Glossary of terms about Vampyrism

Bloodplay: Ritual activities, often of a sexual nature, involving blood.

Chi: Close synonym for prana, or life force. A Chinese term. 

Childe: A pejorative term for an inexperienced vampyre.

Clinical vampirism: Synonym for Renfield's Syndrome.

Coming out of the Coffin: The process of revealing one's vampyrism condition to non-vampyres. This is analogous to gays and lesbians coming out of the closet, and Wiccans and other Neopagans coming out of their broom closet.

Coven: A group of vampyres.

Darkside (a.k.a. Dark side): Synonym for nightside.

Dayside: Mundane activities in the "real world."

Donor: A person, usually a non-vampyre -- who freely volunteers their blood or life energy to be consumed by one or more vampyres.

Dhampyri: an individual who exhibited symptoms of vampyrism prior to puberty.

The Dragon: Synonym for nightside.

Elder: A person who has been active in the vampyre community. for a lengthy interval, and who shares their knowledge with others.

Embrace: A mythical process of converting a non-vampyre into a vampyre by having them ingest the blood of a vampyre. This concept frequently appears in vampire literature, but is foreign to the beliefs of vampyres.

Energy signature: An individual's specific energy pattern which is uniquely theirs. This allegedly enables vampyres to recognize fellow vampyres.

Energy vampire: A vampire who obtains nourishment primarily or entirely by tapping into another person's prana or life force directly, without ingesting their blood.

Excommunication: The act of excluding a vampyre from a coven or from the entire vampyre community.

Feeding: An activity of vampyres in which they consume a donor's blood, or prana from a donor by other means, or elemental energy from nature.

Fledgling: a recently awakened vampyre with little experience.

Gaja: synonym for poser.

Golden Circle: Individuals who form a vampyre coven. This typically includes black swans, vampyres, and kitra.

Haematodipsia: Intense feeling of haematophilia.

Haematomania: A strong psychological craving for blood.

Hematophageous: Having blood as one's only form of nourishment.

Haematophilia: An sexual attraction to the presence of blood.

Haven: A place where vampyres meet.

Hemeralopia: An inability to see in bright light

House: A group of vampyres who share common beliefs, rituals traditions, etc.

Human: A non-vampire. (this can be a confusing term because it implies that vampires are not human.)

The Hunger: An intense psychological and physical need to feed.

Hunter: An individual who attempts to harm either vampyres or persons perceived to be vampyres.

Kitra: An individual who is both a vampyre and a donor.

Klavasi. A vampyre who experienced a post-pubertal awakening. Most vampyres are klavasi.

Latent vampire: A vampyre who has not yet realized her or his condition.

Leech: A pejorative term for a vampyre.

Life force: Synonym for prana.

Mentor: An experienced vampyre who guides a fledgling.

Mortal: A non-vampyre. (This can be a confusing term, because all vampyres are mortal, just like the rest of the population.)

Of the Blood: Identifying an individual as a vampyre.

Porphyria: A group of medical disorders of which most will cause the individual will have a strong reaction to sunlight. Areas of the skin which are exposed to the sun may burn, blister or scar. ₃ Some vampire myths may well have originated as a result of the fear of sunlight by persons with porphyria.

Poser: A non-vampyre who pretends to be a vampyre by claiming to:

Prana: Life force. Sanguinarian vampyres obtain pranic energy through blood; Psi vampyres extract it from other person's emotional energy without consuming blood.

Psi vampyre: A vampyre who feeds off of the emotional energy of another person or persons.

Psychic energy: Forms of energy which may be pranic (from living things) or elemental (from natural forces)

Psychic attack: An action by a psychic vampire which drains prana from another individual without their prior consent.

Renfield's Syndrome. A psychological disorder named after a fictional character in Dracula.  Richard Noll proposed the syndrome. He suggests that children go through blood-related phases until full vampyrism is expressed after puberty. The theory is not widely accepted among mental health professionals. It does not appear in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). More info.

Role player: A synonym for poser.

RPG'er: An individual who considers themselves to be a vampyre because they play that role in a Role Playing Game

Sang: a synonym for Sanguinarian vampyre.

Sanguinarian vampyre: An individual who has a need to consume blood -- usually from human source(s) in order to maintain adequate physical and/or emotional energy. He or she may also tap into the emotional energy of others in addition to consuming blood.

Sanguine: a synonym for Sanguinarian vampyre.

Seeker: An individual who wants to be around vampyres. Often, they want to become a vampyre through the mythical process of embracing.

Sexual vampyre: A vampyre who feeds from the sexual energy released during sexual activity. They are rare among the vampyre community.

Shadow: Synonym for nightside.

Sire, Siring: The mythical act of creating a new vampyre by embracing.

Slayer: An individual who attempts to kill vampires. Sarah Michelle Gellar, "The Chosen One," played the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on a TV program by the same name.

Source: A donor; an individual who willingly donates blood to a vampyre.

Turning: The process of converting a non-vampyre into a vampyre, generally through blood ingestion or pranic energy exchange. Most vampyres believe that this is impossible. It is a common theme in vampire literature.

Twilight: Establishing an optimum balance between one's Dayside and Nightside activities.

Vamp: Synonym for either vampire or vampyre. Alternately, a sexually predatory non-vampire woman.

Vamping out: An extreme attack of the hunger. It generally produces many physiological changes in the vampyre's body.

Vampire children: A pejorative term referring to children with xeroderma pigmentosum. This is a genetic disease that causes an extreme sensitivity to sunlight. Even ordinary exposure can cause skin cancer. They have no actual connection to vampyres. ₅

Vampiress: A female vampire.

Vampyre: A variant of the term "vampire" that is sometimes used to differentiate a real individual from a mythical vampire.

Vampyress: A female vampyre.

Vampyric community: All individuals who either refer to themselves as vampyres, or have been identified as vampyres.

Vampire lifestyler: A non-vampyre who who adopts "fictional vampire imagery and trappings into his/her personal life," often patterning themselves after a fictional character. ₆

Vampire tap: An electronic connector which pierces through the insulating layer of a coaxial cable and makes contact with the inner conductor of the cable. It is often used in Ethernet networks that are linked by coaxial cables.  They have no relationship with vampyres or vampires. They are also known as a piercing tap. ₇

Wannabe: Pejorative term for a non-vampyre who wants to become one.

White Swan: An individual who opposes the vampyre community.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "Encyclopedia," Darkness Embraced," at: http://www.darkness-embraced.com/
2. Jodi Lee, "A glossary of Vampiric terms," at: http://sacredtriskele.net/
3. "American Porphyria Foundation," at: http://www.porphyriafoundation.com/
4. "Dictionary / Terms," Everything You Need to Know About Vampires, at: http://www.angelfire.com/
5. "Definition of Vampire children," at: http://www.medterms.com/
6. Ceinwyn, "Some useful terms...," Society of the Black Swan, at: http://www.angelfire.com/
7. "Vampire tap," at: http://isp.webopedia.com/
8. Sanguinarius, "Terminology & Lingo," at: http://www.sanguinarius.org/ This is a very extensive glossary.
9. "Comprehensive Vampire Community Dictionary, House Eclipse, at: http://www.house-eclipse.org/
10. " 'The Black Veil,' v. 1.0 plus information," Sanguinarius.org for Real Vampires, at: http://www.sanguinarius.org/

Copyright © 2005 to 2010 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally posted: 2005-OCT-25
Latest update: 2010-JNA-08

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