One Sanguinarian's View of Blood Feeding

When the community first started happening online you saw Sangs everywhere.

Then came the Psi / Sang Wars.

The Psis fought for the right to be considered vampires by the Sang Community, and part of the OVC community. Since many Sangs also feed psionically, especially before they fully awaken as Sangs, the Psis won, and after some hard-fought and well-won battles, became an integral part of the community, actually outnumbering the Sanguinarians over the years.

Over a decade later there is now a resurgence of issues between the two factions, mostly regarding “the proper way to feed” and I’m about to weigh in on my very Sanguinarian side of the story.

For a minute let’s forget everything you may or may not have heard about how and why Sanguinarians blood feed. Let’s start with what few facts we have and move on to theory and how I view what and why Sangs feed.

Among us, Sangs most often define Sanguinarianism as “A physical need to consume blood to remain healthy”. Medical doctors, for the most part, disagree with us, stating there is no physical need for a human to ingest blood, but the doctors also admit they have no suggestions as to why we crave it, either. What every true Sang knows is that if those cravings go unheeded our immune systems break down, our health goes to hell; apathy and depression soon follow. To stave off these crippling symptoms, we find ways and means of consuming blood, and as long as we do, we seem to be fine, both physically and emotionally.

Some folks would think: if it works, just do it, who cares why... But like most things in life, it’s never that simple, of course.

North Americans have issues surrounding blood. No, that’s not an insult, it’s just a fact. We get uptight about most things that might be morally reprehensible and since the Bible says, “the blood is the life”, many of our Christian friends and family show great concern about our tendency to drink this substance. Not everyone in the world feels the same. Blood is an acceptable food item in many cultures, from the famous Black Pudding and Blood sausages of UK and Europe to African tribes who prefer their blood mixed with milk for consumption. Blood contains minerals, proteins, amino acids and other things our bodies need. People who consume blood eat it for its excellent food value.

Are Sanguinarians actually any different?

Over the years I’ve consumed blood from animals and from live human donors. I can honestly say here and now that I find no difference as far as effect goes. Whether I feed from a donor, or from fresh animal blood the effect is the same, and whichever one I feed from, I know I will need to feed again in about 7 to 10 days –- less if I’m highly stressed; longer if I’m relaxed and not doing anything unduly physical. I consume more animal blood at a feeding than I do human blood from a donor, only because the animal blood doesn’t care and is not harmed by my feeding. I tend to take less from a donor due to guilt and a desire to inconvenience my donor as little as possible. The only difference I can find is that I prefer to have a donor when I can, because the intimacy is as delicious as the blood, and much warmer and fuzzier than taking a cube of frozen blood out of the freezer and letting it melt under my blue-rare steak. Donors give a lot more than just offering blood. They give us companionship and affection and a feeling of power. No animal can ever replace THAT.

For some reason all of that doesn’t seem to translate to the entire Vampire Community and I’ve heard far too many times over the years that Sangs make use of pranic energy or some other kind of energy, depending on who you talk to, from the blood, making us another kind of energy feeder, -- something that is actually a Psi Vamp trait, and not Sanguinarian at all.

I see it on many boards, especially Psi boards. For some reason those who are not Sanguinarians seem to be SURE we use energy like a Psi Vampire does, even though there is absolutely NO reason or indication that is the case.

Psi Vampires DO feed on energy for many sources. Without added energy intake Psi Vamps can become as sick as any blood-deficient Sang. Psis have been known to feed from humans, animals, crowds, elemental energy and just about any other source of prana or energy that you can name. Psis NEED energy, and I’ll never begrudge them what they need any more than I’ll ever blame any Sang for needing what they need. The fact we both get sick when we lack what we need, however does NOT mean we are the same creatures using the same thing from what we feed on.

“So how do you explain Hybrid Vampires who can feed on both?” THAT is a question that usually follows the above statements when I say that Sangs and Psis are not the same creatures. So let’s address that issue right now by allowing me to point out that just because a person has diabetes, doesn’t mean they can’t also have fibromyalgia. Just because a person has an energy deficiency that causes them to need to feed on outside energy sources does NOT mean they can’t also have a DIFFERENT KIND OF DEFICIENCY that causes them to crave blood.

While most Sanguinarians DO suck the energy out of everything around them when they first awaken, most of us, after a number of years find that Psi feeding no longer fills our need for blood in any way, shape or form. It’s not that we do not know how to Psi feed… most of us do, many of us have done so for years, either to supplement our lack of blood feeding or just for the “high”. Many of us have used sex feeding to help put off a feeding when blood feeding was not possible or was inconvenient. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help for long, and as we get older, in most cases, it ceases to replace a feeding at all, other than use as a distraction. I know. I’ve tried. Almost all of us have. Have you got ANY idea how much EASIER it is to take energy than to get blood? It's night and day! And almost no one has any real moral issue with drawing Psi energy from crowds, or elemental feeding. That’s a lot simpler than having to beg a donor for blood or find an animal source. If we could replace blood with psi for the good of our health, don’t you think we WOULD? After years of trying, I can honestly tell you all that we just can’t. It doesn’t work. We wish it did. The fact of the matter is: We need blood, not energy.

In the end, it's apples and oranges. As the threat of the return of the Sang / Psi Wars rears its ugly head, threatening to divide, yet again, a community many of us are trying to unite, maybe both Psis and Sangs need to cut each other a little slack. It’s not about how or what we feed on that brings our communities together. It’s the fact that we’re different, and our needs, that bring us together. We don’t have to be the same. Sangs are not “unevolved energy feeders”. Psis are not lesser Vampires because they suck energy. We’re just different. If one can’t be “different” in the Vampire Community, where can we be?

In closing I have only one thing left to say: It’s Ok to be Psi, and feed on energy, and Sang feeding is NOT energy feeding, unless you consider eating a hamburger to be sucking the energy out of a cow.

And THAT is my 2 cents worth on the topic.

[Sanguinarius addendum: It's okay to be Sanguinarian, too, and feed on blood. Granted, blood drinking _is_ an extremely risky behavior, and if you can get by with other means, it is advisable to do so. And don't ever let anyone tell you you are less of a vampire because you feed on blood!]

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© 2008. This article is copyrighted by the author or Smoke & Mirrors/Lady CG. Article reprinted with permission from Smoke & Mirrors Message Board on the web at http://www.smokenmirrorshome.com/phpBB2/ .

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