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~new~ VAMPIRE POSTCARDS ~new~ VAMPIRE POETRY ~new~

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Vampires in General

Also, please note the following: Apparently, there is a crusader or two who claim to be "real" vampires who disagree with some of the information we are providing on this site, and so, are running rampant through the vampire community doing their best to discredit the Vampire Legacy Society.  Also apparent is the fact that they neglected to read through the rest of the site where it plainly states in several places that we post ANY and ALL information on the vampire to let the visitor formulate their own opinions, instead of merely taking the word of one person.  According to them, we should seperate out certain articles, and put them on a "bullshit" page, or a fictional vampire page, whether or not they deal with the topic at hand.  Well guess what?  I'm not going to do that. Because who are we, and who are they, to say what is fact or fiction? No one knows the entire truth about vampirism, which is why there are so many sites attempting to find out. So, I am going to warn you, the visitor, to read through all of the articles, formulate your own opinion, and know, that we at the Vampire Legacy Society do not necessarily agree with ALL of the views presented on these pages, we merely collect them, and post them.

As well, as soon as I find out for sure who these people are that insist on trying to destroy the vampire community from within by claiming to be real vampires, and trying to discredit sites where many members have spent many hours researching articles to bring them to you, I will post their name, any contact info I can get, where they hang out, and whatever else I can dig up on them and post that information at the top of each page, along with this notice, so that you, the visitor, can contact them for yourselves, and I encourage you to do so.

As well, I encourage you the visitor to visit our forums, find the General Discussion forum, particularly one started by Broken Ghost, read through the threads, and post your own thoughts.

Also let it be noted, that the above narrative does not come from the entire membership, it comes entirely from the Founder, Tattunigma.  And I have no problem whatsoever defending the honor and hard work of the membership here at the Vampire Legacy Society.

Awakening

by Crimson Angel

There are many articles all over the net touching on the subject of awakenings. But the general consensus seems to be that it can be a very confusing and frustrating time for the individual that is indeed awakening. It sometimes feels that you are losing your mind, or that you are being invaded and taken over hence causing a fear of losing control.  And personally that has been the hardest part for me and probably the hardest part for most.  The fear that you no longer have control of your mind and/or body.  Some fear this process and change so much so that they even try and bury it deeply inside of themselves.  Which in my opinion is very dangerous, not only to the individuals’ mental and physical well being but also dangerous to those whom they come in contact with. If this person denying his/her true self manages to survive, what sort of life would they have?  They would constantly be feeling drained and most likely be sick continuously.  They would always be wondering what that something is that is missing from their life.  And they would be so moody that it would make it hard and almost impossible for people to be around them.  They would always have that nagging hunger and without the necessary nourishment that a vampire body requires they would die, most likely at a young age. How would one actually define an awakening?  For starters I think it to be much like that of a child being born.  A child when born instinctively knows that they are human but through learning they come to understand what being human is all about.  A child being raised by animals would indeed learn to live as an animal but they would always know that they were different. Through the awakening, we as young “people”, I use that term loosely so as not to cause any conflict, instinctively know what we are but through gaining knowledge we learn to BE who we are.  Not just exist but live the life we are fated to live.  For example:  A child just learning to walk or talk has the knowledge and knows that they are capable of this due to their genes, but to actually be able to complete this task they have to first be taught.  So for a vampire to embrace whom they are they must be taught what it means to be this “unnatural creature.”  For it to be a true awakening in every sense of the word you first must be discovered.  Usually someone will happen into your life that you take a liking to almost instantly.  Through this person’s guidance you are able to discover your true form through self-exploration.  These memories, we will call them now for the lack of a better word, are buried deep within our minds and perhaps even our DNA.  Through self-exploration you are able to dig these out and bring them into the physical world and into your life. Most of you are probably saying that “I never had this kind of stranger enter into my life.  And I know that I have awakened.”  My question would be how do you know that for sure?  It doesn’t matter how strong a mind a person has, without someone to share experiences and “symptoms” with a person would go crazy.  Especially with the brainwashing that we as a society have to deal with. There is no doubt in my mind that I myself would have suffered this fate without guidance….and I have always considered myself to be pretty strong. You might ask yourself when does this awakening happen?  At what time in my life would it happen?  When a vampire is young they always “feel” or even “know” that they are different.  I think the entire awakening is happening all of your life. Your entire growth from baby into adulthood is all part of the lesson.  All part of the process to your true existence.  The entire time you are growing up the awakening is happening. But here we are talking about the absolute realization that you are indeed what you are.  A true mental and physical realization of that feeling of being different and what it really means.  Accepting the predatory part of ourselves. This is what I think the community is meaning when they are referring to an awakening. Realizing that you can eat and eat and that empty feeling is still there.  That those migraines happen when you are feeling that hunger and emptiness.  That hearing those people across the room or the hum from the TV isn’t just a coincidence.  The list can go on and on and then again some things you may experience that are unique just to you, but my point is the awakening happens when you are reborn into yourself with an open mind without all the society brainwashing.  One first has to realize that a vampire’s existence is possible and they have to realize that what society calls a vampire is all crap.  You have to search for what being a vampire means to you, and continue to search until you honestly feel that that answer is right for you. For one to accept the awakening they first have to believe it in their heart that it is possible and that it is indeed happening.  For some that process is very hard.  Depending on your upbringing and religious background it may be almost an impossible task for some to overcome.  But for those people maybe it just wasn’t meant to be in this lifetime.  Always keep in mind that through an awakening you must have patience…and always remember that it doesn’t just happen over night.  You don’t just wake up one day and say “Hey, I have awakened and I am a creature of the night.”

Vampire types

by Aneria Romana

Vampyre's Vault    The following article is used with permission.  Please click on the link to find  more information by this author.

Copyright (c)-1997, 2001 by www.bloved.net

~ The Dhampir ~

The ironic thing about this part is that it contradicts most folklore. Most everywhere, the vampyre cannot spawn children or have sex. I mean...he's dead. His penis doesn't work. However the dhampir is found in the same areas that spawned the legends vampyres can't have kids.  Anyway the dhampir is a child of a male vampyre and a female Gypsy. A dhampir could not be spawned by any other human.

Very rarely the woman would become pregnant from this unholy union. Almost always the child would be born
boneless..and thus would die quickly. However, on rare rare rare occasions, the child would be born with bones and lives.

Always the child of this union was male. And this child had special powers that allowed him to become a powerful vampyre hunter. He was able to feel a vampyre just by looking at him. He was able to destroy a vampyre without special weapons. As well, the Dhampir could enchant a pistol and make it slay a vampyre as surely as a wooden stake would.

The dhampir was considered a powerful member of the gypsy community, but treated normally. They were not immortal and they did not have powers similar to the ones Vampyre Hunter D displays...but some dhampirs did have a semi-slippery like body due to the fact they were normally born without bones.

The powers of a dhampir would be passed to the male offspring that he created and that they created and so on. These abilities could only be inherited, never learned. In the real world the dhampir was a bit different. Someone claiming to be a dhampir would come to a village looking for work as a hunter or else he would go to where a town reported a vampyre problem. He would start by mentioning an unholy stench in the air that only he could smell. He would then attempt to find the source of this scent. He hold then take off his short and look through the sleeve as if it was a telescope. He would then describe the shape and appearance of the invisible undead that only he could see. He would then engage in a dramatic fight with the undead...but sometimes would just shoot it.

Once killed the vampyre would stink even more...and sometimes a pool of blood would run on the ground. Most often he would not be killed and the vampyre would flee to another town. The dhampir would stick around long enough to get his pay and go to the next town...and fight the vampyre anew.


~ The Vampyres of Malaysia ~


The are two kinds of vampyre in Malaysia.

The first is the langsuyar. The langsuyar is a beautiful woman who reacted strongly to the loss of her stillborn baby. She flew into the trees and became a night demon who sucked the blood from other people's children. Another way to become a langsuyar is to die during childbirth. To prevent the dead mother from rising from the grave, the body would be treated with a needle in the palm of the hand, eggs under her arms, and glass beads were placed in the mouth. Sometimes the langsuyar  would repent and live a normal life, marrying a new husband and having children.. Although at night she would still go off and feed from others. They also had long hair that would cover the tell-tale hole in her neck. It was through that hole which they sucked the blood.

The other vampyre of Malaysia is the pontianak. This is a stillborn child who would become a vampyre. It was similar to the langsuyar in every way though.

~ Vampyre's form ~


No doubt most of you think of a vampyre in terms of Annie Rice, Buffy, V:TM pictures or Hollywood films when picturing the vampyre. But that is a more modern vampyre.

You see, the vampyre of folklore was a lot ickier than that. (Although not as icky as Count Orlok. ew.)

The original vampyre of Eastern Europe was a corpse, but a corpse notable for several uncorpselike characteristics. It's body would be bloated and swollen, thus making the skin as tight as a drum. It's fingernails would be long and hard, still growing as the creature lived it's undeath. It would be buried in the rags it was sent to the grave in. It would stink of death. The ends of the appendages might be rotting away, after all...it WAS dead. In appearance, the vampyre's visage was horrible, but not because it was monsterous...but because it was still decaying. Not to mention all vampyres in recorded history were peasants and serfs.

Try living a life of hard labor in the fields for 40 years and see how pretty you are! So, if one was to take the vampyre of recorded history and use it's appearance for a modern day vampyre, you can bet a lot of teen-age girls would daydream about one coming to visit.....

~ Peter Kurten: a "real" Vampyre ~

Often cited as the real thing when it comes to the vampyric, Peter Kurten---the so-called Dusseldorf vampyre was a serial killer in Germany during 1929-1930.

He was born in Mulheim, Germany and was one of ten children. He was the son of an Alcoholic and a brutal father. He lived part of his youth with the town dogcatcher and enjoyed killing the unclaimed dogs. Kurten was 9 when he killed his first person. He pushed a playmate into the alter and repeated the act with a second boy to attempted to save the first. His next known attempt at homicide was 8 years later when he tried to rape and kill a young woman. He was sent to jail for 4 years for his unsuccessful effort. He lived on the streets after his release, but was back in the slammer a year later after a series of thefts and burglaries. He would later claim to have killed two of his prison mates with poison.

I in 1913, back on the streets in Dusseldorf, he killed again, this time a 10 year old girl. He cut her throat with a knife and repeatedly experienced orgasm as the blood spurted out.

It was not until 1929 that Kurten began his series of crimes that were to earn him his place in criminal history. In February of that year, he attempted the murder of one woman and succeed in the murder of 2 children, one male and one female. All died by stabbing. His attempts at murder, often unsuccessful, did not aid police. They accused a mentally-ill man to be convicted of the murder of the boy Kurten had actually killed! That summer, he was more successful, killing 9 people in August alone.

All of these crimes involved blood-drinking from the dead victim. He continued his killing spree until the winter of 1929-1930. In may he attempted the strangling death of a young woman, then for reasons unknown...stopped and let her go. She identified him and he was arrested. During his crime spree, he confused the police by continually changing his method of killing.

Only as he began his confession and accurately related each crime was any doubt of him perpetrating them removed. He was convicted and executed by decapitation on July 2, 1931.

~ The German Vampyre ~

Like in most of Eastern Europe, the vampyre and Germany have had a long history together. This country's version of the undead varies slightly from the commonly known folklore vampyre.

The most well-known German vampyre is the Nachtzeherer, which means, "Night waster." This was the vampyre of Northern Germany. In the southern part of the country it was named, "Bluatsauger" or bloodsucker. Other synonyms for these members of the Undead are, "NAchttoter" (Night Killer) and "Neuntoter" (Killer of nine).

These vampyres were created by unusual death and birth occurrences. As usual in folklore, a suicide victim would become a vampyre, but in Germany, any person who died through accidental death became undead as well. Similar to the Polish vamp, a German child born with a caulk on his head was destined to be a vampyre...especially if the caulk was blood red! A final quirky nature of German vampyres is that is a person's name is not removed from his/her burial clothing, it would rise from the dead as a vampyre!

The Nachtzehrer was also identified with epidemics and plagues, and thus could be associated with Nosferatu. When a group of people suddenly died from a similar disease, the first to die was deemed vampyre and was dispatched with. When the Nachtzehrer was found in the tomb/grave, it was known to have chewed on their own flesh and clothing, although this was most likely from rats and the like which dug up the shallow grave where there were no coffins. This type of vampyre would rise from the grave and attack the living, but unlike other vampyres...this one did not drink blood. Instead it consumed the entire body of it's victim, like a ghoul would. It would also raise from the dead a bride. This bride would be the corpse of a woman who died in childbirth. When the undead were unearthed from their coffins the Nachtzehrer would be found laying in pools of blood, because it had gorged itself to the point where it could not hold down all that the greedy vampyre had consumed. Here the vampyre was dispatched with..but not by the means we all are accustomed towards hearing. Sometimes the vampyre was destroyed by placing a clump of earth underneath it's chin. Other times a stone or a coin were placed in the corpses mouth.

Another method was to tie a white hankerchief around the vampyre's neck. And the most drastic measure of all was not the stake through the stomach, but the head was cut off and a spike was driven through it's mouth to pin the head and tongue into place. Some belief in folklore vampyre still exists in rural Germany to this day.

In the late 1980's Affons Schweiggert investigated reports in Germany that a Bluatsauger was terrorizing local villages. In these villages, the vampyre was still taken deadly serious.

~ The Italian Vampyre ~

The vampyre first reached Italy when "the vampyre plague" hit Serbia and Eastern Europe in the 17th century. The vampyre plague is the Golden Era for the undead. Countless sightings and reports from Man, clergy, officer and doctor remain from that time about firsthand accounts of vampyres.

As the plague was beginning, a Franciscan from Pavia, Ludovico Maria Sinistrari included the vampyre in his study of demonic phenomena, "de Daemonialitate, en Incubus et succubus." He then explained the vampyre in theological terms. He believed that vampyres were a separate race from those of Adam and Eve. Vampyres had souls like those of humans, but their corporeal selves were of a different, perfect nature. I could understand this thought if he used 20th century Americanized vampyres, but back then, the vampyre was a festering fat, balding exhausted reanimated corpse munching on family and cattle. Not too romantic, and a far cry from perfection in my opinion. He also stated vampyres were creatures that were parallel human beings....not evil opposites.

A more modern view of our vampyre bloodsucker came from JH Zedler and his "grosses volstandige Universal-lexicon aller wissenschften und kunste" in 1745. He stated vampyres were just a superstition and excuse to explain diseases science could not rationalize. Cardinal Giuseppe Davanzati echoed these beliefs, stating that vampyre outbreaks only occurred in rural and popular areas of the world...thus making vampirism, "The fruit of imagination" as well as ignorance, fear, superstition and to use a modern term, trendy. It became almost a fad to have a vampyre outbreaks. Hey, it got your town noticed and explained a lot of problems you were having. Besides, peasants didn't have much else to do besides mulch and die.

I'm sure this is much to the Cardinal's chagrin, but vampirism became even more widespread in the mid 18th century throughout central and eastern Europe. The first Romance to ever be published in Italy was, "IL Vampiro" by Franco Mistrali in 1869. This was preceded by an opera by the same name in 1801 by A. De Gasperini. I've never seen the opera, but I think it would be interesting. franco's tale took place in Monaco and revolved around blood and incest. His vampyre was presented in the same decadent, aristocratic manner akin to kaets, goethe, polidori and Byron. Only one real folklore work on the undead ever came out of Italy, and that
was 1908's Vampiro, by Enrico Boni. It is about the historic vampyre plague and is one of the only books ever printed about the superstitions and fear of Italy at that time of the plague.

Italy doesn't have much original works on the vampyre. It has tended to take from Western Europe and use their mythology. Perhaps this is because for the most part, as the vampyre mythos was being built up in the 1600's, the "plague" of the Undead passed over the boot shaped country until near the end of it.

~ The Greek Vampyre ~

I will tell you there are five variations of the Greek vampyre. I would like to start by saying This vampyre, like other Greek vampyres are and were not revivified corpses. Rather they were evil spirits.

The Lamiai was named after Lamia (Which is where the mistake of that word being used with vampyres comes from) who was a Libyan queen. Lamia was the daughter of Belus and Libya... the latter  was was loved By Zeus, the King of the Greek Gods (But hey, back then, who didn't get it on with Zeus?). Hera, as usual, became jealous and took her vengeance on Lamia by stealing all her children that had been fathered by Zeus. Lamia retired to her cave, and being unable to strike at the Queen of the gods, used human mothers as her scapegoat and drank the blood from their children. Her actions transformed her into a hideous beast, and thus Lamia and her lamiai were born. Later Lamia became identified with the class of beings that resembled her; course ugly women with serpentine lower bodies. Their feet were totally different.

One would be brass, while the other was shaped like a goat, donkey or Oxen's hoof. The Lamiai were known primarily as demonic spirits that sucked the blood from children, as I have already said. They were, however, able to transform into beautiful woman in order to seduce men for breeding. Although the lamiai are not believed to exist any longer in Greece, they have become a method for scaring children, much the same way the US uses the bogeyman...

~ Vampyre ~

One of the more famous "real vampyre" reports was that of a man who served the Lord of Alnwick Castle.

The man, who was known for being exceedingly wicked, was plagued by an unfaithful wife. Having hidden himself on the roof above his bed to spy on her, he fell to the ground and died the next day. Following his burial, the man was seen walking through the town. People became increasingly afraid and locked themselves in their houses after dark. During this time an unknown disease broke out, which of course, was blamed on the vampyre.

Finally, on Palm Sunday, the local priest assembled a group of devout residents, as well as some of the leaders of the community, and they entered the cemetery. They uncovered the body, which appeared gorged on blood and they struck it with a spade.
The body was deemed evil, set on fire and the epidemic ended.

The town went back to their happy little ways.

~ The blood is the life ~

Okay everyone and their gerbil has seen someone use "The Blood is the Life" with vamp lit, movies and the like. And most of you also know that it is a bible quote. Just for facts the line is Deuteronomy 12:23 and it reads, "Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh." It still has the same connotations in relations towards the Undead.

~ Polish Vampyres ~

A type of vampyre found amongst the Kashubian people of northeast Poland in the Vjesci, also spelled vjeszczi or vjescey. According the myths, a person who would become a vampyre was born with a caul (membrane cap) on his head at the time of birth. When such a child was born, the cap was removed, dried, ground up and fed to the person on their seventh birthday. These actions would prevent the man
from becoming a Vjesci. Otherwise...bam! Undead.

The Potential vjesci looked perfectly human, but was restless and easily excitable. He also had a ruddy complexion. At the time of his death he would renounce God. His body would cool much much slower then a normal corpse and the limbs would remain limber. The lips and cheeks would remain red and spots of blood would seep from his cheeks and fingernails. The Vjesci never actually died. At Midnight after his burial, he would awake and eat his clothing and then bits of his own flesh. He then left the grave and attacked family member, by sucking out all their blood. Not sated, he'd move on to the neighbors. There were several steps to be taken in ridding the community of the vampyre.

First all people in the town would receive a Eucharist wafer. Then a little earth was placed in the undead's coffin to prevent it from returning there. A crucifix or a coin would be placed in the Vjesci's mouth if it was till in the coffin for it to suck on. A net would be wrapped around the vampyre with the understanding that the vampyre could only untie one knot from the net a year and he could not rise from the coffin until all the knots were untied.

A bag of seeds would be placed in the coffin for similar reasons. Lastly the body would be placed face down in the coffin, so when the vampyre awoke, it would merely dig deeper into the earth instead of coming up to terrorize peasants. (Man, those polish don't mess around!). *g*

Vampire names from around the world

Truly interested in the vampire's many names??  Well here is a very fascinating website titled appropriately "THE VAMPIRE, A-Z" ...so you want to know the many legends from around the world??  Want to know their origins, and the names used for them??  This is the place to go.  The author of this website has without doubt done extensive research, and this researcher found himself engrossed for hours in the content of this site.  Check this out, you WILL NOT be disappointed..........THE VAMPIRE, A-Z

The following LEXICON of TERMINOLOGY is the terminology used by, and concocted by the SANGUINARIUM and it's members.  Many members of the Vampire Community in general have adopted the use of some of this terminology, so, in order to establish a more perfect union amongst vampires, here it is, in all it's glory.

LEXICON OF SANGUINARIUM TERMINOLOGY (BASIC VERSION)

Adra: a vampyric sponsor or mentor.

Ardetha (are-death-aa): someone who is made a vampyre through a ritual or ceremony.

Ancients: Refers to the ancient deities and mythical/spiritual personas such as Lilith, Set, The Ancient Vampiric Gods, Caine, Kali, etc.

Awakening: The physical and mental changes involved when one's vampirism begins to manifest itself, if one is a latent vampire.

Beast: The primal, animalistic, bestial nature of a frustrated or desperate vampire. It's destructive and cold, and if you don't control it, then you will be under its control.

Beacon: A particular feeling or energy signature generated by vampyres in general, but latent or potential vampyres in particular. The beacon seems to exist to attract other vampyres to the potential so that they may instigate the awakening process.

Black Swan: A non-Vampyre lover or friend who does not feel the draw to become sanguine, but who is nevertheless favorably inclined towards Vampyres. They may or may not frequent vampyre nightclubs and usually understand the Vampyre-fetish lifestyle.

Black Veil: 13 tenets of common sense, ettiquite and responsibility used by many households within the vampyre community.

Blood Bond: a rite, ritual or ceremony marking a commitment to a coven or an individual. It is also a term to reflect a vampyre marriage.

Blood Drinker: Anyone who drinks blood, regardless of motivation.

Blood Fetishist: Someone who is erotically attracted to the sight, taste or smell of blood; they generally have no physical need to consume it, and will usually be happy with small amounts.

Blood Junkie: A derogatory term for someone who experiences the physical need to consume blood, a sanguinarian

Dayside: the mundane life we must all lead, paying taxes, mundane family relations, rent, dayjob, etc.

Donor: Someone who gives/shares their blood or energy consentually.

Bloodletting: The act of cutting the physical flesh to extract blood. This is commonly used for blood play, fetishism and feeding.

Bloodplay: Similar to bloodletting, bloodplay is the act of using blood in sexual or fetish situations. Bloodplay can also refer to the integration blood and bloodletting in ritual.

Cainus Lupus: a term for tribal or shamanistic members of the Sanguinarium who related to wolves. Commonly related to werevoles.

Caste/path: one of three roles (guardian, priest & companion) used in many Sanguinarium households started by the Kheperian Order.

Calmae (cal-may): a term refering to an initiate and formal member of a Sanguinarium household or court, who is familiar with the Scroll of Elorath and abides by the tenets/traditions of a household and the Black Veil.

Chi: Chi is the Chinese term for life energy. It is also often referred to as pranic energy or life force. Chi is the bio-electrical energy which runs our bodies on a subtle level. Energy vampires and many psi-vamps believe that they can manipulate chi and feed upon it to sate their hungers. To a certain extent, blood vampires also feed upon chi, for a great deal of this subtle energy is believed to be concentrated into the blood.

Clinical vampirism: A psychological condition, also referred to as Renfield's Syndrome, in which the afflicted person experiences a psychological urge to drink blood. This urge is often satisfied with their own blood, and sufferers of Renfield's Syndrome typically bear slashes from razors and knives up and down their arms from where they have drawn blood from themselves. This condition is similar to a new pathology, known as SMS, or Self-Mutilation Syndrome, which is becoming alarmingly common in American youths.

Clutch: a small group of vampyres, who are apart of a larger household, usually 3-13 members who gather for socialization, ritual, initiation and training.

Coming out of the Coffin: a term for going public about one's vampyrism.

Court: a geographicly based formal Quabal and organization with their own ceremonies, traditions, hierarchy and memberships.

Coven: Covens are groups of individuals and organizations who embellish the vampyre/vampire lifestyle; who band together under a specific theme, set of ideals, traditions, common Sigil, havens, membership requirements, hierarchy and rites.

Dhampyri: someone who was born a vampyre or awakened before puberty.

Elder: A prominent member of the Vampyre community who is honored and respected for their experience, accomplishments and devotion, a teacher. Elders are often those individuals who have helped establish a community.

Embrace: The act of turning one into a vampire by the giving of one's blood to another.

Energy signature: Term used to indicate the unique energy-pattern, feeling, or vibes that each individual has. Vampyres are believed to have a particular energy signature that can be recognized by those familiar with it. In this way, others skilled in magick and psychic practices may identify us for what we are.

Energy Vampire: An individual who has a need to feed upon the life force of others. Most energy vampyres feed upon chi or psychic energy and avoid drinking blood.

Family Dentist or Fangsmith: a term refering to someone who makes dental quality fangs.

Feeding: The act of consuming pranic energy (blood) or psychic energy (emotional and elemental energy)

Fledgling: a newly awakened, unintiated and unexperienced vampyre.

Fruitbat: a nutty or insane vamp.

Gaja (ga-jaa): a fashion vampire, one who does not embrace the Strigoi Vii philosophy and is only focused on the aesthetic aspects of the vampyre scene.

Golden Circle: The people around a small coven or circle, which include black swans, vampyres, kitra, etc.

Grimoire (grim-wor): a journal and book of lessions and notes each Sahjaza initiate should keep on their advancement of study and involvement within the family.

Quabal (qua-ball): a gathering for socialization, ritual, initiations and education.

Haematodipsia: A strong form of haematophilia.

Haematomania: A strong psychological craving for blood.

Haematophilia: An erotic attraction to the taste, sight (or smell) of blood.

Haven: a vampyre gathering place. Most often a gothic nightclub, bar or coffee house.

Household: a generic term for a family or organization within the Sanguinarium community.

Kali: a blood-thirsty goddess from India who has been chosen by some to be a goddess of vampirism.

Kithal: Someone who has been initiated into one or more covens.

Kitra (key-traa): in the vampyric caste system this is an initiated member who functions as a donor, advisor, companion, watcher and altar to focus and balance energy during rituals. A mix of vampyre and donor.

Klavasi (latent vampyre): someone who has awakened after puberty.

Human: Term used for the purposes of distinguishing those who are not vampire. (this term is misleading because it implies that vampires are not human.)

The Hunger: The desire to feed, also identified as the Thirst. The Hunger is both a psychological and physical sensation. Physically, it manifests as an intense hunger or thirst - but not for physical food or drink.

Hunter: Someone that hunts, stalks, threatens, or does harm (whether it be physical, psychical, psychological, or emotional) to someone because s/he is a vampire, or because the hunter believes them to be so. Blade applies to seriously unbalanced individuals who really are on some sort of holy hate crusade and intend to follow through with violence or action.

Invisable: someone kicked out of a household for violating the traditions, black veil or rules of that family. They are stripped of any titles, initiations and completely ignored.

Im Kheperu: The ritual of transformation used by some to induct a new member into the vampyre community. Im Kheperu also denotes the holy day, concurrent with the Pagan festival Samhain, when this rite is most often performed. As a festival, Im Kheperu ushers in the Dark Side of the Year, a time when our powers wax greatly and our sense of our natures is heightened significantly.

Im Sekhemu: The double-power. This also denotes the holy day, concurrent with the Pagan festival Beltane, when the last peak in power is celebrated before the coming of the Light Side of the Year. During the Im Sekhemu, which properly lasts over a span of days leading up to Beltane, everything about us is heightened to an almost excruciating degree. We feel the last swansong of power just before the Dark Year fades, and at the same time we experience the greatest hunger as that power heightens all of our sensations. Sekhemu can also refer to the driving sensation brought about by this peak in hunger and power.

Latent vampire (ardetha): Someone who is already naturally a vampire, but whose vampiric tendencies have not yet manifested.

Leech: 1.) A small, bloodsucking worm; 2.) An incredibly rude and derogatory (well, at least disrespectful...) term to call someone who is a vampyre.

Lilitu / Lilian: Also the Children of Lilith. This is an order or movement within the vampyre community which promotes the idea that Lilith was the spiritual forebear of vampyres.

The Long Night: Name for the festival celebrated on the Winter Solstice. This night is the peak of the Darkside of the year, and many households and covens gather together to celebrate the longest night. This is a festival of community where everyone relaxes and socializes. It is also the traditional night to recognize new members of the community or to perform rites of passage, such as raising someone from Calmae to Elder.

Mentor: The one who made you a vampire or awakened you and/or taught/guided you.

Mortal: Term used for the purposes of distinguishing those who are not vampire. (This term is, at best, misleading because it implies that vampires are "immortal".)

Mradu (mra-doo): an initated "knighted" and appointed guardian and protector in the vampyric caste system.

Mundane: Term used to distinguish those who are not vampires.

The Nephilim: A rather widespread belief within the vampiric community which asserts that vampyres are the inheritors of the Nephilim. The Nephilim are demi-human beings who were sired by angels, as told in Enoch I, a book that was dropped from the Bible in the early stages of its canonization.

Nightside: the primal nature, the AKA "the dragon" which includes the side of oneself which is awakened during ritual, sexual arousal, artistic creation,

Nomaj: A vampyre mystic, astrologer or user of sangomancy.

of the Blood: A term sometimes used to refer to someone as being a vampire.

Pandemonium: a term for a generally unpleasant experience which includes but is not limited to an acute heightening of all of a vampyre's sensitivities, a change in the person's manner, alterations in breathing,pulse rate, and thought patterns, as their body gears up to go out and attempt to satisfy the thirst. This phenomenon is when the "beast" or "darkside" is very definitely felt as a real force within the vampyre's psyche and the vampyre's self-control totters on a razor-edge. This particular phenomenon is experienced by both sanguines and psi-vamps alike, and it serves as a distinguishing factor between those who are real vampyres and those who are simply blood fetishists.

Polyamory: Refers to multiperson committed relationships, which are not uncommon among households in the vampyre community.

Porphyria: An acute medical condition which has been postulated by some scholars to have inspired the vampire myths of the past. Sufferers of porphyria have pale, flaky skin and are very sensitive to sunlight. They are also severely anemic, and some sufferers of porphyria have been know to drink blood in an attempt to relieve the cravings brought about by anemia.

Poser: Someone pretending or claiming to be a vampire who is not, with the intent of deceiving others, by making false claims as to their powers, abilities,lifespan, etc.

Prana: Like Chi, Prana is life energy. Prana is a Hindu term, and it is strongly associated with the breath as well as the life. See also Chi and Psychic Energy

Pranic energy: Refers to blood and sexual energy.

Primus: A vampyre, almost always an elder, who founded or is the leader of a large family or coven of vampyres.

Psychic energy: Refers to emotional and elemental(energy of the earth), also the life-force that surrounds and is contained in living things.

Psychic Attack: A term used for an attack by an psi-vampire. Any uninvited draining of one's vital energy. One is said to have experienced a Psi-vamp attack when a psi-vampire has targeted and successfully fed from you, without your consent. Another view is that psychic vampire attacks ONLY take the form of such draining by the use of the psyche.

Psychic vampire: Someone who feeds from psychic energy, drains life-energy rather than blood from others. Technically speaking in some views, psychic vampire is a vampire who is psychic while a psi-vampire is a vampire who feeds on energy, preferably emotional energy.

Pranic (pran-ick): to feed from the aura and chakras of consenting donors.

Ramkht (rom-ket): an ordained vampyric priest who acts as a ritual leader, creative director and catalyst.

Ravass Bhavatan (rav-ass bov-aton): a ceremony or ritual kick someone out of a household, making them invisable and stripping them of their titles.

Real Vampire: Someone who has a condition which includes but is not limited to a physical thirst and need for blood (which is non-erotic in nature; and in more significant quantity than is generally required or desired by other blood-drinkers), or psychic energy (real need exists for energy draining of others emotional energy and that of the earth.)

Real Vampire/RealVamp: A sanguine, psychic, or energy vampyre. A real vampyre has a particular condition which includes but is not limited to the following characteristics: a real need for blood or life energy; heightened sensitivities; light sensitivity; a largely nocturnal sleep cycle. The heightened sensitivities are believed by many to include a number of psychic abilities, such as empathy, astral projection, clairvoyance, and energy manipulation. The sensitivity to light and the nocturnal body cycle are not so limiting that a real vampyre cannot be up and out during the day, it is simply an effort for them to do so.

Renfield's Syndrome: is a psychological condition in which the sufferer has an affinity for drinking blood. Sufferers of Renfield's Syndrome typically bear slashes on their hands and arms where they have withdrawn quantities of their own blood to drink.

Ronin: a vampyre who is awakened and is not a member of a household. In the Japanese feudal system , ronin were Samurai who lacked allegiance to a particular house, but who were nonetheless honorable and skilled as samurai.

RPGer: Role-Player: One who engages in roleplaying games like VtM and others. Sometimes RPGers are also lifestylers, others distinguish between their 'human' life and their role and have nothing to do with Vampires.

Safari: A form of play-hunting when a vampyre or coven of vampyres goes out to find donors but not bring them home. Maybe a little nibbling, but never feeding.This was used in the late 1970s to teach fledglings how to hunt in discos.

Sanguinarium (sang-ween-are-ee-um): the vampire / vampyre network which abides by the Black Veil.

Sanguinarian :Someone who has a physical thirst, need, craving for blood (which is non-erotic in nature) in more significant quantity than is generally required or desired by other blood-drinkers).

Sanguine: A term which indicates a blood-drinking vampyre. Energy vampyres or psi-vamps, if they supplement their feeding with the active drinking of blood, are considered to be sanguines.

Strigoi Vii: means "living vampire" in ancient Romanian and is used to refer to the philosophy used by the Sahjaza and the condition of being a vampyre.

Seeker: Someone who is seeking after vampires, or knowledge of vampires, usually desiring to become one him/herself.

Setians: A belief within the vampyre community that links vampirism back to the Egyptian God Set.

Sexual Vampirism: A relatively rare variety of vampirism that feeds primarily from sexual energy.

Sire: A very literary term often used by Ann Rice fans and few RPGers. Someone who is responsible for turning someone into a vampire.

Sigil: see households.

Slayer: A person that makes public and obnoxious claims of killing people who are (or who the slayer thinks are) vampires.

SMS: A psychological condition which has apparently begun to grow among American youth. Sufferers of SMS, often known as cutters, feel the need to cut into their flesh and watch themselves bleed. Some sufferers of SMS also drink the blood drawn out this way, although this is not standard for the disease.

Source: Someone from whom a vampire will get blood.

Solitary: a vampyre who chooses not to be involved with a coven and has little if any interested in going out in the scene. See also Ronin.

Somnusium: to take a brake from the Sanguinarium, scene or the vampyre philosophy and lifestyle.

Starseed Vampires: a tradition or movement within the vampyre community which asserts the extra-terrestrial origins of the vampyre race.

Incubus / Succubus: A vampyre who feeds only while having sex or purely through sexual energy. In Medieval folklore, a Succubus was a female demon who appeared to people, often in dreams, and seduced them.

Thirst: The craving, need, desire, urge to drink blood, experienced as an intense thirst-sensation or withdrawal.

Turned: Refers to the "making" of a vampire, another role play term.

Twilight: to maintain a consistant balance between the Dayside and the Nightside.

Vampire: A much-disputed term with many meanings, depending upon who you're talking to. It can include psychic vampires, energy vampires, emotional vampires, sanguines, blood-fetishists, and the kind of vampire you find in fiction or on the Silver Screen. Here, it is used to encompass all of the above-listed groups into a general category, ie may refer to both real and non real vampires.

Vampire bait: A poser or wannabe who is just screaming for a vampire to come after them.

Vamping out: Experiencing an acute flare-up of the thirst, involves a change in the person's manner, breathing, pulse rate, thought patterns, etc.

Vampiric Community: The community of people who identify with or have been identified with the label "vampire".

Vampyre vs vampire: "Vampyre" is the older spelling of the word "vampire" used in the 17th & 18th centuries, thus "Vampyre" is used to refer to people who are really into the scene or lifestyle. The more modern "vampire" is most often used to refer to Hollywood, myth and fiction.

Vampyrecrafte: In general, this is the magick practiced by vampyres. Many vampyres are pagan and follow the old ways, and the ways of magick are an integral part of their beliefs. Most vampyres practice numerous techniques associated with energy manipulation. Many also practice some form of magick, most often ritual magick or chaos magick.

Vampyre lifestyler: Someone who incorporates fictional vampire imagery and trappings into his/her personal life, often cultivating a "Vampyric" physical appearance and forming alternative extended families and social structures modeled on the "covens" or "clans" of vampire fiction and role-playing games, and utilizing that terminology.

Wannabe: Derogatory term for someone who wants to become a vampire, usually with unrealistic expectations of what it would be like, and usually without consideration of such practical matters as how one would find sources.

White Swan: Someone who cannot tolerate the Vampyre lifestyle and proves antagonistic to the Scene. In general, White Swans are still a part of the Gothic or fetish scene, which often brings them into contact with the vampyre community despite their disgust of vampirism.

Vampires: a history

Author unknown

The vampire in myth is always thought of as Count Dracula. Male, with fangs, and a suave manner. However, in different cultures around the world, the legend and the form of the vampire is as different as night and day.

And it was not often in the form of a bat. It was as different as different ethnic groups and countries have representations of them in myths in their culture.

For instance, in some Ancient Greek myths, the vampire is often a woman who has died, and is named Lamai/lamiai. She is a vampiric woman, being half woman, half serpent, and also lives in caves, where she gets sustenance from drinking the blood of children.

However, she also isn't picky, sometimes she also transforms into a very beautiful maiden and seduces young men, for their blood, which she drinks.

And the vampire itself is not sometimes a woman. In Africa, among members of the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, the vampire is known as an Asasabonsam.

It was described as a humanoid monster, living in a forest, and was very rarely seen. It was also very dangerous, living in the forest, and was very rarely seen.

It also happened to possess iron teeth, and survived by catching and destroying unwary passers-by by letting its hook shaped feet dangle from the treetops where it was sitting, and catching them with them.

The vampire also did not necessarily live in a castle as well. In Malaysia the vampire creature itself was called a Maneden and it lived in a wild panadus plant. If a human attacked the plant, the creature, angry and retaliative, would strike by attaching itself to a man's elbow, (or a womans nipple), where it sucked the person's blood untill that person gave it a substitution item, such as a nut. The vampire legend was not unknown or lost to ancient Meso-American cultures, such as the Maya and Aztec. The vampire of the Maya, known as Camazotz, was a full fledged god, and was central for the Maya agriculture, but was not respected. Instead he was feared for his blood drinking tendencies, and very fearsome appearance, which included large teeth and claws. He also dwelled in caves, where he would attack people, his victims, for their blood as well.

Among the Aztec people, the Cihuateteo was a vampire as well. This demi god and vampiric woman was often depicted like her kin in other parts of the world killing and surviving on the blood of infants.

However, they also share some characteristics with the vampires of the west. They are said to meet at crossroads, and also to wander at night. They also can't stand the sunlight, as it will kill them.

And among the gypses there are vampire myths as well. The gypsy vampire is reffered to as a mullo (one who is dead). This vampire is believed to return, do malicious things, and suck the blood of a person.

It was often a relative that caused their death, or didn't observe burial ceremonies. They also would be attacked if they kept the deceased's possessions instead of destroying them.

Female vampires were not to be kept in the coffin sometimes.

They could return, lead a normal life, and also marry, but they would exhaust their husband.

Among the Gypsies,if there was anyone who was missing a finger, had a hideous appearance, or even had animal appendages, etc. they were thought of being vampires.

And there were cases in history where there were persons who were like vampires. Elizabeth Bathory was born in the year 1560. She was from a family that had lands throughout Transylvania, and was also one of the most powerful families in the country after she was married to a very powerful count.

After sometime, she started to kill young girls in her area, so that she could preserve her youth and beauty by bathing in their blood. The rumored number that had been killed was 600.

She however could not have done this alone at all. She and her cohorts were found, tried, and all but her were killed in various ways. She was sealed alive in a chamber and could only get food and water through a slot in the door. She died there as well.

The vampire itself in myths sometimes didnt even require the sustenance of people. In Japan, the vampires (called Kappas) would dwell in water. They also attacked livestock such as cows and horses, dragging them into the water, and devouring them. So you see, even if the culture is somewhat different than the western one, there are myths that pertain to the Vampire in different cultures.

A Definition of the Chupacabra

By Tito Armstrong 1996

For the non-Puerto Ricans among us, the Chupacabra is a creature that is currently rampaging through the island, relieving farm animals of their blood. As of yet, the Chupacabra, which translates into "goat-sucker", has not attacked humans, although no one can say for certain that this will not happen in the future. The origin of its name comes from its earliest attacks, where goats were found with their blood drained and with two peculiar puncture marks on their necks. There have been reports alleging that particular organs were missing from some of the victim's bodies, without any visible way for those organs to have been removed. Sightings have increased as the months go by, fueling paranoia and fear.

Speculation has placed the Chupacabra as a resident of another galaxy (see the truth behind the Chupacabra), or a half-man, half-beast vampire who roams the countryside terrorizing farm animals. Others say that the Chupacabra hops like a kangaroo and leaves a sulfur-like stench. Still others say that the Chupacabra is a panther-like creature with red eyes and a long snake-like tongue. I, for one, think that the truth may lie in the UFO area my theory being that the Chupacabra is actually the pet panther, which hops like a kangaroo, of some irresponsible aliens who let it wander around. Like obnoxious relatives who let their children rampage through the house, the aliens have overstayed their welcome in our island

The Chupacabra becomes a recurring legend
San Juan (Puerto Rico) Star
6 May 1996,
by Robert Friedman

WASHINGTON -- The goatsucker is on the go -- with new alleged victims reported in other Caribbean countries, Mexico, Central America and Dade County, Florida. Once strictly del pais, the chupacabras, as the supposed vampire-like killer of barnyard animals is known in Spanish, has recently been spotted in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Miami.

The monster -- reptilian body, oval head, bulging red eyes, fanged teeth and long, darting tongue -- has allegedly pulled off one of the more grisly animal slaughters of late: the one-night massacre of 69 goats, chickens, geese and ducks in the heavily Hispanic Sweetwater neighborhood of South Miami. Miami police and the local zoologist say that the killer was a large dog -- but Sweetwater residents insist that the deed was done by the blood-sucking beast first spotted in the central mountains of Puerto Rico [1994].

Whatever, the chupacabras phenomenon seems quick becoming part of Hispanic -- and possibly international -- bestial lore. The goatsucker already has been tagged the Bigfoot of the Caribbean by stateside journalists. The monster made its network TV debut last week via "Unsolved Mysteries." It was the talk of the popular Miami-based gabfest, "El Show de Cristina," which is transmitted throughout Latin America. That show featured Canovanas Mayor Jose "Chemo" Soto, known to townsfolk as "Chemo Jones" for his weekly chupacabra hunts through the surrounding hills, using a caged goat for bait. Soto offered this grim warning: "Whatever it is, it's highly intelligent. Today it is attacking animals, tomorrow it may be attacking people."

Tee shirt sales are said to be booming, a video game reportedly is in the works, songs are sung to Ol' Red Eyes over South Florida radio stations (such as "Chupacabra-fragalisticexpialidotious," as in the song of a similar name from "Mary Poppins.") The beast is on the Internet, courtesy of some Puerto Rican students at Princeton University, who give tongue-in-cheek updates daily on the goatsucker's doings.

So, what have we here? Among other things, a recurring legend, especially prevalent in Latin America, according to anthropologists, Hispanic historians, and others. "There are a certain number of these legends of bloodsucking animals in South and Latin America," said Richard Grinker, an anthropology professor at George Washington University. "They are usually analyzed as anti-capitalist, an unconscious means of rebellion by country people who believe that capitalism is sucking dry the earth and their entire being. Fellow anthropologist Paul Brodwin acknowledged that blood-sucking legends pre-date quasi-Marxist analyses, but said the legends often get reinterpreted "according to social circumstances."

Take, for instance, the legend of the Loup Garou, which Brodwin has studied in the Haitian countryside. This sometime human-sometime animal being is related to the French werewolf legend, said Brodwin. But with a difference. The Loup Garou sucks the blood of its human victims.[???] The Haitian legend has been analyzed as a "collective fantasy," said the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor, of an unconscious suspicion and fear the poorer-than-poor have of their neighbors.

Marvette Perez,curator of Hispanic history at the Smithsonian Institution's American History Museum, sees deja vu once more in the chupacabras tales. Perez, a native of Arecibo, recalled the similarities between the chupacabras and both the Moca vampire and the garadiablo of island lore. A couple of decade ago, the Moca monster was sucking blood of assorted animals around that small mountain town, while the garadiablo was a devilish looking creepy crawly from the lagoon seen in local swamplands. "This seems to be a very Caribbean phenomenon, especially of the Spanish- speaking islands," said Perez. "It's part of our folklore. It's inter- esting that the chupacabras has not been found on the English-speaking islands, but has migrated only in places where people speak Spanish.

Pedro Vidal, professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at American University, remembers hearing childhood tales in his native Venezuela of a beast sucking the blood not only of animals, but also of little children. Vidal, who has done research on vampires, noted that the hemispheric roots of such entities go way back, to the Mayans, who worshipped a "vampire figure deity long before the idea of Dracula."

Bram Stoker's novel of the blood-thirsty count became a big hit in Victorian England in an age of anxiety over a syphilis epidemic, said Vidal. Now, another sexually transmitted epidemic has unsettled the populace. Puerto Rico, he noted, is among the areas in the hemisphere hardest hit by AIDS. It is entirely possible, he said, that the commotion over the chupacabras could be linked to the AIDS fear.

Unbeknownst to many, there is a real live goatsucker in captivity in the Washington, D.C. zoo. In fact, ornithologists know all about goatsuckers -- which is the name given to a family of nocturnal birds. They are described as soft-feathered with long, pointed wings, short, weak legs and feet, a very small bill, but a wide, gaping mouth, and whose eyes reflect light at night. Some goatsuckers of note are night jars, whippoorwills and the Australian frog mouth, which is on display at the D.C. zoo. Could they be...? Most unlikely, said Bob Hoage of National Zoo. The winged Goatsuckers feed almost exclusively on insects, he noted.

The Goatsucker tag comes from the Latin word, Caprimulgus. The birds are often found in the Mediterranean in places where goats graze. In a strange twist, bird-watcher-columnist Don Wilson reports in the Orlando Sun Sentinel that "the harmless whippoorwill was once viewed as a sinister creature. Superstitious country folk once believed the birds sucked the milk from goats' udders, causing them to dry up."

VAMPIRE MYTHS

compiled and posted by SARASVATI..  Please visit her site the SANGUINARIAN, you'll find lots of info there.

• Sunlight: As the "good" on the earth and the life giving warmth of early cultures it was the anti-thesis of the vampire, and thuscould destroy the vampire. Often the "good triumphs over evil" type of moral. Possibly an exaduration of the light-sensitiveness that sanguinarians do exibit. (You know how bards are:) Also, in hte earliest myths, vampires didn't have any problems being out in the daylight... this, like fangs, is a more recent addition to the list of "traits".
  Also: "Many vampires aren't so much hurt by the sun touching them as looking at it, many Romanian and Irish vampires this applies to can be seen in the sunlight as long as the sunlight is filtered by such means as sunglasses even." {Thanks to Mr. Tiernen for the information addition :) }
  
  
• Crosses: These, along with holy water and the host, are again the "good conquers evil" background. The blessed would repel the cursed. Could also have arisin as a "focus" for holy power that repeled the evil.
  
  
  
• Mirrors: The ancient belief was that mirrors reflected the soul, what a person was. Vampires were believed to have no souls and thus could not have a reflection. Later, mirrors were believed to reflect the goodness in a person (though only superficial) since vampires had no goodness in them (superficial or otherwise) they still cast no reflection.
  
  
  
• Coffins: Probably dates back to the fact that vampires were believed to be "undead" or walking corpses. Since they were not truly alive the populus believed they had to return to the coffin during the day. Probably the same explaination applies to the "Natural Earth" myth.
  
  
  
• Beauty: In order to drink from there victims, they had to get close enough to grab them. This myth has only recently appeared and been nutured by contemporary artists. The older legends speak of ugly, corpsian vampires. Again, this probably is a result of the "walking dead" thinking. Another possible theory is that being very thin and pale was a mark of beauty in the 18th century, which is when many of the modern fiction vamps are coming from. (thanks to Micholena for this idea).
  
  
  
• Invitation: the person had to invite evil into the house, knowing that they are letting evil in. ie, one can't be tricked into evil, they have to consciously commit evil. --thanks to NightStalker
  
  
• Stakes: Vampires were believed to be immortal, unless you 1) put a stake through there heart, or 2) cut off there heads, stuffed garlic in there mouths, and cut off thre ears. obviously, 1 is the simpler of the two. My best theory as to why this myth arose is that the heart was believed to be the life and wood, as a part of nature, was abhorant to the vampire. Perhaps, too, the splinters lodging in the heart prevented the healing and caused permenant death. The second way to kill I don't know how it arose, except perhaps by all that mutilation combined with the garlic myth was belived that something in it had to work.
  
  
  
• Immortality: Since blood is linked to life, perhaps the drinking of blood is like the drinking of others life, prolonging the life of the vampire. (Thanks to mia for this connection)
  
  
  
• Running Water: Imagery is the water is the birth force and the vampire, wizard or witch was a negative "death" force. --thanks to Moonshadow
  Also, for some of the psi-vamps out there, it is said that running water pulls energy away from one, which causes weakness
  
  
  
• Garlic: Garlics' noxious smell was believed to be a deturent to vampires as well. This may have arisin from the theory that "like repells like" and that the increased sensitivity to smells made the garlic flower more repulsive to us. Also garlic has always had certain medicinal values that people may have believed repeled the "disease" of vampires. (Thanks to mia for the idea of garlics' uses in medicine)
  
  
  
• Silver: Though usually applied to werecreatures, I have heard it in application to vampires as well. The only reason I can think of is that silver was often used to make the crosses for priests and churches and that caused the crossover (slight pun intended :)
  
  An addition from Chrysanthia: I wears silver rings,pure sterling silver and i wear a Sterling Silver ankh always paired with an ameyhst amulet (both helps increase psychic projection,as i am both sanguine/psyvamp). However one night i was reading something online,and i was toying with my ankh,and i was running it across my lips,for some odd reason,LOL I think i went to scratch an itch with the hand that was holding the ankh.well I felt a Power surge from it,so i was Curious "If I put it in my mouth,will i be able too feed off it like i would pranic-chi energy?" well,I Put it in my mouth,and I did feed off it,and It also Burnt my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
  I have been wearing the rings and necklaces since i was 19 and i am 21 now,and i never had a reaction to silver before like that. Well I was Curious would my rings burn too,because i was curious and skeptial it could have been a chemical reaction mixed with soap of some kind. Nope.I Tryed my rings as well,and They burnt my mouth too. It was not instant burning,smoke did not come out of my mouth and i did not have an ankh shaped mark on my tongue,but it felt as if it were literally burning into my tongue and the roof of my mouth.
  I was still skeptical,that it could have been a chemicial reaction of some sort,but i normally do not wear Perfume on my neck where my necklaces are,so a few months ago i tryed it again. Same Reactions... I have also heard that Gold itself is supposed to weaken vampyres in general,that it drains off their aura,and drains their energy making them weak. I do not know if this is true because i quit wearing gold.I know I have a distinct dislike to stay away form it and not wear it.
  
  
  
• Natural Earth: see Coffins
  
  
  
• Retractable Fangs: Fangs in general are a hollywood invention. The earliest myths had no mention of fangs.
  
  
  
• Salt: Mostly heard to repell the mythological witch...unsure of why it was applied to the vampire (blood is rather high salt anyway)
  
  An addition from Chrysanthia:Salt was believed to keep evil spirits (ghosts,poltergiests,demons) From entering Sacred space in a church,holy altar,convents etc or any place deemed to be haunted,or possessed by evil spirits. The Christian Church,or more so the Christian Inqustion described all witches and those who drink blood,vampires to be these evil spirits,demons,and posessed bodies,so they believed sprinkling salt in the corners of their holy place,would keep the evil spirit from walking at Night. They also thought Vampires and witches were the same.
  However in todays wicca,wiccans/witches Use salt in their Circle casting,because Salt is seen as a Combo of the elments Earth/water/air. Salt is considered sacred in still creating sacred space.
  
  
  
• Host (Holy Communion Bread): see Crosses
  
  
  
• Thrall: More recient addition to the list, probably has the same roots as the Beauty myth. The general populus could not see the vampire as having people willing to donate, and so the vampire must cast some sort of thrall or spell over the victim to hold them.
  
  
  
• Super Powers: A broad myth ranging from strength to flight. Most probably came from the same reson as thrall and beauty, a way to entrap people. The flight probably was the explaination for quick travel and escape.
  
  
  
• Pictures: A myth that started after photographs became common was that Vampires would not appear in a photograph. I can only think this has something to do along the same lines as Mirrors.
  
  

  ---

  On the mythological origins of vampires:
  
  Contrary to popular mythology this planet didn't start out as a paradise, for untold millenia demons roamed the earth making it their home, their hell. Some dinosaurs are believed to be what was left of these. What ended their reign is still unsure we think that it was a meteor, did you ever see Mario Bros. the movie? The meteor hit the earth and with the impact and the burn created a paralleldimension into which all of the demons were sucked, one demon was supposed to hold the key between the two dimensions, he has not yet passed through.
  
  When a "normal" vampire is changed the human soul is torn out and sent to hell whilst the demon which you are assigned upon conception (a bti like a social security number) takes the human "carcass" and possesses it, thus inheriting the brain's memories and functions.
  Thanks to Tim Tiernan for this information :)
  

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Okay everybody.  The following article is a direct result of the SUGGESTIONS form on the main page.  We have had numerous emails and suggestions that hunters/slayers are as much a part of the Vampire Legacy and Legend as the vampires themselves, and therefore, one of the Vampire Legacy Society  members has risen to the occasion and researched this topic.  The following is the result of that research.

Allow me to start by stating that there is an enormous difference between a hunter and a slayer. A person who calls himself or herself a hunter is usually hunting strictly vampyre or what they think is a vampyre. Most of the time they can only catch the posers and role players and never come anywhere close to discovering a true vampyre psi or sanguine. Usually these hunters are self proclaimed agents of god, Heavily into the Hollywood vision of vampires such as buffy the vampire slayer, and Angel. Normally they are harmless and never get pass mildly aggravating a few Goth kids. However I do say this treat all hunters as emotionally unstable and potentially armed and dangerous people. Hunters vary in age and run the entire spectrum from the confused teenager looking for the escape from reality to the middle aged mid life crisis and let us not forget the most dangerous of all the religious fanatics and emotionally disturbed. These people have found the insanity able to justify their despicable acts in a number of ways. The most common is that the real vampyre are the spawns of Satan and are here to prey on the good god fearing faithful. Temp them into losing their immortal souls, and bring about the inevitable end of the world but there are an immense amount of other reason and as individual as the hunter themselves. Spotting a hunter is not very difficult they are usually very inexperienced and stick out like a sore thumb. Normally wearing all black and a long coat constantly looking over their shoulder, sweating like a pig, and they reek of fear. Just picture a scene out of Blade or Buffy and you pretty much have three quarters of the hunters out there. Fortunately most are not organized offline and the web sites are not updated regularly sometimes for months even years and the information in them is rants from people who wouldn’t know a real vampyre if they bit him in the ass! Now this is important if you remember nothing else from my articles remember this. THERE ARE REAL HUNTERS OUT THERE THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN REAL VAMPYRES AND DID NOT UNDERSTAND AND GAVE INTO THE IGNORACE OF FEAR. WHAT THEY DO IS ILLEGAL IN BOTH OURS AND THEIR WORLD AND SHOULD BE HANDLED WITH CAUTION!!!

Here's an interesting topic people. After many suggestions to do some research on the subject, we did. And the subject being......

Religious References of Vampirism

Compiled by the membership of the Vampire Legacy Society..specifically, Crimson Angel, Ruby Stained Fangs, IndieVampire, Lord NightWalker, Tattunigma

Please keep in mind, that the translation is all in the eye of the reader, not everyone will see these references quite the same, but without doubt, the possibilities are there.......

FROM THE CHRISTIAN HOLY BIBLE

Revelation 16:6
for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."

Revelation 17:6
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

Leviticus 17:11
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.

Leviticus 17:14
because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood;

Deuteronomy 12:23
But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.


Proverbs 30:14
those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind.

Job 29:17
I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
 

Zechariah 9:7
And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

Micah 7:2
The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Lamentations 4:14
They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

Colossians 1:20
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Additions to Esther (Apocrypha) 16:5
Oftentimes also fair speech of those, that are put in trust to manage their friends' affairs, hath caused many that are in authority to be partakers of innocent blood, and hath enwrapped them in remediless calamities.

Romans Chapter 3
13: Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15: Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16: Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17: And the way of peace have they not known:
18: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Wisdom of Solomon Chapter 12
3: For it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our fathers both those old inhabitants of thy holy land,
4: Whom thou hatedst for doing most odious works of witchcrafts, and wicked sacrifices;
5: And also those merciless murderers of children, and devourers of man's flesh, and the feasts of blood,

1 Chronicles 11:19
And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

1 Maccabees (Apocrypha) 7:17
The flesh of thy saints have they cast out, and their blood have they shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.

Proverbs 1:11
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Proverbs 1:16
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

Proverbs 1:18
And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

Proverbs 6:17
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Proverbs 12:6
The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

Proverbs 29:10
The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.

Luke 11:50
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Luke 11:51
From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

2 Esdras (Apocrypha) 15:58
They that be in the mountains shall die of hunger, and eat their own flesh, and drink their own blood, for very hunger of bread, and thirst of water.

1 Samuel 14:32
And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.

1 Samuel 14:33
Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.

Genesis 9:5
And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

Genesis 9:6
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Genesis 42:22
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

Revelation 18:24
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Psalms 9:12
When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Psalms 16:4
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

Pslams 51:14
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

Hebrews 2:14
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Numbers 11:33
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

Micah 3:5
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Mark 9:18
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

Deuteronomy 32:24
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

Lamentations 2:16
All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.

Daniel 7:5
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

Daniel 7:7
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Job 16:9
He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

Job 41:14
Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

Matthew 8:12
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Psalms 35:16
With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

Psalms 37:12
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

Psalms 57:4
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
 

"MAY THE GROUND NOT RECEIVE THEE"
An Exploration of the Greek Vrykolakas and His Origins
by Inanna Arthen (1998)

In the field of vampirology, few cultures in the world
have a vampire folklore tradition as long-standing, as
rich and as carefully analyzed by scholars as Greece.
Although the most famous mass panics recorded in
seventeenth and eighteenth century annals occurred in
Eastern Europe, and although Slavic countries in
general and Romania in particular have a varied and
creative tradition of vampire folklore, the
persistence of the belief in Greece surpasses that of
any other nation. For a scholar taking a broad
perspective of the phenomenon, this raises an obvious
question: why? What is peculiar to the Greek culture
and society that has led to the maintenance of vampire
beliefs and reported incidents right up to the first
half of this century? Are there more reasonable
explanations than the claim of older writers that the
Greeks are overly superstitious, or the Occam's Razor
solution that perhaps Greece simply has a lot of
vampires? An examination of these beliefs, their
ancient origins and the way in which the Greek
Orthodox church has both encouraged and discouraged
them may shed some light on the issue.

Before diving into this question, it will be helpful
to explain just exactly what is meant by the term
"vampire" as applied by English speakers to anything
related to Greece.
>
he English word "vampire" is a Slavic borrowing and
is found in almost identical (certainly homophonic)
form in Russian, Polish, Serbian, Czechoslovakian and
Bulgarian, along with similar related words. Its
origin is uncertain, but the OED suggests that it may
be related to the Turkish uber, "witch". "Vampire"
entered the English language during the eighteenth
century panics in Eastern Europe and is first cited by
the OED in 1734. Modern vampirologists now sweep under
the aegis of this term a wide variety of ancient myth,
traditional folklore, "fairy-tales" and other crafted
oral tradition, unexplained phenomena, sociology, and
occult theory. Cogent to a discussion of Greek
vampires are two particular types of being to which
the term "vampire" is applied. The first, common to
ancient myth worldwide, is the wholly inhuman,
supernatural being that preys most especially upon
infants, children, women in all stages of pregnancy
and early motherhood, and young people on the cusp of
sexual maturity and marriage. "Child-killing demons"
often are included in this category, as well as
sexually alluring creatures such as the lamia. The
second type of being is a revenant, a human who has
died and returned from the grave in physical
form--whether literally in his own corpse or in some
sort of materialized second body is open to
interpretation--to perform actions that have physical
effects on the living and their environment, including
the begetting of children and the inflicting of death.
Whether such revenants necessarily drink blood, as we
will see, is not always clear. Blood-drinking per se
is not a requirement for a "vampire". However, beings
defined as "vampires" do, in some way or another, take
sustenance or vitality from living creatures.

In Greece, belief in the second type of vampire--the
corporeal revenant who preyed upon or plagued the
living--developed only after the arrival of Slavic
immigrants beginning in 587. But although the various
themes that coalesced into that most unquenchable of
all folk vampires, the vrykolakas, are heavily
influenced by foreign concepts, they found a rich soil
in the traditions of ancient Greece. Three such
traditions clearly play a role in developing later
beliefs. First, the belief in supernatural creatures
that drank blood and attacked human beings to obtain
it; second, the belief that under certain conditions,
bodily return from death was possible, although
greatly feared; and third, that blood itself contained
power sufficient to allow the dead to cross the gulf
that separated them from the world of the living.

The Mormo and the Empusas were child-killing demons
who attended upon the Goddess Hecate (Summers 1929,
2-3). Stewart notes them in his glossary of exotica
(Stewart, 251-252) only to mention that they have not
survived into contemporary tradition except, in the
case of the Mormo, as a "bogeyman" for threatening
unruly children. Similar to them were the Gelloudes
nd the Stringla, female monsters that were said to
specifically suck the blood of children and kill them
(Stewart, 252-253). Almost every human culture has
such a myth, a personification of the unknown (to this
day, in the form of SIDS) killer of children in their
cradles at night, or their mysterious "failure to
thrive" and wasting away. Yet the horror of these
monsters lay not in their inhumanity but in their
perversion of the human. Child-killing demons are
almost invariably female, the evil mother that kills
instead of nurtures, devours instead of feeds. These
demons often are also presented as seductresses,
preying on young men as well as children. In other
words, they are not only evil mothers, but evil
wives--wanton, promiscuous and devouring. Summers
cites the well-known story from Philostratus' Life of
Apollonius of Tyana (Summers 1929, 3-5), about
Menippus, the eager suitor who is barely prevented
from marrying an Empusa, or Lamia. She is forced to
confess that she was "fattening up" Menippus, "because
it was her pleasure to feed upon young and beautiful
bodies, because their blood is pure and strong"
(Summers 1929, 5). Stringles also were sometimes
equated with the seductive Lamiae (Summers 1929, 8).

But far more fearful than these exotica were the fates
that might befall oneself during the passage from the
state of life to the state of death. Lawson examines
at great length the theme found in Greek tragedy of
corporeal return to avenge blood-guilt--a hidden theme
due to the conventions of the Greek stage, but
nevertheless clearly discernable. A detailed look at
Lawson's arguments is beyond the scope of this paper.
However, Lawson reports that oaths are found in Greek
literature binding both the speaker and others to
being rejected by the earth, being turned out of Hades
by Tantalus, and of remaining incorruptible after
death. Euripides' Hippolytus, for example, says to his
father, "in death may neither sea nor earth receive my
flesh, if I have proved false" (Lawson, 418). Lawson
proposes that, for example, Aeschylus in Choephori

presents a true climax. As the victim is to be
excluded in his lifetime from all intercourse with the
living, so in his death, by the withholding of that
dissolution without which there is no entrance to the
lower world, he is to be cut off from communion with
the dead. He is to die with none to honor him with the
rites due to the dead, none to love him and shed the
tears that are their just meed, but even in that last
doom which consumes all others is damned to be
withheld from corruption. (Lawson, 422-423).
Even a modern reader almost shudders. The importance
of proper burial rites in ancient Greece is
well-known, and the greatest shame of all was to leave
even one's enemies unburied, to "not even throw
handfuls of earth upon their dead bodies" as Pausanias
accused Lysander (Summers 1928, 83). Antigone suffered
capital punishment for fulfilling this obligation to
her kin against royal decree. But the precise
consequences of ignoring this obligation are less well
documented. Few ghosts or revenants haunt surviving
Greek literature. Lawson argues at great length that
the conventions of Greek drama permitted such return
only to be hinted at. Outside of this sphere, the sole
extant story of a corporeal Greek revenant is so
famous that it is cited in nearly all of my books: the
return of Philinnion, a young woman, for nightly
liaisons with an unwitting guest of her bereaved
parents (Lawson, 413-415, among others). Yet the
reason for Philinnion's restlessness is never
explained, she appears in no way horrific or demonic,
and in fact her poor lover is so besotted by her that
when she has been laid to final rest by cremation, he
commits suicide.

Lawson, however, argues that bodily return was tacitly
expected and feared in the case of blood-guilt and
vengence. He points out that in ancient times
murderers frequently mutilated their victims by
cutting off their hands and feet and tucking them
under the corpse's armpits, or binding them to its
chest with a band (Lawson, 435). One rationale for
this action that suggests itself is that such
mutilation prevents the murdered victim from returning
bodily to avenge itself on the murderer--who would, in
turn, become a revenant wandering cursed between life
and death. In this discussion, Lawson presents the
roots of two primary later vampire beliefs: that
vampires are fierce marauders, and that their victims
become vampires as well. He says,

the character of these Avengers approximates very
closely to that of the modern vrykolakes. True, there
is one fundamental difference; the ancient Avenger
directed his wrath solely against the author of his
sufferings...the modern vrykolakas is unreasoning in
his wrath and plagues indiscriminately all who fall in
his way. (Lawson, 458).
Lawson lists the qualities that Avengers and
vrykolakes share:
Modern stories there are in plenty, which tell how the
vrykolakas springs upon his victim and rends him and
drinks his blood; how sheer terror of his aspect has
driven men mad; how, in order to escape him, whole
families have been driven forth from their native
island to wander in exile; how death has often been
the issue of his assaults; and how those whom a
vrykolakas has slain become themselves vrykolakes.
(Lawson, 458-459)
Lawson goes on to suggest that when Aeschylus makes
the Erinyes such horrific, bloodthirsty pursuers of
Orestes, when they should have been goddesses worthy
of worship, he is casting a proxy role upon them. They
are substitutes for the actual Avenger that could not
be properly shown in Greek drama. Their qualities of
blackness, ferocity, bloodthirstyness and horror are
those of the vrykolakes.

Lawson's close comparison of the characteristics of
ancient Avengers and the Furies, or Erinyes, with the
characteristics of modern vrykolakes may not be as
revealing as he believes. He claims that these common
themes indicate that both ancient writers and modern
folklore derive from the same older tradition, while
it might be argued that the modern folklore took its
imagery directly from ancient literature and not from
some common source.

Nevertheless, the modern Greek vampire gains a rather
respectable pedigree. Long before the Slavs and Greek
Orthodoxy, the ancient Greeks recognized that with
extraordinarily bad fortune, one might be trapped
indefinitely in a liminal state in which one's soul
could not become free from one's body, one's body
could not dissolve and free itself from earth, and one
was forever doomed to roam trapped, yearning or
ravening, between life and death. The only release was
the forced "dissolution" of cremation, as was done to
Philinnion. To be left unburied was to be flung upon
the surface of the cold earth, to be cursed as
"incorruptible" (however obvious it was that unburied
bodies rotted). To be left unmourned and without
proper rites was to invite the soul to linger around
its former hom