Ernest Becker, a reknowned writer.
Upon death, one's body perishes. Does that imply that nothing else survives death? What about the Soul? The Spirit? Are we Immortals? In what sense are we Immortals? This article aims to make the reader contemplate these issues from a Vampire's point of view. Whether we agree on certain theories or speculations is up the reader. There are 3 elements necessary for one to be considered a Human. They are:
(a) Soul
(b) Body
(c) Spirit
Firstly, what is a Vampire? In various mythologies across the globe, Vampires are considered to be supernatural, blood-sucking creatures of the night who prey on poor, unsuspecting and helpless Humans. No, we do not have natural fangs nor do we dress in a long coat with a cape attached. In fact some of us enjoy the warmth of the sun! This article posits its theories from a Vampire's stance; a Romantic view. One that has metaphysical undertones. We are talking about the Soul and the Spirit, after all. No philosopher-not even Plato or Descartes- or scientist has been successfully able to identify the Soul or the Spirit. Sometimes, these terms are interchangeably used.
Can Vampires exist in this day and age? A person who believes in science would say, "Never!". But what about the people who believe that there is a group of people, gifted with higher Intellect and other gifts, exist? These Romantics would answer that Vampires can exist, but not in the traditional sense. This article hopes to speculate on this. What makes this group of beings special?
Going back to the topic at hand, we have identified 3 elements that make us, first of all, Humans. What is the Body? Bodies are tangible entities. They are what give us an appearance. This works on a purely aesthetic and functional level. We use our bodies to carry out day-to-day activities. The Soul as posited by metaphysics, is something intangible. Some philosophers believe that it is destroyed upon death with the Body. Others say it survives death and is Immortal. Energy cannot be destroyed or created after all. So what happens to a Soul, if it is Energy? We'll never know. energy merely exists, floating all around us, giving us Life. Therefore, contemplating the Soul is outside the scope of this article. Lastly, what is Spirit?
According to Wikipedia, "Human Spirit is a component of human philosophy, psychology and religion - the spiritual or mental part of humanity... - impersonal, universal or higher component of human nature - the Intellect..." It is also goes on to say, "Human spirit: mental function of awareness, insight, understanding, judgment and other reasoning powers."
Which part of our physical body do we use to carry out reasoning? Where does the Spirit reside? Clearly, it resides in our Mind, the Brain. The Brain may be something that is tangible, but the energy that resides in it, the Spirit, is not. It is this, the Spirit, that differentiates a Vampire from a Human. Without the Spirit, nothing in our bodies would function as they are supposed to. One can thus put it this way: The Spirit is to the Soul as the Soul is to the Body. As the actions of the Body are determined by the decisions of the Soul, so the direction and values of the Soul are determined by the Spirit within us."
These 3 elements need each other to enable our bodies to function fully and properly. This would in turn result in a basic Human with normal, reasoning capacities.
So, now we know that the Spirit resides in the Mind. Vampirism of the Human Spirit. Why vampirism, you may ask. Vampires have a passion in then that equals to no other beings. They are full of passion and advanced reasoning capacities. They are quick to learn and are highly emotional. Often they need help in mastering their highly-intense Emotions. Considered to be more empathetic than a Human, these creatures of the night struggle when they are newly awakened.
A very good example of this could be seen in a Bachelor Thesis entitled 'A Domesticated Vampire-how the vampire myth has changed since Bram Stoker's Dracula to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight': "Dracula studies new languages to be able to acquire new lands, but it isn't until the appearance of the child vampire Claudia that this mental development is manifested more thoroughly. Claudia is the most evident example of how the vampires age mentally and not physically. Louis even describes how he notices the change in her eyes. That she goes from being s 5-year old to become a woman, trapped in the body of a 5-year old." Anyone who religiously follows the evolution of the Vampire would instinctively grasp what is being implied here. Vampires are wise creatures. They know how to adapt to situations and act accordingly.
Awakening is a criteria. How would we know when someone has being Awakened? Some claim to have become wiser. Some claim to have brushes with the supernatural. Which is it? We would never truly discover this answer. However, we could speculate that to be Awakened, one must go through a change in his/her mental capacities. As the Bachelor Thesis postulates, Vampires never truly age... all the ageing is done mentally. Ever heard of being older than one's physical age? Some loosely call that person to be an 'old soul'. Soul, Spirit. It all depends on where we are coming from.
If one looks at the Vampire Ritual Book, written by Michelle Bellanger, there is an initiation process called, "Night of Transformation", and once initiated, the Vampire would be called a Child of darkness and night. This would indicate that the Night symbolises mystery and darkness of the Soul. When it is dark, it becomes more difficult to discern between what is right and wrong. It would be difficult to make wise decisions. The Night of the Soul. Also known as the 'Awakening', reaching a higher level of consciousness. Consciousness is the state of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. It has been defined as: "sentience, awareness, subjectivity, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind". Alot of this Awakening centers around the development of the individual. They will rely on no one else but themselves. Rational selfishness comes into play. The "We" in a newly awakened Vampire would be a secondary issue. It is about the "I" instead. The development and growth of the self.
New-age vampirism classifies a Vampire as one or a hybrid of the following:
(a) psychic
(b) sanguine
(c) a bit of both
Psychic vampires survive by feeding off the living energies or the Prana of the Living. Energy is. Therefore, non-living things would have potential energy as well. All they need is a Force acting on them. Then, there are the Sanguinarians. These creatures live off the blood of the Living. Lastly, there are the Vampires who fit in both categories. They are called Hybrids. But there is one thing in common-a Vampirism of the Human Spirit must have taken place. To be Awakened, the Spirit residing in an individual must have been jolted into anoter level of Consciousness. Once newly Awakened, these beings revert to their animal instincts, unable to handle their Emotions and abilities. Many have gone astray and turn into crimninals. Some would turn 'spiritual' and follow guides such as the Vampire Codex and the Vampire Ritual Book or the Luciferian path of vampirism, by well-known occultist Michael W. Ford.
These newly-awakened beings are the ones who give Vampires a bad name. That is why to be called a Vampire is unglamourous. It has a negative connotation attached to its name. Furthermore, no thanks to teen movies such as Twilight, the very essence of the Vampire has been distorted, although most of what happens in the recent movies prove that Vampires are extremely emotional beings. But surely we do not sparkle in sunlight!
Newly-awakened vampires turn desperately to others for help and guidance in controlling their raging Emotions. They become animal-like.
Psychologically, the Vampire's Spirit is in a total mess. How would it cope with its environment and its internal chaos? If one turns to psychology, Cark Jung has posited a study. In Two Worlds, Carl Jung first noted that people seemed fundamentally different in terms of whether they were more extroverted, oriented to the external world of people and experiences outside themselves, or introverted, oriented to their internal worlds of thoughts, ideas, feelings and memories. Then, he noticed more differences in terms of what people were doing in each of these worlds. These he called "functions". Now called cognitive processes.
Therefore, a Vampire, having been gifted with the Spirit, can choose how to evolve and grow Spirit-wise. It can choose to evolve extrovertedly, introvertedly, or both ways. Emotionally and Intellectually. Is there a future for these Vampires? Is there a one correct path to follow? One could only speculate.
As the group Mindless Faith said in their song 'Dust of Centuries':
"Is this what they wanted?
Are we the dream?
Is this the foreseen dystopia?
Is a paradise buried
Beneath the centuries?
We're always somewhere in between..."
The Spirit, therefore, is Immortal. Our knowldge lies in our Spirit, which resides in the Mind; Free Will, Intellect, what you may call it. The Soul gives life to the Body, the Immortal Spirit gives it the drive to survive. When the Body and Soul perish, it is the Spirit that lives on. To overcome Human failings, to learn from the past mistakes in history, to overcome the fear of death-to realise that death is not the end, that our Spirit will live on this world-while retaining animal-like passions and desires, is the trait of the Immortal Vampire Spirit.
Sources & Inspirations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_spirit
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Mindless_Faith:The_Dust_Of_Centuries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death
http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1773/2010/085/index-en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraversion_and_introversion
|
