So Here’s the e-mail, and I hope some of you go check out the chat happening in 4 hours:

August 2009 Vampire Community Global Chat
Hosted By Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC)

Any interested are welcome to attend a global community chat on Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM EST (8:00 PM GMT). The chat will be held in the IRC channel #vampirevoices on Dalnet.

The initial topic for the chat will be “Discrimination: Have you or your friends and family been discriminated against or threatened because of your vampirism? If so, how have you coped and what advice would you give to others in similar situations? If not, what precautions do you take in your community involvement to prevent facing legal, professional, financial, or personal repercussions in your life?”

If you do not have a program on your computer to use IRC (commonly called an IRC Client), you can access the chat by going to http : //tiny.cc/vampirevoices and entering your desired Username, then clicking “Connect”. If necessary type /join #vampirevoices in the prompt.

Two popular clients are mIRC and xchat

Please help spread the word to all those you know in the vampire community. The channel (#vampirevoices) is always open so feel free to drop by anytime you wish. We hope to see everyone there!

- Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC)

Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC)
Public Meeting Transcript -April 25, 2009
http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/vvc.html

The transcript of this meeting may be downloaded at the following link. Feel free to circulate throughout the vampire community.

http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/images/VVCPublicMeeting04.25.09.pdf

All 4 Meeting Transcripts (Public Logs) From 2008 & 2009 Are Now Available In Both PDF & MSWord Format via The VVC Public Web Site & Links Below

April 27, 2008 - http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/images/VVCPublicMeeting04.27.08.pdf
August 9, 2008 - http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/images/VVCPublicMeeting08.09.08.pdf
December 6, 2008 - http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/images/VVCPublicMeeting12.06.08.pdf
April 25, 2009 – http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/images/VVCPublicMeeting04.25.09.pdf


Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC)
Public Meeting – April 25, 2009

Attendees (21):

Cole St. Valentine – Black Lamp Bay & Carpe Noctem Meetup Group
Corvis Nocturnum – Dark Moon Press & Independent Representative
Eric Bloodstorm – Portland Vampire Community
Diaboluslupus – Southern California Meetup Group
Gabriel – House Lost Haven
Gypsy – House Scarlet Moon
Isealdor – Vampire Realm Of Darkness
Merticus – Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA) & Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC
Michelle Belanger – House Kheperu & MichelleBelanger.com
NyteMuse – House Rosa
Ravena – House Lost Haven
RavenHarte – Clann Caladvwlch
Reija – Independent Representative
Sable Twilight – House Vespertine
Shishain – House Quinotaur
SphynxCatVP – SphynxCatVP Real Vampires Support Site
Sylvere ap Leanan – Real Vampires Community Alliance (RVCA)
Vyrdolak – By Light Unseen
Xeurika – House Quinotaur
Zero – Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA) & Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC 
Zilchy – Independent Representative

Discussion Agenda:

I. Meeting Info & Introductions

Welcome to the first public meeting of Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC) for 2009. If you have not attended a VVC meeting before or are reading this for the first time please briefly take note of how this meeting will be conducted. The transcript from tonight’s meeting is being logged and will be made publicly available.

Topics will be presented in the order they appear on the agenda (VVC members may refer to the forum or their e-mail for tonight’s schedule). Please do not skip ahead and please do not suggest discussion of items not on the agenda until at the end of each major discussion topic.

Feel free to speak your mind on any and all topics in a civil manner and offer any supporting information, links, or material as needed. Thank you for coming and now let’s begin!

II. Background & Introduction

VVC was founded January 2006.

The purpose of the Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC) is to develop friendly relations among the various Houses, Covens, Orders, and other organizations of the vampire community; to encourage cooperation in solving community related problems and in promoting respect for the views, ideas, and opinions of others without seeking to establish a unifying or governing body; and to be a center for harmonizing the actions of groups in attaining these ends. – August 8, 2006

Voices Of The Vampire Community (VVC) does not assert itself as the exclusive organization of leaders or notable persons in the vampi(y)re community nor do we view ourselves or our actions as legislative or authoritarian.

The members of the VVC are representative of multiple groups, Houses, Orders, paths, beliefs, and segments of the vampi(y)re community who meet and are able to put aside personal differences to work together to discuss, suggest, implement, and support projects, ideas, and other intellectual works that help to improve the overall community.

For more information please visit our web site at: http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/vvc.html

We are available to answer questions through the community feedback form available at the site above.

III. Discussion

As a departure from the specific matters we discuss in business meetings, tonight’s meeting will take a broader and more relevant approach to the vampi(y)re community. Opinions offered from members of the VVC who are unable to attend tonight’s meeting will be posted first after the asking of each question. All present members please allow time for this to occur prior to posting your own response. Just as a reminder, conversation is to be kept civil, statements or claims backed by example where necessary, and in cases of insuperable disagreements; a concession between parties to respectfully agree to disagree.

Let’s start the evening with these questions: 

a. Keeping Our Community & Our Donors Safe – A Three-Part Question: (1) What steps can we take as a community to responsibly and accurately inform of potential threats or suspect behavior to our members and donors? (2) How can we properly assess the severity of threats and work effectively with law enforcement and other officials when necessary to ensure our safety? (3) What educational initiatives can we promote and/or offer to assist the members of our community and others in learning about the warning signs and behavioral patterns of potentially dangerous individuals, groups, or cults?

b. Evaluating & Responding To Offers From The Media – A Three-Part Question: (1) What expectations should we have of the media and what questions should we ask prior to consenting to participate in an article or documentary? (2) How can we determine what media requests originate from legitimate sources and what, if any, reasonable expectation of personal privacy should one have for each type of media (print, radio, and film) should they consent to participate? (3) If and when we decide a media proposal is worthwhile to pursue, how do we best match the requests and needs of the project to the specific members of the community who may be able to assist?

c. Improving The Quality & Availability Of The Information Presented On Real Vampirism: How can we improve upon the existing information on our web sites, groups, and forums while at the same time increasingly our visibility to the newly awakened and seasoned veterans alike who are actively searching for information on real vampirism? Let’s discuss for a moment the benefits of ensuring we host the most current and responsible information pertaining to vampirism, feeding practices, and donor care, coupled with search engine optimization (SEO), streamlined web site design, and cross-directory linking to other web sites.

d. The Vampire Community – 2012 & Beyond: Should we have goals, defined agendas, or other aspirations for the vampire community? If so, what should they be and why? Where do you see the greater community headed in the short-term and long-term? Presently, what do you view as the greatest hindrance to the growth and cohesiveness of both your local community and the greater community?

e. Other topics you’d like to bring up for discussion?

IV. Business Reminders

To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck “Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email.” in your profile.

You can view the full announcement by following this link:

http://www.psychicvampire.org/smf/index.php?topic=4996.0

Regards,
The Team.

 Fallen Angels Take My Breath Away

Overtime most societies evolve from their original state. The aforementioned statement should be true for vampirism. Has the modern day vampire evolved from the demonized wife of Adam? While I was trying to decide which questions would be most beneficial to my survey on modern day vampires, I decided the best way to historically and comprehensively track the vampires among us is to work from the present to the past. So, with today’s post I am going to attempt to understand the modern day meaning of vampirism.
The easiest way to define vampirism is to research existing information. The dictionary on my computer defines the word vampire as “A Corpse supposed, in European folklore, to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed teeth.” The cause for the necessity of vampires is not mentioned in this definition so I am going to include the old Slavic definition I found in Vampires of the Slavs by Jan E. Perkowski, “a vampire is supposed to develop from a dead body into which the devil has entered.” I am sure from what I know about modern day vampires both provided definitions are not true of contemporary vampires. Evolution from old vampiric ways is the best way to explain why contemporary vampires may or may not define themselves by the provided definitions.
I determined the best way to define the answer of what vampirism means is to divide respondents by vampires and not vampires. The dividing of respondents will tell us what society thinks vampires are and what existing vampires think vampires are. Therefore, I went on Yahoo! Answers Canada and asked the simple question “What does it mean to be a vampire.” I asked respondent’s to identify whether or not they were vampires in the comment, but not everyone did. I decided if the respondent used indirect terminology such as “they” to describe vampires they were not one. If the respondent used inclusive terms like “we” they were. I got some great responses:
I determined most members of society define vampirism like the dictionaries definition. The definition I felt was a little dated. Eagleo said “well a vampire is = ampires (or vampyres) are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. In most cases, they are reanimated corpses who feed by draining and consuming the blood of living beings.” I can only determine by the dated answers I have received from non-vampire people about vampires there isn’t really a modern definition society sees vampires with. From this I think those who don’t believe in vampire are still operating on the mythological sense of the word vampire.
The vampires answered the questions in a different form. They distinguished between to types of vampires Sanguinarian Vampires and Psi Vampires. The best example definition I have I from Lurking:

“Vampires are not like those in the movies or books, we don’t drain unwilling victims of their blood. We have kind people who are called donors and they give us the blood or energy we need. Vampires are people who have energy deficiency and need to get that energy by taking it from other people. We don’t die in the sun, can’t fly, no super powers, can cross running water, garlic, holy water and the cross don’t phase us (because we are not demons we are just different to normal people), we can see better at night than in the day, heightened senses, we do age(just not as fast) and we aren’t immortal. There are three types of vampires sang vamp, psi vamp and hybrid.

Sang vamp is short for sanguinarian vampire these are the ones that need blood. They get sunburnt really fast(I can only last 30mins before getting sun burnt with sunblock on). They get sluggish durring the day but really active at night.

Psi vamp is short for psychic vampire. They don’t drink blood but feed from chi energy instead. They can get this from touching somone or just being close to another person. The person doesn’t even know most of the time and only feel a bit drained of energy but that goes away soon after. Most psi vamps don’t even know what they are doing and can even feed while they sleep. They can also go to the astral plane.”

Next post, I will attempt to distinguish between the two types of vampires listed and their origins. If you would like to read the answers to the my Yahoo!Answers question follow this link:

Click Here

Do I think vampires are real?

The question of whether or not vampires do or do not exist is not important to the study or research of vampires.

My personal belief is,i’ll only write this once, here:

when I say I’m not really a believer I mean Vampires could exist, but I really really doubt they do. Of course a lot of things could exist, in my frame of logic, double headed siamese mono-browed pixies could exist because their isn’t really any proof that they don’t.

At the same rate I do not believe those who believe in vampirism are weird, dumb, or RPG freaks as I’ve read and heard. People have a right to believe in anything they choose contrary to whether or not I believe in it. This website does not seek to judge only to inform those who are as intersted as I am in vampirism.

If you are interested in contributing leave a comment anywhere you can find, and I’ll give you more information about contributing