So, I read a thing on the internet recently. Like so many things on the internet, it wasn't right, so it made me mad. But instead of shrugging it off and moving on, AND instead of arguing with the person — who was wrong, but not maliciously so — I decided it was time for a good old-fashioned debunking. And that’s how we arrive at it:

Past Lives Are Not The Point
by Elyria

The comment I read was actually pretty innocent, something passing, to the effect of “House Kheperu is a group that's about past lives.” But it touched on a point, I suppose, that maybe we don’t touch on enough outside the House.

Hi. I’m a member of House Kheperu, and I don’t have past life memories. Do I believe in reincarnation? Yup. Why? Well, for one thing, I trust the people I know do have memories of the past. I don’t have those memories myself, but I do recognize people, and places. I don’t usually let that moment of recognition decide much about the path I take in this life. But as far as digging into the deep dark past and mining it for memories? Nah, that’s not a thing I do.

There are definitely people in the House who do pursue and work with past life memories. And for them, that can be a valid part of their pathwork. But there’s always a pitfall with putting too much emphasis on that one aspect of the work, because it really isn’t the point. It’s a tool and a process that we use to prepare us for the Work that we are here to do. Much like shadow work, that process of delving-into-self and uncovering uncomfortable truths… if the process is the point, then it’s all vanity, and it’s all fluff, and it’s all navel-gazing. Past lives aren’t a thing we look at because we think the past is more important than the present, or the future; they’re a process we go through to come to understand ourselves better, to understand our patterns, and to make conscious decisions to change those patterns if it becomes clear that they aren’t working the way we want them to.

Memories of past lives can contain a whole lot of trauma, especially for the people who remember traumatic events vividly. Doubly so if those memories didn’t have context for a while— there might be layers and years of shame or fear piled up on top of the memories, to make them extra-painful to try and sort through. Some of the members of the House are uniquely suited to help guide folks through that sort of painful recall. That’s a necessary skill, but it’s more like triage than it is like health. That is; dealing with past life memories, like dealing with a serious wound, is a necessary first step to allow the possibility of health. But wound-care is not the only basis for health — that takes eating well, finding meaning, getting enough sleep, (ideally) avoiding situations where more wounds will be inflicted, and healing from the wounds we already have.

So what do I do, without past life memories to give me insight into who I am, how I work, and what I need to work through? I do shadow work. The way some folks look to the past, I look to the present. I take stock of what makes me happy, and what puts me at ease. I notice how I interact in groups, especially within the House. I notice my feelings and I try to understand them. I let my frustrations show me what I care about, and what I care about too much; I let my anger tell me where I’m sore, and how to understand anger in others; I let my excitement and my passion for learning and insight out in newsletter articles with flimsy excuses, I help organize Gather, and I think about all the ways the House can position itself to, as our charge says, awaken the very world. 

Awakening the world is a big project. (And yes, I have a penchant for understatement.) Working through traumatic past life memories is a part of that project, for some people. Shadow work is part of it for all of us. So is talking about that work, and how it goes, and uncovering the messy bits, and the stupid bits, and the bits I really don’t want to talk about because those are going to be damned hard conversations. 

If I’ve learned anything in my years with the House, it’s that the most overwhelming projects are sometimes also the ones best served by tiny steps. An article in a newsletter. A chance comment on a forum. A hug — virtual, of course, these days — that makes a chain of kindness down the days until it reaches a desperate artist, who lives. A book. A portrait. A friendship. An insight. A thought. We have so many tools at our disposal. But not a single one of them will accomplish anything if we only use them on ourselves, or if we only use our personal insight as a shield to keep us safe from what other people think. Vulnerability is hard. Talking about pain and process and the slow growth of understanding is hard. But it’s always the hard things, in the end, that help us connect to each other.
In connecting, we awaken not only ourselves, but also - the very world.

love, 
Elyria, a counselor of House Kheperu, Guardian for the Community

contact: housekheperu@gmail.com

The Anchor sigil I made from a clay disk. Baked and hardened, it was the point collected energy would flow to. I then crafted a container to store it. This part is where you can be creative and do what feels best. I’ll describe what I did from the perspective of my particular flavor of psyvamp. I took aluminum foil and placed the Anchor inside of it, making a base for the sculpture to go on. I included, within that aluminum alongside the Anchor, a quartz crystal of high clarity. I will sometimes use quartz as a mental reinforcement for various practices and here I used it as a means to strengthen my construction both physically and with my will. Once I had that base, I sculpted the form of a figure that would act as a vessel, knowing the Anchor and crystal lay within it. As I worked the clay, I reinforced that it was the container and vessel from which energy would be held and energy would be taken. I also began to visualize the network of Collector sigils tethering to it and directing energy towards the Anchor and the Container. This took a couple of days of work ,and when it was finished, it got tossed in the oven and baked to cure.

Applying the Collector

The Collector sigil now just needs to be placed in places where it could access what amounted to free, ambient energy of the flavor I wanted. Being in the digital age, I placed those marks into images very subtly. This is where it becomes amusingly NSFW but I kind of have to explain how this worked. I drew NSFW art through college. I placed that sigil within each of those images knowing that they would go out into the internet and spread around while various folks pleasured themselves and hopefully achieved an orgasm here or there. The collector sigils could then gather up that outpouring of energy and channel it back to the vessel. I did this for dozens upon dozens of art images. The sigil is faint and you wouldn’t see it if I didn’t point it out. As I posted the images and they did their duty, the vessel began to fill.

You can also apply this method to places and spaces. I have a second sigil network that I created for another flavor of energy that I enjoy. I went to various places and placed the Collector sigil there. I do not want anyone going out and putting stickers or graffiti into public spaces -- that won’t work. Instead, I found that drawing the sigil in a particular place with my finger on a wall, door, window, etc worked fine. The difference here was that I had to remember to either go back and reinforce the sigil, or project myself to those places to reinforce them, otherwise they fade. If you can place a hard copy of the sigil in the space, it’s the stronger option, but not always necessary. The physicality of this project is mostly present as a reinforcement to the will and intent. You could do this whole thing without crafting anything at all, keep that in mind.

Now when I am low energy and need a sippy sip, I go to my vessel and take what I need. It isn’t vibrant and fresh energy. It’s sort of stale, and doesn’t have the oomph at all that I’d like, but it is something and (at least with the one, internet fueled vessel) it is always a lot. I can get the fresh energy if someone is actively viewing the sigil and releasing energy when I am drawing, so there is that. I also believe this method to be rather ethical, as it only takes what is released from the person and left in the air. It does not draw from the person directly. So, an ethical win/win!

You can use any sort of Anchor / Collector / Vessel you want. You could literally put your Anchor in the bottom of a sippy cup and drink, if you wanted. I like this system because it is highly customizable and adaptable. If you are struggling with energy maintenance, give this a try and see if it works for you.

I'm also gonna include what one of my vessels looks like. This worked for me:

I kept them featureless, more or less agender because it could read as an 'anybody' vessel. The addition of another crystal in the lap was some 'permissions' additions I laid over it during the pandemic to share with others.

Check out Abri's energy body readings and art here.

Perspective: a Vampire Medium  ~  by Heidica Dalton

I was invited to write a few words about my vampirism and mediumship, and though I am no writer, I appreciate the invitation. This request has made me think about these things and perhaps look at them in new ways. 

I was born vampiric, and one of the first things my Mother would say about me as a young child was: "This child is eating me alive, she is taking all my energy" which I indeed was, and remember doing.

How can we relate to such circumstances? Are we supposed to feel guilty for being what we are, and doing what we need to do to survive and thrive? For many years I did, and I was, but then I thought it was just me being like that. I did not know anyone else who had to take their energy from & through others, and my mother (as hard as she tried) could never control either me or my feeding. She herself needs to feed so much and often that she has chosen a life as a performer, constantly cycling and taking in what she needs from others. I am proud of her for how she has managed to balance it. She gives as much as she takes, and that is something I strive to achieve as well in this life.

She and I are in a good place today, and have invested in each other to develop together in this life as a team. Perhaps not in the traditional Mother/daughter relationship, but whatever we have together, it is of benefit to us both. It has never been an easy relationship, but I believe we decided to take this journey together to develop & learn as a team because we are giving each other those right pushes that are taking us further together than we can go on our own. I know she was scared when I told her as a 3 year old that "You will not control me or tell me what to do, it was me who was the Mother last time!"

That was when I understood that not everyone has memories from other constellations and roles with their close ones. That was also one of the first times I understood that we as humans don’t talk about "everything." House Kheperu, as I have gotten to know it, is and shares a lot about this. Past life constellations, links, bonds and roles that have existed and continued through the times and aeons. It amused me to hear that the newsletter is called the Midnight Sun. Coming from the land of the midnight sun and having lived up North at the polar circle where the midnight sun is present all summer means I have had to get used to this phenomena in the ways that it is possible to get used to, for someone who prefers to sleep in the dark. The midnight sun to me is something one can't put away or ignore. It puts light to what usually is hidden in the darkness, and it shines but it does not warm. It brings to the surface what the darkness has underlying and it forces change. It can be annoying and unavoidable but is at the same time true and constant with its cold and calculated rays. It can't grow anything on its own, but it can inspire and bring a stillness within that makes room for growth and expansion. The midnight sun is resilient and necessary, you can't ignore it and regardless if you like it or not it will affect you in some way. It lights up the summer nights so you long for winter and darkness again, and in some ways that makes it easier to manage the Norse winters where all is dark and daylight is not visible for many many months.

The midnight sun for me helps bring change and balance. 

This is how I also see the House Kheperu and the Kheprian vibrations, as a necessity that can't be forced away, but that puts a light on many hidden things that need to come out again, regardless of time or era. As old bonds are rediscovered and brought forward in new ways and constellations, they are each our own to explore or ignore. I see these bonds as soul agreements or "contracts" if you wish to call it that, some also as pre life arrangements meant to nudge us into action or back on track when we lose sight of what it was we chose to come here to learn. I appreciate the "bumper contracts" that these bonds or connections can give. A bumper contract to me is when two or more souls have a cooperation and bond, and decide to take on another incarnation to help each other grow and develop. It can be they shared an origin, an agenda, a theme, or just a time. This time around, they have agreed to help each other again in the hope of getting further and deeper, together and on their own. Some will stay on the other side or between as well, so as to best be able to assist without the limitations of human bodies.

It's about helping, and giving each other the best possible circumstances and settings. I believe in pre life soul charts and contracts and also believe we set them up for ourselves with our free will. That will is still ours though we might have a plan. I sometimes see parts of what the person was before, what they are and wish to be here and now, as well as potential paths they can choose from in the "future."

It is my belief that we can agree to come together in continuing roles and constellations to "bump" each other back into action when something makes us fall behind or out of our chosen paths. Sometimes we end up not needing the pre planned contract because the choices we made took us elsewhere, and then new contracts can appear instead, with others or with the same. Perhaps you managed a certain task or obstacle on the first attempt, and then your bumper contract with so-and-so will be dissolved, to have another fill in that can assist you on a different but just as important theme. I believe we create our road as we go along it, but that the direction is something we decide on before we get here. I’m aware there is a lot more to it that I don’t remember now, and that we all have our versions of reality.

When I look at a person’s spirit & energy, I see a myriad of vibrations, possibilities, and potentials. To me a pre life contract is agreed upon by both or all parts to help and assist as life goes on, and as we who have chosen to come (again) walk along our paths, it is meant to be helpful, although it may not always feel like that. A soul contract or connection does not give anyone the right to suppress another. Neither does it make it all right to take advantage of or abuse anyone. It is merely meant as an agreement to be of assistance to each other... and sometimes development can be very painful. 

In my belief, a soul group can decide to cooperate and help each other forward, and then they will take on different roles in different lifetimes and bodies. The roles can be as close friends, siblings, parents/children, lovers and whatever kind of relationship one chose to share in the heres and nows. I say it in plural because I also believe in multiple and parallel realities.The themes we choose and the challenges we encounter has, in my opinion, a lot to do with what we have experienced before, and what main direction we wish to take our soul’s development.

A challenging connection or role might give more to a soul’s development than a supporting one --  but what is support really? It isn't necessarily giving each other what we want, but sometimes also what we need. How do we best grow and learn if not from challenges and overcoming obstacles? It is usually when something hits us in the face that we learn to open our eyes to change. I am well aware that these are just my personal beliefs, but if sharing them can give anyone else something to think about, it is worth it.

As a medium I connect with spirits. I hear, feel and see how the spirits were when they were alive, and in the relationship with the person who asks me for a reading. The spirit people will share of their lives, and give me information that is meant to be evidence of their existence & intelligence after death...when I get it right. :) As a vampiric person who has to take in and cycle energy to stay alive and healthy, I already have one leg in each reality. The mediumship is inborn and a result of this, and through my choice to develop further or not, it also has a lot to do with how and why I interact with others in or between bodies. I can't separate it, and I don’t wish to either. I use my vampirism to connect, communicate, and cycle. I do the same as a medium. It is simply just me and what I am and do, a psychic vampire and a spirit communicator.

Many mediums struggle to hold a link over time when they channel and read. It can take a lot of energy to hold a connection but for me this is something that my vampirism is helping me with. Very often the spirit people offer boosts of energy to help me communicate for them, and as a reward for a job they consider well done. It is a mutual agreement, and to me an advantage as I don’t need to use of my reserves, but can go on as long as the boost lasts. I have compared how long I am able to hold a link when I accept this and when it is not on the table, and I can def hold it longer when it is. Just to have said it, I do not allow spirits to use of my energy to communicate, so if they need extra energy to do so they will have to take it elsewhere. Spirits are people with different personalities like anyone else, they can be simple or complex, and you won't have the same connection with all of them. Sometimes they are easier to connect with and sometimes they are quite difficult to work with. It's the same as with any other person, and it can also be me who is having a bad day. We all feel more connected with some persons than others, and there will also be spirits who feel like old friends and others who make your energy spike or feel on the edge.

The better the connection, the better the reading though. This is how it works for me and it is MY job to interpret the info they come with. They are blending with my energy in a cloudlike connection and in that cloud is all the info available. It is just up to me to catch and translate as much as I can manage, and bring it forward for the client or friend to confirm or dismiss.

So does my vampirism make me a better psychic & medium? Yes I believe it does, and I also experience that several psychic and mediumistic practices and exercises are easier due to my natural way of working with energy. Does it give me anything for free?  No def not, it is a constant challenge to take in and cycle enough, to store and keep my reserves protected. As with everyone else who wishes to develop their natural abilities, it takes work, work, and more work, and endless hours of practice to better yourself at anything. 

It’s just how it is and a natural thing. I consider myself blessed for having found enough courage to hop into and explore things, and isn’t that what it’s all about? We all have to find the courage to be here, to continue down our paths when they suck and hit us in the face, but that’s when you have your "bumper contracts" or soul groups to come to your assistance. I am most grateful for mine. They have all helped me so much :) <3