#vampire mythos

[harrowedworld]

If you like vampires…

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[allengreenfield]

The Last Voyage of the Demeter: The Real-Life Lore Behind Dracula in History | SYFY WIRE

[macomico]

careful she bites 🩸❣

[jawz]

i’m late af but we finally saw Sinners last night and it was SO FUCKING GOOD. best movie of the year for me

[folkofthecorner]

happy halloween yall have some art as a treat :>

[vanilla-cigarillos]

A History of Vampires

Vampy vampy vampires! I’m not talking about Twilight; today I want to make a post talking about the real cultural significance of vampires in different folk beliefs around the world.

What Is A Vampire?

“...a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living.”

- Good ol’ Wikipedia

When we think of vampires, we picture Dracula in his brooding cloak sucking the life out of others. We see those characteristic fangs, an aversion to garlic, and a fatal vulnerability to sunlight. 

Vampiric creatures have been noted in cultures around the world for generations. 

A History of “Vampires” (Popularized in the West)

Cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Ancient Greeks, and Manipuri have folk tales of entities that are now considered to be precursors to modern-day vampires. Despite such occurrences of vampiric creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for what most consider vampires today comes almost exclusively from early 18-thcentury Southeastern Europe. 

The term “vampire” itself was popularized in Western Europe after reports of mass hysteria during the 18th-century. Said hysteria originated from a pre-existing folk belief in Southeastern and Eastern Europe that in some cases ended in corpses being staked, and some people were even persecuted under the accusation of vampirism.

Early folk beliefs in vampires has typically been summed up to pre-existing ignorance of how the body would decompose after death, with people attempting to explain such decay through the existence of vampires.

The more personable and charismatic version of the vampire, born in fiction, came in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula in 1897 would later on provide the basis of the modern vampire legend and be remembered as the most significant vampire novel in literature. However, it is worth noting that Stoker’s novel came after the publication of the 1872 novel Carmilla, published by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu. 

Folk Beliefs

In Slavic and Chinese folk traditions, any corpse that was jumped over by an animal (especially a dog or cat) was feared to become a “vampire”. There was also believed to be a risk with a body having any wound that wasn’t treated with boiling water.

In Russian folklore, vampires were said to have been witches or people who had rebelled against the Russian Orthodox Church while alive. 

Within Jewish traditions, “alukah” is synonymous with vampires. The creature is said to be a living human being, but can change into a wolf. It also has the ability to fly by releasing its long hair, and would eventually die if not allowed to feed on blood for an extended amount of time. Once dead, a vampire could be prevented from becoming a demon by being buried with its mouth stuffed with soil.

Albanian mythology discusses both the “shtriga” and the “dhampir”. Shtriga is a vampiric witch that sucks blood from infants while they sleep at night, then turning into a flying insect. Only a shtriga could cure those she drained blood from. A cross made of pig bone could be placed at the entrance of a church on Easter Sunday, which would render any shtriga inside unable to leave. Then, they could be captured and killed. 

The Ashanti people in West Africa have folk tales of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling “asanbosam” which can take the form of a firefly and hunts for children for their blood.

The Betsileo people of Madagascar have stories of “ramanga”, a vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles.

The Mapuche of southern Chile have stories of a bloodsucking snake known as “Peuchen”, with aloe vera being hung backwards behind or near a door to ward off vampiric entities across a variety of South American superstition. 

Aztec mythology has folk tales of the Cihuateteo, which are skeletal-faced spirits of humans who died in childbirth. These entities were said to steal children, and entered into sexual liaisons with the living, which would drive them to insanity.

[nosenipped]

adding into the vampire au idea .. perhaps if he hadn't gone into a coma immediately, he wonders around the palace like a ghost. jack using his gat to shield his eyes after the vampiric process, nods head. bringing back the faceless jack frost ideas hehehe

[harrowedworld]

💀 With a thought, you slow a heartbeat or stop it forever. The touch of Obcasus.

What would you do if you had the power of the Reaper?

[tatters-the-bat]

A vampire has become so good at supernaturally fast counting that he's practically immune to the requirement of having to count things that he sees.

He encounters a vampire hunter, who menacingly brandishes a bag of rice. The vampire glances inside and pauses for only a second before saying, "1,836" and continuing his approach with a wide, devious grin.

The vampire hunter narrows his eyes and removes a grain of rice, taking a big step back. The vampire pauses and sighs.

"1,835."

Once he finishes saying it, the vampire hunter removes another grain of rice; the vampire can only take a single short step.

"..... 1,834. You know you're going to run out of rice eventually, right?"

The vampire hunter takes out another grain of rice.

"1,833."

The vampire hunter puts the grain of rice back into the bag.

"............................. 1,834. I hate you."

[ghostpoetics]

More about the books, including content warnings and purchase links, can be found here.

[theonewiththevampires]

People claiming that vampires are a metaphor for, 'nobles' or the, 'ruling elite' are fascinating to me because I can't think of a single story where that's true and yet they act as if this is not only the most common metaphor, but the only one. Apparently, Dracula is about the dangers of the upper class.

Guys. It's about sex. Vampires have always been about sex.

[raayllum]

Callum falling for what his people consider to be death incarnate "What, like it's hard?"

[makosxa]

The Shambler from the Stars or here's my take on the star vampire's gijinka–

[knees-and-bees]

It will never not annoy me that “garlic” by itself is seen as a ward for vampires.

Because it’s not. At least, not in the source people think it seems to originate from. Because Bram Stoker’s Dracula never said it was garlic itself that was repelling, rather, that it was garlic *flowers* that were repelling.

And while an argument can be made for garlic being repulsive, its roots aren’t from “Dracula”. Rather, it originates from Garlic’s antimicrobial properties, similar to that of silver (both of which are notably repulsive to vampires).

The antimicrobial properties of these two materials are why they were seen as “purifying” in the face of evil. Seeing as people used to connect the spread of disease with an inherent “Evilness” the air possessed. And silver being used in the production of mirrors when these mythologies were truly forming in the western world may be an explanation as to why vampires don’t seem to reflect in mirrors. As for stakes (or wood in general) there are those who argue for the reason behind that being because the wood used was used to make crosses. (+ the connection of religion is the opposite of evil and that’s why holy water and the sun works)

In conclusion the stuff we use to avoid vampires is quite literally just- old medical advice and religious beliefs protecting against evil.

(Yes I got reminded of this because I’m studying Wolf Alice (short story not the band) in my English literature class)

[laiaaa-jpg]

HIIII I’ll do a introduction post for the giggles

I’m Laia (she/her)

PLS GIVE ME ASKS !! I LOVE RESPONDING TO THEM

I block freely, ill be nice but if ur being a weirdo or just straight up rude I WILL block

im in more fandoms than I can remember

Epic The Musical (or just... Greek Mythos as a whole)

D&D!!

Baldurs Gate... heh

Marvel

DC

Homestuck

Interview with a vampire

South Park

Portal (Valve game)

Gravity falls

… and more :3

Art tag - #laiaaa art

Oc tag - #laiaaa ocs

Ask Tag - #Ask

Ill update this in the future :3