Hmong Vampires (Dab Nqus Ntshav)

Over the last few years, Hmong vampire folklore have not had a return in our stories in recent times. In the very early 2000s, the community began to gossip and speculate on the rise of Hmong vampires. Hmong vampires were given different names over the years, casket watchers, blood suckers, demon blood suckers, pale ones, etc. In Hmong, vampires are called "Dab Nqus Ntshav" which translates to "Blood sucking ghost."

So, how did this rumor begin? Some say it started in Michigan at a Hmong funeral for an elderly lady. Some say it started in Minnesota. The origins of Hmong vampires actually started way before the late 90s and early 2000s. In fact, the story of Hmong vampires started way back dating to the Qing Dynasty in China. The Hmong believe if the body of a person is left unburied, their soul would not be at rest and it will bring bad luck and karma to the family for generations. Because during the Opium Wars, many Hmong and Miao soldiers died on the battle field where their bodies were never taken back home for proper burial. So, because of this, many Hmong families and Hmong War Generals would hire necromancers and even some shamans to perform "magic" to raise their dead and have them hop back home. It was said that these necromancers and shamans required the use of bamboo and drums in their rituals to raise the dead. To avoid mass panic and people running into the corpses, these rituals were performed at night. At night, villagers would hear the sound of drums, bamboo instruments, and bells followed by hopping corpses; starting the creation of these "Chinese Vampires." Since these bodies were miles away from home, the rituals would last anywhere from 7 - 13 days when the bodies made their hop back home. The Hmong have then used the qeej instrument made from bamboo and drums to guide the dead back home in their traditional funerals, lasting anywhere from a few days to thirteen days. (photo taken from Jia Hao on Pintrest, concept done for Vividthree Productions)

Perhaps the Hmong vampire have been taken out of context in that they may not directly suck out or drink the blood of the dead or living, but instead they are Psychic Vampires, a term I like to use to describe someone who steals, drains, or absorbs the life force and soul of a person. Psychic vampires can be black magic masters, shamans, psychics, or even the everyday average person. Some Hmong shamans today are psychic vampires, raising a group of students only to drain them of their energy and life. There are two types of psychic vampires. The first is Unconscious Psychic Vampirism and the second group is Conscious Psychic Vampirism.

Unconscious Psychic Vampires are energy parasites. These are everyday normal people who may be very needy, clingy, controlling, abusive, negative, and toxic people who drain others for their energy. It leaves people drained from their energy after spending time with them. These psychic vampires receive relief after venting but create problems for you and suddenly leaves you exhausted; mentally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Unconscious Psychic Vampires make use of the energy they steal, they use it to feel better about themselves by making you feel worse. They are known to be liars, abusive partners both mentally or physically, people who make excuses and transfer guilt and shame on to others for their own mistakes and choices, and these are people who do this knowingly so much to the point that they no longer realize they are doing so. Unconscious Psychic Vampires can be partners who are so negative that they make you feel negative, they bring you down, and make you feel bad or ashamed of who you are.

Conscious Psychic Vampires are energy parasites who deliberately and intentionally take energy from people. They are intentional in who they target and often prey upon the vulnerable, special and unique needs children and adults, the elderly, and the dead. They also steal energy from successful people or people who vibrate strongly in their spiritual journey. Conscious Psychic Vampires are made up of black magic masters and shamans, mediums, and psychics who steal energy and souls to their personal gain. In the Hmong community, many alleged shamans have begin their own teaching and gained many followers and students. It it not be true among all cases, but this may be a situation where these students become prey to these psychic vampires. The student may gain some spiritual ability, but are unable to complete their spiritual journey. They may go insane or even constantly pay large sums of money to their master. They experience a spiritual blockage and experience constant bad luck, karma, lost of money and wealth, health problems, and have family and marital problems that did not exist before meeting the psychic vampire. Master shamans, meaning shamans who have practiced for decades, are often desirable preys to these psychic vampires for their energy and spiritual experience. Conscious Psychic Vampires not only drain energy from people but can drain the soul of a person who is dying or has died.

Symptoms of psychic vampirism include feeling constant energy drain after spending time with someone, headaches, nausea, stomach pains, health issues, extreme emotional states, constant bad luck and karma, and much more

How do we defend against psychic vampires. Besides the obvious of getting rid of toxic people in our lives or leaving abusive relationships, there are ways we can defend against a psychic vampire that target our energy and life source. When knowing you are in contact with a suspect psychic vampire, stand at an angle to their body. This makes draining less accessible to the energy parasite. Another way is to cross your arms during a conversation. Cross your arms or even your legs restricts flow and can help lock your energy and spirit inwards towards you. It helps you become emotionally and spiritually detached from an individual. Another way to defend against psychic vampirism is to close your mouth when you are not talking and avoid breathing through your mouth when possible. The mouth is the area of breath which means life. It makes it harder for psychic vampires to steal your breath and your life forms. The best way to defend against a psychic vampire is to avoid them altogether. If there's no way to avoid them, consider tying an enchanted string blessed from a shaman to help protect you, hide you, and defend you against these energy leeches. Some psychic vampires even go about attending funerals or visiting the very ill and draining them of their last breath. After immediate death, there is a release and detachment of everything physical to the spirit and this is a way for psychic vampires to steal or drain souls. One of the reason why there are so many family members around the dead during traditional funerals not only to mourn together but to protect the body and soul of that person.

The truth of the matter is, we meet vampires all the time. Maybe not the blood thirst sucking ones (I would hope not) but the ones that drain you of your energy. The ones that keep you around for their gain and leave you exhausted. It is best to be intentional in who we surround ourselves with and who we focus our energy on.