slGoth

Interview with Sphynx Soleil, Advisor to the Sanguinarius Community Center

by Talisien Llewellyn, May 2010

Dark Greetings everyone, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Vampyre Talisien. This is my first article for slGoth Magazine and I hope you all enjoy it.

I own the Liber Obscurum Occult Library in Second Life®. My work with the Library has brought me to many places, one of those places I will tell you about today. There is a place called the Sanguinarius Community Center. The Center is owned by Sanguinarious Magne, also known as Sangi in real life. What makes this place special is the fact that it is a real vampire, otherkin & therian community information center.

I am sure you are all wondering “What is the difference between a SL Vampire and a RL Vampire?" To help find out, I’ve contacted Sphynx Soleil, Advisor to the Sanguinarius Community Center.  Unfortunately, my RL schedule wouldn’t allow for a face to face interview however I did get a chance to ask a few questions.

slG: Why is the Sun so damaging to vampires, and do RL vampires avoid it or is that mythology?

Sphynx: Photosensitivity is very common (more common than skin sensitivity seems to be), but not 100% guaranteed, among  RL vampires. It seems to be a tradeoff - many of us who's eyes are very photosensitive also have excellent  night vision. Skin sensitivity can be compounded by genetics - I come from northern European ancestry, which means I'm not going to tan in the first place, so vampirism - if it has an effect - certainly isn't going to help.

slG: Do RL vampires really drink real human blood?

Sphynx: Yes, but only from willing donors.

slG: What makes a person desire to be a RL vampire?

Sphynx:  Often people think being a vampire means they get to be immortal, extra cool, get neato whizbang powers, and so on. They may be looking for an escape from their boring life, or a wish-fulfillment for fantasy of being better, stronger, faster than everyone else. Vampire fiction these days makes it very popular, and with seemingly little side effects.

slG: How is a RL vampire different than an SL or game/RP vampire?

Sphynx: RL vampires are vampiric 24/7. Those who just roleplay can put that persona away and go back to their non-vampiric reality. RP vampire games tend to concentrate more on fictional aspects - immortality, power over others, shape change, and so on - that RL vampires don't have. Some RL vampires may roleplay in order to give themselves an "outlet" to be more of their vampiric self in an environment where it will not be seen as too "out there" for other participants.

slG: Do the RL vampires actively recruit to their clan or family in real life?

Sphynx: RL vampires may set up an organized group, but it's often a group of friends, or it's a group coming together for purposes of educating others within the group - comparing notes, so to speak, about how vampirism affects each group member, and how they've learned to cope with some of the more annoying aspects.

slG: What is the spiritual benefit of becoming a vampire?

Sphynx: People who are not vampiric cannot become an RL vampire - we're born this way. As far as spirituality goes, I'm an atheist, so I can't really say whether there's any faith-based advantages or disadvantages. I do know that many of us are participants in many different faith-based paths such as paganism, Christianity, and so on. Paganism tends to be common because the more Christian-flavored paths tend to be less tolerant of vampirism concepts. What faith path an individual follows is what they are most comfortable with in the long run. They may change from one faith path to another in their search for something that seems to work for them. 

slG: What would be some of the hardships or challenges?

Sphynx: Photosensitivity and tendency to sunburn obviously, and many of us have digestive issues (but this is not 100% occurrence either), not necessarily with the cliché of garlic problems, but could be many different things. I suspect many RL vampires are more sensitive to toxins both in the environment and our foods than non-vampires are, which would explain the frequency of digestive problems.

slG: Does SL make it easier to meet others and form a community, or, is it purely a roleplay life in SL?

Sphynx: It does, and it doesn't. RP vampires may have stumbled across RL information, which allows them to make their RP more realistic, and make it harder for us to differentiate the roleplayers from the RL vampires. Roleplayers make it easier for RL vampires to hide in the crowd, though. (smiles)

slG: What is the most misunderstood thing about RL vampires?

Sphynx: We don't live forever, sparkle, shape change, fly, or kill people to feed. Many of us also absolutely despise the politics often associated with vampire roleplay, despite what most roleplayers would have you think.

slG: Are vampires really private about their life?

Sphynx: Yes, we're often very private - at least about our vampirism - in RL because we have to pay bills, buy food for our families, keep a roof over our family's heads, put gas in the car, and so on. In a poor economy like we have today, employers tend not to want to keep subordinates who are too weird or make other employees nervous.  And to some hardcore conservatives, simply being pagan or gay is enough grounds for getting fired (whether directly - and illegally - or indirectly, using any other excuse they can), forget vampirism.

slG: Could SL be considered a way for someone to legitimately get accurate or clear information on vampirism?

Sphynx: Yes, and no... a lot of information centers set up in SL are for RP rules and game systems, with files of "roleplaying tips" containing a mixture of fictional and real info, without any notation for which is which. There's a scant handful of information centers for RL vampires, one of them being the Sanguinarius Community Center located in the Netherfield region. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Netherfield/209/32/85

slG: Is vampirism a religion, or a race, or both?

Sphynx: Vampirism is definitely not a religion - though there are RL vampires that incorporate vampiric imagery and concepts into their faith path, which can make it confusing to outsiders. RL vampires come from all different genetic pools, European, African, Asian, and so on, so it doesn't really qualify as a separate race either.

slG: Is it true many vampires dress in a gothic fashion (at least in their personal time) or is that just in the movies?

Sphynx:  Some do dress in a gothic fashion, but not everyone. I happen to be goth, so in SL and RL I have goth outfits, and in RL I wear primarily black. Surprisingly, though, not as many RL vampires
consider themselves goth as you might think - not all goths are vampires, and not all vampires are goths.

slG: Do RL vampires acknowledge werewolves as existing, and is there a conflict or is that just in the movies?

Sphynx: We acknowledge werewolves as existing, but there is no inherent war - the vampire-werewolf wars are the stuff of fiction and movies.

You can find more in depth information about RL vampires at the Sanguinarius Community Center and the Liber Obscurum Occult Library.

I hope you all enjoyed my article. I’ll see you all next time.

Talisien Llewellyn