The Art of Vampyre Magic and Protection From It | The Seven, Episode 18
In Episode 18 of The Seven: Living with the Planets, Lucy Baldwin explores one of the most compelling magical archetypes of all:
The vampire.
Not only the monster.
Not only the gothic romance figure.
Not only the blood-drinking myth.
The vampire as magician.
The vampire as energy worker.
The vampire as a figure of hunger, magnetism, power, seduction, feeding, reciprocity, and energetic exchange.
This episode looks at both sides of vampyre magic: the beauty of conscious energy exchange, and the danger of unconscious extraction.
Because when the vampire archetype is integrated, it can become stewardship, nourishment, magnetism, and mutual empowerment.
When it is unconscious, it becomes entitlement, depletion, spiritual exploitation, guilt, resentment, and the collapse of boundaries.
Watch or listen to Episode 18 of The Seven here:
Key Takeaways
In this episode, Lucy explores:
the vampire as a magical archetype of energy, hunger, magnetism, and power
the difference between conscious energy work and unconscious extraction
why spiritual people can be especially vulnerable to overgiving
how admiration can become a form of energetic feeding
the red flags of unbalanced devotional or mentorship dynamics
why emotional unavailability can signal unhealthy reciprocity
how guilt and responsibility create energetic vulnerability
why boundaries and self-worth are essential for protection
the difference between responsibility and stewardship
how resentment can reveal where you are abandoning yourself
the healthy vampire as a steward of reciprocal energetic exchange
The Vampire as a Magical Archetype
The vampire is a powerful figure because it touches something real.
Hunger.
Desire.
Magnetism.
Seduction.
Immortality.
Power.
Beauty.
Feeding.
The exchange of life force.
In magical terms, the vampire archetype is not only about horror. It is about energy.
Who gives?
Who receives?
Who feeds whom?
What is exchanged?
What is conscious?
What is unconscious?
Vampyre magic is energy magic.
At its healthiest, it teaches how to participate in energetic exchange with awareness, beauty, and reciprocity.
At its shadowiest, it reveals where energy is being taken without clean consent.
Conscious Energy Work vs Unconscious Extraction
There is a major difference between conscious energy exchange and unconscious extraction.
Conscious energy exchange can feel nourishing.
Mutual.
Alive.
Reciprocal.
It may involve admiration, devotion, service, attention, presence, beauty, support, and exchange.
Everyone is fed.
Everyone is honored.
Everyone remains sovereign.
Unconscious extraction is different.
One person gives and gives.
The other receives and receives.
There is no true reciprocity.
No clear exchange.
No emotional availability.
No real honoring of boundaries.
Eventually, the giver becomes depleted.
This is the shadow vampire dynamic.
Why Spiritual People Are Vulnerable to Vampyre Dynamics
Spiritual people are often taught to be open.
Giving.
Devotional.
Surrendered.
Helpful.
Available.
Loving.
These are beautiful qualities.
But without boundaries, they can become openings for exploitation.
If you believe that giving endlessly is spiritual, you may ignore the moment when giving becomes self-abandonment.
If you believe devotion requires depletion, you may mistake extraction for service.
If you believe someone else’s vision is more important than your own life force, you may hand over your energy without noticing what it is costing you.
This is why vampyre magic requires discernment.
Openness without boundaries is not holiness.
It is vulnerability.
Admiration Can Become a Feeding Channel
Admiration is powerful.
When we admire someone, we give them attention, energy, trust, and authority.
That can be beautiful.
It can also become dangerous if the person being admired feeds on admiration without giving back in a healthy way.
This can happen in spiritual communities, creative circles, mentorship relationships, romantic relationships, and public-facing movements.
Someone has a big vision.
A big message.
A strong field.
A magnetic personality.
People want to serve the vision.
They want to help.
They want to be close to the power.
But if admiration becomes the only “payment,” and the relationship lacks reciprocity, emotional availability, or clear exchange, the dynamic can become extractive.
The admired person feeds.
The admirer drains.
The Red Flag of Emotional Unavailability
One of the clearest signs of an unhealthy exchange is emotional unavailability.
If you are giving a lot to someone, serving them, working for them, supporting them, helping them, or organizing your life around their vision, but they are not emotionally available to you, something may be off.
Not every relationship needs to be intimate.
Not every exchange needs to be personal.
But if the relationship is built on devotion, admiration, service, spiritual loyalty, or personal access, and there is no true emotional reciprocity, that matters.
It can become a pattern where one person gives soul-energy while the other gives only distance, glamour, or occasional approval.
That is not stewardship.
That is extraction.
Spiritual Exploitation and the Vision Trap
One of the trickiest vampyre dynamics happens when the extraction is justified by a beautiful vision.
The work matters.
The mission matters.
The teacher matters.
The community matters.
The cause matters.
So you override yourself.
You give more than is healthy.
You suppress resentment.
You silence your truth.
You feel guilty saying no.
You tell yourself the sacrifice is noble.
But sometimes you are not serving the vision.
You are serving someone’s ego.
This is where spiritual exploitation becomes difficult to see. The language is high. The energy is devotional. The mission may even be real.
But the exchange is still imbalanced.
The question is:
Is this relationship feeding the greater vision?
Or is it feeding one person’s field at the expense of yours?
You Are Not Responsible for Someone Else’s Field
This is a crucial protection teaching.
You are not responsible for another person’s field.
You are not responsible for keeping someone else emotionally regulated.
You are not responsible for managing another person’s mood, energy, power, success, disappointment, or sense of self.
You can care.
You can support.
You can love.
You can be generous.
But the moment you feel responsible for someone else’s inner state, your boundaries are in danger.
An unintegrated vampire makes you feel responsible for how they feel.
A healthy relationship does not require your self-abandonment.
If Someone Says They Know Your Truth Better Than You Do
This is another red flag.
If someone repeatedly tells you they know better than you what is true for you, pause.
Maybe they have insight.
Maybe they see a pattern.
Maybe they are reflecting something useful.
But no teacher, lover, friend, leader, or mentor should replace your own self-trust.
When you stop trusting yourself, you become much easier to drain.
Self-trust is protection.
If your inner knowing is constantly being overridden by another person’s certainty, the relationship deserves scrutiny.
Resentment Is Information
Resentment is not always petty.
Sometimes resentment is a boundary alarm.
It may be saying:
I am giving more than I want to give.
I am not being honest.
I am acting from obligation instead of desire.
I am pretending this exchange is clean when it is not.
I am not honoring my own limits.
This does not mean the other person is evil.
It means something in the dynamic needs to be examined.
The question is not only:
What are they doing to me?
The deeper question is:
Where am I abandoning myself?
Protection From Vampyre Magic Begins With Self-Worth
Boundaries are not only practical.
They are rooted in self-worth.
You have to believe your time matters.
Your energy matters.
Your labor matters.
Your body matters.
Your attention matters.
Your soul effort matters.
Without that belief, it is easy to hand your life force over to people, visions, movements, relationships, and spiritual dynamics that do not honor you.
Protection begins when you can say:
My energy is valuable.
My yes matters.
My no matters.
I am allowed to require reciprocity.
Stewardship, Not Responsibility
One of the most helpful distinctions in this episode is the difference between responsibility and stewardship.
Responsibility says:
I have to make this person okay.
I have to hold their field.
I have to prevent their collapse.
I have to give until they are satisfied.
Stewardship says:
I can care.
I can support.
I can participate.
I can help tend the relationship or vision.
But I do not abandon myself.
I do not become responsible for what is not mine.
I remain sovereign.
Stewardship allows care without self-sacrifice.
It is the healthy form of energetic participation.
The Healthy Vampire Is a Steward
The integrated vampire understands reciprocity.
A healthy vampire does not drain the village dry.
A healthy vampire knows that everyone must be nourished for the exchange to continue.
In this sense, the golden side of the vampire archetype is not exploitation.
It is stewardship.
It is energetic intelligence.
It is the ability to receive without destroying.
To be fed while also feeding.
To magnetize while also nourishing.
To participate in power without collapsing into entitlement.
That is the art of conscious vampyre magic.
Saying No Casts a New Spell
When you stay in dynamics that do not honor your boundaries, you are casting a spell.
A spell of self-abandonment.
A spell of unworthiness.
A spell of “my energy does not matter.”
But when you say no, something changes.
You cast a new spell.
A spell of self-respect.
A spell of reciprocity.
A spell of sovereignty.
A spell of better relationships becoming possible.
This requires faith.
Because sometimes the old dynamic ends.
Sometimes the person does not respond well.
Sometimes the relationship cannot survive your boundaries.
But the alternative is continuing to feed what drains you.
The Goal Is Not to Close Down
Protection from vampyre dynamics does not mean becoming closed, cynical, suspicious, or ungenerous.
That is not the medicine.
The goal is not to stop giving.
The goal is to give from truth.
To receive with integrity.
To cultivate relationships where energy moves both ways.
To recognize the difference between devotion and depletion.
To become a steward of your energy.
The healthiest energetic exchanges are abundant, beautiful, reciprocal, and alive.
Everyone is fed.
No one is unconsciously consumed.
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Lucy Baldwin (00:08.76)
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Seven Living with the Planets. I am Lucy Baldwin and today I'm really excited to talk about probably my all-time favorite archetype, the vampire. I have been really into vampires since I was a kid. I was a vampire for Halloween, like basically every year for like 10 years of my life. I love the vampire archetype.
The vampire archetype is really popular in romance these days. There's some weird stuff about that that maybe we'll get into I don't know if I'll get there today, but I want to talk about vampirism as Magic the sort of magical path of vampire The vampire archetype as Yeah, just like the the magician vampire. I want to talk about why it's powerful. I'm gonna talk about how it can be dangerous
and how to tell the difference between, vampire magic is really just energy work. So I really want to explain what I mean. And then I want to also help you see the difference between conscious energy work and the shadow side of like unconscious extraction that can happen. So...
You know, a lot of people, spiritual people are taught to be like open and giving and devotional and surrendered. and we often get, you know, my gosh, there's a fly. Okay. that's really fucking annoying.
And yeah, so we're taught to want to give, right? We really want to give a lot. the vampire, so there's this really great book that I want to mention. Crap, I don't know his first name. So that's not helpful.
Lucy Baldwin (02:12.258)
web.
Lucy Baldwin (02:19.918)
Don Webb. Okay, so the, I just want to start by saying there's a really great book about this that I read many years ago and I haven't read it in all these years. So I will say it's a great reference and I'm not going to talk too much about it because I'm not fresh on the content of the book, but it's by Don Webb and it's called The Energy Magic of the Vampire. And he talks about the path of the vampire as an energy worker, an energy magician. And,
He talks about this archetype. And the thing is that it's a really compelling archetype. the thing is that it's really beautiful. you know, like I said, it's energy magic working with like hunger and magnetism and like feeding and power and manifestation, of course. And there's a lot about sort of like getting people to
do things for you. The way that Webb talks about it is very... There has to be this reciprocal exchange in order for it to work and be healthy. So you have to feed your people in order to get fed by them. The thing is that sometimes... When we work with these, consciously, these dynamics, these energy dynamics,
It can feed everybody and it can be really beautiful and healing and helpful. But they can also be unconscious. so I just want to name some of the ways that this can look. So it can look like when you feel entitled to somebody else's energy or when somebody else feels entitled to your energy. It can look like...
Yeah, just like imbalance in reciprocity. So one person giving a lot, the other person receiving a lot, and there's not really this back and forth, like healthy relationship that we tend to expect and see, and that creates healthy relationship dynamics. Admiration. Like when there's this like feeding on admiration. So if people are admiring you and you are just like
Lucy Baldwin (04:40.129)
feeding off of that and using that to get things out of them or vice versa if somebody that you admire is having you do things for them and just all they're giving you is that you admire them. There's this also emotional availability. So if you're doing a lot for someone and they're not emotionally available or if you have people doing a lot for you that you're not paying them or...
giving back, that emotional availability, that's kind of a, I would say that's a red flag, right? Like if you're in, if you're feeling like really somebody that you admire and they have you like helping them or working for you or something like that. but there's no like emotional connection, emotional availability, that's a red flag. This is something that I've 100 % experienced. And so I can speak to this.
really clearly. It's like you, especially in the world of spirituality, we tend to pedestalize people who teach, who have big messages and big visions and big ideas, and we admire them and we let that and we want to serve their vision. And so we end up letting them vampire from us.
And then, you know, it's like when you get into like a devotionary relationship with another person that doesn't have like clear boundaries or like I said, clear reciprocity. You know, this is like spiritual exploitation. And this is something that I just I see happening all the time. I see it happening right now in the world. And it has happened to me. So I just want to talk about it. this is where
boundary, you know, what is the answer to this? Well, first we have to know that it's happening, right? We have to like see that this is the pattern that is happening. And then we also have to, we have to have boundaries. And I think like in this particular area, I would say to me, what I see, what I feel is that the boundaries, the thing that's like stopping the boundaries is a sense of worth.
Lucy Baldwin (07:08.191)
It's self-worth. You have to believe that you are worthy of those boundaries, that you are worthy of the reciprocity. And because there's this spiritual, often vision that we're in service to, it can get really twisty in our heads. And we can be manipulated into thinking that it's the right thing to serve this person because we don't realize that
We're serving them and their ego not the bigger vision. And so, you know, it's just it's so crucial that we evaluate like what is my time worth? What is my soul effort soul energy worth in the like to me and What am I willing to give up for it for this vision? We just have to have like really clear solid
boundaries or these relationships that we have with our teachers and our mentors can actually become draining. So we end up over giving, we feel guilty if we say no. Anytime you're feeling responsible for someone else's feelings, for their energy, for their emotions, for their field, that's not healthy. You should never...
feel responsible for somebody else's field. And so this is something that like an unintegrated vampire will make you feel like you're responsible for how they feel. And so if you notice yourself feeling like, can't tell the truth, you know, and I'm not saying it's the fault, that it's anybody's fault. I just want to be clear. we're all playing the game together. And so...
If you are vampired upon, extracted from, you are participating in that and you are responsible for your role in that. And if you are extracting from others, it's the same. You're responsible for your role in that. So this is not like a victim perpetrator thing. This is like a, here is how these sort of vampiring extractive
Lucy Baldwin (09:31.456)
energy exchanges can look and here's what to do about it, right? It's like You are never responsible for somebody else to make somebody else feel okay as soon as you think that you are you are Sacrificing yourself to them and it will not serve them and it will not serve you You know when you stop trusting yourself when anytime anybody
tells you that they know better than you what is true for you, that is a red flag. That is a distortion. You know, you know. And so this is where self-trust is crucial. You have to trust yourself. So, know, mistaking this like depletion, right? Thinking that like being depleted is a...
like
is just, you know, it's a signal of how much you've given. There's a virtue in over giving and depleting yourself and giving up for the thing. And you know, this is how cults are created. And this is like it it happens all the time. And so it really behooves us to just be like really aware of what these things look like and to be able to name them.
so that we can protect ourselves and so that we can have that energetic clarity because the golden side of the vampire, the healthy version of the vampire, the energy work of a healthy vampire is extremely beautiful. It's extremely nurturing and there is so much reciprocity and caretaking, but it's caretaking. I think of it like, crap, what is that word?
Lucy Baldwin (11:32.819)
What is that word?
Lucy Baldwin (12:34.205)
my god.
Lucy Baldwin (12:58.221)
Steward. That's the word. Custodian.
Lucy Baldwin (13:49.231)
Okay. Yeah, so I think of it as like a steward, a stewardship. having healthy vampire energy magic, energy work is like being a steward. You're not responsible, but you are helping to steward in like a healthy exchange, a healthy dynamic. You're supportive, but not overly involved.
And so you can have this like wonderful exchange while still taking care of yourself, having your own boundaries, having your own self-awareness. And if we always think about being a steward, then we won't get sucked into these unhealthy dynamics on either side really, because if you are a steward of, you know, if you see yourself as a steward and also you have clarity around your own boundaries,
it will be very hard for somebody to exploit you. You will be able to say no, and you won't get sucked into taking care of somebody else. And you'll notice the reciprocity. It's really a fine line because we don't want our relationships to feel transactional. And so we often want to just give freely and just be in love and abundance and like...
that feels really good and sort of dissolved into the higher spiritual realm of it all. But there is a way, that is how, that can lead us down the road of exploitation if we're not careful. And so we have to have some awareness of reciprocity. We have to have some awareness of there being an equal exchange. And we can look at that in ourselves by noticing what feels good.
and also asking ourselves, why am I doing this? Am I doing it because I feel like I have to? Because if I don't, something bad's gonna happen to that person because I feel responsible, because I feel manipulated, because I don't know what my own truth is? Or am I doing it because it's like emerging from me as like something that feels good. It's like there's this, there's a genuine desire to serve in this way.
Lucy Baldwin (16:15.158)
and to be a steward in this way. I hope this makes sense because really in this dynamic where I'm talking about like the person who's being exploited and that person who's exploiting, they're both, like I said, they're both responsible for their own side, but they're both capable of being stewards of the other. And so in either position, holding the sense of stewardship, this is my new word. I really just came up with this now.
maybe cut that out. Don't say that podcast. Delete that. They both have the capacity to in holding stewardship, create a healthy dynamic here. And so even just one side of this holding boundaries, holding that energy can shift the dynamic. And sometimes, sometimes the person that you're in these dynamics with, if you are in these dynamics, will not respond well and it will potentially end a relationship.
But you have to prioritize that you're going to be in relationships that serve you, that don't exploit you, and trust. Like, this is magic. We have faith that by honoring our truth and by sticking with our boundaries, better relationships will come in. If we are spending all of our time getting exploited because of a promise or a notion or a vision that's not ours, that we have no control over,
That we have no like skin in the game that we don't have ownership that our name isn't on it We will find that we are blocking much healthier much more You know Nurturing relationships from being able to enter much more nurturing partnerships from being able to enter right we have like very limited finite bandwidth for these kinds of relationships and so
Anytime that you're holding on to something that's not serving you, anytime that you're holding on to something that is not honoring your boundaries, first of all, you are telling the universe, you are casting the spell of not having boundaries, of not taking care of yourself, of not caring about yourself, of not being worthy, of being honored. And so...
Lucy Baldwin (18:42.262)
that's the reality that you're creating. But the moment that you take back your power, the moment that you say no, everything changes. You're casting a new spell, you're calling in a new energy. And so there's this necessary reckoning that happens. And that's how you start to attract the things that are good for you. you know, it's like, don't, if you're feeling resentment,
Don't convince yourself that that's bad and you're wrong. It's that's important information. Where is that coming from? Why are you feeling that way? How are you engaging in this in a way that, you know, how are you not honoring your own boundaries? How are you not protecting your own boundaries? Because the resentment, it's always about, ultimately, it's always about ourselves. What am I doing here?
to create a scenario that doesn't work for me, where I'm in this position that doesn't feel healthy and reciprocal. it's not about them, it's never about them. It's always about you and how you hold yourself and how you demand to be treated. And so, I just want to say that...
It's really about though, like when you're in these dynamics, it's so important to just have faith that the moment that you stand up for yourself or the moment that you say no, or the moment that you take your power back and stop playing the game of taking care of other people, of being overly responsible for them, time your self worth to their outcomes.
Right? This is the pattern that I'm talking about. Everything will change. Everything will shift. And then it's a matter of like not falling back into those same patterns with somebody else. Right? And this comes from a desire to be liked, a desire to be helpful, a desire to be good, a desire to connect to people and spirituality and bring like beauty into the world. Right? It's always coming from the right place. It really always is.
Lucy Baldwin (21:07.912)
And the trick is to just realize that in order to do any of that effectively, you have to be true to yourself. So the goal is not to become closed. It's really about seeking stewardship for yourself, seeking stewardship in your relationships, and getting back to the vampire. The vampire, the mythic
Vampire really just like sucks the blood and like kills their victims That's not what we're talking about here we're really talking about the vampire who Understands that if you just deplete from everybody around you there will be nothing left for you to take and so there has to be an Exchange there has to be reciprocity
And so you can have really healthy, energetic exchanges with people and receive so much abundance together by having healthy, loving, reciprocal relationships where you each honor your boundaries and you each hold stewardship rather than responsibility for each other, the relationship and the vision. Thank you so much for watching.
this episode of The Seven. I'll see you in the next one.
New to Lucy’s work?
Start with Lucy Baldwin’s complete overview of planetary magic here
This episode is part of The Seven: Living with the Planets, a podcast exploring magic as a path of self-growth, ritual practice, desire, embodiment, energetic discernment, and spiritual transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is vampyre magic?
Vampyre magic is energy magic that works with the vampire archetype: hunger, magnetism, feeding, power, seduction, life force, and energetic exchange.
Is vampyre magic dangerous?
It can be dangerous when unconscious extraction replaces consent, reciprocity, and boundaries. Conscious vampyre magic requires self-awareness, care, and energetic ethics.
How do I know if someone is energetically draining me?
Notice depletion, resentment, guilt, emotional responsibility, loss of self-trust, imbalance in reciprocity, and whether the relationship depends on you overriding your boundaries.
What protects against vampyre dynamics?
Self-worth, boundaries, self-trust, discernment, clear reciprocity, and the ability to say no without taking responsibility for another person’s emotional field.
What is the healthy form of vampire energy?
The healthy form is stewardship: receiving and being nourished while also honoring, feeding, and caring for the exchange so everyone remains sovereign and supported.
Next Steps
If this episode resonated with you, continue exploring Lucy Baldwin’s work here:
You’ll find current offerings, free practices, podcast links, and ways to go deeper.
A good next step is the free guided Existential Kink practice available there, especially if you want to explore desire, shadow, energetic boundaries, receiving, and radical approval in a more embodied way.