The Verity of Vampire, Part 3

Greetings, my fellow historians and mythologists!  I hope that you find these stories as entertaining as I do, for I enjoy recounting the various legends as to the beginning of vampires.  There are several more Christian based stories, crediting Job or Lazarus of Bethany as being the first vampire  - the former as a reward from God for surviving his trials and the latter as the means with which Jesus raises him from the dead - or crediting Noah and his family as accidentally becoming vampires, having only blood as sustenance for 40 days and 40 nights.  Yet, I feel that several of these stories reflect wishful thinking from various members of the homo lamia segment of society, for those who transformed after the  prolific propagation of Christianity retained the need to identify themselves as "Christian" in spite of their altered circumstances.  In truth, vampires roamed around before either Lazarus of Bethany or even Noah, at least as far as I have been able to determine through timelines and verbal histories.

But that is neither here nor there, but now we move on to India, and the story of Kali.

Kali, consort of Shiva, is a Hindu goddess of shakti, or sacred empowerment.  Her name means "the black one" and many associate her with death and destruction.  While Kali in her many forms emerges as a dominate figure in Hindu mythology, today I will relate one of her most famous legends, in which Kali fights with the Asura, or demon, named Raktavija.  

One day, Durga, the Hindu Mother Goddess, attempted to kill the demon Raktavija by wrapping his body in chains and weapons.  But Durga did not know that for each drop of blood spilt by the demon, a new copy of Raktavija sprang up from the ground, attacking Durga and her minions.  Finally, Durga called upon Kali, who began to attack Raktavija by drinking up all of his blood while gorging on the copies.

Nearby villagers watched as Kali defeated the demon, happy to be rid of the evil that plagued their lives for as long as their collective memory.  To honor Kali and her victory, the villagers began to drink blood.  When Kali learned of their accolades to her, she bestowed upon the villagers some of her shakti, creating the first vampires.

Next week, we will cover current thinking in science about the origin of vampires.

The Verity of Vampires, Part 1

Greetings!  I hope that you accepted our apologies for the absence; I truly did know better, especially since we only had heavy whipping cream and not freshly obtained sheep's milk.  But as they say, it's water under the bridge.

I have received several emails asking me the origin of vampires.  I will be quite frank, even we do not know with a great level of certainty how we came to be.  In truth, this is one of the few questions that garner a great deal of speculation (and possibly less that peaceful discussions) and few concrete answers.

I asked the Vampire Kings if I could present  you, the readers of the Handbook, with the current belief systems.  They readily agreed, so for the next few weeks I will tell you the legends among us as to where we came from.

The first two stories come from Christian mythology and the Old Testament.

The first story begins in Genesis.  After Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, they had several children, the first two being Cain and Abel.   Cain grew jealous of his younger brother, and murdered him.  As punishment, God made Cain immortal, never to grow old, never to die, never to go to Heaven, never to see his brother to ask for forgiveness.

Cain lived as such for centuries, before asking God for mercy.  God granted Cain mercy, but with a price.  God told Cain that he could never again see the sun, never again break bread with his neighbors, never again be a part of human society.  Cain agreed to the terms, and God removed the vestiges of his humanity, creating the first vampire.

But God took pity on Cain, and granted him the ability to create others like him, so that he would not be lonely during his everlasting unlife.

The second story again involves Cain and Abel, only after Cain murdered Abel, Abel's spirit spoke to God, asking for more life.

"I cannot give you more life," God replied, sighing heavily, "but I can give you the ability to extend your own life."

God raised up Abel's body, and allowed him to take life from others through drinking their blood.  God also gave Abel the ability to cloud the people's thoughts, so that no one recognized him or remembered him.

Abel lived as an outsider in society for many centuries, before he beseeched God once again for mercy.

"Please, Lord, I am lonely.  For everyone I meet, everyone I love, they die.  And the more I love, the more it hurts when they die."

God once more took pity on Abel, and so granted him the ability to change others to be like himself.

Next week, I will present you with one more Christian origin story, before continuing on to other religious myths.