Do you consider yourself a psyvamp or perhaps just a vampire? Did you once associate with that archetype but don’t anymore? What changed for you? Do you still work with energy or other paranormal/supernatural/meta-natural paradigms?

Leave a comment, and lets get some discussion going.

Peace in Darkness,

-Tassit-

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17245-londons-magical-history-uncorked-from-witch-bottle.html

As always, some of the more interesting stuff happens in the comments… but take everything you read there with a grain of salt

One of the experts mentioned in the article, Brian Hoggart, runs a website called Apotropaios, which is Greek for “evil-averting”. He’s collecting physical evidence of items that were buried or placed inside, under or around houses or buildings that were used to ward off evil… and you can help!

Cave in Qumran

Though there is much debate, Prof. Elior has maintained her position that the Essenes do not refer to themselves in the text of all 930 scroll fragments and may in fact be the mythical creation of historians of the first century AD.

In a recent posting on the blog of Dr. Jim West Dr. Elior provides a link to an online version of the Dead Sea Scrolls urging us to read them for ourselves.

I have studied a bit of biblical Hebrew, but I think that read would be well over my head.

A Time article dated March 16, 2009 explains Elior’s position.

Links of Interest:
Out of the Desert: A Time Magazine article from 1957. 10 pages on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

For other interesting reads, check out the list of books at this mini-store.

Vampire by E. Munch

In the news recently an article came up about an archaeology team in Italy who found proof of what was possibly a “vampire” exorcism.

Turns out,  back in the 16th century it was believed that bodies that had been buried in mass graves and subsequently dug up could have been vampires. The bloated bodies contained blood that would ooze out the skin, making them appear that they were still “alive” (but dead) and holes were formed in the cloth used to shroud their faces as bacteria from inside the bodies ate away at the material. They were thus thought to be eating the shrouds… seeking nourishment from beyond the grave.

What led the diggers to believe these were thought to be vampires? They found one body… a woman… who had had a brick placed in her mouth. This follows a the belief held at the time that placing a brick in their mouth would stop the vampire from eating… and hence harming others.

In fact, the term “shroud eater” is used to describe a certain European-style vampire, quite different from those described in the works of Bram Stoker or Anne Rice.

Those interested in this particular branch of vampirism would be inspired by the site found at http://www.shroudeater.com. Mr. Rob Brautigam has done an outstanding job researching actual, documented cases of vampires (aka shroudeaters) and invites you to take a tale and do some digging of your own to uncover the truth.

Help support this site by clicking on the links included above and purchase some books. Use irewards coupon!

Read about the find, including a photo, here.

…begin!

(Ok I know the site looks cheesy, I’m having domain problems. Just stick with the content for now ok? )