Vampires. Love them or hate there are thousands of stories about these intriguing creatures. An element some might say is overdone but given the amount of blogs, shorts, books, games, videos, films, vide and TV shows that continue to be written about them, I disagree entirely. There’s always room for another vampire story on your bookshelf and thanks to the likes of The Lost Boys, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, vampires have a new romantic magnetic edginess, rather than a grotesque image as they were originally portrayed. In our world today, vampires have an alluring fascination, even a sexiness to them. But where did vampires originate from, what are their traits and is there any truth to them?

Vampires are corpses who rise from their graves at night. They prowl around during the dark hours to haunt other humans, or to remain among them, and feed by drinking the blood of humans and in some cases animals and livestock, this is essential to sustain their new ‘life’ as a vampire.

The first written evidence about vampires can be found in a poem which mentions the creature, and was written back in the 1700’s. It is widely thought vampires originated in Transylvania; however, this is not true. They originated from Eastern Europe, namely from the Slavic people and vampires are based on Eastern folklore. Many believe the vampire is jealous and bitter of those still alive and if sudden multiple deaths occurred within a family or village, a vampire would be suspected. One modern explanation of such sudden deaths is that they occurred because of a disease outbreak. 

According to Slavic lore, a person who becomes a vampire after their death has an invisible shadow around their corpse for 40 days, which as they feed on blood grows in strength, and the shadow eventually turns to a jelly boneless structure until the body looks like it did before they died. Many tactics were used to prevent suspect corpses from rising from their graves and indeed modern archaeologists have discovered many old graves and coffins across Europe with these measures in place.

It is worth mentioning, male vampires could also engage in sex with female humans. Should a child be born from the coupling, the said child then possesses special vampire hunting talents and can track and slay vampires. These children were (are) seen as heroes.

Who becomes a Vampire?

The following reasons are said to be the causes why some people became (or become) vampires:

·      Practising witchcraft or sorcery

·      Physical disfigurement

·      A strange birth, for example a child born with teeth in their hair

·      Those who have committed suicide

·      A child of a vampire

·      Having red hair

·      Talking to yourself

·      Neglected religious beliefs

·      A dead body being leapt over by a black cat

Traits of Vampires

Vampires have certain traits, and these have grown as the decades and centuries have rolled on, listed below are a few of the core ones:

·      In folklore, vampires dress in what they died in, their eyebrows meet in the middle and their fingers are all the same length

·      They need to drink blood

·      They are immortal

·      They have supernatural powers such as flying

·      They are powerful, strong, and fast

·      They can be killed by fire and a stake through the heart

·      They must be invited into a house or building to be able to enter it, after which they can come and go as they please

·      They can’t enter a church or any holy place

·      They can’t be seen in a mirror, which began in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

·      They sleep during the day as they dislike sunlight – this trait began in the Nosferatu film in 1922

Recognising a vampire

Aside from their traits, there are a few other obscure ways to recognise a vampire used by ancients and many since… just in case they don’t rock up in grandeur like The Salvatore brothers (Vampire Diaries) or Edward Cullen (Twilight) and you’d like to be sure! 

1.     If a suspect’s grave is opened, even years after their death, their corpse will be unusually intact

2.     They are often unexpected deaths of family or animals

3.     They return at night and may eat food or knock things around

4.     Female vampires often return to be with their children

5.     Their activity continues even after a priest reads holy words and verses at their grave

6.     There is a hole the size of a serpent on their gravestone. The size needed for a vampire to exit

7.     A white horse will not walk over the grave of a vampire

How to repel a vampire or inhibit a vampire from rising

Whilst each of the following has an explanation as to why and how, it’s beyond the space available here to do so, but if you are ever concerned about the proximity of a vampire, or prefer to inhibit them in the first place, reach for one of these solutions:

• Place a brick or stone in the corpse’s mouth when burying them. Archaeologists have found numerous vampire graves where the corpse are buried in this way
• Bury them at a crossroads – it confuses vampires
• Decapitate the head of the corpse and place the head between its feet, or behind its buttocks in the coffin. Garlic can also be placed in the mouth of the head
• Garlic
• Hawthorn
• Holy water
• Religious symbols such as the Crucifix and The Star of David
• Fire
• Roses – wild roses placed on the top of the coffin to stop the vampire from leaving it without harming them
• Salt or seeds
• Sunlight
• Wine
• A wooden Stake

As I bring this telegram to a close, which is tricky as it’s a topic I could write a lot about, I want to leave you with something to ponder, I can’t decide whether it’s interesting or disturbing so I shall leave that decision to you. 

You will find an extended version of the vampire telegram with more details and information in volume two of The Moon Telegrams books, available in December

Real vampires today 

The vampire subculture overlapped with the goth subculture (goth subculture began in the 1980s in the UK). Those involved with vampirism (i.e., consider themselves to be an actual vampire) believe themselves to be superior and challenge anything restricting their freedom. They do not dress like vampires and keep their identities hidden They believe one is born a vampire and ‘turning’ (turning an ordinary person into a vampire) is frowned upon.

There are two sets of real vampires in society today:

The Sanguinarias – these exchange blood

Psychic vampires ­– these exchange psychic energy

The sanguinarias exchange blood following an official contract being set up, and use implements such as surgical scalpels or razors. No teeth are allowed and ‘donors’ are used for the blood exchange.

Real vampires tend to live in larger cities like London, New York (in particular, Manhattan) and New Orleans. Societies, including gatherings, special vampire clubs and courts exist everywhere. A special society for vampires has been around for some decades in the UK and a vampire research centre exists in New York. It is estimated that in 2015 the UK has 15, 000 real vampires. 

And on that chilling note, I wish you all a blessed week!

Annaliese 

P.S. The Lost Boys is the best vampire film and one I wish I had written BUT CHECK OUT ALL THESE BRILLIANT VAMPIRE BOOKS AND STORIES!

If you’re intrigued by all things witchy, vampires, psychic abilities, ghosts, wand making, candle magic, signs from the cosmos, symbology, self-improvement, Egyptian magic and more, then you need the Moon Telegrams. Click for more details