elizabeth battery

The other day Peachie & I chatted about how we both watched &  enjoyed the tv show Moonlight, about a modern day vampire. Then right before Halloween there was a 2 hr. special about vampires but I had no time to watch it. Today I did & here is what I learned.

History of Vampires

Many believe that vampires started with Bram Stokers book about Dracula & Transylvania, but they actually go back much farther than that. About 95% of the worlds cultures have some form of a vampire. The earliest recorded evidence of a vampire comes from China and/or India.

In China there is the Cult of the Ancestor where you must properly care for your ancestors or they will come back.

There is a Hindu Goddess named Halle (?) who is very ugly. She hangs out in graveyards.

Then there is the legend of Lilith who was supposedly Adams first wife. They had an argument over in what position they should make love with each other. She got angry & left. She became quite the rebellion by having sex with devils & animals. She is claimed to attack babies & drain their blood.

Even the early Christians were accused of being vampires since the ate the body of Christ & drank his blood in ceremonies.

Many of the past supposedly vampires or the walking undead were actually people who were buried while alive. Even hanging someone did not guarantee their death.

In 1632 Scotsman kimnoellemov.blogspot.com Spalding was hung & then buried. He was not dead. He dug himself out of his grave & scared the town. His legend continues to this day & his house is reported to be haunted.

In the 1700s fear of vampires was rampant in Europe. It was called the Vampire Epidemic era. Medical knowledge was very new. There was no understanding of death december 22 the dying process or what happens after death. The unknown is always feared.

In 1715 a family had a dinner guest of a travelling soldier who would also stay the night. While they were eating a man entered the house. All became very quiet. He sat & ate with them family. All went to bed after eating except the father & the uninvited guest. In the morning the father was found dead, drained of his blood. The wife said he was killed by his father who died 10 yrs. Earlier.

The soldier gathered his troops & went to the graveyard to find the grave of the long dead father. They dug up the grave. They found him with long fingernails, longer hair, blood trickling from his mouth, & had gained weight. They believed they had to rekill the undead man. A stake was driven through his heart & he was beheaded. Tools in a kit to kill a vampire included a wooden stake, a mallet, holy water from a local church, bits of garlic & wolfbane.

Symptoms of being a vampire are rising from the dead, living off of the living, being immortal, hair & fingernails still growing, gaining weight after death, and blood coming from the mouth. But these have been proven to be part of the natural decomposition of a body. As the body decomposses, it dehydrates & the skin shrinks. This makes the nails appear to have grown. And more of the hair is exposed & looks to have grown. Also as decomposition continues, the body fills with gases & the body swells up. It also pushes a red fluid out of the mouth.

It was also believed that there was a disease called proferia that caused people to crave blood to drink.

In 1604 Countess Elizabeth Battery (?) was a widow in Transylvania. She was a lesbian who worried about getting & looking older. She surrounded herself with young maids to remind of her youth & beauty. She became angry with one & hit her. Her ring cut the girl & she had blood on her hand. She believed that her skin felt rejuvenised. She started luring the young maidens of her area to the castle with the promise of a charm school in the castle. In reality they were tortured & killed for their blood. She kept them in cages & dungeons. She rubbed the blood on her face & bathed in it. When she started luring girls from other nobles the king found out. In those days as a royal, she had no moral or legal accountability. www.bloglines.com/blog/sharpwhytime she had to be punished. Her accomplises were put to death, but as a royal she could not suffer the same fate. She she was locked in one room in her castle in solitary confinement for the duration of her life. Because of her, 600-700 girls died. She is the earliest & most prolific serial killers.

Dracula by Bram Stoker was written in 1897. He is a composite of several legends, including Elizabeth Battery. His original name was Count Vampire (vahm-peer). Then he read of Prince Vlad Dracula of Romania. He thought the last name was just evil so he changed the name. Vlad fiercely protected his kingdom. He was nonwhynews.easyjournal.com & most of his enemies were Muslim. His choice of punishment was to impale them on stakes. It was an extremely punishment & they took days to die. He enjoyed watching them during his meals. There is no evidence that he ever drank their blood.

Today Vlad Dracula is a national hero. Sort of like Robin Hood. The legend of the vampire is an insult to Romanians. But, there is vampire stuff everywhere. It makes a lot of money! And his castle is a tourist attraction.

Blood rituals continue today with voodoo. They believe that blood has powers. There are animal sacrifices. But in Europe drinking blood is considered a mortal sin.

In the paperblogonly.easyjournal.com 100 years vampires have become a symbol of strength, especially with teens who are loners & feel powerless. And they have become heroic figures & even cartoon characters. And they have become sexy.

Now there is a vampire role playing game. Most of those who play are social outcasts, outsiders, etc. who have found a way to connect with others like themselves. The game is not dangerous per se unless there is someone who cannot distinguish between reality & fantasy. Then things can get out of control.

www.bloglines.com/blog/freediggpolls 1996 Rod Furnel (?) was a teen who appeared normal but got in trouble in school. He became obsessed with the vampire role playing game. He had a gang under him. He eventually came to believe he truly was a vampire. His girlfriend complained about her parents. Rod took a high dose of acid & then he & 3 of his disciples drove several hundred miles to her home. He killed her father & stepmother. Then he drank their blood. They were captured not long after that. He is in prison for life with no parole. He still thinks he is a vampire.

Bram Stoker started the trend of a sexy vampire & Anne Rice continued the trend. And then today there is the tv series Moonlight. A vampire attacking their victim has always symbolised another human activity that slid under the compass of the Victorians.

In New York there is an underground vampire society. It was very secretive. Then clubs had a back room where you needed a special sign or gesture to get in. Inside Sonny was sexual activity, drinking each others blood, bondage.

In 1996 a reporter Susan Walsh infilltrated them. She even fell for one of them & became one of them. She tried to have her article published but it was refused. Shortly after that she complained of being stalked. Then she disappeared. There has been no trace of her but dozens of theories. Another reporter went underground to find evidence of her but found nothing. Some even think she is still alive.

Now that vampire underground is going public. They have a handbook called The Black Veil. Part of coming above ground is because of the internet & also the fear of hate crimes against them. There are psychic vampires who feed off of the life force of others, like Rasputin. There are sanguine vampires that drink blood. But these two kinds are supposed to ask permission first. The vampire life style is a romantic idea of vampires  eternal youth & beauty. The vampires of today dress & wear makeup in the goth style.

This is something to think of while watching the sexy, made-over vampire of Moonlight every friday nite!!!