Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Balanced and Insightful Resource, June 12, 2005
This review is from: The Ethical Psychic Vampire (Paperback)
As an author on psychic vampirism myself, I know the challenges of tackling this complex and contraversial subject matter - especially when writing from a point of view sympathetic to the vampire. Raven Kaldera attacks the topic head-on, daring to delve into territory that many others have shied away from.
Kaldera, an author who has established himself as someone who does not flinch away from touchy subjects and cultural taboos, brings his usual clear, sensible, and sometimes blunt style to the table, offering practical wisdom for those individuals who are struggling to come to terms with their psychic vampirism. In a community that is often rife with politics, Kaldera takes no sides, instead presenting the material simply as he has observed and experienced it for himself. He supplements his own research and insights into the vampiric condition with interviews with other psychic vampires -- several of them fairly well-known. An added bonus is that these are vampires who themselves are known to have radically different approaches to the topic, and so the reader gets a full-spectrum view on values, practices, and personal experiences.
What I liked best about this work is the fact that Kaldera does not brush under the rug topics like sexuality, blood-drinking, and even parenting. The spiritual and magickal aspects of being a psychic vampire are adequately served, but the practical day-to-day concerns are also given their due.
In all, this is a balanced and coherent text, one I will be recommending to my own readers as a must-have for their shelves.
(...)
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is the real deal., March 8, 2005
This review is from: The Ethical Psychic Vampire (Paperback)
So, perhaps you've noticed a few odd things going on in your life. You get high from being in a crowd of excited people. Sex leaves you feeling energized and your partner feeling sleepy. You seem to need more contact and attention than other people do - a lot more.
You may be what is commonly referred to as a psychic vampire - someone who takes in energy from people around them. But you don't have to resign yourself to being evil, or to wondering if you're the only one out there. You're not.
This book is a lifesaver. It will help you answer questions like, "How do I get what I need ethically? What purpose do vampires serve in the human ecosystem? How can I use this talent to benefit others?"
Strongly recommended for energy vampires, those who are close to them, and energy workers of all sorts.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personal experience and insights illuminate a shadowy subject, September 7, 2006
This review is from: The Ethical Psychic Vampire (Paperback)
I came to Raven Kaldera's book because I have often had to deal with psychic vampires on an adversarial basis in the course of my work. Having had to protect myself, friends and patients against attack, I tended to view vampires rather unsympathetically, and assumed that they had little positive contribution to make to either the pagan/occult community or to society in general.
Then I realised that one of my close friends had vampire tendencies. This book was recommended as a way of gaining insight into her condition and I have found it immensely helpful. Raven has tackled the difficult task of not only explaining life from the vampire's point of view, but of developing, basically from scratch, an ethical and moral framework within which the vampire can live and act, with practical advice to the vampire, and their friends and family, on how to operate within that framework while safeguarding their health and wellbeing.
This is the first book to tackle this kind of material, so, naturally, it leans heavily on the personal experience of Raven and others, but this emphasis on actual experience is also one of the book's great strengths. Sharing the down to earth details of living as a vampire demystifies the subject and shows just how psychic vampires can fit into the spiritual ecosystem and benefit others. I, personally, found that it removed a good deal of my previous revulsion. I would still confront vampires who act in a predatory and unethical manner, but I now have a much better understanding of what's going on and the processes involved, and I know not to try and automatically slap down anyone I catch showing signs of vampire behaviour if they're not harming anyone by it.
All in all, this is one of those books that really did change the way I see the world, and cast much needed illumination on some dark corners.
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