The real reason for the rise of Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and Wizards

From Harry Potter to Twilight, from the Discworld series to Blair Witch the last twenty years has seen a move of what was previously the domain of adolescent boys in darkened rooms and pubescent girls desperate for boyfriends into the mainstream. For many years stories of Vampires and Werewolves, witches and wizards have done the rounds of horror films, books, radio plays and the like, appealing to specific audiences, primarily wannabes and the disaffected, the Goths and Emos, a part of the music scene and the alternative lifestyle. The reasons behind this are interesting to say the least, and give yet more insight into the way in which the means of controlling the population are changing. The background to this is the rapid increase in scientific progress through the 20^th Century. The implication of this technological development is that an understanding of genetics, geology, psychology, chemistry and physics has led to an increase in the number of people questioning the validity of religious belief, particularly in the Western World.

This questioning, and the inability for mainstream faiths has led to a decline in church attendance and religious faith. This is a crucial factor because since the 5^th Century AD the church and the fear of divine retribution has been a crucial part of controlling the masses, and with its decline, new control methods are required. It has become clear to those in control that simply replacing a global religion such as Christianity is not only impractical but would be fraught with the same issues that Christianity is suffering from. The alternative is to take an idea which is already popular in the alternative community and to take it into the mainstream. This has led to the widespread adoption of tattoos, the increase in androgeny and metrosexual lifestyles, the move towards consumerist hedonism and the shift from monotheism to the worship of magic and the esoteric. But why is this proving so successful? In spite of the developments in science there has been a concomitant decrease in the level of education being provided meaning that the science is not fully understood. This has left a gap which is being bridged by pseudo-science and particularly with pseudo-history and pseudo-archaeology.

Let us take the Harry Potter novels as an example. These are primarily supposed to be aimed at children but are equally widely read by adults and although they profess to be fictional accounts of child wizards there are numerous occasions when “mysteries” that many people ponder are explained in magical terms. Many of the spells are given technical sounding “Latin” names aiding this process. A similar story is found in modern vampire stories where technology is conflated with mysticism and romance to create a very appealing mix. But how is this used to create the control that has been lost through the move away from Christianity? This alternative exerts control through a far more subtle mechanism. The books and films are specifically produced to engage the mind in focusing on fitting in with a larger social group. If you look at the “fanfic” phenomenon where fans of a particular series produce stories based around the characters you see something quite interesting. The apparent freedom of being able to create your own stories within an imaginary world is curtailed by the need to stick to canon, in other words to keep the new stories in line with the old. Add to this the pressure to dress alike, act alike, even talk alike all adds to creating a new form of control, constantly self reinforced and externally driven by media imagery.

So the next time you are drawn to one of these books or films and you don't really know why, ask yourself “What is really going on here?”