Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I will admit I am a bit of a pushover. I dont like conflict, so I try my best to avoid it. I try to keep myself in a pretty zen state. I practice yoga and meditation. I like to keep things organized and tidy. I am, for the most part, a highly positive, energetic person.
I have never had a hard time making decisions, now I find myself tentative. Where I once was bold, now I am timid.
As of late, I've been drained, exhausted, lethargic and talked out. As hard as I have tried to be as happy as possible, for my sake as well as my family's, that wall of bliss is continually being breached. It's like the home fires have diminished to smoldering embers. The vibes surrounding me are not harmonious, if you want to put it in new agey terms.
Speaking of new agey, my energy healing friend has mentioned to me one of the biggest problems she deals with that brings in a large clientele happens to be psychic vampires.
Before you laugh this off, this was not the first time I've heard this hypothesis. About 15 years ago, Katherine Ramsland gave a lecture and book signing at Borders in Princeton when her book Piercing the Darkness came out. It was a fascinating look at the vampire subculture, thriving long before twilight & it's ilk.
Traditional vampires feed on blood. Think of Dracula (Gary Oldman in Bram Stokers Dracula, when he purrs to Winona Ryder: "I've crossed oceans of time for you") and the other vampires who have infiltrated pop culture. Right now vampires are trendy, they are the it monster.
Psychic vampires suck your chi, your energy, your life source. Most people know someone that once one spends time with them, they feel drained and exhausted. Chances are that this draining person is a psychic vampire.
As reported at http://healing.about.com/cs/energyhealing/a/aa_vampires.htm, some of the traits of an energy sucker include:
Feelings of rejection or abandonment
Needing constant reassurance and nuturing (high maintenance)
Never feeling satisfied
Low energy level or constantly fatigued

While we all know people like that (or can exhibit some of those traits too), there's more to the formula than that. It's just there are some folks are better at sucking energy from others to "feed".
From http://www.earthspirit.com/fireheart/fhvampire.html
Emotionally and physically, vampires are unpredictable, moody, temperamental and overwhelming. The major distinguishing characteristic of real vampires as opposed to ordinary people who share those qualities is the vampire's intensity. Vampires are extremely intense people. They are frequently given nicknames such as "the black hole." When others talk about them (usually to complain about them), vampires are often described by such terms as "needy," "attention-seeking," "grandstanding," "manipulative," "exhausting," "draining," "monopolizes the conversation," "jealous," "huge ego," and so on. A vampire's emotions are deep, fervent, and powerful, and she usually displays great psychic ability and has uncontrolled magickal and psychic experiences. Vampires are also empaths, and while they remain unconscious of their natures, they are frequently "psychic sponges" who simply absorb vibrations from everywhere, with the expected emotional instability resulting.
A "hungry" vampire -- one whose energy level is imbalanced to the deficit side -- becomes an involuntary psychic vortex, drawing all pranic energy in the area towards her. When the energy does not flow in fast enough -- and it is typical of vampires that the energy never flows fast enough for them -- she will begin manifesting behavior patterns to increase the amount of conscious attention she gets from others. For this reason, some vampires develop a pattern of being aggressively confrontational, or of constantly antagonizing people with whom they have relationships. Nearly all vampires, whatever ploys they use, have a talent for attracting (or distracting) the attention of everyone present.
Many people find that they feel "creepy" or "weird" around a vampire. This is usually due to the effects of one's own life force being drawn towards the vampire's vortex. Most people feel uncomfortable and distracted when their energy is pulled away from themselves. In addition to this, a common result of such an energy drain is for the aura to pull in tightly towards the body, and this causes a prickling sensation on the skin -- the "creepy-crawlies."
There, apparently, different types of psychic vampires, according to http://thedemoniacal.blogspot.com/2010/07/psychic-vampire.html

1.) Emotional Vampire - Emotional vampires tend to be of the evil variety and manipulate people's emotions in order to feed. For example, an emotional vampire is keen on riling a person up with anger, simply to feast on the person's energy. Emotional vampires are very manipulative and dangerous. Unfortunately, the majority of emotional vampires are female. I suppose it might be because so many men are stunted or repressed when it comes to their emotions, which puts them at greater risk of becoming a victim of these vampy women. Those emotional vampires who are not evil tend to be the people with the motto, "Oh, Poor Me...". They always have a sob story and desperately need people to feel sorry for them.

2.) Tantric Vampire - Tantric vampires are generally not evil, unless they cannot control themselves and break the law or throw out all traces of morality. Tantric vampires feed off of the energy released during sex. Their 'victims' are willing donors though they may not realize they are being fed on. It doesn't really matter that they don't know they are being fed on as all that energy is being dumped into the environment during lovemaking anyway. Tantric vampires simply don't let it go to waste.

3.) Astral Vampire - Astral vampires are 100% evil. They are parasites. An astral vampire is either a human being who can astral travel and then feed on victims in a distant place or else a psychic vampire who has died and has for some unknown reason failed to cross over and is now an earthbound spirit. Since the spirit regularly fed on the life force of others while it was alive, it now continues such activity in spirit form.

4.) Elemental Vampire - Elemental vampires are generally good. Elemental vampires do not drain the life force of people, but instead absorb the life force of nature. Most Witches are in fact elemental vampires who, according to legend, gain their powers from the moon. Many elemental vampires try to help other more dangerous psychic vampires realize they need not suck the life force of human beings as mother nature provides all the energy one may need. Instead of feasting on a person like a monster, why not go outside and absorb the energy of a thunderstorm or take a walk in the woods and bask in the life force of the trees?

According to many different websites I've visited, some of the best ways to protect yourself are:
Avoid the person
Avoid negativity in your own life
Release any negativity, anger and conflict you may be holding within
Prayer
Eliminating clutter in your life
Wearing a protection amulet
Meditation
Smudging
Pouring salt around your house

So much for crosses and garlic!

Whether you are dealing with someone high maintenance, needy or a psychic vampire, you just need to always be mindful, aware and fully present.