Beyond the Buzzword: Understanding Negative Souls, Energy Vampires, and Sovereign Power

I recently had the distinct pleasure of being interviewed by a podcast, Flying Upstream, and it was a wonderful experience. The topic? Negative Souls and Energy Vampires.

Before we dive in, I want to be clear: I know there is real Evil in this world. The kind of Evil that eats and rots at the soul.

What I’m offering here is not intended to justify harm or blame victims. If you are in danger—if you’re facing abuse, violence or manipulation— this message is not for shame or guilt.

You deserve safety. You deserve to get help. No one ever deserves cruelty.

Now, a lot of us have preconceived notions of what a “negative soul” and “energy vampire” is–and I won’t lie, those labels are so casually thrown around in spiritual and new age spaces like glitter.

People whisper:

“Oh, she’s such an energy vampire–she always wants attention”

“He has such a dark, heavy energy…a real negative soul.”

And you know what?

You are absolutely allowed to use language however the hell you want. You don’t need permission from anyone.

However…

There is Power in Naming Things.

And it can be incredibly damaging–to self-worth and relationships, to spiritual growth–when we use terms like “negative soul” or “energy vampire” without clarity, care or true discernment. Most people don’t see themselves as villains. I like to believe that most people are just out here trying to keep the lights on, pay for groceries, and maybe–maybe–enjoy a one week vacation, if that. So yes–these labels can be harmful when weaponized. But that doesn’t mean we should avoid using clear and direct language. It means we must use it with integrity.

So let’s talk about what these terms really mean—because when we misuse them, we mishandle our own power. But when we wield them with truth? We become sovereign.

NEGATIVE SOULS: Alignment not Morality 

The modality of Soul Realignment, created by Andrea Hess, guides me in working within the Akashic Records. Through this work, I have encountered souls who are identified within the Records as "negative souls." These souls are internally untethered from Source, relying on external energy through relationships and attention. Negative souls should not be judged. They exist, and the truth is none of us can fully know the journey that led a soul to this state. My work through Soul Realignment — and my sacred responsibility — is not to pathologize the path of disconnection, but to walk the path of reconnection ourselves.

ENERGY VAMPIRES: Where Consensual Energy Exchanges Can Occur—Or Not

From my lived experience, energy vampires are a completely different phenomenon: they have conscious awareness of their ability to draw energy from other people. Unlike negative souls, whose energy loss stems from internal misalignment, energy vampires operate with conscious awareness of their energetic needs—and often seek to fulfill them through others.

Energy vampires have an innate ability to draw energy from other people, purposely, with or without consent. In the act of draining energy from others, they gain a boost, a literal infusion to their system, and yes, they look a little different, more bright eyed and even a bit more glowy, like a plant that was thirsty getting watered.

Now, not every single person who is an energy vampire is automatically bad or immoral. We’re naming what a thing is, not the moral-ethical quality of someone’s character. Now, taken to the extreme, an energy vampire can take on a set of predatory behaviors designed to put people at ease, so they can consciously extract energy regardless of consent. This is an example of an extreme case. 

However, I see energy vampires at large scale public events because they can skim the energy off the collective without any single person feeling the effect too badly. Clubs, restaurants, sports events, music concerts, and shopping malls are just a few of the places I’ve seen energy vampires at work. These are modern-day feeding grounds–spaces where large groups gather and heightened emotional energy runs thick in the air.

Being an energy vampire has nothing to do with your national origin, religion, appearance, age, culture, gender or sexual orientation.

So, then how is this different from a negative soul?

It’s the consciousness–the self-awareness–that separates a negative soul from an energy vampire.

An energy vampire knows it needs to source energy from other people to survive, and it knows how to draw that energy from other people, on purpose without relying on attention seeking or similar behaviors. An energy vampire is conscious, and if they’ve developed some basic morals and ethics, they probably have a group of trusted companions they can do this with in a consensual manner. Just because you’re designed differently doesn’t make you inherently monstrous. 

If I were speaking to someone complaining about energy vampires and negative souls in their life, I’d honestly ask them a few well placed questions:

“How does this person’s presence impact your energy—before, during, and after?”

“What happens in your body—like in your breath, your belly, your spine—when they don’t get what they want from you?”

“Have you said no to them before? What happened when you did?”

“What version of you keeps showing up to that dynamic?”

“What do you gain by staying connected to them?”

“Is this truly a negative soul—or just a person you haven’t set boundaries with?”

“What would it take to stop leaking energy–acting from unspoken obligations, and being attuned without boundaries–in that relationship?”

SOVEREIGNTY: Where We’re Called to Own Our Shadows

It’s absolutely convenient to slap a label on someone or a situation and just move on. The label can often make us feel like, oh, well, we’ve done the work, nothing else to do here…next! However, this just often isn’t the case. In every single moment and action we take, we are always exercising our free will by making choices, so then, we have to start considering our role in the relationships with people we may have labeled “energy vampires” or “negative souls”. 

What actions did we take that put us in that situation? This isn’t about shame or self-blame—it’s about getting honest and waking up. From that awakened state, we can choose differently. It’s not necessarily about choosing better—because better is perspective. Choosing differently is about clearly seeing our patterns and taking continuous, conscious actions from our new awareness.

What were we doing?

How did it affect us?

And what new choices—new behaviors, new boundaries, new ways of being—can we make to create different outcomes?  

We can always choose differently. We don’t have to keep living in a zombie-like state where action and consequence are disconnected from integrity and energy. In our hurried state to just name it and move on, we miss an opportunity for growth, for uncovering some hidden gold if we were just willing to dig in the dirt.

As a practitioner of Soul Realignment, my role is never to cast judgment—but to hold space for reconnection, choice, and sovereignty. In the end, the soul’s journey belongs to the soul alone. This conversation isn’t about judging others—or ourselves—for the energetic roles we’ve played in the past or our past lives. It’s about naming patterns with clarity, and choosing how we engage with them moving forward. “Negative soul” and “energy vampire” aren’t accusations to throw across a room. They’re energetic signatures that call for discernment, boundaries, and sometimes, deep compassion—and maybe, a visit to your local rage room. As I continue on my own journey, I expect my own definitions to evolve as life will continue to unfold in ever-expanding beauty and complexity.

May we all see the choices that we are given, clearly, respond with greater discernment, and walk forward with energy that is truly our own. We don’t need to fear labels. But we do need to understand them—so that we don’t use them to shame, but to set ourselves free. 

Thank you for journeying with me. 🕯️🌿

Disclaimer:

Soul Realignment® is a modality created by Andrrea Hess. The perspectives shared in this blog are based on my personal experiences and interpretations, and do not represent the full teachings or official views of Soul Realignment®.