The vampire is a mythical blood-sucking creature about which creepy stories have circulated since ancient times. Until the Enlightenment and the rationalization of the worldview in the West, it was believed that creatures such as vampires actually existed. Nowadays there are different interpretations about the existence of ‘real’ and imaginary vampires, some more scientific than others. Esotericists, sociologists and psychologists are studying the phenomenon and trying to find an explanation for it.
Historical overview: types of vampires
Although the ‘undead’ human vampire Dracula is best known under the influence of our modern film and literature, other variants of the monster emerged throughout European history: the demonic vampire, the undead vampire and the ghost vampire.
Demonic vampires
What many people do not know is that stories about vampires are much older than Bram Stoker’s world-famous Dracula from 1897. Reports that have come down to us through more than 2,000 years old clay tablets from the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians already speak of vampire-like demons that pose a major threat. for the people of that time.
The incubus / Source: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons (PD)
In the classical world the demonic vampire was almost always female. The male population of ancient Greece was reportedly plagued by lustful female vampires known as empusae ; and among the Romans the demon Lamia could transform herself into a seductive courtesan, luring her victims for their blood.
During the Middle Ages, many stories circulated about nocturnal vampires, the incubi (the male incubus and the female succubus), who came to drink the blood of a sleeping victim or seduce him. Under the influence of psychoanalysis, these nightmare demons would later be interpreted as manifestations of the unconscious: projections of the victim’s inner desires. They would come to light as a result of repressed or strong emotions, usually of a sexual nature.
Undead human vampires
By the 17th century, belief in demonic vampires had declined significantly. However, a new threat emerged for the inhabitants of remote regions of Europe: the undead. According to the legends told about them, they are among the most formidable supernatural monsters. They are virtually indestructible at night, have superhuman strength, are masterful tricksters and can take various forms. Furthermore, they are skilled in the art of hypnosis, which they use to subdue their victims. Only during the day are they vulnerable to burning, decapitation or a wooden stake through the heart.
In the period between 1700 and 1740 there was a true vampire epidemic: literally thousands of reports about this phenomenon emerged. The first reports came from Transylvania in Central Europe. The word vampire is also of Slovak origin. In just a few years, the fear of vampires spread throughout Europe, from Greece to Scandinavia.
‘Carmilla’ by Le Fanu / Source: David Henry Friston, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Over time, the myth of the undead grew, partly thanks to gothic novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1816) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Remarkably, the first female vampire did not appear until 1872 with Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla , even though in ancient times most vampires were female. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the vampire was given a leading role in the film Nosferatu (1921), and since then the undead has remained a popular figure in literature and film.
Ghost vampires
Western occultists have claimed since the 19th century that when a person dies, the astral body containing the soul withdraws from the physical form and floats above the dead body for three days. At the end of this period the soul passes out of the astral body, which in turn dies.
However, this ,second death,, as it is called, is feared by all evildoers; for what follows is the final judgment and reckoning for their evil lives on earth. These sinners’ fear is so great and their carnal lust so overwhelming that they are willing to become a ghost vampire. To survive, they must take over the body of a living organism (animal or human), and provoke acts of vampirism from the victim’s subconscious. In this way, the ghost vampire stays alive for a long time without having to kill its victim (who now also becomes a vampire) and source of nutrition.
Some interpretations about the existence of ‘real’ and imagined vampires
Jungian interpretation of the vampire as an archetype
Stories about vampires seem to be part of what the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) called our collective unconscious . According to Jungians, the archetype of the vampire as a life-threatening, blood-sucking being can be traced back to ancient primitive fears that humans share as a species, a statement that is reminiscent of the theosophists’ interpretation of the primitive fourth root race from which modern humans are said to descend. .
These archetypes, latent images printed in the unconscious, appear, for example, in dreams, in art or break through the boundary of consciousness under the influence of hallucinogens (psychedelic drugs such as LSD). Jung’s theory of archetypes could also provide an explanation for the fact that the vampire is known in very different, often widely separated cultures. After all, every person on earth can indirectly gain access to that common source, the collective unconscious, in which all psychological experiences of humans as a species are stored.
Interpretation of Theosophists
19th century theosophists like HP Blavatsky believe that what we call vampires are in fact terrible remnants of an indefinite past when our planet was populated by the beastly ,fourth root race., Although modern man, who belongs to the fifth root race, has evolved beyond the cannibalistic lifestyle of his early ancestors, traces of his violent past may still emerge in parts of Eastern Europe, where the blood of the ancient fourth race still flows. has not completely disappeared from man.
Interpretation of vampirism as a disease
Porphyria or ‘vampire disease’ refers to a group of conditions that result from a natural build-up of chemicals that produce porphyrin. This substance is essential for the function of hemoglobin in the blood. The condition is usually hereditary and the symptoms can vary largely depending on the severity. The acute form of porphyria affects the nervous system and skin, which becomes sensitive to sunlight, and the gums, which recede making the teeth appear more prominent. In the past, people who suffered from this disease may have been regarded as vampires by those around them, with all the consequences that entailed.
Vampires Are by Stephen Kaplan
Without a doubt, Stephen Kaplan (1940-1995) was the best-known contemporary researcher of vampirism. Research and theorizing about the vampire had long been the domain of occultists and theosophists. Kaplan, who was a sociologist by training, decided to take a scientific approach and collect as many testimonies about the phenomenon as possible. To this end, he founded the New York Vampire Research Center and the Parapsychology Institute of America in 1974. At the institute, Kaplan oversaw a ,vampire hotline,, which allowed anonymous callers to make phone calls to tell Kaplan and his staff about their vampiric behavior.
Kaplan’s book ,Vampires Are, is a reflection of his experiences and research, and a defense of the claim that vampires are among us. He describes encounters with self-proclaimed vampires, goths, blood drinkers, and his relationship with a female vampire who calls herself Elizabeth.
Three main categories
According to Stephen Kaplan, modern vampires fall into three main categories:
- real vampires who have a chemical or physical need for fresh blood,
- vampire-like people with a psychopathological fixation on blood,
- and psychic vampires who feed on the life force of other people like a kind of psychic parasite.
Perhaps another category of ‘lifestyle vampires’ could have been added, such as the goths: groups that are attracted by the myth of the vampire and adapt their clothing, food and entire lifestyle to it.
The number of vampires
In 1986, Kaplan estimated the total number of real vampires in the United States and Canada at 200, and 500 worldwide. His estimate of the number of vampiroids – people who think they are vampires – put him at between 10,000 and 20,000 in North America, and probably as many as 100,000 worldwide.
How real vampires live
According to Dr.Kaplan, vampires live extremely long. Some he interviewed claimed to be over 125 years old, even though they looked about 50. Because of this, they usually do not develop long-term relationships and rarely marry or stay in one place for long. They tend to work many different jobs over the course of their lives.
Contrary to the Count Dracula story, says Kaplan, modern vampires do not appear to pass on the ,virus, of vampirism with their bite, nor do they have to kill their victims. They only need a few grams of human blood per day to feed. Symptoms that Kaplan attributes to vampirism include fear, pallor, and bloodlust when deprived of human blood.
Decision
As the 21st century dawns, it’s clear that audiences can’t get enough of vampire books, games, and movies for entertainment. Vampirism is also alive and kicking in the gothic subculture, but there it is more about a lifestyle. A question that is much more difficult to answer is: Do or did vampires really exist? It is a question that has concerned people from different backgrounds and perspectives. Occultists have long been convinced that there is something real behind it, and some modern researchers are shaking our firm opinions about vampires with their spectacular research results and conclusions. Ultimately, however, it remains a matter of faith. Something that everyone has to decide for themselves.