Vampires » water

Safety from Vampires!

holiday — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:21:29 +0000

It’s so reassuring to me that in legends, vampires cannot enter your home unless you invite them! That makes them almost safer than humans! Humans who bear you ill will can smash in through a window, charge through your wall with a chainsaw, and such. Vampires can’t touch you if you’re safe and cozy inside. If a vampire’s standing outside waiting to do you harm, too bad for them! You can even stand right up at the doorway or window and stick your tongue out at the vampire, or bite your thumb at it! You can dance a little jig and insult its vampire prowess all you want, and there’s nothing it can do as long as you don’t step outside or invite it in. You can just bring out some garlic, have yourself a cup of tea, and sleep peacefully inside until sunrise!
There are lots of ways to protect yourself from vampires. Hang garlic cloves all around your house. Hang up bells. Throw some poppy seeds across your porch. Pour some unbroken lines of salt across entryways, and sleep in a circle of salt. Wrap silver chains around your doors! Hang up a crucifix. Keep some holy water handy.
Why do these things work? Salt is a common protective tool against demons and evil beings of all sorts. It was held as important from even ancient times. It’s essential to humans, has been used in rituals, and used as a preserver, of course. It could keep things from decaying, or at least slow the process. It was soon ascribed with magical powers; the ability to keep evil away.
Garlic was used in many cultures, and much folklore has garlic protecting against all sorts of evil, including werewolves.
Other sorts of plants and leaves like holly and juniper would protect against vampires. Beliefs about different substances that warded off evil were applied to vampire creatures as well. Also, vampires are said to be unable to cross a thicket of wild rose or hawthorn. These are protecting plants against evil, from unknown origins.
Many cultures, including Greek and Chinese, have myths about spirits that cannot cross moving bodies of water. This has been applied to the vampire as well, over time.
Holy water and crucifixes come, of course, from the Christian mythologies about protection from devils and demons. Water blessed by a priest would be destructive to any agent of evil. Crucifixes, the symbol of sacrifice and God’s love, would surely protect from any creature of Satan. Silver may also have some religious connections, but the origin of the silver myth is uncertain.
Mirrors are also stem from religious superstition. Mirrors are supposed to be the reflection of the soul; pure mirrors, backed in silver. Vampires have no soul.
Why bells? Why poppy seeds? Well, demons of all sort had an aversion to the ringing of bells. The sound of bells was loathsome to evil spirits, and so vampires are equally repelled. Poppy seeds, or any sort of small seeds, or anything of that sort, were useful, according to myth, because vampires would have to stop and count every single seed before they could continue. And the hope would be that the vampire would get stuck counting seeds and not notice the time, and then the sun would rise and destroy the creature.

OH No! Anything But Water!

Moonlight — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:00:47 +0000

Vampires hating water is a pretty common old myth. You’ve got loads of classic movies and books documenting vampires being stopped by water (the 1972 Dracula film and Dracula: Prince of Darkness to name a few). But was this idea created by modern authors and screen play writers? Nope, this has been around for ages.

Water is believed to be a purifier, washing away evil and sin. In Greece, naughty undead beasties were “exiled” to islands (because they were surrounded by water see), which isolated them and kept them from leaving and eating up the living. In some places people thought that souls were thirsty, so offerings of water were placed near graves to keep the deceased from wandering in search of it (Author‘s Note: my soul likes coffee, leave that at my grave instead). A trial by water (similar to what they did to supposed witches back in the day), which was called the iudicium aquae, was used to see if a corpse was really a vampire. If the body floated, it was a vampire. Simple as that. It was these types of crazy ideas that birthed the belief that vampires are disabled or destroyed by running water.

But that is only part of vampire water phobia; you also have holy water which is a whole other deal. Holy water is water that has been blessed by a cleric, therefore made sacred and possessing powerful anti-evil properties. When it comes to the undead, it has many functions. It was (and still is to some) believed when used on a vampire it would burn like acid, leaving horrible scars (think the Anita Blake series). Holy water is also said to be able to detect evil. If poured on ground under evil influences the water will either boil or smoke. If the holy water is poured into an empty coffin, it will keep all vampires from laying there, the same goes for pouring it on a grave. Then you have movie/book created myths, like in the film Salem’s Lot, in which a bottle of holy water would glow if a vampire were near.

So to sum it up… vampires + water = bad!

- Moonlight

How to Kill or Defend Against Vampires

veritas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:29:38 +0000

As long as there have been legends of vampires, there have been methods by which to either kill them, or protect oneself and family from them. Before there was Christianity, however, there was still legends of vampires; what then of the use of holy symbols and idols to stave off the visits of a hungry undead individual? Before Christianity it was believed among the Balkans, Slavs, and other cultures indigenous to Europe that vampires were practically obsessive compulsive in their need for order. Some ways to deter vampires would be hanging a tangled net on a gatepost, or sprinkling tiny seeds, or grain outside the doorway. It was believed that the vampire would become so busy counting the seeds of untangling the net, that he’d forget his pray and become fixed on completing his or her task.

Other non-religious ways to fend off vampires is of course, garlic; either wearing it, or spraying a thin mist mixed with water in the air, keeping it near for the scent, over doorways, etc. Keeping holly placed around the house is another technique, as is also keeping a log of juniper in a home. Ringing bells are even said to keep vampires away, as well as placing mirrors around a home or on doors, and also crossing over running water. Holy water, the consecrated sacrament, crosses, eating blood bread, drinking blood brandy, or even burying wine nearby are also supposed to be protection against vampires.

Killing a vampire was accomplished by touching lead items to the gravestone of the walking corpse, beheading it, and/or hammering a stake through its heart. Cremating a vampire is also a surefire way to kill it, or piercing it with a blessed sword. Some Asian beliefs dictate that one can trap a vampire in its grave by sprinkling red peas, rice, roses, garlic, stones over where the body would lay in its grave. Others believe that immersing the vampire’s body in water will destroy it. Dhampirs, -the children of a vampire and human union, –are believed to have the ability to cast out a vampire, by simply commanding it, as well as having the ability to see them when they’re invisible.

Vampires » water

Safety from Vampires!

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OH No! Anything But Water!

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How to Kill or Defend Against Vampires

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