Powers of the Devil's Undead

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Bishop Sean, Does the Vampire as you know it (as you discussed in the last entry, The Demonic Aspect) have any supernatural powers (i.e. strength, agility, speed, shapeshifting, etc.)? If this is the case, especially with regards to strength and shapeshifting, would you please explain? — Kyle Germann

A chapter titled "Antidotes & Exorcisms" in my vampirological guide The Vampire Hunter's Handbook explains: "They cast no reflection, nor shadow and can assume animal shapes. Some have been thought to control elements locally. Metamorphosis into mist is not unknown either. ... They can intrude upon sleeping persons' dreams and sometimes mesmerize their prey ... [and all] have the ability to remain undead indefinitely unless exorcised in a precise manner."

My exorcism attempt at Highgate Cemetery in 1970.

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The Demonic Aspect

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Bishop Sean, Could you, in as much detail as possible, explain your "Demon Vampire" theory? I am writing a book on Vampires, and from what I've read, I find it to be fascinating. With your permission, I would like to include your theory in my book. Could you tell me more? — Kyle Germann

The detail you seek can be found in my concise guide on this topic which book was published by Gothic Press in 1997 and should  serve to cover all you need to know about vampires and vampirism.

The demonic aspect is not my personal "theory," but rather a position held by most clergy specialising in this branch of demonolatry, ie vampirology, down the centuries. In a nutshell, the vampire, like all that is of that ilk, originates from the ranks of fallen angels, and is a corporeal manifestation capable of death and destruction whose agency is exclusively demonic. It is this unearthly combination of the corporeal and the demonic that instils such dread where the vampire is concerned. Blood is the means by which the entity achieves this manifestation and without quaffing warm human blood the vampire would be unable to take corporeal form.

We know these vampires are not living people, but neither are they God's true dead. The Devil's undead is perhaps a term more apt than we might at first imagine. Certainly no other description can come as close to conveying the meaning of this phenomenon. The vampire's partaking of blood into what appears to be a living cadaver offers some level of nourishment. Yet most people if they ingest more than a mouthful of blood will vomit. It is not that there are proteins and iron found in blood which nourish the physical need, but rather the fact that the blood is the life and through it the essence of earthly being is made counterfeit in the demon's guise. Blood is absolutely essential for a demon to achieve materialisation; more so for a corporeal manifestation of the kind pertaining to those revenants recorded down the centuries as blood-sucking vampires.

Biological aspects of vampirism notwithstanding, how do we explain the immediate and rapid deterioration of the corpse once the traditional manner in which folk rid themselves of this hideous pest is applied? For it will fall apart and decay as do other corpses once exorcism takes place! And it will collapse into a pile of dusty bones where centuries have elapsed. As I explained in lengthy interviews lasting hours with the American broadcasters Art Bell and his successor George Noory a few years back, time catches up with the vampiric wraith at the moment of exorcism when the supernatural predator returns back to what it always was and should have remained before contamination occurred. The physical aspect becomes God's true dead while the demonic aspect is cast out.
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Past, Present and Future

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"Do you plan on writing any more books in the near future?" — Ruben H

I am so engaged in the present that to reflect on the past, as writing a book often requires, is a luxury I find myself seldom indulging in. That notwithstanding, one day in the future perhaps another work will emerge, but don't hold your breath in the meantime. 

I am constantly being asked whether I will release an autobiography. I wrote a memoir of sorts some eight years ago which remained unpublished save for select extracts that appeared temporarily on the internet. These were immediately seized upon and infringed by antipathetic elements with a view to misrepresent and defame me. It is not that I especially care whether those who occupy dark places use what I share from the past as ammunition for their own mean-spirited ambitions, but so much happens in the here and now that finding time to devote to writing a book is something of a luxury. That notwithstanding, I hope to have a fresh memoir ready for publication in the not too distant future. Beyond notification of its release and ordering information, extracts will not be appearing on the internet. 

With regard to the past, today is the feast of St Francis of Assisi who is mine and probably many other people's favourite saint. It was on the feast of St Francis, of course, that I was elevated to the episcopate in 1991. Few saints have had greater impact on my life than this humble leader of an Order at first unpopular with the Church authorities until they realised he walked far more closely in Our Lord's footsteps than any of them. His experience and part in supernatural events is also well chronicled; most notably his visions, levitation and stigmata.

Below is my own attempt to portray the little saint — who means so much to so many — on canvas:  

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