Revisiting The Basics: Rules For Vampire Slayers And How To Bite Back

I've been  feeling a need to get back to basics for some time now - to remember the principles that provide me with a foundation for living that works.   For me that means spending more time with my family and my work, and it definitely means spending more time in prayer and meditation.  

It also means reviewing the stuff I've gotten complacent about: the principles that I'm so smugly sure I know by heart and don't even really need to think about in terms of who I am today because I imagine "I've already done all that."

I was talking to a couple of friends the other night after a meeting, and one of them commented on how nice I looked.  I was already well into my answer to them about how it wasn't really me that looked good, but rather my clothes or makeup - when my friend Suzanne whispered leaned in close, and then whispered in my ear, "Just say 'thank you.'"

Well.  If you've read my book you know this is one of the big lessons I claim to have learned -- the one about the importance of saying "thank you" to life and all it offers us instead of pushing love and gifts like that away.  In fact, that would have been a golden opportunity for me to be able to say, "Hey, you don't have to tell me about saying, 'thank you' - I wrote the book on it!" except of course that I couldn't, what with having forgotten what I'd written and all. 

So what this all boils down to is that it's time for me to get back to all the stuff I think I already know so well, and to review it.  And this is  why I'm  going to spend the next couple of weeks going over the rules of practical vampire slaying, or "Biting Back,"(if you prefer) and taking a closer look at them...and I hope you will, too.

I'm going to list them in their entirety today, and then, starting tomorrow, I'm going to discuss each one in detail - one every other day - until we've gone through the whole list. 

A list of nine.  9 rules!  Now how did that happen? I mean: I couldn't have rounded it out to a nice clean 10?  Or the ever-popular 12?  A number with a little more zing to it perhaps?  One with just a tad more fame?

Well... all I can tell you is that it's too late now.  Nine rules is what there are and so, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:

The Rules

Rule #1:

A vampire can’t just walk into your house and start sucking your blood.

First, it has to be invited.

Rule #2:

A vampire does not need an invitation every time they cross the threshold.

One invitation grants a lifetime pass.

Rule #3:

Every host has the option to revoke an invitation they’ve extended to a vampire, but they have to know the rules if they want to do it right.

Rule #4:

Every host must claim responsibility for their invitation

before they can reclaim their power to revoke it.

Rule #5:

Our revocations must, above all, be clear...

and before we can be clear with our vampires, we have to be clear with ourselves, first.

Rule #6:

All vampires’ appetites are insatiable.

Rule #7:

Never look into a vampire’s eyes.

Rule #8:

A vampire cannot see its reflection a mirror.

Rule #9:

When it comes to hosts who never revoke their invitations:

They become vampires, too.

So we'll start with Rule #1 tomorrow, and then do the remaining rules -  one every other day.  I hope you'll join in if you have the time, the interest, and any questions or any arguments you'd like to present.  Or start.

With Gratitude

I Remain Yours Truly,

The Practical Vampire Slayer