The Truth and Origins about Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies.

Right, let's get some FACTS straight, as I'm sure alot of you are as annoyed as me with the rise of threads about Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies, especially around the time a new film about them comes out. I'm not claiming to know that they are Myths or real, I am only stating facts and letting you make your minds up. For the record, I do NOT believe they exist.

So this thread will state only facts that I have gathered from various sources on the internet, about these "creatures" or whatever you wish to call them.

VAMPIRES

Definition -

1. A reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people.

So it is generally accepted that when someone says "Vampire" that is what you think of.

But where did the idea of the vampire come from?

Here

Genesis 4:10-15 According to vampire legend, Cain wandered until he found Lilith by the Red Sea. She took him in and showed him the power of blood. (My religion teacher put it that the tree of life is represented in blood. Thus why Jewish persons staunchly drain all blood away from their meat before cooking and eating it. And thus why drinking blood/ being a vampire is such a big deal in a religious context.)

So, the fact is that the stories started from the BIBLE. Now, take that as you want, but make sure you read all my sources before saying anything.

WEREWOLVES

Definition:

A person transformed into a wolf or capable of assuming the form of a wolf.

I think we can all agree that's what comes to mind whenever Werewolf is mentioned.

So, who first came up with the idea?

Here!

In Greek Myth, Lycaos was the extraordinarily cruel king of Arcadia. Lycaos sought favor with Zeus by offering him the flesh of a young child. Enraged, Zeus turned Lycaos into a wolf. The belief that certain people can turn themselves into animals, especially wolves, and roam the earth doing evil became widespread.

So it is believed the myth stemmed from Greek Mythology, and has been adapted over the years, or has been adopted as some cultures traditions, and even behaviour, that you can transform into an animal.

Believe what you like.

ZOMBIES

Definition:

1. A snake god of voodoo cults in West Africa, Haiti, and the southern United States.
2.
a. A supernatural power or spell that according to voodoo belief can enter into and reanimate a corpse.
b. A corpse revived in this way.
3. One who looks or behaves like an automaton.
4. A tall mixed drink made of various rums, liqueur, and fruit juice.

So a few different examples there, but I believe that if I said Zombie to you, you would think of the type that appears in films etc.

But where did the idea originally come from?

Here of course!

Certain branches of Haitian and West African vodou, or voodoo, believe a spirit or spell can bring a corpse back to life to perform heavy labor or evil deeds for its master, a sorcerer

So it appears the Voodoo cultures came up with this one!

Although commonly believed a myth, this is the most plausible of the three, and APPARANTLEY has been proven.

Also, there are proven cases of 'voodoo' zombies, which are in fact people who are bought to the brink of death using this certain substance that lowers your breathing and heart rate by a 'witch doctor'. These people are buried, then dug up soon after and revived by the doctor, but in most cases they either have lasting brain damage from a combination of lack of oxygen and the drug, or they die. The ones who survive are often sold on by the 'witch doctor' to plantation owners, as these people's brains have been so badly damaged they are only functioning on basic commands and therefore do not know who they are, or have any purpose. They mindlessly follow orders and only need basic care.

Thanks for reading my thread, I hope this will now stop the influx of threads along the lines stated here

(courtesy of Gemwolf)

This thread is not a debate on whether these creatures exist or not. It is about the origins of the myth's and legends that we all hear about.

Let's have a happy, friendly discussion, as this thread will be closely monitored if it's even allowed to stay open.

Sources:
Mythical Creatures Guide
The Free Dictionary
And here of course!

Thanks

theOmen

I'll start us off.

Before researching this, I think it was commonly believed that Vamps originated from the story of Vlad the Impaler, and although that still may be true, we can see that it has an older comparison with the source I gave about Cain.

As for werewolves and Zombies, I didn't have an opinion on them before I researched it!

tO

The first I heard of the Cain-Lilith vampire legend was in the role-playing game 'Vampire- The Masquerade'. I'd be very surprised if you can find an older source for this specific legend than that.

It is pretty old!

I had never heard of it before this really. Never heard of that game either!

What console was it on?

Ah, it was a role-playing game published by White Wolf, as in a book not a computer/console game. Their world setting also had a war between vampires and werewolves as a theme, which would be later took up by the movie 'Underworld'.
white wolf sues

The Cain legend is referenced in the game world by the 'Book of Nod', which describes the Lilith legend. But, as I say, I am unaware of any ancient legends connecting Cain specifically with Vampires

Zombies = Tetrodotoxin. (TTX)

Interesting stuff but a bit twitchy to play with even in the lab.

reply to post by Absence of Self


Good find, thanks for that!

tO

reply to post by TheOmen


None of these are facts though;D I love how the definitions are very vague with words like "believed" and "according", as if they're implying that it's just bull#;D

[edit on 26-3-2009 by ZikhaN]

reply to post by ZikhaN


The source in this case, isn't the most important thing.

I guess you are a vamp believer then!?

So you choose to disregard the facts, and believe what you pick and choose? Are you a christian aswell??

I think what we need to understrand here, is that the origins of Vampires, come from the bible......like that's true...

But even if that isn't the case, then Vamps originated from Vlads the impaler who merely "impaled" victims, and did not act like any "modern day vampire".

I get really frustrated when people try to convince me vamps are real. They aren't even fun at the movies anymore because there's so many films on them now.

There is nothing to suggest they're real, as far as I know, there is no evidence WHATSOEVER to suggest they're real. The STORY of the Vamp came from the middle ages where a guy impaled some chaps and people exagerrated their stories.

reply to post by TheOmen


I actually don't really have a specific religion. My mother is a protestant and my dad is a catholic.

No, I don't believe in Vampires. Just think the definitions are kinda funny(:

Nice thread never knew that vampires were mentioned in the Bible. and the whole voodoo case with the zombies is an interesting case in itself.
I love Greek Mythology and i find it funny that i never connected that story with Werewolves before....
What is the exact definition for the "Were" part in Werewolf? Does it have any critical meaning? Or is it just another name?

EDIT- Flagged

[edit on 26-3-2009 by Nick92]

Of course this all depends on what one may define as vampire, beast, or zombie, it may not always be what the novels, books, and legends suggest.

I myself believe that everything unexplained stems from the lack of knowledge from something that can't be identified. This sometimes leads to suggestions of the paranormal, for instance some suggestions of vampires were believed to people who were bitten by an animal infected with rabies, the strange behavior i.e. insomnia, light sensitivity, foaming at the mouth, biting and attacking anything close.

But, then what fun would a vampire be without all the sexiness, extreme strength, blood lust, immortality? Or a werewolf w/o all the carnage?? And zombies w/o their legions and a hunger for brains. None
This is what makes us humans so unique and different we have the ability to fantasize and create.

I love mythical creatures (probably more than anyone walking around pretending to be a vampire or any fictional creature) but they live in mind and that’s where I leave them.




[edit on 27-3-2009 by TetraSpace5]

reply to post by TetraSpace5


Great way of looking at things.

Am I right in thinking you're not one who believes in the existance of these creatures?

reply to post by ZikhaN


Oh good.

Sorry for seeming a bit aggressive, but I get infuriated sometimes about this topic.

The definitions are true, just sourced from the same place.

Originally posted by Nick92
Nice thread never knew that vampires were mentioned in the Bible. and the whole voodoo case with the zombies is an interesting case in itself.
I love Greek Mythology and i find it funny that i never connected that story with Werewolves before....
What is the exact definition for the "Were" part in Werewolf? Does it have any critical meaning? Or is it just another name?

EDIT- Flagged

[edit on 26-3-2009 by Nick92]

The word "werewolf" means "manwolf" since wer is the Saxon word for man.

There's your answer.

Technically, the origin of "vampires" can be traced to well before the mentioning in the Bible to the mythos of most ancient cultures.. The Greeks (BC-era) had Empusa and Lamia, India had Kali, Egypt had Sekmet...Japan, China, Southeast Asia...pretty much all cultures have a demon or spirit that exists in their pantheon of mythological beings that is, more or less, a vampire...

I merely note that to say that the origin of the vampire exists in the Bible is wrong, simply because the Bible was not really written till the fourth-century or so...with the first complete version in the eighth-century or so (Codex Amiatinus)...meanwhile, the references to vampiric beings existed long before either of these points in time. Furthermore, referencing Cain as the origin is equally fallible, because it is using a time and a place in a story, in a book, with no evidence to support it, as evidence of the origin of something that there is no evidence to support the existence of in the first place.

Now, do I have an origin point for the vampire? No, but I do follow the idea that it is an innate psychological archetype that has been programmed into our species from...well...long, long ago... Here's an interesting little link on the Jungian psychological origin of the vampire archetype.

reply to post by TheOmen


The pseudographia of the old testament book "The Apocalypse of Moses" Apocalypse Of Moses

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament


R.H. Charles


Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1913
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Chapter 1


1 This is the story of Adam and Eve after they had gone out of Paradise. And Adam knew his wife

2 Eve and went upwards to the sun-rising and abode there eighteen years and two months. And

3 Eve conceived and bare two sons; Adiaphotos, who is called Cain and Amilabes who is called Abel.


Chapter 2

1 And after this, Adam and Eve were with one another and while they were sleeping, Eve said to Adam her lord: 'My lord, Adam, behold,

2 I have seen in a dream this night the blood of my son Amilabes who is styled Abel being poured into the mouth of Cain his brother and he went on drinking it without pity. But he begged him to leave him a little of it. Yet he hearkened

3 not to him, but gulped down the whole; nor did it stay in his stomach, but came out of his mouth. And Adam said, 'Let us arise and go

4 and see what has happened to them. (I fear) lest the adversary may be assailing them somewhere.'


Chapter 3

1 And they both went and found Abel murdered. I by the hand of Cain his brother.
This is the source reference for Cain drinking the blood of Abel........ Making him the first recorded vampire. God also cursed Cain with a sign so that mankind did not murder him when they found him.

reply to post by debris765nju


Nice little story, that elaborates more on what I writ.

Cheers debris

reply to post by madhatr137


Interesting. I didn't find anything on that. But again, it's taken as Vampiric behaviour, and I think it was more to do with the "psychic" vampires more than the bloodsuckers from hollywood today.

But still, a good read nonetheless.