Once upon a time, stories about them terrified not only children but also adults. Encounters with them were feared as much as hell itself. And now, with the rise of the humorous fantasy genre, every fan of these books dreams of encountering vampires. Impressionable, dreamy young women fall in love with these characters in their fantasies. So who are vampires?
How did it all begin?
For some reason, Dracula is considered the progenitor of all vampires. A completely fictitious character, based on the Wallachian ruler Vlad the Impaler. In life, this king was extraordinarily bloodthirsty. He waged war against the Turks and brutally tortured prisoners. He did everything from hanged people to beheaded to impaled. He had even more horrific tortures in his arsenal, but that's not what this article is about. During Vlad the Impaler's life, people whispered that he couldn't live without blood sacrifices. After his death, the legend of the bloodthirsty vampire Dracula was born. People believed that Vlad hadn't died, but had been reborn, having made a deal with the forces of darkness. Since then, he couldn't stand the sun, so he slept in a coffin during the day and went hunting at night.
However, he cannot be considered the first. References to dead but living people exist in almost every culture. Early Babylonian demonology features vampire-like spirits called Lilu. Sumerian mythology is dominated by blood-sucking Aksharas. These demons were exclusively female and preyed only on infants and pregnant women. One of the demonesses, Lilitu, later appears in Jewish demonology, but under the altered name Lilith. In India, vampire-like creatures live in tales of the vetala. Chinese folklore mentions limping corpses, though these feed not on blood, but on chi energy.
In ancient Egypt, the goddess Sekhmet thirsted for blood. In Rome, ghostly bloodsuckers were called lamias, empusas, and lemures. The mythological vampire we know today originated in Eastern Europe from Slavic folklore. Here, we finally encounter a creature that kills people by drinking their blood or souls. According to these same myths, the only way to kill a vampire was by cutting off its head, driving a wooden stake through its heart, or burning its corpse.
So different and so similar
Almost anyone could be considered a Slavic vampire. A child born in a caul (water shell), with teeth or a tail, even conceived on certain days, was automatically considered a bloodsuckers and destroyed. An unnatural (cruel, violent) death or suicide, excommunication from the church, and improper burial could also serve as grounds for being labeled a vampire. Incidentally, a stake through the heart originated as a means of preventing a vampire from awakening. It was driven through the corpse into the ground, preventing the dead from rising. Incidentally, the ancient Russian anti-pagan work “The Word of St. Gregory” claimed that Russian pagans offered blood sacrifices to vampires.
It's no surprise that Romania, surrounded by Slavic countries, was also teeming with vampire myths. And they were remarkably similar. There were plenty of reasons to be labeled a vampire. Those born with a caul, with an extra nipple, excess hair, born too early, born to a mother who had been crossed by a black cat, born with a tail, illegitimate children, as well as those who died an unnatural death or died before baptism were doomed to become vampires. The same was true for the seventh child of the same sex in a family, the child of a pregnant woman who hadn't eaten salt, or who had been looked upon by a vampire or witch.
Vampires were discovered in churches by giving everyone garlic and observing those who didn't eat. Due to suspicions of vampirism, graves were left open for three to seven years after a person's death to see if the dead person would rise from the coffin.
Among the Gypsies, a vampire was a person with a hideous appearance or some kind of deformity (six fingers, a tail). A vampire could also be someone whose death was unseen, or whose corpse swelled before burial. Animals, plants, and even agricultural tools could also become vampires.
New life after death
Vampire myths were revived in the 18th century in Eastern Europe. Back then, everyone, even civil servants, participated in the hunt. It all began with complaints in East Prussia. People believed that all those who hadn't died naturally had been killed by vampires. Panic erupted in the villages. Impressionable and fearful farmers began opening graves in search of rosy corpses. The outbreak of panic ended thanks to Empress Miria Theresia. She sent her personal physician to investigate several vampire cases. He examined the bodies, determined the cause, and concluded that vampires did not exist. A law was then passed prohibiting the opening of graves and the desecration of bodies.
Humanity has never forgotten these bloodthirsty creatures, largely due to the abundance of such characters in fiction. Belief in vampires has not ceased, but they are no longer just terrifying folkloric figures, but a unified artistic image.
Modernity
In the twenty-first century, rumors of vampire attacks swept the African country of Malawi. A mob attacked several people, including the city's governor. One man was stoned to death. In Romania, relatives of a once-loved but deceased man opened a grave, tore out the dead man's heart, burned the corpse, and mixed the ashes with water to drink and protect themselves from the vampiric virus. In England, rumors of vampire bites circulated, but police quickly suppressed them, claiming no such crimes had ever been committed.
Modern science recognizes the term vampirism , but it's used only in botany and zoology. It refers to leeches, mistletoe, certain species of bats, and other organisms that suck bodily fluids from other creatures. So, any impressionable young woman could realize her dream of meeting a vampire. All it takes is a leech treatment.
