Vampires

"There are such beings as vampires, some of us have evidence that they exist. Even had we not the proof of our own unhappy experience, the teachings and the records of the past give proof enough for sane peoples."

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Chapter 18: MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL - 30 September

The vampires are monsters that has both thrilled and terrified people for hundreds of years, from sophisticated Parisian theatre-goers to Eastern European peasants. Today the myth of vampires is omnipresent as one of the majors horror motifs in arts, literature and music.

Definition

Vampires are mythical or folkloric creatures, typically held to be the re-animated corpses of human beings and said to subsist on human and/or animal blood (hematophagy), often having unnatural powers, heightened bodily functions, and/or the ability to physically transform. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as demons or animals like bats, dogs, and spiders. Vampires are often described as having a variety of additional powers and character traits, extremely variable in different traditions, and are a frequent subject of folklore, cinema, and contemporary fiction.

Vampirism is the practice of drinking blood from a person/animal. Vampires are said to mainly bite the victim's neck, extracting the blood from the carotid artery. In folklore and popular culture, the term generally refers to a belief that one can gain supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly occurring form of cannibalism. The consumption of another's blood (and/or flesh) has been used as a tactic of psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy, and it can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs.

Vampires in history

Vampire myths go back thousands of years and they are found in almost every culture around the world. Their variety is almost endless; from red eyed monsters with green or pink hair in China to the Greek Lamia which has the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a winged serpent; from vampire foxes in Japan to a head with trailing entrails known as the Penanggalang in Malaysia.

The history of the vampire begins in ancient Persia, where a vase was discovered depicting a man struggling with a huge creature which is trying to suck his blood. Then, there was discovered a deity known for drinking the blood of babies, Lilitu or "Lilith", in a Babylonian myth. During the 6th century BC, traces of the "Living Dead" were also found in China. More legends continued throughout the entire world, including India, Malaysia, Polynesia and the lands of the Aztecs and Eskimos. For example, Aztecs believed that offering a young victim’s blood to the Gods ensured the fertilization of the earth.

The modern concept of the vampire occurs for the first time in European civilization. In both Roman and Greek mythology, there are found numerous bloodthirsty Goddesses, known as Lamiae, Empusae and Striges, names which eventually evolved into the general terms for Witches, Demons and Vampires. But these Vampires, though they do drink blood, were only Goddesses...not "living Dead", but disembodied divinities capable of taking on human appearances so that they might seduce their victims. The vampires we know today are nothing else but mutation determined by fiction and movies.

Types of vampires

1. Blood vampires - Those who feed on blood. They are commonly referred to as "sangs," "sanguinarians," "sanguines," "blood vamps" and they usually have regular donors from whom they feed. Rarely, they feed on animal blood. They ingest blood for the energies found within.
2. Energy vampires - (generally referred to as “psychic vampires") are those vampires who feed on energy directly. They sense and manipulate energy, pulling it into them in order to refill themselves.

That last category can be split into three other categories, in accordance with the specific types of energy the vampires feed on:

1. Sexual Energy vampires - These individuals feed on energy produced during sex, or produced by any other sexual activity or influence. They are often referred to as "pranic" vampires.
2. Elemental Energy vampires - These individuals feed on energy from nature and elements (such as the earth, thunderstorms, the moon, etc.). They are commonly referred to as "elemental vampires."
3. Empathic vampires - These vampires claim to feed on emotions. Emotions are textures, patterns, flavors of energy.

Vampires' powers / abilities

• Ability to multiply by contamination - vampires give blood to contaminate souls and spread evil.
• Life time - vampires don’t age or die from the passing of time, but they seem to get older when a long period of time passes without feeding themselves. But they can get young again using a blood supply. It also should be saind that most of the vampire's powers increase with age and experience.
• Invulnerability - vampires are immune to most a diseases and invincible to mortal weapons, but they became vulnerable when move around during the day or when they rest in the coffins.
• Strength - the vampire's physical strength greatly exceeds that of mortals (it is said that they are at least 20 times stronger).
• Shape-shifting - vampires have the ability to control several animals such as the wolf, the rat, the fox, the owl, the bat and the moth and they are also capable taking the form of a wolf or a bat and possibly any of the other animals subject to his command. Vampires can also transform themselves into a mist or dust cloud drifting in the air, they can modify their sizes in certain limits, becoming either larger or smaller, and they can climb walls (normally, like a large insect with his head toward the ground much like a spider).
• Alliance with the devil - the vampires’ abilities to command some form of magical or monstrous beings (demons, zombies, etc.) are considered to be the proof of vampires’ connection with the demons.
• Hypnotic mind control - the vampire may exert his will over the will of his victim (that explains why the victims often have no memory of being attacked).

Vampires' Weaknesses

• Day light - vampires are obliged to sleep (actually, they rest in their coffin in a trance that keeps them aware of things happening around) during the day and to rest upon a protective layer of hallowed ground from its native land.
• Light is destructive - during the day light, vampires lose their supernatural powers, becoming only human, that’s why mortal weapons may harm them.
• Religious symbols - such as the Cross, the Holy Water and other symbols of the Church are considered to be powerful weapons against vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. (it has to be mentioned that only faithful persons are able to use those symbols succesufully).
• Invitation - vampires may not enter a home unless they are freely invited in by one of the residents. Once invited, he may come and go at will.