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| The Vampires
The Vampires
The
Vampires
The vampire is the best known and the most fascinating type
of the undead.
His origin reaches far in the history of the mankind.He
lives in the mysterious space between this side and the hereafter.His existence
associates him with the human being, because he needs blood to survive and to
"create" new vampires.
The meaning of
blood
Blood is the universal foodsource of the undead and it
doesn’t matter wether it’s from animals, man, or like in modern
times from a blood bank.Blood gives life and so one ascribes supernatural and
mystic qualities to it.To lose blood means a loss of vitality and to receive
blood means cure and a new life.
The idea that blood is essential for vampires rests on a
complex of ancient myths, in which the death,the immortality and the human being
are reflected. The desire of the vampire for blood is an omnipresent theme in
literature.
Characteristics of
vampires and their look
The vampire has qualities, which are resembling in the
different cultures worldwide.
There are thousand different vampire-types in the different
cultures and religions.
The cristian church of the late Middle Ages assigned the
vampires f.ex. in two groups:
- the poor souls,who
never did something wrong in their lifetime.
- the as sinner
deceased,whos body is a tool satans.They had to be tracked down and to
exterminated.
The first modification of the word vampire came into being
about 1000 after Christus ? Upir.At this time one started to write down
the whole incidents of the history of the vampires.
The because of the creation of vampires are certain
qualities and characteristics of the human race.If there are certain
characteristics one runs traditionally the risk of becoming a vampire after
death.
Some circumstances of becoming a vampire are listet
here:
- the mother is fixated
by a vampire during the pregnancy
- the mother
doesn’t take enough salt during the pregnancy
- the conception happens
at certain religious holidays
- the birth happens at
new moon or at certain religious holidays
- the child is born with
ovumskin,long hairs,teeth,a birthsign or two hearts
- the child is the
sevent son of the sevent son
- the child isn’t
christened
- the child is too early
weaned.
Through a certain behaviour in ones lifetime exists the
danger to become a vampire.Such behaviour may be a sinful
life,ungodliness,murder,incest,cruelty and greed.In the same way one becomes a
vampire by practising of witchcraft and black magic or through consuming a
sheep, which had been tore up from a wolf.
The word vampire has a slavish origin and stands for a
flying creature.
Some qualities of a vampire are:
- he can fly
- his noiseless
appearence
- loss of
appetite
- exceptional physical
strength and agility
- his pale
complexion
- he hasn’t a
shadow,because the mirror image reflects the soul
- high
light-sensitivity
- bloodshot, red
eyes
- long fingernails,which
he needs for dig up from his burial place
- bad breath,hairy palms
of his hands and fangs
- a vampire is also make
out by certain clothes, like the typical long, black cape – sometimes with
red inside lining.Vampires at an old age sometimes wear a top
hat.
The general look of the vampire was laid down through film
and literature.
The male vampire wears a perfect old-fashioned suit.He has
brilliant white fangs,a hypnotic look in his eyes and seems to be very
attractive, but he changes into a frightening monster as soon as he’s in
danger.
The female vampire appears usually in white.She’s
tall,slim and pale,seductive till provocative and she’s fit out with all
symbols of voluptuousity,danger and prohibitionnes.
The european vampire appears in his shroud and gives off a
terrible smell,which is described as a combinaion of blood and mould.The face is
a terribe grimace, the mouth is smeared with bloos and mud and the eyes are
bloodgreeded and flashed.
In some cultures is the vampire described as animal or half
human,half animal. F.ex. is the chinese kuang-shi covered with green fur
and the african adze appears as grotesque hunchbacked
dwarf.
It’s proved that the typical vampireteeth are
deformities from syphilis.Syphilis patients have also bloodshot eyes and so they
look like vampires and so they have contribute to myth-making.
Historical
vampires
Historical the vampirecult trace back to two essential
persons:
- Vlad III
Tepes
- Elisabeth
Báthory
Vlad III Tepes
(1431-1476/77):
Also known as Vlad Draculea – translated: Vlad,the
dragons (devils) son.
He was born in Siebenbürgen/Transylvania.He lived up to
his name caused by his torture and blood – passion.He used to drink the
blood of his enemies and to take a bath in his enemies blood.One day he was
considered to be missing and so one pronounced his death.Later the corpse was
found and preserved but the cause of death stayed mysterious and
unsettled.After years one opened his tomb but hadn’t found any remains.A
sign for vampires???
Bram Stoker was inspirated by Vlad Draculea and wrote down
the archetype of the vampire – roman: "Bram Stokers
Dracula".
Elisabeth Báthory
(1560-1614):
She's also known as the "countess of blood".Her beauty was
wellknown and so they say that she took care to keep it through having a bath in
blood.She found also a big pleasure in watching during breakfast how one
murdered like she assigned (above 100 victims).
In the time between 1300 till the 20th century
there were regularly vampire –hysterias.
The vampires place
of rest and his extermination
It isn't easy for a vampire to find the right soil to set up
his camp.The most suitable place is Transylvania and the rest of east –
Europe, but it's hard to believe that there is also nutritious soil in
Styria.It's known that the Greek group of islands,the Cyclades are also an
adequate homeland.They settle also on the Philipinnes,in Mexico and in
Holland.
If a vampire has found the adequate land, the most popular
place of resistence is the cemetery (graveyard).The cemetery is a consecrated
ground,where man find their rest.Just this rest is refused to the vampires, and
so cemeteries, castle ruins, moors and other lonely,dark areas were considered
to be breeding places from vampires.Gloomy cemeteries were an indispensable
element for the vampirefilms in the 30ies and 40ies.
Strangely in some of these productions, vampires promenade
through cemeteries without being impressed from the crosses and
crucifixes.......J
There were lists drawn up as cure for extermination and
protection.
A little extract of it:
- garlic
- incense and holy
water
- mirrors
- excommunications and
spells
- crosses and
crucifixes
- ....
Other international extermination – methods are:
impaling, decapitation and burning.Weapons,which are used against vampires
should be consecrated.
There are other criterions for the burial
necessary:
- Leave no animals in
the near of a corpse!
- Lay down a dead cat or
dog on the threshold!
- Don’t leave the
corpse in the moonlight!
- Close the eyes and the
mouth of the corpse, so that they don’t touch the shroud!
- Put burial objects
like garlic,incense or the bible into the
coffin!
After it you bury the corpse in belly side.At the coffin lid
is a sharpened stake, which drives into the heart when you close the
coffin.
The meaning of the
heart for the vampires
The heart is the most powerful organ for the vampire.They
stop to exist if their heart is damaged or destroyed.Rumainia vampires called
Strigoi have two hearts.One for the human life and the other one makes
their existence as vampire possible.
The meaning of the
coffin
The burial in coffins made of wood or stone arise from the
wish to protect the deceased from becoming animal-food or to make a survival
above the physical death possible, like one did in the ancient
Egypt.
The coffin is a symbol for the physical segregation between
the living and the dead.
The coffin stayed a long time a privileg for the wealthy
people.The corpses of the ordinary people were carried on a board to the
cemetery and there one let them glide into the grave.
In vampire – literature and film the coffin as place
of rest of the vampire has become a stereotype.
All the facts I’ve mentioned in the text so far are
only the norm for the vampire extermination.
All vampires are individual! That means that a vampire
needn’t to be afraid of daylight and the aversion to crucifixes may come
from fantasy.
There are the most different species with the most different
fondnesses and qualities.The older a vampire is the more old-fashioned is he (by
nature vampires are immortal) and the more he agrees with the typical qualities
– the perfect vampire.
The common assumption that the undead have an immortal life
is refuted by some tribes.In many cultures the vampire has a lifespan between 30
days and 30 years.In Albania one think that a vampire changes back into a man if
he isn’t exterminated within 30 years.
However the idea of immortality is so fascinating that
authors and film maker grant vampires an endless existence.
According to an unwritten law the vampire becomes more
powerful and wiser but often he gets tired of his existence so that he
exterminates himself by going into the fire or the sunshine.
Every man has a certain idea of vampires.Often he’s
described as beautiful, erotic and mysterious.But there are also disgusting and
dreadful vampir – species with a hairy face and protruding
eyes....
There are stories about incidents of an alleged vampire
– death but if they are real we don’t know.
There was even a story about a case in Austria,which stayed
unsolved.
The epigraph read:
COUNTESS DOLINGEN TO GRAZ
IN STYRIA
SEARCHED AND FOUND DEAD
1801
In the whole shadowworld of ghosts and demons there is no
creature,who is so horrifying, so feared and detested and who holds such an
attraction for fascination like the vampire, who is neither a ghost nor a demon
but a part of the dark side of the nature, vested with mysterious and dreadful
qualities of both.
Reverent Montague Summers,
1928
Anne
Rice
She’s an American author, born in
1941.
She’s considered to be the Queen of the modern gothic
novel.
As daughter of an irish immigrant she was born in New
Orleans.
She lived longer times in San Francisco, where she studied
but today she lives in her hometown again, with her husband and her
son.
Her first roman „Interview with the
Vampire“, published in 1976, was a great success and was praised from
critics as the best vampire – roman since „Bram Stokers
Dracula“.The book was adapted for the screen from Neil Jordan in 1994 and
forms together with „The Vampire Lestat“,“Queen of the
Damned“ and „The tale of the Body Thief“ the
„CRONICLE OF THE VAMPIRES“.
In „Interview with the Vampire“ Louis, a
relatively young vampire, tells the reporter Daniel in San Francisco his
story.Louis became a vampire in 1791 in New Orleans.The vampire who made Louis
to one of his species was Lestat de Lioncourt, who plays a central role in the
following romans.
In this roman come across vividly the thoughts and feelings
of the vampires, damned for an everlasting life.
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