A psychic vampire is not actually a vampire who happens to be psychic, since most vampires are reputed to have the powers of seers, or psychics in any case. A psychic vampire has many different synonymous names, such as an energy vampire, psy/psi-vamp, psionic vampire, energy parasite, pranic vampire, empathic vampire, or energy predator. What the creature does, is feed off of the spiritual or emotional energy of another being to make itself stronger. There are myths and legends of these creatures, just as much as there are about them as being every day emotional predators in today’s society. Psychic vampires are not as widely used in literature as traditional blood drinking vampires are, but often make appearances in science fiction, or the occasional anime series.
Throughout Asia, most of these creatures are female; there are the varieties are fox-women, or tiger-women in Asia, that prey on whole villages, living in the center and remaining youthful and beautiful as others grow old. Usually, their residences are respectfully feared and avoided, such as with the Jiang Shi in China. Other examples are the incubus and succubus demons in Christian and Jewish religions, preying on the dreams and emotions of men and women while they sleep. The Hopi keep oral records; preferring to recite their history and legends with stories, rather than in books. They tell of the powaqa, who appears to be a priest or sorcerer, who comes to an accident victim as though he wants to help, but instead feeds on their fear and anguish.
The famous British occultist Dion Fortune, born Violet Mary Firth, and renowned psychic, wrote about energy and psychic predators in her book “Psychic Self-Defense”, comparing it to aspects of vampirism. However, the writer of the Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey is credited with coining the term “psychic vampire.” Mark Benecke and A. Asbjorn Jon researched psychic vampires and related them to those in the Vampyre lifestyle, as they practice today, with donors who supposedly supply psychic energy. Empathy is also the term used for the acts of those who unconsciously steal energy or emotions from others.
