But what is the real story? Is it really mastery of imagination or there is some truth behind it? That's what I will try to find out in this post today. As we all know Vampires were popularized by a famous novel by Bram Stoker named Dracula which was published in 1897. But did mention of Vampires or anything closer to it exist before Bram Stoker's novel. The answer to this question is surprisingly yes. Amongst the many names of Vampire, the most known name is Vampyr, which when roughly translated means "Blood Drinker". There is a legend about Arnold Paole who existed in early 18th C and had supposedly become vampire after his death. It was said that, while serving in Army, Arnold had been bitten by a Vampire and after coming back to his hometown in Germany fate took his life. A few days later people of the village started dying of blood loss and many people encountered that they had seen Arnold walking around the village when he was suppose to be dead. When the locals dug up his body, there was no decay to his body and there was blood on his lips and he looked as healthy as before. Locals put a stake through his heart and then he cried in anguish and turned to ashes. Now how did the locals knew to put stake through his heart is beyond me. Or how did they even know that he was a Vampire and they should attack him in daylight is also a part of mystery to me. Nonetheless, This is the first account of Vampire attack and 16-17 people died in it.
Now I am going to write about Bram Stoker. The great maker of Dracula. Inspiration of many Hollywood movies and books and daily soaps. He has written a story about a Vampire who is a count and provides all the detailed information about lives of Vampires. Many people say that inspiration for Bram Stoker was Vlad III the Impaler who had ruled over Romania and resisted Ottoman empire during 15Th C. He was best known for his inhuman punishments. He killed all those who opposed him and to make enemies afraid of him, he piled the corpses on his border on a wooden pole. He used to dine with the bodies of those who he have killed. It is obvious that Vlad III was very inhuman person but the question to ponder upon is did he really have vampiric abilities. He was called as Draculya because that was his surname and his father's name was Dracul. But I fail to see any connection between Dracula and Vampire? Did Bram Stoker just took inspiration from the personality of Vlad or was there any relation? I am unable to find any sort of link between the two.
Now the present day situation. Today science has made many advancements and according to them there exists one disease which can be called as Vampire Disease also. The scientific name of the disease is Porphyria. In this disease, the person becomes sensitive to sunlight, he gets the appearance of having fangs, they used to drink animal blood, they have aversion to garlic and they are suppose to be very aggressive. These all symptoms sound way too familiar right? So there is a high chance that the myths are actually stories of these patients.
Today, some people due to mere fascination with Vampires decide to turn into vampires and live accordingly. Interestingly, they even find donors. These cases are common in Europe and USA. But thankfully, they are confined to only those regions and haven't spread much. But due to Internet and global media fascination with vampires is spreading everywhere. I just hope it does not cause any harm in the minds of young. And hopefully, they wont get up one day and think- Hey, wont it be good to become a vampire? God forbid, if that happens then it will be impossible to supply them with blood when there is such scarcity of it.
This is all for today. Hope to come back soon with more.
One interesting fact- The phobia of vampires is called as Sanguivoriphobia. It literally means phobia of Blood Drinkers.
Comments will be appreciated.
Alchemists invented a few terms to describe different types of spiritual deficiencies and alchemy was derived from Ancient Egyptian teachings, and then the Pythagorean schools of thought.
ReplyDeleteAl-Khemia means "Of Egypt", but also means "Of the Blackened Soil". Egypt was once called Khemia or Khem, which means "blackened soil", which in Alchemy is the Prima Materia we begin our spiritual work with.
By the time the Torah was written, Egypt was called MTZRYM or Mitzrayim, which is the "two straits" or "two waters". My name - MEM - is derived from Mitzrayim. Notice MEM begins and ends MitzrayiM.
Alchemists avoided public persecutions (exile, hanging, witch trials, etc..) with their use of allegories, symbols, logos, cryptic alhpabets (YES, I have my own, personal alphabet)and even terms they invented.
For example, Alchemists coined the term "Hermaphrodite" to explain the Perfect Balance found between Hermes and Aphrodite. The public masses have completely perverted this term, of course.
SO, a few other terms of Alchemical origin are:
Zombie - The Walking Dead. Those who are animated with Life but are lost in the Illusion of Matter. Without any understanding of their Spiritual bodies, they are Walking, but Dead.
Vampyre - In alchemy, PYRE means FIRE. The Great Pyramid of Giza is in fact, the geographical center of all land mass on Earth. It is the Middle FIRE, hence, the Mid-Pyre, or Pyramid.
A "vampyre" is one who drains the Spirtual Fire out of someone by leaching onto their productive lives. Basically, it is someone who is totally unable to live a productive life, so they seek others who are very productive and leach off of them. Alchemists referred to this danger as a "Vampyre" so that other alchemists could avoid this danger in their own lives.
Learnt a lot, Interesting blog update and facts, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete