Community-of-Darkness

Quoted

A sanguinarian is someone who believes they need to consume blood to maintain their health. Taken from the Latin sanguineus meaning "blood-thirsty, Bloody or reddish in color", a sanguinarian is someone who has an alleged need, or craving for blood. This desire is generally non-erotic in nature.

Contrary to Energy Vampires, who claim to be able to sustain themselves on pranic, auric, or core energy, a sanguinarian claims to need to consume blood. The preferred source is human, with many practitioners claiming that non-human sources are not as satisfying. [4]

However, according to the published work by the occultist Order of Aset Ka on real life vampirism, the Asetian Bible book, a real vampire can't really be distinguished between being a sanguinarian or a psychic vampire, because what a vampire truly craves for is for vital energy, known among Asetians as Ka, an Ancient Egyptian concept. By this, it is defended that the form of feeding, whether psychic or by the ingestion of blood, ultimately represents a choice from the vampire in his preferred ways to drain vital energy from a human being.[5]

It is debated whether or not Sanguinarianism is Renfield's syndrome (also known as clinical vampirism) or another psychological condition all together, as practitioners claim that they need blood other than their own to feel fulfilled. It should be noted that Renfield's is not recognised by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and is thus usually classified as a delusional symptom of Schizophrenia.

Autovampirism (the drinking of one's own blood) is not seen by members of the subculture as providing a sanguinarian with any energy, since the energy is just being recycled back into the system of the sanguinarian. It is frowned upon by many in the community, who see it as a destructive act that provides no benefit. [6]

Many sanguinarians believe sanguinarianism is a natural (but poorly documented) medical condition, one they are born with. Sanguinarianism also states that the condition is apparently not hereditary, and in most instances the parents are not sanguinarians themselves. Some believe that they generally manifest symptoms during puberty, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but each case is unique.[7] Others believe one has to be 'turned' (physically or spiritually morphed) into a sanguinarian through one of the processes mentioned in modern vampire fiction. Most sanguinarians claim to believe that you cannot 'turn' someone into a sanguinarian.[8]