Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are, that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men's eyes, because they know, or think they know, some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all, and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.

But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new and which are but the old, which pretend to be young - like the fine ladies at the opera. I suppose now you do not believe in corporeal transference. No? Nor in Materialisation. No? Nor in Astral bodies. No? Nor in the reading of thought. No? Nor in hypnotism - 'Yes' I said. 'Charcott has proved that pretty well.' He smiled as he went on: "Then you are satisfied to it. Yes? And of course then you understand how it act, and can follow the mind of the great Charcot into the very soul of the patient that he influence.' Conversation of Van Helsing in Dr Seward's Diary, Bram Stoker, Dracula, (1897)

The Psychic Vampire is a familiar figure to those interested in vampirology. The notion of a psychic vampire, a person who either consciously or unconsciously, drains energy psychically from those around them thus weakening them, developed in its modern western form in the nineteenth century. Influential occult groups such as the Theosophy society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn warned against them, and taught defence techniques against them.

The psychic vampire or psychic sponge as they were less glamorously termed featured as threats in stories such as Conan Doyle's The Parasite, a story his friend Bram Stoker was probably familiar with. The Psychic Vampire Codex is the first detailed product of a significant development in the concept of psychic vampirism in the late twentieth century, in which those who saw themselves as psychic vampires started to speak for themselves.

The Codex is the latest expanded version of a manual which explores the nature of psychic vampirism, which Michele Belanger, well known in the vampire scene, has been working on since 1991. At the heart of the Codex is an attempt to interpret psychic vampirism as part of a natural, universal cycle of energy exchange, rather than being inherently negative. The Codex is not a dogmatic document since it has been subject to revision and change and the author accepts there are "many paths to follow" and states directly it is important for the reader to "seek your own truth."

In the process of attempting to do this for this review, the difficulty is reception of the book will be very much going to dependent on your personal beliefs as we shall see. Let us start by giving an outline of the book. Part One of the book provides a context for how the Codex came to be. The first chapter discusses the traditional hostile views of psychic vampirism held by occultists and someof the many differing ideas about what psychic vampires actually are circulating in vampire circles - some claiming physical origins, some spiritual ones. The central conclusion is that it is all about gaining energy, energy which for one reason or another a psychic vampire cannot produce itself, whether it is emotional, sexual or pure vital energy.

The second and third chapters provide a fascinating examination of the evolution of American vampire subculture through small press magazines, roleplaying and on the internet. In the nineties via the medium of the Internet self professed real vampires started coming together, both blood drinkers and psychic vampires. The author during this period found fellow travellers, other psychic vampires, with whom she felt she shared a set of past lives as part of an ancient temple, which had a three fold caste structure, of Priest, Warrior and Counsellor.

These connections formed the basis of what became Michele's own group, which much later in 1999 became named House Kheperu. It was out of this group the ideas found in the Codex came together and as it was written for them some parts of the Codex are not relevant to non Kheperu, who may not have the same exact needs. In this review I will tend not to focus on these Keperu specific elements. Earlier smaller versions of the Vampire Codex circulated on the internet having a great influence in vampire groups particularly in the Sanguinarium which many readers will have heard of. In 2000 she worked with Father Sebastian Todd to reformulate the ethical creed for vampires known as the Black Veil, also widely found on the net.

Chapter four discusses the term vampire, a romanticised one she states which "really has very little in common with psychic vampires." It was a convenient term which psychic vampires adopted for lack of an alternative, but it is a label she feels has negative and predatory connotations which has created a psychological trap for those who are psychic vampires. The Codex provided an escape from this by offering a positive interpretation of psychic vampirism and even provides ways to use their powers to heal people.

In Chapter five she explains what she hopes to achieve through the Codex using it to both to help other psychic vampires, but to make the condition more widely understood in a time of spiritual transfromation. She aims to make the book as easy to understand as possible so others can learn from it.

Part two, the Codex, proper is split into sections: the first dealing with discovering you are a psychically gifted - Awakening and Recognition as it is termed. This explains amongst other things how you recognise those who have the Potential to be Awakened via psychic means, and how and whether it can be carried out safely. Psychic vampires have a special aura with a mass of psychic tendrils, though there are also varying physical characteristics which can include acute hearing, pallor or intense eyes.

Large groups of the Awakened naturally draw towards them those have the Potential to awake. The Codex states that "True psychic vampirism is inborn"(46) and that although others can learn to draw psychic energy they cannot be true psychic vampires, who are distinct and separate. The second section covers feeding and energy exchange, exactly how the psychic vampire can feed and on what, and how individuals have different needs, depending on what type of caste they are in Keperu terms.

Techniques range from drawing energy from crowds at those who consent. Yet it sometimes hedges on the question, leaving it up to the individual vampire to make up their mind. Thus it says of methods of feeding "If you follow a strict code of ethics you may wish to" feed only with consenting donors. (101) Yet the Black Veil clearly states "Feeding should occur between consenting adults." But it is all a great improvement on the oldest separate psychic vampire organisation, the Temple of the Vampire, founded in 1989, which regards humans as cattle who you can feed on at will.

So if occultists are prejudiced then an impartial observer would have to say it is a prejudice based on in their terms what is a very long history dealing with cases of unprovoked psychic assault. Certainly unconscious psychic vampires are not inherently evil, if they are not aware what they are doing is wrong, but then neither is a tarantula yet its bite can still cause significant pain and injury, and it is a natural reaction to fear it. Ultimately if a psychic vampire drains any person consciously without their consent, I suspect the vast majority of occultists will condemn the action.

So perhaps both sides then have much to learn from each other in the future. There are other criticisms you could make from an occult viewpoint. In Chapter II it is stated the nineties occult revival and the spread of Reiki and Qi Gong techniques in America which finally gave a chance for psychic vampires to openly accept who they are. This change is part of a spiritual revolution which is going to break down conservative materialism. Before this period psychic vampires hid themselves both because of the stigma attached to them by occultists and also because society was so materialistic few people accepted the concept of "vital energy" at that time. This is shown by fact the West has no terms equivalent to eastern terms like Prana and Chi. (13-14, 44-45) Surely this underrates the effects of the major Western occult revivals of the 1850s, 1890s, the 1920s and most significantly the sixties, all of which challenged materialism and left a popular legacy.

The quote from Dracula at the head of this review shows how Stoker used common occult ideas in his novel. I also strongly question the reality of the coming of any sort of progressive spiritual transformation, as the actual expanding religious powerhouse is conservative fundamentalism of all types which has far greater political power across the world.

As for there being no Western word for prana, she uses one frequently, vital, coming from the Latin for life, which has been used for the last 2000 years to refer to life energy in the West. Here are two similar words both deriving, just like their Eastern equivalents from the word for breath, spirit from the Latin and pneuma from the Greek. In fact the doctrine of vitalism only really went into serious decline in Western science in the mid-nineteenth century.

Also she avoids the reverse question, if psychic vampires are indeed a distinct group from the rest of humanity, with an ancient heritage, why are they not mentioned in India and China with their rich understanding of energy techniques? Why are all the psychic vampire groups centred in the materialistic west? There are more questions to be answered here and I suspect the sheer youth of organised vampire beliefs, compared to even neo-pagan ones, is likely to mean it is going to be viewed with suspicion for some time.

Finally, what of the materialists like Dr Seward who might face this spiritual revolution? What might their reaction to this book be? From a sceptical perspective the book fails to provide any firm evidence for its claims, being based purely on could be termed subjective experiences and moreover ones which have no internal agreement. For example take the ability to perceive auras the author mentions as one of the characteristics of vampires. She mentions that visual hallucinations can be mistaken for auras, and she also states that perception of auras will appear different for every vampire.

How then might a sceptic ask can we be sure any visions of auras are valid then, especially when scientific investigation of supposed aura effects such as seen in Kirilian photography, have revealed no basis for connecting them to anything supernatural and investigations of psychic's readings of auras have been revealed as inaccurate? If psychic vampires can tell infallibly using their powers whether people are healthy or unhealthy why don't they prove it y using their abilities to save people or to make a fortune as healers?

Physical things like the sufferings of a hungry psy vamp could be explained as psychosomatic illness. Revelations of past lives, although frequently claimed by many religions have never been proven, so this is also unlikely to impress a sceptical reader. The very open nature of the book which accepts that psy vamps vary in nature significantly means it will be difficult to prove itself to be true to others, but then that is what seeking your own truth is about.

For a sceptic then the powers of the psychic vampire remain as unproved currently as the miracles of Christian saints. In conclusion I think this will be seen in retrospect as a significant book and one which will go on to influence many people down the years. The fact it has received plaudits from both Storm Constantine and Dr Katherine Ramsland show its interesting qualities. It certainly signals the emergence of a set of new spiritual ideas of vampirism into the wider world beyond the Internet.

I suspect we will be seeing an ongoing growth in psychic vampire numbers as a result. However, it seems to me that it will have a more limited impact in Britain where as readers will be aware the vampire scene is quite different from the American one. Public British vampire groups are focused round the idea the vampire is a fascinating gothic symbol and literary figure, rather than being necessarily being real either in either physical or occult terms. There are indeed British psychic vampires and blood drinkers, but they are not really organised openly at the moment and they are far less prominent than in the US.

These differences are cultural; a result of the fact the UK is a far more secular nation than America with less interest in spiritual style organisations and though willing to wear fangs and strange clothes in public feel actually claiming to be a "real vampire" is just too embarrassing. Whether this will all change in future is an interesting question, possibly like Van Helsing we will see the growth of new beliefs around us. At least we can probably agree in the words of the Codex it is best to, "Seek your own Truth."