The most popular misconception of the vampire in modern day is that they are pale creatures that rise from the grave at night to take living victims. Of this statement only one part holds true to the vampire of legend and myth, they feed from the living. The vampire of myth ranges from the Lamai of Greece and the Asasabonsam in Africa to the Nosferatu of Germany and the Manedan of Malaysia. Though the descriptions vary from culture to culture all keep to the same premise with vampires, they all drink blood or eat the flesh of their victims. There are only a few vampire myths concerning the vampire being an undead creature. In these stories the vampire is transformed into something more than human before finally rising from the grave to take it's victims.

The stories of vampires only rising at night comes from western civilization. The vampire deities of the Aztec and Maya were said to only travel by night for they would be killed by sunlight.

The vampire death as we see it today comes from the Slavic vampire beleifs dating back to the tenth century. According to these stories a vampire could be killed by driving a stake through the body, beheading, burning, exorcism, baptising the grave, or repeating the funeral service. Though some of these methods were used through out history to weaken or kill vampires in different cultures they all came together here and spread to modern day.

I would also like to develop the commonly held idea that Vampires are killed by Sunlight. I think this is also from Murnau's film "Nosferatu" where the Vampire is slain by a combination of Love and dawn breaking. In Bram Stoker's Dracula it is noted that the Vampire is weakened by day, but not destroyed.

People do tend to project ideas gleaned from relatively modern fiction onto the old-world myths.

Now, can anyone tell me where the shapeshifting idea comes from (other than Stoker, again)?

the sunlight thing is also from that movie Vampires which is really the closest to reality as a movie can be, atleast from what I know of hollywood flicks

in the olden days they believed nailing a stake through the heart of a corpse would prevent it from getting up and walking around. thats probably where the stake death came from

Can we call the Aztecs and Mayans 'Western civilizations'?

vampires shapshifting dates back to the Alukah of the Jewish beliefs. This creature was able to change it's form from a living human into a wolf. This is also where vampiric flight originated. The Alukah can fly by releasing it's long hair. It could only be killed by preventing it from feeding from blood.

There is a biblical referance to this creature (Proverbs 30:15) and here is the link to where I found it as well if needed. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/alukah.html

Most shapeshifters throughout history have a vampiric component, except for gods. The best example of this would be the French loup-garou, which contrary to popular belief did NOT usually turn into a wolf- they could be anything, from a bug to a bird, etc. Shapechangers have historically been more cannibalistic and flesh-eating than blood-drinking, but the vampire element is still strong.

one of the myths is that vampires would rise at night and drink the blood of sleeping women and children.

that was stupid as well.

This may sound stupid of me, or ignorant, whatever. But you are all arguing as if you have met a vampire. Most of the claims and stories of vampirism from a few hundred years ago are about as valid as hollywoods ideas of vampirism because of the fact that they knew nothing of science, or stages of decompostion. There is also the fact that they have all been elaborated on as the years pass, like a longer game of chinese whispers.

u said it throne,for all we know vampires are exested but they may have go extinked or "slayed".

I was simply looking back to find information on where many of these misconceptions began. If we look back far enough we see that the vampire existed even before stories were written down. There are tales of creatures that were called vampires in every culture of the world, it's the Western Europian tales that take on a more human appearance for vampires.

In fact most vampire tales are about creatures that are semihumanoid beasts that feed from unknowing victims that stumble upon their territory. Could it have been a preditory animal that was stalking the area and someone just happened to get away? Or could it have in fact been the creatures described? We'll never truely know for certain.

I myself take a little comfort in knowing the human mind seeks out and creates such creatures to explain mysterious occurances. Be it a body found missing it's eyes or someone with a blood disorder, the vampire remains a true mystery and a true draw to humanity. Afterall, we all have a dark side.

ye the first "vmpires" may have a canable tribe how hunted at night praying on kid or old ppl

I wouldn't really call it a misconception to vampires, just that people think differently about vampires, right along with werewolfs. Even if some people do have misconceptions of vampires, its all based on movies and what people see from them.

Quick question: Do you think vampires could survive fluorescent lights?

dont see why not....... they arnt sun rays are they..... so probably..... then again i dont know much about flourecent lights.....(let alone spell it)

isnt the small uv light in the suns rays

I'm guessing the whole sulight thing was more symbolic than scientific.

like light being poure and not shining on hell creations thats why hell is "underground"

If Hell is below, and Heaven is above, and the fact that heat rises.....
Do you think they have a Mr Whippy van in Heaven?

an interesting question but as earth is in the middl heven would be cold unless haveing the suns rays onit . so the number 1 product in heven is sun cream

That was very informative.

Shapeshifting-or the whole idea of lycanthorpory- is from Norse mythology. Odin and Odin's wolfs.

what was odin odin`s wof

Odin's wolf...I'm guessing you mean Fenris? He was, technically, never Odin's, he was yet another of Loki's bastard children, a hellhound. But he wasn't a shapeshifter, Loki was.

The vikings had a belief in shapeshifters, but they would usually shift into bears, not wolves.

Actually, belief in lycanthropy is standard through most hunter-gatherer cultures and is far older than the Vikings. Even the ancient Greeks had their own version of the werewolf, and lycanthropy legends are rife and very old in China too.

[quote=escoban,Sep 22 2004, 07:41 PM]
the sunlight thing is also from that movie Vampires which is really the closest to reality as a movie can be, atleast from what I know of hollywood flicks




I realize that Vampires are stonger than us mortals etc. but if you combine the execution styles of the diffrent religiouns then nothing can survice.

(!1) drive a stakethourgh the heart
(2) behead the creature
(3) dismember the creature
(4)burn the parts
(5) bury the parts very far apart
(6)bury the body parts with variouse religouse items

nothing can ( as far as i amconcerned) survice this. This can be variated. number 3 can be diffrent from the rack to a butcher, to four horses and some rope etc.


if you can find the lore that says something survies this, then let me know.
Kaine

hello room i would like make a comment to that qestion if vampires could surive being in or under outside during the day well yes we can we true vampires do not burn on site of the sun light or uvs we again only real and true vampires have a high senativety to it we can go outside during the or walk under any light u wish but we do have a low abilty to deal with the light me i have sunglasses that i wear all day and night and inside or outside wherever whenever i need to always have my sunglasses on any kind of light were senitive to but no no light kills us we just dont like it as much as much u do we need and like the shade and the dark and we become better seeres during the night and we enjoy the night more and r day time starts late at night and i hope that cleared up some things if not just me ill be glad to answer u and thetruedarkangel forever lives in the dark

we look normal(well some of us) the sun, (though annoying if you are used to the dark) wont kill us anyone stabbed through the heart with a wooden steak is gonna die and we coexist with humans just fine they may make us hungry being that they provide a source of energy for us we need but anymore i don't know personally any vampire that will feed without permission unless it is off of an energy