Introduction

Reflecting on the author’s life, Don Webb’s Energy Magick of the Vampyre is a book you may want to mark many pages of. Dealing with gain and loss, life and death, such as life-in-death, the book trains one utilizing healing tools they already possess.

Like most of the author’s books, Energy Magick of the Vampyre is a self-initiation manual. It teaches antinomianism, liberation, and (even) immortality. Finding common grounds with alchemy, it is a deeper, more underground LHP system.

Disclaimer

Like others (I already reviewed), Inner Traditions sent me this book. They didn’t pay me to say anything in particular; the comments and opinions expressed are strictly mine. While scratching the surface of what the book offers in terms of Webb’s unprecedented scholarship, they discuss but a few favorite parts. Right off the bat, I recommend the book to anyone, as it will broaden and perhaps (healthily) challenge their perspective.

Vampyre Theory and Practice

Energy Magick of the Vampyre has four sections. More of an introduction — the first is ‘Vampyre Theory and Practice.’ It explains that the Vampyric path prevents living a life of sleep. The journey is started alone and with uncertainty. Yet, as it proceeds, the path attracts guides. By the end of it, one already guides others. Ultimately, the so-called vampyric way is about salvation and self-initiation. Assisting with both, Webb provides tools for testing (and storing) ideas the transformation unlocks.

Comment

This reminds me of Webb’s student, James Kirby, saying that the Temple of Set doesn’t really teach a peculiar system. It (instead) provides the ‘essential salts,’ initiating the ‘right processes.’ Mentioning him, the book tells the story of Kirby’s coming into being (as an artist and magician) and leaving this world by his own choice.

Vampyre (with a Y)

‘A Vampyre is a self-created energy being aware of the energy structures that maintain human life.’

The term has nothing to do with pop culture, Hollywood movies, or blood-sucking. It’s about integrating ‘deeper’ (and forgotten) consciousness states through alternative techniques. It is about energy exchange and preservation. So technically, everyone could be a Vampyre.

Vampyric Way

The ‘Vampyric Way,’ Webb explains, is for strong-willed and patient. It requires ‘desire, strangeness, love, and fear,’ such as challenging basic cultural assumptions, which include conventions and ones absorbed from ‘occulture.’

The Social Parasite

Energy Magick of the Vampyre introduces the notion of the social parasite. Being the sum total of one’s societal programming, the social parasite isn’t just an obstacle; it allows us to function in cities (and communities). Also, to get and provide help when needed. On the contrary, while necessary, the social parasite must be silenced for true magick and initiation to occur.

The better one achieves that, the more they are able to improve, as the social parasite primarily keeps one stuck, preventing them from transcending what society wants them to be. In that sense, the social parasite finds commonalities with Gurdjieff’s Khundabuffer. And when its development stops, that of the Vampire self can commence.

Virtues and Sins

The vampyric virtues include daring, curiosity, persistence, balance, eagerness, common sense, and gratitude. In contrast, the social parasite’s sins are cowardice, solipsism, self-importance, self-hatred, ‘occultnik-ism,’ and returning to old orthodoxies.

Comment

Considering this and Webb’s students describing him as transforming (completely) when using Nahuatl, I believe a different language can play a huge role in liberating one from their social parasite. As one coming from the outside, for me, that’s English. Surprisingly, I’ve been having an insatiable hunger to improve mine after turning 23 — the age when the social parasite’s development stops. This doesn’t mean learning meaningless words to get certified and tell people I don’t care about. It implies actively making it my most natural expression. This includes my thinking, work, journals, and (pretty much all) my daily interactions. According to my girlfriend, I am a different person, which both of us prefer and you see in my videos. The more I am, the less my social parasite pollutes my day. Hence, the better quality days I live. Let me know if that resonates.

Critical Thinking

Knowing that many contemporary seekers rely on science, the first section ends with a chapter called Brainy Stuff. One thing it reveals is that memories aren’t like a tape. This is a delusion of the social parasite. Memories are encoded in proteins, which don’t last long. Hence why we forget. Modern science tells us the gut is our second brain. Webb reveals Gurdjieff and the Egyptians knew that much earlier. Brainy Stuff also delves into the bicameral model of the brain, further discussed in the Thelemic chapter.

Nuit and Hadit

Webb ascribes Nuit to the ‘global big-picture right brain,’ whereas Hadit to the ‘task-oriented’ left brain. Actual magick occurs only when these are synthesized in a rather Hegelian fashion. Ra-Hoor-Khuit or Horus at the Horizon implies one creates their own horizons, resonating with humanity’s highest stage of development and the Nitzhean overman.

Vampyric Initiation

The second part is the most substantial. It includes nine initiatic chapters corresponding to peculiar systems and their creators, whom the book considers LHP magi. Though referred to on many occasions, Gurdjieff is not on the list, which is somewhat unexpected, given his influence on the Essential Guide. The people and words are:

  • Pascal Beverly Randolph — Try
  • Aleister Crowley — Thelema
  • Anton LeVay — Indulgence
  • Stephen Flowers — Runa
  • Michael Aquino — Xeper
  • James A. Lewis — Remanifestation
  • Lilith Aquino — Arkte
  • Guinevere Webb — Wyrd
  • Robert Neilly — Synesis

In Webb’s system, these become development stages. As such, they also find common ground with grades in orders like the Golden Dawn, OTO, Fraternitas Saturni, etc. The sections convey the authentic stories of how the mentioned contributors got their words.

Background and Rites

These sections include information, opening, and initiatic rites. Besides remarkable research, analysis, and ceremonies, the author provides methods for extracting meaning based on actual life experiences, helping you gain an understanding of the associated word. Though it is ideal to complete each in a month, there are no time limits. The key is to attune yourself to the appropriate frequencies.

IAO

Webb defines IAO as the formula of Thelema. Traditionally, IAO is the formula of the dying god. The new one is of the Crowned and Conquering child. It’s about self-sufficiency and sovereignty through permanent growth, not sacrifice, as found in cards like the Hanged Man, Aeon, etc. Based on my research, this is one of the differences between A.A. and traditional GD orders. In the second, one is perfected Osiris only at Tiphereth; in the first, you are already Horus, conquering and growing on the path of return. For those wanting to get into Thelema, Webb recommends his Overthrowing of the Old Gods and David Shoemaker’s Living Thelema, which, IMHO, is unmatched for its purpose, like the author’s own Essential Guide.

Total Self-Development

Something I really appreciate in all of Webb’s books is the emphasis on total self-development — from healthy eating, power naps, and taking enough rest to the gym and apparently looking better. While most occultists underestimate them, these have an enormous impact on their reality and energy levels, which should be a goal of any system. It is not required for a Vampyre to be beautiful; it must be fascinating. So build your version of that and fascinate.

Mastery

Webb ascribes Osiris to mastery while IAO to the process of obtaining it. As we find in Seth Godin’s The Dip, this is actually science-based. Both Webb and Godin view mastering/overcoming something as having three stages.

  • Isis is the excitement and affection to do something and even begin it.
  • Apep — the ‘dip’ resulting from getting into its intricacies and discovering it’s (actually) more complex and less pleasant than it seemed.
  • Only reached by a few, Osiris is the moment of mastery which, according to Godin, is really rising above mediocrity in any field.

Transcendence

Considering this, overcoming obstacles and mastering valuable skills can be viewed as an initiatic experience in and of itself. After which, you are more perfected in transcending former limitations. But that’s just my opinion. Let me know if you agree, check my products and Energy Magick of the Vampyre. And Thank you for Your Time!