Vampires
vam·pire (văm pīr )
n.
A reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of the living.
F. Miklosich, an eminent scholar of Slavic languages, claims that 'vampire' derives from ‘uber’, the Turkish word for witch. But undoubtedly the source of 'vampire' is the Hungarian word ‘vampir’.
-McNally, Raymond T., A Clutch of Vampires
If we look at the earliest derivations of the word "vampire" itself, we find that its common root from most of the Mediterranean languages is formed from "vam", meaning blood, and "pyr", meaning monster..."blood-monster."
In other languages, such as those closer to Dracula's home, there are similar meanings in almost every language. The very earliest reference to the word arises in Slavonia in the Magyar form "vampir", which is the same in Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian and Bulgarian, with some variations: "vapir", "vepir", "veryr", "vopyr", "upier". In Lithuanian derivations there is an interesting variation on the idea of the vampire being not just a blood-monster but also a blood-drunk. The word that gives rise to the idea of a vampire is a mixture of "wempti", meaning to drink, and "wampiti", to growl or mutter, and the use of the word gave an intonation of drunkenness. In Croatia the word for the vampire was "pijauica", meaning one who is red-faced with drink. In Albania the name for vampire means the restless dead, and in Greece and the surrounding territories there is no word for vampire at all. In the European languages the name has always been somewhat similar: Danish and Swedish "vampyr", Dutch "vampir", French "le vampire", Italian, Spanish, Portuguese "vampiro", modern Latin "vampyrus". In the Oxford English Dictionary in its earlier editions the definition is: A preternatural being of a malignant nature (in the original unusual form of the belief an animated Corpse), supposed to seek nourishment and do harm by sucking the blood of sleeping persons; a man or woman abnormally endowed with similar habits.
Dracula
“She lives beyond the grace of God. She is "vampyr", "nosferatu". These creatures do not die like the bee after a first sting, but instead grow strong once infected by another nosferatu. My friends we fight not one beast but legions living age after age after age, feeding off of the blood of the living.”
~Professor Van Helsing, Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Dracula seemed the most logical place to start. Few names in any myths or legends are better known than Dracula. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a powerful tale of love and tragedy. I’ve read the book and seen many versions of the tale on the screen…and few surpass it.
The Legend of Dracula is actually based on a real historical figure, although not a vampire in the real sense of the word. He was known as Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler, or -- since his father was called Dracul (which meant devil or dragon) -- he was called Dracula, which means "son of Dracul." Vlad Dracula was a real Romanian prince who lived in the 15th century who was noted for his military campaigns against the Turks. In Romania he is considered a hero, even today. (For instance, the Romanian military has honored him by naming a modern assault helicopter the AH1 RO-Dracula.) Vlad was also a mass murderer and a fiend whose favorite form of killing was impalement. This was a type of crucifixion except instead of hanging the victim on a cross, the victim was impaled, from bottom up, with a long, sharp, wooden pole -- in other words, a stake was driven into the body vertically. The body was then displayed for Vlad Dracula, who once enjoyed dining amidst a forest of impaled bodies. Allegedly Vlad once killed 20,000 Turks in this way and lined them up as scarecrows to terrify any further enemies. (Vlad did not limit his murderous means to impalement, however; he also enjoyed cooking his victims and chopping them up.)
As to whether Vlad Dracula was an actual vampire, this was not likely. However, according to perhaps the most authoritative modern account on Dracula (McNally and Florescu's In Search of Dracula), Vlad Dracula actually used the blood of his victims as a sauce with his meals, using human blood as a dip for his bread. This was according to a document called "The Story of a Bloodthirsty Madman called Dracula of Wallachia" written in 1463, a document which was only fairly recently discovered. So, it is possible after all that Vlad did enjoy consuming human blood.
Origins of Vampires in general
Support for the vampire myth could be found historically, extrapolated from a few extraordinary facts. Such was the case of the "Blood Countess."
The deeds of a 16th century Hungarian countess named Elizebeth Bathory would rival the tales of horror told in almost any land. Her crimes were evil beyond description, though some say she was more insane than evil. When he was doing research for his novel about vampires, Bram Stoker came across a book called The Book of Werewolves by Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. (Authors Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu suggest that the real-life Dracula may have been related to Bathory on his Hungarian side of the family.) In this work was a description of the sinister deeds of the so-called Blood Countess. It is likely that this story, among other things, provided inspiration to Stoker for his vision of Count Dracula. In fact Elizebeth's cousin, Stephan Bathory, would one day become a prince in Transylvania.
Elizebeth was a well-educated and clever woman, but she possessed a tremendous cruel streak. Apparently fearing her own mortality after the death of her husband, she became sadistic towards her servants and eventually sought to acquire if not eternal life or longevity, then at least the appearance of youthful skin by washing in blood. Elizebeth actually got tips on how to torture from her husband who, as a soldier, used to brutalize Turkish prisoners-of-war. Bathory reportedly murdered scores of women, sometimes aided in her brutal deeds by her underlings (not unlike the fictional Dracula commanding his own servants to do his evil bidding.)
Bathory beat her victims routinely and mutilated them as well. Reportedly she froze some in the snows of winter near her home called Castle Csejthe, dumping ice water on them in freezing weather. There were possible acts of cannibalism as well; allegedly Bathory once took several bites out of the flesh of a living servant girl. And there were legendary tales of the Blood Countess literally bathing in the blood of virgin girls in the hopes of remaining young (although at least one source claims the blood baths are more legend than reality). Nevertheless, it is quite clear that the Hungarian countess Elizebeth Bathory did exist and that she committed evil acts. Another source says she drank the blood of 650 girls who were also murdered.
As the body count grew, Bathory's servants dumped the corpses outside the castle. When local peasants found the dead bodies, drained of blood, naturally they assumed vampires killed them. Rumors spread.
In 1610 she was arrested after her attempts to kill girls of nobler birth; apparently the grounds for arrest pertained to alleged witchcraft, not vampirism per se. Reportedly victims were found in the castle drained of blood. The countess' henchmen were put to death by the authorities and Elizebeth was imprisoned in her bedroom in her Castle in the Carpathian Mountains until her death years later. The only real evidence of Bathory's atrocities were recalled in her two trials in 1611 -- though she was never allowed to appear personally in court, only her henchmen appeared. Still, many myths have continued to flourish about her. It is said that some people even today claim to see her ghostly vision in her homeland in the Carpathians, prowling at night... in search of blood.
The Beginnings
When did vampires begin? As with many legends, the exact date of origin is unknown; but evidence of the vampire tale can be found with the ancient Chaldeans in Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, and with Assyrian writings on clay or stone tablets. The land of the Chaldeans is also called the "Ur of the Chaldeans," which was the original home of Abraham from the Bible.
"Lilith" was a possible vampire from the ancient Hebrew Bible and its interpretations. Although she is described in the book of Isaiah, her roots are more likely in Babylonian demonology. Lilith was a monster who roamed at night taking on the appearance of an owl. She would hunt, seeking to kill newborn children and pregnant women. Lilith was the wife of Adam before there was Adam and Eve, according to tradition; but she was demonized because she refused to obey Adam. (Or to see it from a more liberated viewpoint, she demanded equal rights with Adam). Naturally, she was considered evil for such "radical" desires and became a vampire who eventually attacked the children of Adam and Eve -- namely, all human descendants.
References to vampires can be found in many lands, and some scholars believe this indicates that the vampire story developed independently in these various lands and was not passed from one to the other. Such an independently occurring folktale is curious indeed.
References to vampires can be found among the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean such as Egypt, Greece and Rome. The ancient Greeks believed in the strigoe or lamiae, which were monsters that ate children and drank their blood. Lamia, as the mythology goes, was the lover of Zeus; but Zeus' wife, Hera, fought against her. Lamia was driven insane, and she killed her own offspring. At night, it was said, she hunted other human children to kill as well.
One tale known by both the Greeks and Romans, for example, concerns the wedding of a young man named Menippus. At the wedding a guest, who was a noted philosopher called Apollonius of Tyana, carefully observed the bride, who was said to be beautiful. Apollonius finally accused the wife of being a vampire, and according to the story (as it was later told by a scholar named Philostratus in the first century A.D.) the wife confessed to vampirism. Allegedly she was planning to marry Menippus merely to have him handy as a source of fresh blood to drink.
Vampire tales occurred in ancient China, where the monsters were called kiang shi. In ancient India and Nepal, as well, vampires may have existed -- at least in legend. Ancient paintings on the walls of caves depict blood-drinking creatures; the Nepalese "Lord of Death" is depicted holding a blood-filled goblet in the form of a human skull standing in a pool of blood. Some of these wall paintings are as old as 3000 B.C., it is believed. Rakshasas are described in the ancient Indian holy writings called the Vedas. These writings (circa 1500 B.C.) depict the Rakshasas (or destroyers) as vampires. There is also a monster in ancient India's lore, which hangs from a tree upside-down, not unlike a bat, and is devoid of its own blood. This creature, called Baital, is in legend a vampire.
Other ancient Asians, such as the Malayans, believed in a type of vampire called the "Penanggalen." This creature consisted of a human head with entrails that left its body and searched for the blood of others, especially of infants. The creature lived by drinking the victims' blood.
It is also said that the vampire may have lived in Mexico prior to the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors, according to the renowned vampire author Montague Summers. He further wrote that Arabia knew of the vampire as well. Vampire-like beings appeared in the "Tales of the Arabian Nights" called algul; this was a ghoul which consumed human flesh.
Africa, with its spirit-based religions, may be seen as having legends of vampire-like beings as well. One tribe, the Caffre, held the belief that the dead could return and survive on the blood of the living.
In ancient Peru there were also vampire legends; the canchus were believed to be devil worshipers who sucked the blood of the young.
Thus from ancient times and from a bounty of exotic lands came forth the vampires. It is from these ancient fears about death and the magical, life-sustaining powers of blood that the vampires as we know them today have evolved.
Other Theories
From the paranormal world, there may be a possible explanation for vampires who roam the earth by night but reside in their graves by day; this would be the phenomenon of astral projection. In this procedure it is assumed there is a counterpart to the physical body, which dwells on the astral plane, the plane of existence just above our three-dimensional, material world. The astral body may leave the physical body in an out-of-body experience and travel back and forth from the body underground to the surface (in the case of the vampire, in a search for blood).
In addition to the occasional psychotic murderer who thinks he is a vampire and modern-day cultists who pretend to be vampires, there may be some scientific basis for what appears to be vampirism. Daniel C. Scavone has outlined several of these possibilities in his 1990 book Vampires.
Some writers in recent years have theorized that perhaps some persons who were falsely accused of vampirism in ancient times may have actually suffered from a medical disorder known today as porphyria. The bodies of people with this condition cannot produce the correct amount of red blood cells. Supposedly this disorder could produce symptoms, which uninformed people during the Dark Ages might have concluded to be a case of vampirism. Needless to say, people with this disease do not become vampires.
Another disorder, which could cause people in olden days to suspect a case of vampirism, was extreme anemia. A patient suffering from this disease is low on red blood cells and hemoglobin (an element containing iron in the blood which carries oxygen). A severe condition could make the patient's skin appear pale -- clearly a sign of vampirism to the uninformed mind.
Catalepsy is another medical condition, which could have been mistaken for evidence of vampirism. In this disorder the patient suffers a form of temporary paralysis and appears dead. It is quite possible that some people historically were actually buried alive while suffering from catalepsy. A person in this state has the ability to hear and has vision, but it is impossible to move a muscle, and the individual certainly cannot call for help. If this person came out of the paralytic state after a premature burial, the resulting confusion with vampirism would be obvious. Imagine witnessing a "corpse" struggling to free itself from a fresh grave or a coffin... Anyone unfamiliar with catalepsy (and this was probably most people) would immediately fear for his life and claim he had seen a vampire rising from the dead.
There very well may have been any number of other blood disorders or physical or mental ailments which produced some symptoms which the fearful in the past might have seen as signs of vampiric or demonic possession. One can imagine that any number of skin diseases or other disfigurements could cause primitive people to believe they had seen a vampire.
Then there is the psychological factor. If the population already believes in the vampire myth, because they are taught this myth as fact, and if the population knows almost nothing of science, then how would we expect these people to explain mysterious yet natural phenomena? The vampire belief would only be reinforced in the face of the otherwise inexplicable. Ignorance and fear would reinforce a belief based on superstition.
I prefer to think that they are real, myself. Something in-between Anne Rice’s depiction and Bram Stoker’s ;)
Traditional Myths
The Natural History of the Vampire gives these examples as possible people who might become vampires in death, as according to old legends:
- Dead wizards
- Werewolves
- Heretics
- Outcasts
- Illegitimate offspring of illegitimate children
- Anyone killed by a vampire
- Suicides
- Unavenged deaths
- Untimely/ unhappy deaths
- Witches
- Murderers
- Excommunicants
- Robbers/ villains
- Accursed
- An unburied body which has had sun or moonlight fall upon it (Specifically in China)
- An unburied body that has been leapt over by a cat
- Those without full rights before death (Slavonic)
- Children born or conceived on a great Church holiday. (Slavonic)
- Still born children and unbaptised children (Rise as vampires 7 years after their death, Slavonic)
- Any animal (including cat) that has passed over an unburied body (Slavonic)
- Anyone who has eaten the flesh of a sheep killed by a wolf (Slavonic)
- Perjurers, liars
- 7th sons
- Man born with a caul (a piece of the placenta that may become stuck to the child's head as it is born. Easily wiped off, but many cultures have interpreted it as sign, some good, some bad, of what that child will be like when grown.)
- A pregnant woman who has been looked at (especially after her 6th month) by a vampire, her child also is at a great risk of becoming a vampire.
- A shadow of a living man falling upon an unburied body.
- A nun stepping over an unburied body.
And these are not all of the myths about those at risk of becoming a vampire…I’m thinking just about anyone is at risk here ;)
Once you have a few odd things going on in your local village-- unexplained deaths, often in rapid succession; people becoming pale and weak; people complaining of being attacked by someone or something unknown; having dreams about being attacked and waking up in a cold sweat or feeling weak; body being found drained of all blood; or misc. unusual signs--and you have narrowed it down to vampirism, you now need to determine who your vampire is. Here are some tips to accomplish that.
- Vampires do not cast a reflection in a mirror.
- Vampires cannot cross running water.
- Garlic, hawthorn, and the mountain ash (rowan) can be used to detect or ward off vampires. If a person doesn't like garlic, then he/she is probably a vampire. (Raz Note: ROFL…hahahaha LOL)
- A vampire does not like religious symbols, but one must have true faith for it to work.
- They cannot enter a place uninvited
Now that you have identified the vampire, here’s what you can do to protect yourself:
- A cross can be used, but only if you have true faith.
- Eucharistic wafer (i.e. wafer) can be used to ward off vampires.
- Holy water blessed by a priest.
- If confronted by a vampire, throw a hand full of seeds at him. Vampires will stop and count every single seed.
- Silver was not as traditional a protective metal as supposed in popular fiction--iron was the material of choice. Iron shavings were placed beneath a child's cradle, a necklace with an iron nail was worn, and other iron objects were placed strategically around the place needing protection.
- Garlic, hawthorn, and the mountain ash (rowan) can be used to detect or ward off vampires.
Now if the Vampire will just not take the hint and leave here are your remaining remedies:
- Sunlight will destroy a vampire.
- A stake through the heart can be used to incapacitate a vampire. By destroying the heart, which pumped the blood, you can stop a vampire. The most effective types of wood: ash, aspen, or juniper. Don't remove the stake or the vampire will rise again. (Cremation. Fire can be used to destroy a vampire.
- Decapitation. Afterwards, you "must" stuff its' mouth with garlic to prevent any further return from the grave.
- Touching it with a crucifix.
- Drenching a vampire in holy water and garlic.
- Stealing his left sock, filling it with stones and throwing it in a river.
- Using a "dhampir", or a vampire's child. Dhampirs were allegedly the only people who were able to see invisible vampires, and they often took advantage of this by hiring out their services as vampire hunters.
Or to avoid the problem all together, there are steps that you can take to assure that any one who is at risk of becoming a vampire upon their death, will remain in the grave:
- Put coins on the corpse's eyelids. This acts as payment before the soul could travel to the world of the dead.
- Stuff the corpse's mouth or coffin with garlic.
- Bury the corpse facedown. If the corpse tried to dig itself out, it would just dig itself deeper into the ground.
- Bury the corpse at a crossword. Crossroad were always considered unholy, thus a vampire buried in unhallowed grounds would be trapped forever.
- Watch over the corpse until it's buried. This would prevent animals from jumping over or moonlighting falling on the corpse. Two things that were seen as cause of vampirism.
- Stake the ground above the corpse. If the corpse were to become a vampire, it would impale itself when it tried to escape. (NOTE: I'm not entirely sure what kind of ground is in question here....)
- Bind the corpse's hands and feet. Prevented the vampire from escaping the grave.
- Place a headstone over the grave. Headstones were originally used not as a remembrance, but as a weight to prevent a vampire from escaping the grave.
- Fill the coffin with seeds. A vampire would have to count every seed before attempting to escape the grave.
- Tie the corpse with hundreds of tiny knots. Similar to the seeds, vampires are required to untie every knot put before them.
- Decapitate the corpse. By burying the head in a separate grave, the vampire would be forced to find its head before going to feed.
- Stake the corpse. Why wait???
- Bury the corpse with food. A well-feed vampire would have no need to feed on the living.(NOTE: Unless of course you take into consideration the myth that vampires can only drink living blood...)
- Place a crucifix or a Eucharistic wafer within the coffin.
Quotes
Interviewer: What about crucifixes?
Louis: Crucifixes?
Interviewer: Yeah, can you look at them?
Louis: Actually I’m quite fond of looking at crucifixes.
~Interview with the Vampire
He held up his cross and pressed it against the window. She hissed, as if scalded...hung suspended in the air, her body becoming misty and indistinct. Then, gone. But not before he saw (or thought he saw) a look of desperate unhappiness on her face.
~Stephen King, "Salem's Lot"
I don't tan, I don't burn, I implode.
~Nick, Forever Knight
But first, on earth as Vampire sent,
Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corpse.
Thy victims are they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers withered on the stem
~Lord Byron
Take me from this earth
an endless night-
this, the end of life.
From the dark I feel your lips
and taste your bloody kiss
~Type O Negative
One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach. All the damn vampires.
~The Lost Boys
Count Dracula: This is very old wine. I hope you will like it.
Renfield: Aren't you drinking?
Count Dracula: I never drink... wine..
~Dracula
Interesting Links
~Vampire FAQ
https://www.angelfire.com/biz4/vampyreresearch/faq.html
~A very well done site
http://users.net1plus.com/vyrdolak/realvamp.htm
~So you’ve read my spiel and you think you may be a Vampire? Or your friend may be? You can either go here or refer them to this Vampires guild…. Yeah, it’s the real deal from what I can tell....I'm not sure whether to laugh or be afraid lol
http://www.sanguinarius.org/
Various vampire related mailing lists, sites, forums, etc.
http://www.lionsgrove.com/vampi.html
Vampire Art
Although none quite capture my eye the way John Bolton’s Vampire works do here are some excellent sites ^_^
http://members.tripod.com/~ARTVAMPIRE/
http://www.monolithgraphics.com
http://www.erickabaque.com/Vampires.html
http://dawnwalkerdesign.com/tvcartgallery/artindex.html
http://www.vampclub.com/art.htm
http://members.tripod.com/vampyrart/art.html
http://www.ravenloft.net/~dementia/gallery.htm
http://www.artwerk.org/fantasy_art/vampire_illustration.html
http://www.nightshadepromo.com/Vampart.htm
http://members.fortunecity.com/stephenrahl/id70.htm
Sources
http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/vampires.htm
http://www.javascrypt.com/java/vampire.htm
https://www.angelfire.com/tn/vampires/step5.html
http://www.vampirequeenakasha.freehomepage.com/custom4.html
The Natural History of the Vampire
By Anthony Masters
G. P. Putnam's Sons, pub.
New York, © 1972
Grapics used on this page are from Kat's Graphics
