Vampires: Fact Or Ficiton

Throughout history the appearance of and stories surrounding vampires and their lifestyles have consistently changed. In some myths vampires have pale skin, in others they have skin the colour of blood. Every aspect of the vampire changes to suit the needs of the believers. The truth of whether vampires exist or not has been based solely on ancient records and sketchy second hand accounts. In reviewing past records, myths and using recent developments in medicine it is seen that vampires did not exist, but there are medical conditions that can give a person traits of a vampire, religious groups used vampires as a way of persuasion and they also added interest in myths and folklore.

There are many things that people want from life, but their religion denies them their desires. Throughout history religious groups have preyed on peoples fears, using their own anxiety to their benefit. The vampire motif was popular in many religions in order to sway people in their beliefs and the rules of society. Also, they used the threat of danger coming to them to avoid a person disobeying the church.

In the Christian religion there was very straight forward heaven and hell. If you were good, you went to heaven and were rewarded. If you were bad, you went to hell and were punished. Then Christianity began to spread. When it reached Celtic Western Europe, there were strong pagan beliefs instilled in the people. So in order to bring the people over to Christianity there had to be some compromise. So Christianity adopted the pagan Otherworld, but made it a purgatory. "The purgatory is were the dead wait and are tested to decide if it is hell or heaven they are going to." (2005, Curran, page 9) After this idea was put into place, the Christian church saw a chance to make money. They decided that people could only be released from the purgatory if masses and prayers were held. That is how All Soul's Day began.

All Soul's Day is on November 1st, a day set aside for the remembrance of the dead. This day became official in the 7th century by Pope Gregory IV (827-844 CE). The church said that on all the eve of All Soul's Day, the dead came back to the living to make sure they were not neglectful of their obligations. If the families were in fact neglectful, the church said the dead would come suck the blood of people and livestock. So the use of All Soul's Day was to get money from people at mass, it was not that people's family members were going to turn into vampires and suck he blood of their loved ones. The Christian faith just used vampires for persuasion to bend people to their way and make money at the same time.

A Hebrew myth pertaining to the beginning of vampires takes us to the time of Adam and Eve. It is said that Adam had a wife before Eve and her name was Lilith. Adam and Lilith both came from God breaking of one of his ribs. When Lilith disobeyed Adam and demanded equal rights, God demonized her. For equality between men and women was unheard of. Lilith fled to the coast of the Red Sea. There she mated with many demons. Adam wanted her back and urged God to force her back to the Garden of Eden. So God then sent three angels after her and they threatened that if she did not come back they would kill 100 of her children a day. Instead of going back with them, Lilith threatened that she would kill as many children as possible by sucking their blood. So that is when they stuck a deal. Lilith would spare children baring the names of one of the three angels or if the child wore a specific amulet. This myth just went on to show that in society a woman must be compliant and submissive. If she was not, she would not be worthy of any man.

Vampires of ancient times are not real in the sense of blood sucking, fang baring, creatures of the night, but simply were confused with medical conditions giving a person similar traits to vampires. There have been many disease and conditions discovered since the times vampires were considered an actual threat.

The disease porphyia, also known as "The Dracula Disease" has many elements that could be attributed to supposed vampire sightings. Porphyia is a mainly hereditary, blood disease. "Sufferers of porphyria have pale, flaky skin and are very sensitive to sunlight. Their gums often recede excessively, giving their teeth an elongated and possibly fang-like appearance." (1985, Boffey, New York Times Article) Today the people with porphyria are treated with injections of blood. Dr. David Dolphin who connected Porphyria with vampires of history, believes that it is very possible that sufferers may have tried to treat themselves, by drinking blood. This medical condition could very likely have been confused with vampirism. Another condition with similar characteristics was rabies.

Rabies may have had an important role in the generation of the legend. The vampire was said to attack people and animals, sometimes invisibly and sometimes in human or animal shape. This resemblance was between vampirism and rabies was noted as early as 1733, when an unknown physician argued that vampirism "is a contagious illness more or less of the same nature as that which comes from the bite of a rabid dog." Centuries ago in Europe, there were reports of rabid wolves biting many people in a single day. People infected with rabies didn't die immediately. The people with rabies usually lived less than 2 weeks and die by asphyxia or cardiorespiratory arrest. "The fear of rabies was such that often persons even suspected of rabies were killed like wild animals .