| Vampires - Is There Truth To The Legends? |
The mere mention of the word Vampire brings up an image of a pale white man with sharp teeth drinking blood. Or it may also remind you of a beautiful woman who in an instant would turn into a blood-sucking ghost. While much of this has been fed into our mind by the Vampire movies, there are certain realities as to why they have been pictured like this. Let us now look into the true story behind Vampires that led to all this.
Ancient Vampire Beliefs
The Vampire stories were around long before Vlad the Impaler. Few ancient societies believed in blood thirsty Gods and worshiped them. Some societies, like the Africans were afraid of vampires while others like the Egyptians worshiped them. During the Roman Empire, the Vampire cults flourished. The infertile females believed that drinking the blood of fertile females would make them fertile. Even the males thought that drinking blood would make them more potent. These rumors were spread by the captives and slaves whom the Roman soldiers caught during wars. But this blood drinking practice lead to the spreading of blood related diseases. The Roman emperor then banned this practice and hired assassins to execute those who followed this ritual. The assassins used small daggers which closely resembled the crucifix. Later on, this became the basis of killing a Vampire with a crucifix.
Vlad The Impaler
Vlad the Impaler, also know as Vlad Dracul which meant ‘the devil’, was a tyrant who ruled Transylvania around the 15th century. During this time period, the stories of vampires were quite popular. He was called ‘the Impaler’ because he loved to impale his enemies. He would thrust a long wooden spear into his enemies and watch them die a gruesome death. He hated non-Christians and used this technique against them. So the non-Christians feared him and put crosses in front of their homes to keep Dracula away from them.
Strigoi
The fusion of all the above facts about blood thirsty cults, Vlad the Impaler, Strigoi and Hollywood movies developed into the present mythos and ideas about Vampires.
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