Another common form of vampiric destruction is sunlight. However that is not always the case, as there are a host of folkloric vampires who were able to move about during daylight hours. Setting a vampire on fire, as with sunlight, doesn’t provide a guarantee of destruction.
In the 1970 film Taste the Blood of Dracula, Christopher Lee’s Dracula is burned to cinders. Later that year, in Scars of Dracula, these ashes are bled upon by a leaky, blood-engorged bat and lo and behold, it’s enough to resurrect the king of vampires.
In traditional lore, the crucifix will burn the skin of the vampire when pressed against him, and would mark the flesh of a person who has been bitten, but not yet fully transformed into a vampire. Additionally in some legends, the crucifix or cross, will steal the creature’s source of strength, rendering him less powerful. Some stories claim that crosses or crucifixes hung on a door, will keep a vampire from entering a room or that a cross placed on a gravesite will render entering the grave impossible. Perhaps the best thing about crosses is that they’re easily improvised using items such as candlesticks, swords, random bits of wood—anything that can replicate its crossed positioning. However, crosses and crucifixes, while typically used in some measure, often present no threat to a vampire’s existence.
As used in many ceremonies and baptisms, holy water, which is blessed by the clergy, is believed to repel vampires. Because holy water is blessed, it can burn the flesh of vampires, like acid burns human flesh, causing great pain. A new vampire burned with holy water could prove fatal. Throughout vampire lore, the bodies of suspected vampires were covered in holy water to keep them rising from the dead, it was also sprinkled atop of graves and coffins to prevent the undead returning. Much like salt, holy water can be sprinkled onto windowsills and doorways to prevent a vampire from entering.
The Eucharist wafer is another weapon against vampires. The wafer, which is a thin piece of blessed bread, represents the body of Christ in the Holy Communion sacrament. Like the cross, the wafer can burn the flesh of a vampire, and leave a mark if pressed against the skin. The wafer is also another weapon Van Helsing used in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
As we’ve learned, vampires are infinitely more complex creatures than one might expect, each one possessing its own powers and capabilities, of course, the only way one can protect oneself from a vampire is uncover its weakness, learn how to detect, and then slay it.
LILITH: THE MOTHER OF ALL VAMPIRES
Lilith was said to have been the first mate to Adam, created by God from the dust of the earth, just as Adam. Because she saw herself as equal to Adam, she refused to take the submissive sexual position and cursed him when he refused to see her as an equal. The marriage did not work and they never found happiness. Lilith then ran away to the Red Sea and began sleeping with demons and bearing a 100 children a day.
To bring her back to Eden, God sent three angels with the message, he would kill her demon children if she didn’t return to Adam. She refused and cursed the angels and was banned from paradise and sent to the demon realm. To replace Adam’s wife god took one of Adam’s ribs and created Eve, which enraged Lilith further. Lilith then declared war against mankind and promised to murder children, torment men and destroy women’s hopes and families.
When Lilith moved to the demon realm, she began stealing babies and small children and devouring them. Lilith was said to be like a Succubus, seducing men to steal their sperm, the men never survived their encounter with Lilith. Lilith would also drink the blood of her victims, and use the sperm to conceive her offspring.
Lilith’s offspring were damned to become demons, which is how she obtained her title- “Mother of Demons.” This title was changed to “Mother of Vampires” later in legends.
Unlike Count Dracula, who looks pretty human, Lilith is often depicted with wings, talons, and sometimes even a lion’s head. In fact, it’s only within the last few hundred years artists have portrayed her as a beautiful woman. She’s also associated with owls, jackals, deserts, snakes, and according to the Kabbalah, Lilith’s powers are strongest during the waning of the moon.
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