Deconstructing the Vampire Myth
The vampire myth is something that is a bit of a mystery. Shrouded in
darkness and seeped in a thousand years of tradition we assume that all
of these things are part of an overly active imagination and a lot of
Hollywood hype. But what is it about the myth that so intrigues? Is
there an ounce of truth underneath? Where did all these legends and
claims come from and why are they so ingrained into our cultural psyche?
To answer part of this, let's do a little stage dressing here. You are
not reading this article on a computer. Step back about 700-800 years or
so. In fact, you can't read at all. Books are a rarity. The mass media
of the day is religion. What you have learned is by word of mouth. You
are freezing your tail in a hut with a thatched roof, your wife just
died of some plague thing, you have a house full of screaming kids, and
your favorite milk cow seems to be sickly and running dry. You have just
been sipping mead out by the hay stacks with a couple of your friends
and at this point, you are looking for someone to blame for all of this
nastiness in life. Get the picture? Life basically sucks and you are
going to believe what ever misconception comes along.
Now given this perspective, let's examine different parts of the classic
vampire myth.
Myth: Vampires drain the blood from the living.
Reality: Sanguinary vampires do rely on energies gained by consuming
small amounts of blood on a regular basis.
Human blood, from a living donor, is the most concentrated form of
natural prana. Some vampires do consume blood energies as a method of
gaining the energies they need to maintain a balanced, healthy life.
However, they rarely consume more than few mouthfuls of blood at any one
time. Blood is a natural emetic. Drink too much and you will be sick.
This is why ALL the stories you hear of consuming great quantities of
blood are just that, stories.
Myth: Vampires are afraid of garlic.
Reality: Garlic was the penicillin of medieval Europe.
In the days before modern medicine garlic was a general cure all. It was
used in much the same way that limes are still used today in some
regions of Central & South America. Have a bad cold? Eat some garlic.
Need to sanitize the dishes? Rub them with garlic. Need cured of a skin
aliment? Mash garlic to a paste and rub it into the skin lesions. Need
to chase a few evil sprits from your home? Garlic of course! No wonder
vampires are supposed to be afraid of it.
Myth: Vampires avoid daylight.
Reality: Some vampires are rather light sensitive and have trouble
dealing with bright lights of which daylight is the greatest source.
Sunlight is a tremendous source of natural elemental energy. Some
vampires are very sensitive to light energies of which sunlight is the
greatest source. They become overwhelmed and disoriented with the over
stimulation they receive as they naturally absorb and deal with the input.
Once they get to a point where their body can no longer handle the over
stimulation, their systems begin shutting down. They become ill, have
severe headaches, blurred vision, or whiteout type difficulties in
seeing. Too much energy in too concentrated of a dose if often just as
bad as no energy at all.
Myth: Vampires have no reflection in a mirror.
Reality: Mirrors of medieval Europe were not the clear, highly
reflective surfaces we have today.
Mirrors of that age were either polished metal or soft glass that had
been coated on one side with "quick silver" AKA - mercury. Mercury
oxides fairly rapidly. So that the reflective surface would have been a
bit clouded. Now add that to the fact that you would be peering into
this grayed clouded surface by candlelight and you pretty much would see
only your own reflection if you were nose to the glass. You definitely
would see nothing behind you.
Myth: Vampires sleep in coffins with some of their native soil.
Reality: Vampires do feel much better and rest easier when they are
surrounded by familiar energy patterns.
Vampires are highly energy sensitive / energy dependent individuals.
They prefer to be surrounded in a comfort zone of energy patterns that
feel natural to them. Once outside of their "native" energy patterns,
they do not function as well until they adjust themselves to the local
energies. Many vampires find this especially difficult when traveling.
Many of us in fact often take along such things a blanket and pillow
even for just a short overnight trip. The energy from the familiar
surrounding helps us rest easier.
Myth: Vampires all dress in black.
Reality: Vampires are human and dress in what ever they please. However
many find the energy patterns of brighter colors and patterns
disturbing.
Physics has proven that all things have an energy signature. That
includes all colors. Black is the color that "vibrates" the least. For
an energy affected human to dress in colors that have a much higher
energy signature or vibration level it would be very distracting and
overwhelming. Hence, the reason many vampires prefer to dress in darker
colors.
Myth: Vampires have long fangs.
Reality: Elongated canines are part of the human condition.
There is an infinite amount of variation within the human species. We
more rapidly notice differences where facial structure is concerned,
because after all that is the focus of where we place our attention when
we interact. Pronounced canines, pointed ears, and odd shaped eyes are
some of the most noticeable facial differences. Unfortunately, with the
pronounced canines every promoter from PT Barnum to the Weekly World
News (and many before them) has had their version of a "bat boy." So
while a naturally occurring variation, the myth part here has been well
ingrained into our cultural psyche.
Myth: Vampires are afraid of holy water and it burns them.
Reality: Holy water thrown into anyone's eyes will burn.
See what you don't know is that there IS a formula for holy water. It is
more than water that has just been blessed. Holy water, especially by
Eastern European tradition contains a LOT of salt. It is blessed salt
water. Usually when it thrown on someone thought to be "evil" it is
aimed for the eyes. The reason for this is because the eyes are thought
to be a window to the soul. Now I don't know about you but having been
to the ocean a few times I KNOW that salt water in the eyes burns like
hell.
Myth: Vampires can be killed by a wooden stake thru the heart.
Reality: Anyone can be killed by a wooden stake thru the heart.
Lol - Do I really need to explain this one? Actually wooden stakes, bow
and arrows, small knives and farm tools were the weapons the common
peasant of medieval Europe had available. Not everyone owned a sword.
Swords were weapons of the elite. So if the common man needed kill
something quickly, grabbing a wooden stake and plunging it into its
heart was often the most expedient method.
Myth: vampires are afraid of crosses.
Reality: Respect and fear for the symbol of the cross is something that
has been ingrained into the western cultural psyche.
The symbol of the cross itself is one of the older symbols in use by
mankind. Instances of its use have been found in cultures predating 1500
BCE. Early crosses (in a circle) were used to indicate the sun god and
the changing seasons of the year. The Romans however changed all that.
Crosses were used as a means of torture and death. A cross in times
Roman was something to be feared. Then along came the Christian church.
They capitalized on BOTH uses of the cross that were now ingrained into
the human psyche. The cross was now both something to be revered in a
"God like" nature and something horrible to be feared. Still today,
crosses hanging in cathedrals to homes are always treated with a degree
of reverence. To take it out and shove it in someone's face today in a loud
aggressive manner would STILL be fairly offense and fearful. But that
same action into an illiterate EXTREMELY superstitious population and
you could cause near hysteria in a person.
The vampire myth, like all myths, easily falls apart under close
examination. Once you understand the conditions under which the myth
developed, and the energy needs of real vampires it us easy to see how
reality was molded into myth.
Veritatem dies aperit.
LA. Judge / nodecafe
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