Modern Vampires

Alright so I'm lazy at times.. truth is I needed to finish this section so that I could work on the other sections. So I cut and pasted a bit... enjoy.

Vampires:

by Anders Martin Labich Nielsen

...The Guardians hastened to protect Miss Aubrey; but when they arrived, it was too late. Lord Ruthven had disapeared, and Aubrey's sister had glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE! The end of John Polidori's (1795-1821) story The Vampyre (1819).

The Original Vampire:

There are legends of vampire-like creatures from as far back as 125 AD, when one of the first known vampire stories occured in Greek Mythology. But the word Upir (an early form of the word later to become "Vampire") appears for the first time in written form in 1047 in a document to a Russian prince as Upir Lichy or "Wicked Vampire". Vampire legends originated in the far East and made their way west with caravans along the silk route to the Mediterranian. From there they spread up into the Slavic lands and the Carpathian Mountains. The Slavic people has the richest vampire legends in the world. They were originally more related to the Iranians, and they migrated to where they are now around the 8th century. Almost as soon as they arrived the Christianization process began, and vampire legends survived as myths. Later the Gypsies migrated westward from the northern part of India (where they have a number of vampire myths as well), and their myths mingled with those of the Slavic people already there. The Gypsies arrived in Transsylvania shortly before Vlad Dracula was born in 1431. The vampire here was the ghost of a dead person, which in most cases had been a witch, mage or a suicider. Vampires were feared creatures, because they killed people but at the same time looked like people; the only differences were, that they didn't have a shadow, nor did they reflect in a mirror. Besides this, they could change their shape into a bat, which made them impossible to catch. At daytime the vampires slept in their coffins, but at night they lived from drinking human blood as the sun's rays were deadly for them. The most common method was by midnight to fly through a window, in the shape of a bat and bite the victims neck and suck it dry for blood. The vampires couldn't enter a house if they hadn't been invited, but as soon as they had, they could reenter as often as they liked. The slavic vampire wasn't only dangerous because it killed people (many human beings did that), but also because the victims, after death turned into vampires. The vampire's strongest side was, that it was almost immortal; only some very special rites could kill them such as: putting a stick through their heart, chop their head off or burn the body. This type of vampire is also the most known type, especially Bram Stokers Count Dracula is of this type.

Vlad Tsepesh aka Dracula:

Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the real life prince upon whom Bram Stoker based his famous Count Dracula. Dracula was born in Transsylvania in 1431 in the town of Sighisoara or Schassburg. His father Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil) was a member of The Order of the Dragon, who was an oath to fight the Turks forever. The name Dracul means dragon or devil and became his fathers name because he used the dragon's symbol on his coins. At the age of only 13, Dracula was captured by the Turks who "learned" him to toture and impale people; but it was under his reign of Wallachia in 1456 to 1462 he actually got a chance to use his knowledge. It is also from this time, most of the stories happen, here is an example:

Once Dracula saw a man on the street with a dirty and ragged shirt. Dracula asked if he had a wife, and the man says yes. Dracula sees that she is healthy and has plenty of flax, and calls her lazy, so he has both her hands cut off and her body impaled. He procured a new wife for the man and showed her what happened to her lazy predecessor as a warning; the new wife was definitely not lazy.

Draculas other name Tsepesh (or Tepes) means impaler. Vlad was so named because of his penchant for impalement as a way of punishing his enemies. Impalement was a particularly gruesome form of execution. It was done by pulling the victim onto a stake by horse, which was sharpened at the end and oiled, so it would NOT cause immediate death. Unfaithful wives and promiscuous women were punished by Dracula by cutting off their sex organs, skinning them alive and exposing them in public with their skin hanging from a nearby pole. Dracula especially enjoyed mass executions where several victims were impaled at once and their stake hoisted upright. As they hang suspended above the ground, the weight of their bodies would slowly drag them downwards, causing the sharpened end of the stake to pierce their internal organ. In order to better enjoy the mass spectacles, Dracula routinely ordered a banquet table set up in front of his victims, and would enjoy a leisurely supper amid the pityful sights and sounds of the dying.

The actual castle of Dracula is in the northern Wallachian town of Tirgoviste. Vlad Dracula died in 1476. Some stories tell that he died in a battle where he had disguised himself as a Turk. As victory was near he got excited and ran to the top of a hill to see it all, but was mistaken for a Turk and therefore killed by his own men. Vlad's tomb was opened in 1931 but it was empty except for a badly deteriorated skeleton, a golden crown, a necklace with a serpent motif and fragments of a red silk garment with a ring sewn on. Unfortunately all these things have been stolen from the History Museum of Bucharest where they were deposited.

Vampires of the World:

Throughout the Ages and the World there have been a lot of vampirelike creatures, In the following we will take on a trip around the World to see what we can find out there:

Africa:

In the 1920's Montague Summers searched the World for Vampires, he found that in Africa, there was very little literal vampirism, actually he found only 2 examples: the Asasabonsam and the Obayifo.

The Asasabonsam was a vampirelike creature found in the folklore of the Ashanti people of Ghana. It was humanoid in appearance except for a set of iron teeth and their hookshaped feet. They were very rarely encountered as they lived deep in the forest, sitting in the trees alowing their feet to hang down and catch unwary people passing by below.

The Obayifo was in fact the Ashanti name for a West African vampire which were known in many different tribes under similar names. It was a witch living incognito in the tribecommunity. Secretly in the darkness of the night the witch was able to leave her body and travel as a ball of light. They then attacked people (espescially children) sucking their blood.

More recently John Vellutini argued that beneath the surface of African beliefs about witchcraft, much material was analogous to the Eastern European or Slavic Vampire. Witches had numerous powers, including the ability to change their shape into that of various animals. They were known to indulge themselves in acts of cannibalism and vampirism.

America:

As in Africa, there was very little literal vampirism, it was the European settlers that brought the belief to America, and that was mostly the original vampire, the African Americans brought their types with them, and only one new type is heard of here, the Fifollet.

The Fifollet or Feu-follet known to the residents of Louisiana, were furthermore known as the traditional Will-O-the-Wisp deriving from the French Incubus/Succubus, they were the souls of a dead person most likely a child who had died before baptism. Normally their attack were only mischief, but it happened they became vampires and sucked the blood of their victims, which mostly were children.

Armenia:

Little is known of vampirism in Armenia, but Montague Summers mentioned a certain Dakhanavar.

The Dakhanavar protected the valleys from intruders. He used to attack people at night and sucked their blood from their feet. Legends say it that he was outwitted by two men who slept with their feet under eachother's head. The creature thereafter ran away frustrated by having seen a creature with two heads. It haven't been seen since...

Assyria:

The writings of ancient Mesopotamia indicated an elaborate mythology with a leion of deities, but they only told about one example of true vampires The Seven Evil Spirits as described in a poem quoted by R. Campbell Thomson:

Seven are they! Seven are they!

Spirits that minish the heaven and earth,

that minish the land,

spirits that minish the land,

of giant strength,

of giant strength and giant tread.

Demons like raging bulls, great ghosts,

ghosts that break through all houses,

demons that have no shame.

Seven are they!

Knowing no care, they grind the land like corn;

knowing no mercy they rage against mankind.

They spill their blood like rain,

devouring their flesh and sucking their veins.

They are demons full of violence, ceaselessly devouring blood.

Montage Summers spoke of a Vampirelike creature called the Ekimmu a spirit of an unburied person, he based his case on some literature concerning the Neatherworld (the abode of the dead) wherein the line: "His spirit resteth not in the earth" appears, he then connected this with some other passages, and came to the conklusion thah, what we spoke of here was vampires. BUT recent translations of the same line has made it clear that the spirit didn't roam around restlessly through the earth but through the Neatherworld. Thus while the idea of vampires did exist in Assyria (Mesopotamia), it was not as prominent as Summers would indicate.

Australia:

Only one Vampirelike creature has been known in Australian folklore. In the Aboriginal cultures there existed a creature known as the Yara-ma-yha-who.

The Yara-ma-yha-who was a little red man about 4 ft. tall with an exceptionally large mouth, it's hands had suckers like an octopus. It didn't hunt for food, but as the Asasabonsam it lived in the trees (mainly fig trees) and when unwary people sought shelther below the tree, it would drop down on them, place it's hands and feet on the body and then drain the blood from the victim until the victim was left weak and helpless. Later it would return and swallow the living body whole, drink some water and take a nap. After it's nap the undigested portion of it's meal would be regurgitated. The person regurgitated would then still be alive. People might be captured on several occasions, and each time they would grow a little shorter to the point where they were at the same size as the Yara-ma-yha-who, and they would then gradually change into being one too.

Bulgaria:

In Bulgarian folklore two vampiretypes are known: the variety of the Slavic Vampire the Vampir and the Ustrel.

The word Vampir is a borrowing from teh Russian language, original it was called Opyri or Opiri which later changed to Vipir, Vepir or Vapir. Among the Gagauz people (Bulgarians speaking their own language Gagauzi) this vampire was known as the Obur. Most commonly the Vampir was associated with problems of death and burial. The myth says that the soul of a dead person travelled to all the places it had visited during its lifetime. After this journey (which took 40 days) it would then move on to the next life, but if its burial had been done improperly or if the person had died a violent death, the passage to the next life might have been blocked and a Vampir would then have been born. This vampiretype could live for centuries among normal people and even father children there, they were known to eat a normal diet. The Vampir could be killed as normal by using the traditional stake. But a very unique methode has been reported: the bottling. This methode required a specialist, the djadadjii, normally also the priest. He would chase the Vampir with his holy icon and drive it towards a bottle filled with the Vampir's favorite food, the Vampir would then enter the bottle, which would then be corked and thrown into a bonfire.

The Ustrel was a particular Bulgarian vampiretype. It was described as the spirit of a child who had been born on a Saturday and had died before recieving baptism. On the ninth day an Ustrel was believed to work its way out through the grave. It would then attack sheep and cattle and drain their blood. After about 10 days of feeding the Ustrel didn't need to return to the grave at day anymore. It would then rest at day between the horns of a calf or between the hindlegs of a milch-cow. If a herdowner believed that there was an Ustrel among his herd, he would hire a socalled vampirdzhija, a person who had the ability to see these creatures, so no doubt about its presence would remain. The villagepeople would then start a large ritual. Beginning on a Saturday morning, all the fires of the village were put out. The cattle or sheep were then marched to a nearby crossroad where two bonfires were lit (created by rubbing two sticks together). the herds were then guided between the two bonfires, and the vampire were then believed to drop to the earth and emaining at the crossroad until it later would be devoured be wolves. All the householdfires were then relit be using the fire from the two bonfires.

Different types of Vampires:

Asasabonsam:

Asasabonsam are african vampires. They are normal vampires except that they have hooks instead of feet. They tend to bite their victims on the thumb.

Baital:

Baital is an Indian race of vampires their natural form is half man, half bat, standing roughly one and a half meter tall.

Baobhan Sith:

The Baobhan Sith (buh-van she) is an evil Scottish fairie who appear as a beatiful young woman and will dance with men they find, until the men are exhausted; they then feed upon them. It can be killed by cold iron.

Bruja:

Bruja is the spanish name for a witch, it was very similar to the Italian Strega and the Bruxa from the neighboring Portugal. It was a living woman who was able to transform herself into various kinds of animals and attack children.

Ch'Iang Shih:

In China there are vampire-like creatures called Ch'Iang Shih; they are created by having a cat jumping over the corpse of a dead person. They appear livid and may kill with poisonous breath in addition to draining blood. If a Ch'Iang Shih encounters a pile of rice, it must count the grains before it can pass on. Their immaterial form is a sphere of light, much like Will-O-the-Wisps.

Dearg-Due:

In Ireland many druids speak of Dearg-Dues which has to be killed by building a cairn of stones upon the grave. The Dearg-Dues can't change their chape.

Ekiminu:

Ekiminus are assyiran malignant spirits (half ghost, half vampire) caused by no proper burial. They are naturally invisible and are capable of possessing humans. They can be destroyed by using wooden weapons or by exorcism.

Kathakano:

The Crete vampire Kathakano is much like the originals, but it can only be killed by chopping its head off and boiling it in vinegar.

Krvopijac:

These are Bulgarian vampires and are also known as Obours. They look like normal vampires, but have only one nostril and a pointed tongue. A krvopijac can be immobilized by placing roses around their graves. It can be destroyed by letting a magician order it into a bottle and throwing it into a bonfire.

Lamia:

Lamias were known in ancient Rome and Greece. They were exclusively female vampires, which often appeared half human, half animal (most often a snake and always the lower part) form. They ate the flesh of their victims as well as drinking the blood. Lamias could be attacked and killed with normal weapons.

Nosferatu: Nosferatu is another name for the original vampire, which is also called vampyre.

Rakshasa:

Rakshasa is a powerful Indian vampire and magician. They usually appear as humans with animal features (claws, fangs, slitted eyes, etc.) or as animals with human features (feet, hands, flattened nose, etc.). The animal side is very often a tiger. They eat the victim's flesh in addition to drinking their blood. Rakshasas may be destroyed by burning, sunlight or exorcism.

Strigoiul:

This is the Romanian vampire. Strigoiuls are much like the original vampires, but they like to attack in flocks. They can be killed by putting garlic into its mouth or removing its heart.

Succubus:

This is a lesser known European race of vampires. The general way they feed is by having sexual relations with the victim, exhausting them and then feeding on the energy released during sex. They may enter homes uninvited and can take on the appearance of other persons. They will often visit the same victim more than once. The victim of a Succubus will experience the visits as dreams. The male version of a Succubus is an Incubus.

Vlokoslak:

Serbian vampires, also called Mulos. They normally appear as people wearing white clothes. They are active both day and night and can assume the shape of horses and sheep. They eat their victims as well as drinking their blood. They can be killed by cutting off their toes, or by driving a nail through the neck.

Upierczi:

These vampires have origin in Poland and Russia and is also called Viesczy. They have a sting under the tongue instead of the fangs. They are active from noon to midnight and can only be destroyed by burning. When burned, the body will burst, giving rise to hundreds of small, disgusting animals (maggots, rats, etc.). If any of these creatures escape then the Upierczi's spirit will escape too and will return to seek revenge.

The Common Vampire

It's impossible to give a complete picture of the vampire as it is in the litterature, because there are many different versions of this myth. Just about every thinkable ability and weakness has probably been ascribed to vampires at some point.

The Most Common Abilities:

Shape-changing: Most vampires have the ablity to change their shape into an animal, which normally would be a bat, rat, wolf, cat, spider or raven. Many vampires can even transform their body into a cloud of mist.

Strenght: Another typically ability among vampires is strenght and senses far beyound human capability.

Controlling: This is the most rare ability of these three. The ability to summon and control some type of animals, which mostly would be the same as the type into which the vampire is able to change shape.

The Most Common Weaknesses:

The Coffin: Almost all vampires have to sleep in their coffin during the daytimes. Originally the coffin was made so that animals chouldn't dig up the body.

Sunlight: Almost every vampire is very sensitive to the sun's rays, many are weakened by them and some are even harmed or killed by them. Bram Stokers Dracula was unaffected by sunlight

Religious Symbols: In most cases the symbol isn't enough to harm a vampire, there has to be a very strong faith in the symbol and it's efficiency as a dispeller of evil. Sometimes the symbol doesn't even have to be religious. There is a movie in which a yuppie dispels a vampire by holding up his wallet, here it was the faith and not the symbol that mattered.

No Reflection: Vampires have no reflection in mirrors. The reason is that the reflection in a mirror was thought to by the reflection of a persons soul, which is something vampires were thought not to have. This has later given rise to the belief of vampires not showing on photoes or having a shadow. A few vampires can be killed by placing it directly between two mirrors, because it would then see into eternity.

Running Water: Vampires cannot cross running water. The reason is linked to that of vampires having no reflection, because at the point of time where this belief sprung up, most mirrors were no better than a standing stream of water.

The Most Common Ways of Killing a Vampire:

Wooden Stake: This is as common as the sensitivity to sunlight; vampires can be killed by driving a stake through their hearts. Some legends say the stake has to be of a special type of wood (generally ash, hawthorne, maple or aspen), and some say that the stake must be driven through in one blow. The reason for this origin is the belief, that the heart was the seat of life and power.

Beheading: Very often this has to be done with the gravediggers shovel. The reason is the same as for the Wooden Stake: the brain was the second seat of life. If you cut off a vampires head, you are removing the vampires brain from the body and therefore removing its lifeforce.

Burning: Burning the body seems to be a very common and almost universal method to get rid of a vampire.

Dispelling Through the Christian belief came the idea that vampires could be killed by the means of the Cross or Holy Water, because they were postulated by Leo Allatius to be related to Satan.

Buried Head Downwards: If it is suspected that someone is likely to become a vampire, it's possible to prevent the change by burying the body face downwards.

The most Common Ways of Becomming a Vampire

Born With Teeth or a Caul: Sometimes it specifically has to be a red caul. In this case, it may be possible to avoid the change by burning the caul and feeding the ashes to the baby.

Animals Jumping over the body: If a person has died and an animal (normally a cat) jumps over the body before it has been properly buried, the person can become a vampire. In Romania this could be cured by putting a piece of iron into the corpse's hand, or by placing some Hawthorn in the coffin.

Red Hair: In Greek Mythology it was very common that redheads after death would turn into vampires. Red hair was also said to be the Mark of Set (the devil) of the Egyptian Mythology.

Other Common Ways:

Suicide.

Being a wizard or witch.

Being the seventh son.

Being bitten by a vampire.

Drinking the blood of a vampire.

Being a victim of an unavenged murder.

A dead body that has been reflected in a mirror.

By not having been buried properly.

The Belief in Vampires:

The Vampire Scene:

The History of Vampire-Literature:

The first published vampire-story is from 1734 and is an Anglo-Saxon poem called The Vampyre of the Fens. Hereafter there are numerous other vampire-literature, such as John Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), Thomas Prest's Varney the Vampire (1847), which was printed in a weekly magazine and had 220 chapters, Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), Victor Roman's Four Wooden Stakes (1925) and most recently Anne Rice's large colection of various vampirestories.