{"id":5538,"date":"2011-08-01T01:10:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T06:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2011-07-13T21:32:12","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T02:32:12","slug":"review-vampyre-sanguinumicon-the-lexicon-of-the-living-vampire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/08\/01\/review-vampyre-sanguinumicon-the-lexicon-of-the-living-vampire\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Vampyre Sanguinumicon: The Lexicon of the Living Vampire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vampyre Sanguinumicon:\u00a0 The Lexicon of the Living Vampire<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by\u00a0 Father Sebastiaan <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010\u00a0 Weiser Books <\/em><\/p>\n

ISBN:\u00a0 978-1578634804 <\/em><\/p>\n

Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 320 pages <\/em><\/p>\n

$24.95 (U.S.)x<\/em><\/p>\n

There has been a resurgence in the interest in vampires of late (witness the Twilight<\/em> books\/movies and \u201cTrue Blood\u201d, etc.), although it never really went away.\u00a0 This book is for the Living Vampire \u2013 the one who seeks to live in glamour and ritual on a daily basis \u2013 not the \u201ckid in a cape\u201d who plays at being an immortal being.<\/p>\n

The first thing which struck me as I began reading this book was the\u00a0 consistent use of jargon as a means of establishing the \u201cdifference\u201d between those who follow this particular tradition and those who do not.\u00a0 This is an obvious first step in separating two individual worlds, and has been in use for hundreds of years \u2013 most recently distinguish between members of the neo-Pagan community and the \u201cmundanes\u201d or \u201cmuggles\u201d.\u00a0 It is refreshing, however, to see that the author makes no attempt to convince the reader that this tradition has existed unchanged for centuries.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is a flaw in my personality or my perceptive abilities, but I find Sebastiaan’s attitude that members of Strigoi Vii may feel free to appropriate the symbology and belief structures of others without compunction (other than doing it for the betterment of the Strigoi Vii) while denying a need<\/p>\n

to acknowledge any real understanding of these systems to be unacceptable.<\/p>\n

I am in no position to question the sincerity of Father Sebastiaan, since I am not a member of the Strigoi Vii.\u00a0 I am familiar with the elitist tone of the writing in\u00a0 this book and can testify that it is often a sign of sincerity \u2013 if not always objective truth.\u00a0 Whether or not this book is objectively true, for a certain number of readers it will be subjectively true.<\/p>\n

The first portion of the book is dedicated to providing the background and underpinnings of the lifestyle of the Strigoi Vii.\u00a0 Parts of this section will likely seem highly fantastic and\/or delusional to some who read it.\u00a0 Other readers may have an \u201cah, ha!\u201d moment as a result of what is laid out here.<\/p>\n

One minor quibble, and I freely admit that it is strictly personal, is the excessive (in my opinion) use of capitalization.\u00a0 Words such as \u201cwe\u201d and \u201cimmortal\u201d really don’t rate capitalization by the rules of English grammar as I learned them.<\/p>\n

I must also admit that I resorted to skimming while reading this book, as (for a variety of reasons) I found it less than a compelling read.\u00a0 This is, in no way, a condemnation of the contents or the style of writing.\u00a0 It simply didn’t resonate for ME.\u00a0 Your experience may be different.<\/p>\n

If you have felt a call to the Vampyre lifestyle, for reasons beyond a fashion trend, or a desire to shock friends and family, you will find this book will offer you insights, and provoke your thought processes.\u00a0 It is not a book for everyone, but then, it sets out with the intent of not being one of those.\u00a0 For those who are looking for inspiration, this may be what you have been looking for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vampyre Sanguinumicon:\u00a0 The Lexicon of the Living Vampire by\u00a0 Father Sebastiaan \u00a9 2010\u00a0 Weiser Books ISBN:\u00a0 978-1578634804 Paperback\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 320 pages $24.95 (U.S.)x There has been a resurgence in the interest in vampires of late (witness the Twilight books\/movies and \u201cTrue Blood\u201d, etc.), although it never really went away.\u00a0 This book is for the Living Vampire \u2013 the one who seeks to live in glamour and ritual on a daily basis \u2013 not the \u201ckid in a cape\u201d who plays at being an immortal being. The first thing which struck me as I began reading this book was the\u00a0 consistent use of jargon as a means of establishing the \u201cdifference\u201d between those who follow this particular tradition and those who do not.\u00a0 This is an obvious first step in separating two individual worlds, and has been in use for hundreds of years \u2013 most recently distinguish between members of the neo-Pagan community and the \u201cmundanes\u201d or \u201cmuggles\u201d.\u00a0 It is refreshing, however, to see that the author makes no attempt to convince the reader that this tradition has existed unchanged for centuries. Perhaps it is a flaw in my personality or my perceptive abilities, but I find Sebastiaan’s attitude that members of Strigoi Vii may feel free to appropriate the symbology and belief structures of others without compunction (other than doing it for the betterment of the Strigoi Vii) while denying a need to acknowledge any real understanding of these systems to be unacceptable. I am in no position to question the sincerity of Father Sebastiaan, since I am not a member of the Strigoi Vii.\u00a0 I am familiar with the elitist tone of the writing in\u00a0 this book and can testify that it is often a sign of sincerity \u2013 if not always objective truth.\u00a0 Whether or not this book is objectively true, for a certain number of readers it will be subjectively true. The first portion of the book is dedicated to providing the background and underpinnings of the lifestyle of the Strigoi Vii.\u00a0 Parts of this section will likely seem highly fantastic and\/or delusional to some who read it.\u00a0 Other readers may have an \u201cah, ha!\u201d moment as a result of what is laid out here. One minor quibble, and I freely admit that it is strictly personal, is the excessive (in my opinion) use of capitalization.\u00a0 Words such as \u201cwe\u201d and \u201cimmortal\u201d really don’t rate capitalization by the rules of English grammar as I learned them. I must also admit that I resorted to skimming while reading this book, as (for a variety of reasons) I found it less than a compelling read.\u00a0 This is, in no way, a condemnation of the contents or the style of writing.\u00a0 It simply didn’t resonate for ME.\u00a0 Your experience may be different. If you have felt a call to the Vampyre lifestyle, for reasons beyond a fashion trend, or a desire to shock friends and family, you will find this book will offer you insights, and provoke your thought processes.\u00a0 It is not a book for everyone, but then, it sets out with the intent of not being one of those.\u00a0 For those who are looking for inspiration, this may be what you have been looking for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}