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Lessons and assignments will be up with the beginning of the new term :)

 

This lesson is very long, so it worth like March+April lesson.

In the previous course and in the previous lessons of this advanced course we tried to look at the different culture looking at them one by one.

This time we will try something different. We will try to look at the difference taking one creature, to discover in how many ways it is seen all around the world. I decided to choose the Vampire, since it's one of the most common figures in all the mythologies. You will see how many differences there are :D I hope you will enjoy

 

THE FIGURE OF THE VAMPIRE ALL AROUND THE WORLD

 The vampire is a dead that returns from the grave in a corporeal form to take from the “living” the vital lymph (usually blood) that they need to sustain their particular form of existence, the “non-death”.

The term “Vampire”, that was diffused in all Europe in 1600-1700, has Slav origin, derived by the root “-PI” (wizard), and Lithuanian verb “WEMPTI” (to drink, to suck).

Vampires are called VAMPIR in Serbia and Bulgaria, UPIER in Poland, UPYR in Russia. Furthermore all around the world doesn’t change only the name, but change also the characteristics; for example some Russian Vampires don’t bite with the teeth, but with their spiky tongue.

Germany, the gothic and fantastic place for excellence, has many variety of vampires: the ALP is a vampire-demon of “INCUBUS” genre, that enter in the houses through the locks under the form of a butterfly and it sits down on the chest of the sleeping; the BLAUTSAUGER, sucks normally the blood, but his body is covered by fur and boneless: to transform his victim in Bloodsucker like him he make them eat the earth from his grave; another incubus-vampire is the MARA or MORA diffuse also in Slav zone, is a spirit that can take many forms and sleeps his victims, then hi sit down on them, suffocate them and sucks their blood from their chest. The most known and characteristic vampire of all Germany is the NACHZEHRER, or “shroud-chewer”: a strange and lazy vampire-ghoul that sometimes doesn’t even leave the cemetery limiting to eat the other cadaver and his own body. From his coffin you can always hear a continuous noise of chewing: this is the Nachzehrer that chews his clothes, his shroud and his body. Hear him chew is a presage of an oncoming pestilence. In fact the Nachzehrer doesn’t limit to damage himself and the other death: who lives near a cemetery where one of this creature lives begin to suffer of a progressive losing of energy that can bring him to death. It seems that after he took the vital energy from a lot of people, the shroud-chewer will be able to exit from his grave and moves in the world of the living, diffusing the plague all around. The first who wrote about this creature was in 1679 the protestant theologian Philip Rohr, in his book “The Masticatione Mortuorum”; Rohr said that behind the activity of the Nachzehrer there was the hand of the Devil himself (precisely Azazel). In another book written in 1725 Michael Ranftius was trying to give a more rational explanation: perhaps who ruminate in the graves and diffusing the plague was only the rats.

The Russian vampire for excellence is the UPYR, coming from Ukraine, but diffused in all the steppe of European Russia. Upyr are particularly disgusting vampires, with long fangs as hard and tough that they can devour whatever; once exit from the grave, Upyr attack one family per time, preferably the farmers that live in isolated farms: the first night they feed on the children, and in the successive nights they feed on the older generation, until all who live in the farm are death. This type of vampire was very feared in the past, during the long Russian winters that bound people to a forced isolation and make them easy preys of the Upyr, who is more active in the hours from midday to midnight (like many other vampires in the tradition, he easily stand the daylight). To kill an Upyr you need to find the place where he’s buried. But you must do this after midnight, then you have to strew his grave and the earth near it with holy water, thrust a stake in his heart and behead him, but beware: the heart must be broken in one shot, because a second shot would suddenly re-bring him to “life”.

The vampire of Byelorussia, known as UPOR, has the power to change form and assume the one of an animal, preferably a black horse or a bear.

More bound to romantic legend and scary story, is the legendary VURDALAK, a creature with a very irresistible, hypnotic charm and so often represented with a charming and fatal woman.

The people of Baltic fear the VIESCZY, a sort of vampire-witch; in fact only witches and wizards become Viesczy when dying and can be recognized because their dead bodies have red faces and the left eye wide open. Since that the Viesczy begin his “job” of vampire eating his own body (like the German Nachzehrer) a popular precaution is to bury their “suspect” relatives with a brick under the chin to keep their mouth closed. Otherwise once buy back their forces, the Viesczy massacres first the cattle, then his family, and then all the inhabitants of the region, sucking their blood from the chest at the high of the heart.

Another Russian vampire-witch, who has also himself the evil eye, is the ERESTUN or ERETICA, a woman who has sold her soul to Devil and returns after death with the aspect of a ragged beggar old woman. The Ereticy meet themselves in uninhabited places for their evil Sabbaths, and go into lethargy during the winter. The Ereticy are able to kill with only one sight of their evil eye (a very slow and inexorable death by consumption); whomever unluckily falls near the place where the Eretica sleeps during the winter, undergoes the same destiny of slow death.

Another vampire that sucks cattle’s blood, but is inoffensive for humans, is the Bulgarian USTREL, which is a baby died before receiving the Baptism. This creature can be driven away with fire, because he fears it: once isolated in the Steppe and without food, the poor Ustrel id destined to be devoured by the wild wolves, but beware to be move by his childlike cry: nobody must come near him, otherwise the cattle murrain will begin again.

At the end of his tongue (long and retractile), he has a spiky sting, with which he sucks his victims’ blood: is the UBOUR, another Bulgarian vampire originated by the dead bodies of people dead in a violent way or that was suicides. These people, after death, swelled in the grave, until they transform into an ugly gelatinous blob made of blood. Forty days after the buried there is the formation of the new skeleton of the vampire and around it the creature solidified, with the aspect that resemble the one of the original living, but with only one nostril (and obviously the strange tongue). To defend from the Ubour we need the Bulgarian vampires slayer, the VAMPIRDZHIJA; he fills with poisonous grass the hole that there is on the grave of the Ubour, and pierce him with a spiky branch: the mortal gas that exit from the vampire’s body is his soul, the Vampirdzhija make it enter in a bottle, and then burn it.

The most famous vampire slayer is the DAMPYR. From the Gipsy tradition (Serbian or Bosnian), the Dampyr is the son of the union between a male vampire and a human female. The Serbian Dampyr had a sort of “double sight”, because the Serbian vampires, called VAMPIR, are invisible. Often in the Balkan villages the people could see the Dampyr that fought with something invisible for the human’s eye; the Dampyr was also called to defeat the LAMPIR, feared Bosnian vampire that diffuse epidemics.

The other vampires of Serbia, the VUKODLAK, are more similar to werewolves non-dead, as like the Slovenian VOLKODLAK, the Hungarian FARKASKOLDOI and the KOZLAK from Dalmatia. Otherwise the Istrian KUDLAK is another vampire-witch gifted of magical powers, among which the one to change form and to assume the one of an animal: wolf, bear, wild boar, buffalo, but always black colored, like the absolute evil and the forces of the darkness; the enemy of the Kudlak is a vampire slayer known as KRESNIK: representant of the good and of the forces of the light, the Kresnik, in the fight with his enemy, transform himself in animals always white colored.

In Hungary the good wizard who fight against vampires is called TALBO; when he fight against the dreadful Hungarian vampires (called LIDERC NADALY) the Talbo can kill them by thrust a spike in their temple.

Another shape-shifter vampire is the MULLO, the gipsy non-dead. His aspect is human (when he’s not invisible), but with some very little deformity, like an added finger in a hand, a hidden tail, and so on. Furthermore he has no skeleton, characteristic that allowed him to change form whenever he wants to (becoming preferably a big black wolf). If he doesn’t meet a vampire slayer, the poor Mullo is however fated to a short life: a very rare case considering that all the other vampires are very longevous, the non-life of Mullo last about one year, then his body literally melt in a repugnant slush.

Now it’s time to talk about the Rumanian bloodsuckers.

The MOROII are living vampires, that are witch and wizards that suck the blood to practice dark magic; after death the Moroii become STRIGOII (STRIGOICA if is a female) and have red hair, pale blue eyes and two hearts in the chest, features that make difficult to kill them with the traditional stake method. In the region of the Valacchia there are the MURONY, shape-shifters that change into black cats or in enormous poisonous spiders. In Valacchia we find also the PRICULIC, which appears at night like big and fierce black dog, but in daytime they assume the aspect of charming young men, characteristic that make them dangerous especially for young women.

Also the VARCOLACI can change into dog, but are also able to change in monster with many fanged mouths; they have a human identity, but they are less charming and more recognizable than the Priculic, because they are thin, diaphanous and spectral, with a cold and wizened skin. They are among the most ancient vampires in the Rumanian folklore, and by the popular thought they have they would be able to devour the sun and the moon:  during the sleep the Varcolaci, that are noctambule, climb on the rays of the stars and arrived in the sky they give vent to their monstrous hunger eating them (the stars).

Another famous vampire is the NOSFERAT, a non-dead of the incubus genre that torment men and women in the sleep and that, if impregnate a woman, give life to the already cited Moroii.

In Moldavia and Transylvania we find the strange ZMEU, vampires-incubus that seduce women enter by the opened windows under the form of long flame; to seduce men they take the aspect of beautiful young women, but in this case it’s easy to unmask them only by turning around them because of human they have only the front of the body: instead of the back there is the nothing!

As beautiful as the female Zmeu, but physically complete, are the CASILDE, ghostly girls that infest the Carpathians and Balkan mountains; these vampires are not immediately deadly, but they can kill for too much love: they stick to the romantic traveller like a moth to the flame and they consume him with morbid attention and tormented nightmares, until the traveller goes crazy, suicide or die by consumption for love longing.

 

The origins of vampires are lost in the beginning of the time. Some ancient methods of burial observed in prehistoric necropolis where big stones were put on the body of the dead to prevent him to return from the land of the death, make us think that probably there was already the believing in vampirism. The most ancient text that talk about vampire can be read on a Babylonian tablet conserved at the British Museum: a magic formula used to protect from the nocturne bloodsucker demons, the ETIMME’. The ancient Jewish feared the AKULA (that literally means bloodsucker), a creature that attacked the travellers lost in desert. The same LILITH, Assyrian demon (LILITU) that in Jewish tradition is became the first and evil Adam’s wife, was a demon of “succubus” genre (the female version of the Incubus): Lilith and the other succubi enter at night in the bad of the men and there they dry them up of all the forces. From Lilith depend the LILIN, that suck children’s blood. If a child during the sleep in the night of the Hebraic Saturday, it means that he is “playing with Lilith”. To save him we have to rub his nose for three times and say (preferably in ancient Hebraic) “Adam, Eva, out Lilith!”

In greek-roman tradition the Queen of the Succubi is the LAMIA, sometimes beautiful girl, sometimes old woman, or ugly and serpentine animal, covered with scales but with a woman face.

In ancient Rome the STRIX (plural STRIGES) had the form of rapacious bird and drunk the blood with the sharp beak.

Another classical ancestor of the vampire is the EMPUSA, that for a magical illusion seems a beautiful girl, but her real aspect is one of a stinking monster with a bronze foot and the other of she-ass’dung. The Empuse and the MORMOS (vampires a little bit less disgusting) was at the service of ECATE, goddess of the night and the black magic. One of the first tale of vampire is reported by Filostrato in “Life of Apollonio of Tiana”: is the story of how the young Menippo, Apollonio’s disciple, is snare by a very beautiful girl that in reality is an horrible Empusa; the philosopher Apollonio save Menippo dissolving the illusion of the vampire with his wisdom. And this is exactly the way to defeat the Empuse: with the talkativeness and fantasy.

In nowadays Greece and in Macedonia the most diffused vampire is the VRYKOLAKA or BRUCOLACA; is a non-dead that wander in the villages calling his victims for names; if at night you hear knock on the door, beware to open: it could be a Vrykolaka, if you don’t invite him to enter, he will pass to another victim. In the notorious isle of Andros, infested by this type of vampires, since the last century the local priest opened the graves of the suspect dead to proceed personally to their impalement and beheading.

 

The oriental vampires are particularly horripilant. In China the CHIANG-SHI are spirits able to animate the cadavers and also to construct a body with some bones or putrefied remnants: they have red eyes, sharp claws, a thick fur on the body and a greenish color of the flesh in decomposition; they can fly, change into fog or become totally invisible. In China (and in other shamanic cultures) is thought that every human being has more than one soul; the soul that remains in the cadaver in China is called P’O (the inferior soul). If the body doesn’t completely decompose and what remain is fortified in its vital essence by the rays of the moon or by the blood of an animal, the p’o retake power and so born a Chiang-shi; to destroy it we must find the grave where he hides during the daytime and burn its body.

The Chinese that in life have been evil can return after death like KUEI, non-dead with skeleton bodies and demon faces, that can moves only in straight line: it sufficient that you put in front of them an obstacle, that can be also a simple bamboo’s screen, and the Kuei frustrated must right about turn!

 

In Malaysia the woman dead for delivery transform in LANGSUIR, very beautiful women, dressed in green clothes, with very long nails, black hair long to the ankles and able to fly: they suck the blood to children through a fissure that they have in their neck; to defeat them we need to cut their nails and close the fissure with their hair. To avoid that a woman dead for delivery become a Langsuir we must fill her mouth with little glass pearls and we must pierce the palms of her hands with needles: the needles will make her unable to fly, the glass pearl prevent her to throw her terrible scream (the NGILAI) that during the night paralyse of terror whoever hear it.

The PONTIANAK or MATI-ANAK is the son born dead of the Langsuir, destined to become a vampire if we don’t buried him with needled in the hands and glass pearls in the mouth, like for the mother.

The POLONG are little artificial Malaysian vampires used for killing: they have the dimensions of a top of little finger and they are created with magic putting the blood of a murdered in an ampulla called BULI_BULI and reciting the appropriated demoniac formulas. After few days we can hear from the bottle a strange sound, and it means that the Polong is born and so the wizard put his finger in the bottle in the way that the Polong can sucks the blood needed from grow up. The Polong, anyway, is useless without the PELESIT, another little winged demon with a gimlet-shaped tail that digs in the body of the victim the hole needed to make the little Polong enter in.

 

India is considered by some vampirelogues as the original land of vampirism. The Indian vampire-demon is generally known as BHUTA. These nocturnal creatures are as feared that in some Indian region of the subcontinent have been built for them some temples, the BHUTASTAN, or simple volitive chapels called BHANDARA. Both are used to tame the blood thirst of the local Bhuta; the inhabitants of the near villages go to the temples or chapels bringing gifts and making animal sacrifice. Inside some of these temples we can find a cradle bound by ropes to the ceiling; the Bhuta can rest there without touching the floor, which is consecrated.

The most dreadful and ancient Indian vampire is the RAKSHASA, a shape-shifter demon that can change in wolf, or in a beautiful woman, but that in his original form appears as a pale and shining creature with light blue throat, the body covered by blood, ruffled hair and a belt made of tinkling bells. A man can become a Rakshasa if he eats a human brain. The Rakshasa are able to fly and at night they hide in the trees of the jungle. In this way they can resemble the BAITAL or VETALA that sleeps like bats hanging from the branches of the trees. They are able to reanimate cadavers in the cemeteries and, under the form of travellers or old women, they move among humans searching for preys. They consider themselves the “kings” of all Indian vampires and sometimes they dress themselves with gaudy clothes and they hold a shining sword.

In the ancient Vedic texts is also cited the KRAVYAD, “devourer of raw flesh”. Known also in the plateau of Kashmir and Pamir as YAKSHA and feared for the rapidity with he appears and disappears in the immense desert of the Steppe, like a diabolic mirage, this vampire is nowadays known as PISACHA and has assumed also a positive characteristic: you if suffer of an incurable illness you can go at a crossroad with offers of food for the Pisacha, night after night. If you have luck and are gentle with him, he will take care of you and free you of your illness. But if he will judge the offer not suitable and your behaviour not respectful, he will kill you and then he will eat your cadaver.

Another dangerous vampire-witch is the JIGARKHWAR, which only serving of his magical power can take away the liver to a human. To defeat his magical power we need to brand him on his temple and fill his eyes with salt and then hanging him upside down in an underground in the dark for forty days.

 

In the black Africa the vampirism is strictly connect with dark wizardry, very diffused especially in the animist culture. Usually the vampire is not the witch or wizard himself but their “affiliated”, who are those creatures that serve the witch or the wizard. Often they are animals, usually snakes (always us in the evil part….) or gigantic crab, like the NKALA, or little wooden sculpture animated with the blood of the witch or wizard, like the NYALUMAYA, or animated cadavers like the KHIDUDWANE.

But also the dark witches themselves are able to wonder in the ether with their astral body and steal in the night the vital fluid to their victims while they are asleep. Sometimes they sit on the roof of the hut and suck away the heart of the sleeper.

The vampire-witch OBAYIFO, of the Nigeria, is specialized in sucks children’s blood. The vampires-witches gang are usually to meet all together and drink from a big cup (the BAISEA) the blood taken from all their victims to gain their powers.

The dark wizard from Guinea can awake dead and make them become dangerous slaves under their orders: these living dead are called ISITHFUNTELA and are completely under the control of the wizard that take away their reason thrusting wooden spikes in their brain.

In the region of the Capo lives an “affiliated” that in reality is more powerful than the witch herself: the IMPUNDULU; he go to the witch under the aspect of a beautiful guy and he becomes her lovers, then he show is real nature, that of a vampire thirsty of blood and the witch is forced to send him out every night fro kill otherwise she will be his next victim. When he’s not with a witch and kill by his own will, this creature is called ISHOLOGU.

Other vampires are the ASANBOSAM of the Ghana, feared by the Ashanti tribe; they are creatures that live freely in the deep of the forest, with humanoid aspect, teeth as hard as iron and hooked legs, that seize the travelers and bring them in the deep of the forest where they can eat more comfortable.

The MUTALA are the shadows, which are the evil part of the soul of who is dead without find peace. They wonder with the aspect of a half putrefy cadaver (there is only the upper half) that crawls with his arms and kill his victim in the sleep tearing his hair and with them the vital force.

 

Now we talk about the vampires of the last discovered continent by the European, but that have a very ancient story: America and Oceania.

Among the North American natives there are various examples of demoniac creatures that devour bodies, brains and human souls; the most famous is the notorious WENDIGO.

The LLORONA, the “crying woman”, is the most famous Mexican vampire: is a ghost woman dressed in white that, when lift her bride veil and look a man into his eyes, charm him and bring him to death. The legend of her origin seems to be European: a woman abandoned at the altar that swear to revenge against all men. But, according to some, the Llorona may take her origin by the terrible demon-vampire of the Aztec, COATLICUE.

In Mexico there are other vampires, like the TLACIQUES of the Indians Nahuatl, creatures that can transform in fireballs or in wild turkey cock, or the CIVITATEO, vampires-witches of Aztec origin, that have pale aspect, skeletal and repugnant, dressed with rags, that attack children at crossroads.

 

The Australian aborigines are persecuted by the MRART, vampires that infest the desert.

Both the Australian tribe than the one of the New Guinea fear the return of the dead from the grave, so they use different methods to prevent it (like broke their legs or make them heavy with stones).

For the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea, is dangerous to loose blood, even if it was only a tear, because a wizard that can take possess of the enemy’s blood can have on him a complete magical control, make him die or make him a vampire-slave.

 

With this we’ve finally conclude our “travel around the world with vampires”. I hope you enjoyed this experimental lesson. I was trying to offer you something different :D

Don't change page, you will find everything you will need in this page (I am having problems with the site, it doesn't allow me to prepare new pages, so I am using a sample one, but I have only one :)

MARCH + APRIL HOMEWORK (Worth 60 points that will be submitted 30 as March (Part 1) and 30 as April (part 2))

Part 1 (30 points) The lesson was extremely long, so actually for me it was enough you to read it. But come on, this are homeworks, so I will make you work a bit :) Prepare me a list with all the places mentioned in the lesson and associate each place with the name of the Vampire who lives there.

Part 2 (30 points)

Vampires as we discovered are known all over the world by different names and different characteristics. I want you to do the same with another creature. Choose me another creature (a part from Vampires we have Werewolves, Dragons and so on) and write me different ways in which they are seen in different places in the world. It will be enough to pick one creature and describe to me at least two different "type" of it, but of course more you will find, better it will be. Have fun (you will need to do a bit of research for this, but you are wonderful students and I am sure you won't have problems)

MARCH + APRIL EXTRA CREDITS

part 1 (30 points)

Choose one of the type of Vampire described in the lesson and try to draw it following the description in the lesson and maybe adding some research. It can be hand made, digital made, constructed with vegetables, all the way you want. The important is that it has to be your creation, not something you just found in internet and copied. The points won't be given according to the beauty of your work, but according of the fact that you put efforts in doing it. When your work, picture of photo is done please upload it and give the link to me. If for you it's not possible to upload it, send it as attachment, but please in the mail I would like you to specify that the attachment is the extra credits (so I won't delete the mail)

 

Part 2 (30 points)

Since this lesson was very different from the others, please tell me what do you think about it. Did you like it? Maybe you preferred the old versions lessons? Write me in no less than 100 words what do you think about the lesson, what you find interesting, what you find boring, and so on.

 

DON'T CHANGE PAGE :) let's continue here for ths final exam.

 

FINAL EXAM (worth 60 points that will be submitted as Final exam 1 and final exam 2)

For the final exam we have no lesson. Because this time you will be the professor and I will be the student. I want you to have a look at all the mythologies studied, both in Myths and Legends advances but also in Myths and Legends 1. I want you to write a lesson about a mythology not covered in the lesson.

And now comes the funny part. If you want to talk about a mythology of a specifical place that it's not been covered in the lesson, it's perfect. But if you don't find anything you can even invent your own. Yes, you can write a lesson about a mythology that you invented about a non existing culture or place (J.K. Rowling did it, you can do it too :)

Try to make it long enough to seems a real lesson, maybe divided in chapters and so on. You can submitt it  as a normal email or you can really put it on a web page, as you prefere.

 

For all these things, the due date is the end of the term :D Contact me if you have questions, doubts or anything :D