Facts and Lore about Vampires (part 2)

What to do if you’ve been bitten and how to repel a Vampire…

According to several legends, if someone was bitten by a suspected vampire, he or she should drink the ashes of a burned vampire. To prevent an attack, a person should make bread with the blood of vampire and eat it.
Things that repel vampires: churches; crucifixes; eucharist water; garlic; holy water; thresholds (unless they’re invited in); mirrors; sunlight; fire.
Before Christianity, methods of repelling vampires included garlic, hawthorn branches, rowan trees (later used to make crosses), scattering of seeds, fire, decapitation with a gravedigger’s spade, salt (associated with preservation and purity), iron, bells, a rooster’s crow, peppermint, running water, and burying a suspected vampire at a crossroads. It was also not unusual for a corpse to be buried face down so it would dig down the wrong way and become lost in the earth.
Garlic, a traditional vampire repellent, has been used as a form of protection for over 2,000 years. The ancient Egyptians believed garlic was a gift from God, Roman soldiers thought it gave them courage, sailors believed it protected them from shipwreck, and German miners believed it protected them from evil spirits when they went underground. In several cultures, brides carried garlic under their clothes for protection, and cloves of garlic were used to protect people from a wide range of illnesses. Modern-day scientists found that the oil in garlic, allicin, is a highly effective antibiotic.

Offspring

In folklore, the vampire’s first victim would often be his wife. This is why, in some cultures, when a husband died, the wife would change her appearance, i.e. she would cut her hair and would wear black for the entire period of mourning. These things were done with the intention of deceiving the vampire, should he return. According to some legends, a vampire may engage in sex with his former wife, which often led to pregnancy. In fact, this belief may have provided a convenient explanation as to why a widow, who was supposed to be celibate, became pregnant. The resulting child was called a gloglave (pl. glog) in Bulgarian or vampirdzii in Turkish. Rather than being ostracized, the child was considered a hero who had powers to slay a vampire.

Vlad Tepes III

It’s largely believed that Dracula is based on a Wallachian Prince named Vlad Tepes, or Vlad Dracul, meaning “The Dragon”, though this may not be so. There’s no evidence that Bram Stoker had ever heard of this monarch while writing the book.
Vlad Tepes was born in the fortress of Sighisoara, Romania in December of 1431. When he was born his father, Vlad Dracul, was the military governor of Transylvania, appointed by the emperor Sigismund. A year prior to this time Vlad Dracul was welcomed into the Order of the Dragon. The Order began in 1387 and was a society committed to the military and religion. The Order could be compared to a men’s club today that consisted of members that were passionate about preserving the Catholic religion and to fight against the Turks. Dracula became prince in 1456 and in his brief reign is estimated to have killed 100,000 people. He is named “The Impaler” because of his proclivity for impaling his victims on a sharp pole, often eating meals on the field in which his victims were suspended. He was assassinated in 1476.

Vampires

Recent research has linked historical reports of vampirism to outbreaks of rabies in nearby areas, which would explain the senility, sensitivity to light and garlic, as well as a tendency to bite people, leading to the spread of the infection.

How To Kill Them…

To destroy a vampire: burn it; bury the corpse facedown; drive a wooden stake through its heart; pile stones on the grave; put poppy seeds or wild roses on the grave; boil the head in vinegar; place a coin in the mouth and decapitate with an axe; put a lemon in the mouth; bury at a crossroads; remove the heart and cut it in two; put garlic in the mouth and drive a nail through the temple; cut off the toes and drive a nail through the neck; pour boiling oil on the body and drive a nail through the navel.

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