Vampire Creation Theories, Origens, etc

"'I am not a sex-driven vampire or a violent vampire, and I'm completely sane.  I drink blood because it is my natural instinct and need; I believe I was born to become a vampire.  That ties in with my belief in reincarnation and that my soul is very old." - Letter from Vampiress Paulina, published in Vampires: the Occult Truth by Konstantinos "Mummy, mummy...where do babies come from?" is quite possibly one of the most dreaded question a parent can be asked. Likewise, "Rose, Rose...where do vampires come from?" is one of the most dreaded question questions that I, as webmistress can be asked. Why is it such a horrible question? Well...simply because it is difficult to define, for many reasons which I will shortly get into, and because there really is no set answer I can give to you (nor can anyone else). But, this question has often arisen from curious visitors, and should be addressed...hence, the reason for this page's existance. So...I shall try my best. Hope this helps.

    First off, I would like to make the point that anyone on the internet or the world in general who tells you that they have all the answers for definate (including myself) is telling a lie, whether intentionally so or not. The simple fact is, that the very nature of reality is interpreted differently and uniquely by each individual's personal perceptions. One perfect example of this is the existance of people we call "colour blind". To one person a colour may appear yellow, while to another it appears green, while to a dog it may appear entirely colourless. So, what is the true color? Can you tell the person who sees green instead of yellow, that what they are seeing is any less real than what you are seeing? In another example, Vietnamese and other cultures consume the meat of dogs, which to a Western mind may sound uncivilized. However, Hindus - who revere cows - would regard Western practises of eating beef as sacreligious. So, who is right, and who is wrong, in the end? And if we can't even agree on these such simple things...how can we ever hope to truly define and distill reality into one neat little package?
    In essence, we do not see things as they are, we see things as we are (this quaint little saying was stolen from the Jewish Torah ) and it is indeed very difficult to maintain an open mind when part of us yearns for something consistent. But the best each of us can do is give our own interpretations of life, influenced by our own experiences, biases, thoughts and feelings...aided by the common concensus of how society tends to perceive things as well. That is what I am about to do in my presentation here on theories, thoughts and perceptions of vampiric origins. You will gain my interpretation, common traits and beliefs that most people tend to agree on, as well as interpretations of others.

    If I were to ask you "what makes a human being?", what would you answer? Would you take a sociological approach and say that humans may be social creatures of reason, group behaviour, etc? Would you take a scientific approach and say that humans are made up of energy molecules? How about a biological approach in which human beings might be made up of cells and tissues and nerves...or a psychological approach, to say that human beings are creatures of influence and experience and that every little thing in life has some sort of psychological impact? Or perhaps, you might offer some spiritual take on things...we are all part of the great balance of life/we are all children of God/we have evolved from animals/we are the victims of the wheel of Samsara/etc? Then again, if you are a philosopher, you may address man's reasoning and emotional nature....or, say you are a historian, you may define man in terms of generations and ancestors. In the end, your perceptions and hence your response would depend on what type of mindframe you are coming from. But, are human beings truly and or only "one" of these categories as mentioned? Are we just matter, are we just spiritual creatures, etc? Who can say for definate? Although anyone can probably offer some proof or reasoning for believing what they do. So why judge? The world is made up of all sorts of people...with all sorts of viewpoints...perhaps then, a human being can actually be a combination of all of these categories, to some degree.
    And therefore, in that same light, so too can a vampire be defined in a multitude of ways. Below I shall present some popular theories and beliefs...you may judge for yourself as to what makes sense.
 

Genetics - Some believe that living vampires are the products of genetic mutations. This would mean that some slight change in the body, differing from that of an average human being, gives the vampire unusual cravings (either for blood or energy, though the genetic mutation theory generally tends to be associated with blood vampires). In a way, this is similar to Pica...a trait in some human beings associated with genetics, biology and psychology which leaves the person craving unusual nourishment (ashes, chalk, paint chips, etc). Some also take this genetic mutation vampire theory and apply it to a slight sense of photosensitivity, slightly heightened senses, etc.  Furthermore, some people claim that somehow they can "pass on" this genetic mutation in the form of a virus transmitted through their blood to that of another non-vampiric person.

Ancient/Alien Race -Now...don't laugh, this is actually a surprisingly popular concept. Many living vampires claim to have vivid past life memories, some in which they trace their first existance back to some sort of ancient society of people, or an alien race of people which was obliterated waaaaaay back when. It is their belief that they are reincarnations of that existance. One person I talked too said he could recall an entire language of this "obliterated" culture and gave me a snippet of it. "Tumem Garla", he said...which supposedly meant "You also, are one". If this means anything to anyone else...good for you.

Vampiric spirit posession -Another popular theory seems to be the idea of posession by a vampiric "spirit" or essence. If you read Katherine Ramsland's Book Piercing the Darkness, there is an entire story about her encounter with a self-proclaimed vampire who believed his vampiric nature to merely be the influence of a vampiric spirit. Sometimes, this theory of being posessed by a vampiric spirit also gets tied in with the aforementioned ancient society idea...in which the person believes they are being influenced by the spirit of a member of one of those ancient societies.

Scientific/biological -This is a popular notion with the concept of psychic vampirism. Scientific evidence suggests that all human beings and all matter in the world is composed of energy (positively and negatively charged atoms...and gee, doesn't this just reek of a chemistry class, suddenly?). The vampire, in this case, has a shortage of or cannot maintain a consistent balance of life-energy to sustain normal health and regenerate body cells, so he/she absorbs the energy of other beings. The vampire might also feed off of the ionisphere - that atmosphere of energy that allows radio waves, microwave and ultraviolet rays and so forth to travel upon. Some may also apply this energy shortage to the notion that vampires tend to be sensitive to extremes (sunlight, bright lights, strong smells, etc)...in other words, their ability to draw energy from other beings for sustenance, also forces them to perceive the energy in other things to a stronger degree.

Psychological/Vampiric Personalities - The psychological approach to vampirism may be similar to the notion of schizophrenia, in that the person has somehow "convinced themselves" that part of them is a vampire. Their convictions in this regard become so strong that they will themselves to suck the energy out of people, or to drink their blood as the case may be. Some also may see a reflection of oral retention in blood vampirism.
 
 

        In the "Common vampiric Traits and misconceptions" page at VAU, I list some generally observed (by myself and others) traits that seem to coincide with the state of being vampiric.   I also mention that having all of these traits does not necessarily make one a vampire, nor does having none of the traits necessarily mean one is not a vampire.   Essentially, the most crucial indication of a vampiric nature is a constant craving for something nameless, or more specifically, either blood, or energy.  Beyond all other commonly observed vampiric traits such as heightened emotional and biological sensitivity, a sense of feeling out of place in the world, and an irresistable attraction to all things dark and/or vampiric...the craving is what is more important to define vampiric nature.

        Personally, my views in regards to how vampires are created stem from concepts involving both genetics and spirituality.   In my spiritual orientation, I believe that all things in life as we know it are formed from spiritual energy (if you want a better understanding of this, read any book on tantric philosophy discussing the concepts of Shiva and Shakti.  One such book is The Heart of Meditation by Swami Durgananda).  I believe that this energy can break apart (for example, when something is hurt or destroyed) and brought together again (for example, when something is created or born or healed).  My theories in regards to vampires are, in a nutshell, that certain pieces of spiritual energy (which we'll call "vampire energy") tend  to want to "group" together in a certain way, and therefore tend to not be so easily broken apart, or remain "floating" closer together in a way that normal human energy pieces don't (IE: human energy pieces spread out more when they are broken apart).  A certain genetic disposition within the physical body perhaps enables vampiric energy pieces to group together more easily when inhabiting said body.  Thus, the spiritual energy of the vampire remains the same within different physical incarnations.   This would explain the vampire's feelings of being "out of place", and of having strong past life memories, etc.
    I also believe that since it would no doubt take such a high level of power to keep this vampiric energy together (to keep it from separating) the vampire must therefore consume additional sources of human energy as fuel; a sort of "spiritual padding".  This would explain a vampire's need to feed off of psychic energy or human blood (which also contains energy, more directly).
    Furthermore, the fact that many vampires only become aware of their nature following puberty or some sort of traumatic event, could be because it is at such life-threatening moments that the vampiric energy struggles even more noticeably to thrive and survive when it's host body is in danger of destruction.  Thus, it reaches out in any way it can to grab energy, which is probably much more observable and understandable by the vampire experiencing this desparate struggle for survival.
    Finally, the idea that most vampires tend to heal faster and have stronger spiritual connections/abilities than normal humans could be due to the idea that the vampiric energy's need to survive and thrive is so strong, that is heals injuries as fast as possible, and that is will aid that process in whichever ways possible - including allowing the vampire to tap into spiritual energy manipulation and feeding techniques.