Ala

Ala is a goddess of the Ibo, African people of eastern Nigeria. The daughter of the great god Chuku, she is the mother goddess of the earth, ruler of the underworld, guardian of the harvest, and goddess of fertility for both people and animals.
According to Ibo beliefs, Ala makes a child grow within its mother's womb. She remains near and watches over the child as the child grows into an adult. Later when the individual dies, Ala receives him or her into her womb, known as the pocket of Ala. The goddess is also a lawgiver who shows people how to live a good life. Her laws emphasize moral values such as honesty.
Throughout the Ibo region, Ala is worshiped in large square houses with open sides. These structures, called Mbari, contain life-sized mud figures of the goddess painted in bright colors. Usually, Ala is surrounded by sculptures representing other deities, animals, and humans.

underworld land of the dead
deity god or goddess

According to Ibo tradition, Ala sends a sign such as a snake or a bee's nest to tell her priests where to build a Mbari. Groups of men and women work together to assemble and decorate the structure. Construction can take years and is considered a sacred act. However, once built, the Mbari houses are left alone to decay For this reason, new houses must continually be produced, which ensures that the Mbari tradition will be carried on by younger members of the group.

Read more: Ala - Myth Encyclopedia - mythology, god, snake, life, people, African http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/A-Am/Ala.html#ixzz1W9nvq7LR

Death and Beyond

Cultures around the world over recognize that every life will end in death. However, many claim that some invisible but vital part of the human being—the spirit or soul—continues to exist after death. In some traditions, the individual possesses more than one soul, and each of these may have a separate fate.
Religions throughout the ages have included a belief in an afterlife, a state of being that people enter when they die or a place to which they or their souls go. Myths, legends, and religious texts offer varying visions of the afterlife. These images reveal much about each culture's hopes and fears for the afterlife and often contain lessons about how people should live their lives.
* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.

The World Beyond

In some cultures, the afterlife is regarded as a place of pleasure and joy. In others, it is a gloomy shadow of earthly existence, a slow fading away, or a remote and unknowable realm. Expectations about the organization of the afterlife also differ. In some societies, everyone is thought to meet the same fate. In others, people are believed to take different paths, depending on the events of their earthly lives. Sometimes a judgment determines the individual's final destiny.

Visions of Life After Death. Some cultures have associated the afterlife with a geographic location. The notion of an underworld beneath the world of the living is common. The peoples of ancient Mesopotamia!, for example, thought the dead lived on in a dusty, bleak underworld called the Dark Earth. Any pit, cave, or pond could be an entrance to that place. People on the islands of Melanesia in the southeastern Pacific Ocean imagine an underground world that is the mirror image of the upper world. Stories from the island of New Guinea describe an underworld that lies beneath the ocean. Divers have claimed to see the souls of the dead laboring in undersea gardens. In Navajo mythology, the dead descend into a watery underworld. According to the Ibo of Nigeria, the underworld is ruled by the goddess Ala, who receives the dead into her womb.
Other cultures have placed the afterlife in the sky or among the stars. The Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest believe that the dead become rain clouds. Some Native Americans of the Southeast say that the souls of the dead dwell either in the heavens or in the west.
The west has often been associated with the afterlife of the spirits. Polynesian islanders locate their ancestral island in the west and believe that spirits of the dead can return there. The Celtic* people pictured an otherworld that was sometimes underground or under the sea and sometimes an island in the west.

destiny future or fate of an individual or thing
underworld land of the dead

In most accounts, the Celtic otherworld was a magical place filled with enjoyable activities such as feasting and, for heroic warriors, fighting. Some descriptions, though, indicate that the land of the dead had a grim and dangerous side. Annwn, the king of the dead, could be fearsome. Less frightening was Valhalla of Norse* mythology, a vast palace where warriors slain in battle spent the afterlife

Cerberus, the many-headed watchdog of Greek mythology, greeted souls when they arrived in the underworld. He also attacked them if they tried to escape. His image was a popular one with medieval artists. This sculpture of Cerberus can be found on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

feasting, singing, and indulging in playful combat. Their afterlife was not eternal, however. One day Valhalla and the world would be swept away in the gods' last battle. Not all warriors went to Valhalla. Freya, goddess of love and death, took half of them to her own palace in the afterworld. In contrast to vivid, lively, and joyous visions of the world beyond, the afterlife pictured by the peoples of the ancient Near East was dim and shadowy. The early Jews called their dismal, ghostly underworld Sheol. The spirits who dwelled in the Mesopotamian underworld felt neither pain nor pleasure but lived a pale, washedout version of life on earth, complete with a royal court ruled by Nergal and Ereshkigal, the king and queen of the dead. The Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh contains a description of the afterlife in which the hero's dead friend Enkidu returns as a spirit to describe existence in the "house of dust."

Different Fates. Peoples of the ancient Near East such as the Mesopotamians and the early Jews believed that the afterlife was the same for everyone. Other cultures, however, have expected the dead to be divided into different afterworlds. The Polynesians believe that the souls of common people, victims of black magic, and sinners are destroyed by fire. The souls of the upper classes, by contrast, journey to a spirit world where they live among their ancestors. Some ancient Chinese people believed that the afterlife was different for good and bad people. The souls of good people rose to the court of Tien, or heaven, while the souls of bad people descended into one of the 18 levels of hell, depending on their crimes in the world.
The Maya people of Central America believed that the souls of the dead went to an underworld known as Xibalba. To escape and go to heaven, the souls had to trick the underworld gods. Among the Aztecs of Mexico, slain warriors, merchants killed during a journey, and women who died in childbirth joined the sun in the heavens. The ordinary dead spent four years traveling through the nine layers of an underworld called Mictlan and then vanished on reaching the ninth level.
In Norse mythology, warriors went to heavenly palaces, while other individuals ended up in a cold underworld called Niflheim, or Hel. Among the Inuit or Eskimo people of Greenland, a happy land in the sky is the reward for the souls of people who have been generous or have suffered misfortunes in life. Others go to an underworld ruled by the goddess Sedna. The Pima and Papago peoples of the American Southwest say that the spirits of the departed travel to a place in the east where they will be free from hunger and thirst.

The Rain God's Garden

The rain god Tlaloc held an important place in the mythology of the Aztecs and other agricultural peoples of Mexico and Central America. Like many Aztec deities, Tlaloc had both a cruel and a kindly side. The Aztecs believed he was responsible for the deaths of people who died by drowning or of certain diseases such as leprosy. Yet Tlaloc then sent these people to a happy afterlife that ordinary Aztecs did not share. Wall paintings in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacán show the garden paradise that welcomed the souls of Tlaloc's dead.

epic long poem about legendary or historical heroes, written in a grand style

Some cultures hold the view that the souls of the dead face judgment: The good are rewarded in the afterlife, while the evil are punished. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed that a soul had to convince the gods that he or she had committed no sins in life. The dead person's heart was placed on one side of a set of scales with a feather from the headdress of Maat, the goddess of judgment,

* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.
on the other. If the two balanced, the soul was declared sinless. A monster devoured those who failed the test.
The Zoroastrians of ancient Persia* believed that the afterlife held a reward for the virtuous. Those who had lived a just life experienced a form of pure light that was the presence of Ahura Mazda, god of goodness, justice, and order. The ancient Greeks imagined the afterlife as a shadowy realm called the House of Hades, and they also spoke of a deeper pit of hell, Tartarus, to which those who had acted wrongly were sent to receive punishment. In Japanese mythology, the dead go to a land of darkness known as Yomi, where they may be punished for their misdeeds.
After about 200 B . C ., the Jewish concept of Sheol gave way to a vision of judgment after death. The good entered the presence of God, while the wicked roasted in a hell called Gehenna. This influenced the Christian and Islamic ideas about hell as a state or place of punishment for evil. Heaven is the union of virtuous souls with God. According to the Roman Catholic Church, there is a state of being between heaven and hell called purgatory, in which tarnished souls are purified on the way to heaven.

The Journey to the Afterlife

Many cultures have regarded death as the beginning of the soul's journey to the afterworld. The Etruscans of ancient Italy pictured sea horses and dolphins carrying souls to Elysium, the Islands of the Blessed. The ancient Greeks undertook a darker journey, asking a boatman named Charon to ferry them across the river Styx, which marked the boundary between the world and Hades.
Many Pacific islanders viewed the journey as a leap. Every island had a reinga, or leaping place, from which the soul was thought to depart. For the Maoris of New Zealand, the place is the northern-most point of North Island. A sacred tree was often associated with the reinga. The Hawaiians believed that the souls of children lingered near the tree to give directions to the newly dead. Other Pacific peoples thought souls swam to the afterlife and that those weighted with sin would sink.
In some cultures, bridges linked the living world and the afterworld, and the crossing was not always easy. The Norse bridge shook if someone not yet dead tried to cross it before his or her time. The Zoroastrians had to cross a bridge the width of a hair. The just survived the crossing; the unjust fell into hell. Both the rainbow and the Milky Way were thought by various peoples to represent the bridge to the land of the gods or spirits.
The Fiji islanders of the Pacific spoke of a Spirit Path with many dangers, a journey so difficult that the only ones who could complete it were warriors who had died violently. A Native American myth of the far north says that the dead person's shadow must walk a trail that the person made during life. Along the way, the person's ghost tries to keep the shadow from reaching the heavenly afterlife.

Related Entries
Other entries related to the afterlife are listed at the end of this article.

The living sometimes attempted the journey to the afterworld in search of the secrets, wisdom, powers, or treasures associated with

The Egyptians believed that when their souls entered the afterlife, they would be weighed against a feather belonging to Maat, the goddess of justice and truth.

the realm of spirits and of the dead. Welsh heroes entered the realm of Annwn, the king of the dead, to steal his magic cauldron. Greek legends tell of the journeys of Orpheus* and Odysseus* to the land of the dead. The Navajo believe that searching for the realm of the dead can bring death to the living.

Return of the Dead

In his play Hamlet, William Shakespeare called death "The undiscovered country from whose bourn [boundary]/No traveler returns." Yet myths and legends from around the world say that the dead do interact with the world of the living, one way or another.
In some cultures, the dead are thought to linger near the living as shades or spirits. Southeastern Native Americans believe that newly dead souls remain near their villages hoping to persuade others to join them. In some African myths, in contrast, the souls of the dead stay close to living relatives in order to help and advise them. To consult with their dead ancestors, Mayan rulers performed a blood-letting ritual known as the Serpent Vision ceremony.
The belief that the spirits of the dead can do good or ill in the world of the living lies behind some forms of ancestor worship. Ghosts of the dead, whether malicious, helpful, or merely sad, appear in the myths and folktales of many cultures. The Chinese perform ceremonies to honor the spirits of their ancestors and ensure that they will have benevolent feelings toward their descendants. Some Native Americans honor the ghosts of their dead with annual feasts. However, the Navajo—who avoid dwelling on death—never mention the dead in their rituals.

cauldron large kettle
ritual ceremony that follows a set pattern
benevolent desiring good for others

The dead sometimes return in another way as well: The soul may be reincarnated—reborn in another body. The notion of multiple rebirths through a series of lifetimes is basic to the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Those who act wrongly in life may be reborn as less fortunate people or as animals or insects. Cultures in some

* See Names and Places at the end of this volume for further information.
areas of Africa also believe that souls are reborn, perhaps after a period spent in the underworld.

Preparation for the Afterlife

In many cultures, rituals associated with death were meant to help the deceased in his or her journey to the afterlife. The Greeks, for example, provided the dead with coins to pay the ferryman Charon. Although the Romans were less certain about the afterlife than the Greeks, they often followed the same custom and sometimes added treats for the dead person to offer to Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld. The Tibetan Book of the Dead gives instructions for the soul to follow on its journey between death and rebirth.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the body had to be preserved after death in order for the spirit to survive, and they went to great lengths to prepare for the afterlife. They built tombs to protect their dead. The most elaborate are the great monuments known as the pyramids. Within the tombs, they placed grave goods, such as food, furniture, and even servants, for the dead person to use in the next life. The Egyptians also developed an elaborate form of mummification to keep the body from decomposing after death. The full process could take as long as 200 days and was available only to the upper classes.
The Egyptians provided their dead with written instructions, including advice on how to survive the hazardous journey after death and guidebooks to the afterworld. The afterlife took many forms but was often pictured as a comfortable existence in a luxuriant realm of rivers, fields, and islands, although the royal dead were said to join the god Osiris* in the heavens. Texts inscribed on the walls of royal tombs included prayers, hymns, and magical spells to protect the dead from the dangers of the soul's journey. They were included in the most famous collection of Egyptian mortuary writings, the Book of the Dead, copies of which were often buried with the dead.
The Mesopotamians usually made no attempt to preserve the bodies of their dead or to bury them elaborately. One striking exception is a set of royal graves found in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, in what is now Iraq. The graves contained not only rare and precious goods but also the bodies of servants, dancing girls, charioteers, and animals, all slain to serve the dead in the afterlife. The early Germanic peoples also buried grave goods with their chieftains. A burial mound at Sutton Hoo in England contained an entire ship along with a quantity of gold and silver items.

mummification preservation of a body by removing its organs and allowing it to dry
mortuary having to do with the burial of the dead

The grave goods of the Bushmen of Africa consist of the dead man's weapons. People preparing the body for burial coat it with fat and red powder and bend it into a curled sleeping position. Then they place it in a shallow grave facing in the direction of the rising sun. Other South African tribes follow a different practice: They break the bones of dead people before burial to prevent their ghosts from wandering.

Read more: Afterlife - Myth Encyclopedia - mythology, Greek, god, names, ancient, tree, famous, norse, Hindu http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/A-Am/Afterlife.html#ixzz1W9nOqty8

THE SHEPHERD AND THE DAUGHTER OF THE SUN

from "The Incas of Peru" by Sir Clements Markham, London, Smith Elder & Co. 1910 pp. 408-415.

IN THE SNOW-CLAD CORDILLERA above the valley of Yucay, called Pitu-siray, a shepherd watched the flock of white llamas intended for the Inca to sacrifice to the Sun. He was a native of Laris, named Acoya-napa, a very well disposed and gentle youth. He strolled behind his flock, and presently began to play upon his flute very softly and sweetly, neither feeling anything of the amorous desires of youth, nor knowing anything of them.
He was carelessly playing his flute one day when two daughters of the Sun came to him. They could wander in all directions over the green meadows, and never failed to find one of their houses at night, where the guards and porters looked out that nothing came that could do them harm. Well! the two girls came to the place where the shepherd rested quite at his ease, and they asked him about his llamas.
The shepherd, who had not seen them until they spoke, was surprised, and fell on his knees, thinking that they were the embodiments of two out of the four crystalline fountains which were very famous in those parts. So he did not dare to answer them. They repeated their question about the flock, and told him not to be afraid, for they were children of the Sun, who was lord of all the land, and to give him confidence they took him by the arm. Then the shepherd stood up and kissed their hands. After talking together for some time the shepherd said that it was time for him to collect his flock, and asked their permission. The elder princess, named Chuqui-llantu, had been struck by the grace and good disposition of the shepherd. She asked him his name and of what place he was a native. He replied that his home was at Laris and that his name was Acoya-napa. While he was speaking Chuqui-llantu cast her eyes upon a plate of silver which the shepherd wore over his forehead, and which shone and glittered very prettily. Looking closer she saw on it two figures, very subtilely contrived, who were eating a heart. Chuqui-llantu asked the shepherd the name of that silver ornament, and he said it was called utusi. The princess returned it to the shepherd, and took leave of him, carrying well in her memory the name of the ornament and the figures, thinking with what delicacy they were drawn, almost seeming to her to be alive. She talked about it with her sister until they came to their palace. On entering, the doorkeepers looked to see if they brought with them anything that would do harm, because it was often found that women had brought with them, hidden in their clothes, such things as fillets and necklaces. After having looked well, the porters let them pass, and they found the women of the Sun cooking and preparing food. Chuqui-llantu said that she was very tired with her walk, and that she did not want any supper. All the rest supped with her sister, who thought that Acoya-napa was not one who could cause inquietude. But Chuqui-llantu was unable to rest owing to the great love she felt for the shepherd Acoya-napa, and she regretted that she had not shown him what was in her breast. But at last she went to sleep.
In the palace there were many richly furnished apartments in which the women of the Sun dwelt. These virgins were brought from all the four provinces which were subject to the Inca, namely Chincha-suyu, Cunti-suyu, Anti-suyu and Colla-suyu. Within, there were four fountains which flowed towards the four provinces, and in which the women bathed, each in the fountain of the province where she was born. They named the fountains in this way. That of Chincha-suyu was called Chuclla-puquio, that of Cunti-suyu was known as Ocoruro-puquio, Siclla-puquio was the fountain of Anti-suyu, and Llulucha-puquio of Colla-suyu. The most beautiful child of the Sun, Chuqui-llantu, was wrapped in profound sleep. She had a dream. She thought she saw a bird flying from one tree to another, and singing very softly and sweetly. After having sung for some time, the bird came down and regarded the princess, saying that she should feel no sorrow, for all would be well. The princess said that she mourned for something for which there could be no remedy. The singing bird replied that it would find a remedy, and asked the princess to tell her the cause of her sorrow. At last Chuqui-llantu told the bird of the great love she felt for the shepherd boy named Acoya-napa, who guarded the white flock. Her death seemed inevitable. She could have no cure but to go to him whom she so dearly loved, and if she did her father the Sun would order her to be killed. The answer of the singing bird, by name Checollo, was that she should arise and sit between the four fountains. There she was to sing what she had most in her memory. If the fountains repeated her words, she might then safely do what she wanted. Saying this the bird flew away, and the princess awoke. She was terrified. But she dressed very quickly and put herself between the four fountains. She began to repeat what she remembered to have seen of the two figures on the silver plate, singing:
"Micuc isutu cuyuc utusi cucim." Presently all the fountains began to sing the same verse.
Seeing that all the fountains were very favourable, the princess went to repose for a little while, for all night she had been conversing with the checollo in her dream.
When the shepherd boy went to his home he called to mind the great beauty of Chuqui-llantu. She had aroused his love, but he was saddened by the thought that it must be love without hope. He took up his flute and played such heart-breaking music that it made him shed many tears, and he lamented, saying: "Ay! ay! ay! for the unlucky and sorrowful shepherd, abandoned and without hope, now approaching the day of your death, for there can be no remedy and no hope." Saying this, he also went to sleep.
The shepherd's mother lived in Laris, and she knew, by her power of divination, the cause of the extreme grief into which her son was plunged, and that he must die unless she took order for providing a remedy. So she set out for the mountains, and arrived at the shepherd's hut at sunrise. She looked in and saw her son almost moribund, with his face covered with tears. She went in and awoke him. When he saw who it was he began to tell her the cause of his grief, and she did what she could to console him. She told him not to be downhearted, because she would find a remedy within a few days. Saying this she departed and, going among the rocks, she gathered certain herbs which are believed to be cures for grief. Having collected a great quantity she began to cook them, and the cooking was not finished before the two princesses appeared at the entrance of the hut. For Chuqui-llantu, when she was rested, had set out with her sister for a walk on the green slopes of the mountains, taking the direction of the hut. Her tender heart prevented her from going in any other direction. When they arrived they were tired, and sat down by the entrance. Seeing an old dame inside they saluted her, and asked her if she could give them anything to eat. The mother went down on her knees and said she had nothing but a dish of herbs. She brought it to them, and they began to eat with excellent appetites. Chuqui-llantu then walked round the hut without finding what she sought, for the shepherd's mother had made Acoya-napa lie down inside the hut, under a cloak. So the princess thought that he had gone after his flock. Then she saw the cloak and told the mother that it was a very pretty cloak, asking where it came from. The old woman told her that it was a cloak which, in ancient times, belonged to a woman beloved by Pachacamac, a deity very celebrated in the valleys on the coast. She said it had come to her by inheritance; but the princess, with many endearments, begged for it until at last the mother consented. When Chuqui-llantu took it into her hands she liked it better than before and, after staying a short time longer in the hut, she took leave of the old woman, and walked along the meadows looking about in hopes of seeing him whom she longed for.
We do not treat further of the sister, as she now drops out of the story, but only of Chuqui-llantu. She was very sad and pensive when she could see no signs of her beloved shepherd on her way back to the palace. She was in great sorrow at not having seen him, and when, as was usual, the guards looked at what she brought, they saw nothing but the cloak. A splendid supper was provided, and when every one went to bed the princess took the cloak and placed it at her bedside. As soon as she was alone she began to weep, thinking of the shepherd. She fell asleep at last, but it was not long before the cloak was changed into the being it had been before. It began to call Chuqui-llantu by her own name. She was terribly frightened, got out of bed, and beheld the shepherd on his knees before her, shedding many tears. She was satisfied on seeing him, and inquired how he had got inside the palace. He replied that the cloak which she carried had arranged about that. then Chuqui-llantu embraced him, and put her finely worked lipi mantles on him, and they slept together. When they wanted to get up in the morning, the shepherd again became the cloak. As soon as the sun rose, the princess left the palace of her father with the cloak, and when she reached a ravine in the mountains, she found herself again with her beloved shepherd, who had been changed into himself. But one of the guards had followed them, and when he saw what had happened he gave the alarm with loud shouts. The lovers fled into the mountains which are near the town of Calca. Being tired after a long journey, they climbed to the top of a rock and went to sleep. They heard a great noise in their sleep, so they arose. The princess took one shoe in her hand and kept the other on her foot. Then looking towards the town of Calca both were turned into stone. To this day the two statues may be seen between Calca and Huayllapampa

The Legend of Sagittarius

The Legend of Sagittarius

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Author: * Neotne Cleisthenes - 2 Posts on this thread out of 658 Posts sitewide. Date: Apr 6, 2005 - 22:54 Sagittarius: This constellation was depicted on old Babylonian monuments and in the early zodiacs of Egypt and India. In India its name simply means Arrow. Eratosthenes described it as a Satyr. It was also depicted as a centaur protecting Orion from Scorpius with his bow and arrow trained on the scorpion's heart, Antares. Cuneiform texts describe the Archer as the Strong One, the Giant of War, and the Illuminator of the Great City. Mesopotamia: Associated with the minor god, Pabilsag, brother of the warrior goddess, Istar. Very little is written of him although he did have a minor cult following during the Old Babylonian period in the city of Larag. Obviously someone in serious need of a good agent! Occasionally represents Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The close proximity to the constellation Taurus, the Bull of Heaven, and Orion as Gilgamesh, makes sense here. The coincidental intersection of the spring and autumnal equinoxes where the line of the Milky Way crossed the meridian, the ecliptic and the celestial equator occurred in Sagittarius in the fifth century BC. The constellation was known as the Divine Door through which souls departed with the arrival of the autumnal equinox. Greece: Sometimes, and incorrectly, identified as the centaur Chiron. Sagittarius actually represents the son of Pan named Crotus. Living on Mount Helicon with the Muses, he became their friend and protector. He invented applause as a sign of appreciation for their talents. A skilled hunter and good friend to the Muses, they asked that Zeus give him a constellation fitting his kind nature. With the goat-god Pan as his father, Crotus should be considered a satyr rather than a centaur. His representation as a centaur probably came from his superb riding skills. The representation of the centaur facing the constellation Orion the hunter with his arrow drawn is sometimes described as holding the scorpion at bay and sometimes as protecting the Muses from the unwanted romantic advances of Orion.

THE TRUE STORY BEHIND VAMPIRES

Continue to read this and I'll take you on a historical journey through the myths and legends of THE VAMPIRE.Legends of the Vampire stretch back farther than most people realize.Some legends reach back farther than Christ, back to ancient Assyria and Babylonia. Ancient Aztecs used to pour blood into the mouths of their idols.In India Rajahs drank blood from severed heads.In China, the family would guard a corpse the night before the burial from a cat or dog jumping over it and turning it into a Vampire.First ancient Greeks, then Romans after them believed in a type of female Vampire called a Lamia.Lamia's were thought to seduce men in order to suck their blood.Later in Greece there was another word for VampiresVrukalakos,creatures who would revive the dead then feast on the living.Recently there are some people who are trying to prove that Vampires are nothing more than people suffering from porphyria an incurable genetic disease.Symptoms of porphyria include a need for blood transfusions, a negative reaction to garlic, and a necessity to avoid sunlight.
The original legends of Vampires started in Romania and Hungary around the early 16th century.The word itself is comes froma Slavonic term and did'nt exist in English until about 1730.Now many people travelling through Eastern Europe reported sightings and encounters with Vampires. These reports spread throughout Europe; and the myth of a Vampire had begun. It was'nt until authors like Byron, Goethe,Baudelaire, and of courseBram Stoker that Vampires as we know them were created.

VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE

There was once a soldier-king in India named Vikram.One day Vikaram was tricked by an evil sorcerer into getting a Vampire out of a certain tree and bringing it to the sorcerer.Vikram found the tree and the Vampire was hanging head down from the tree.Vikram cut the creature down and it scrambled right back up.This happened seven times until finally the Vampire sighed "even the gods can not resist an obstinate man"allowed itself to be taken. The Vampire struck a strange bargain with Vikram, he would tell some stories and ask Vikram some questions about them.If Vikram could keep silence and never answer then the creature would reward him.The Vampire told 10 stories and ten times Vikram could not keep quiet.Every time Vikram answered the creature returned to the tree and Vikram would recapture him.Finally on the 11th story Vikram kept quiet.The Vampire's reward was to tell Vikram about a plot against his life.Being forwarned Vikram escaped unscathed.
There are many documented official reports and testimonials from well respected people about encounters with vampirism.On January 7 1732 five high ranking officers from the capital city of Belgrade signed a report stating they examined 14 corpses only two of which a mother and a baby showed signs of normal decomposition.All the other corpses were said to be in unmistakable vampire condition.

Around the same time period a hungarian soldier who was billeted to a farm on the Austro-Hungarian frontier testified to this:one night while eating dinner with the family on the farm they were joined by an old man.The soldier noticed the family was extremely frightened of the man.The old man touched the man of the house on the shoulder and left.The next morning the soldier discovered the farmer had died and that the old man from last night was the farmers father who had been dead for 10 years.When the old man touched the farmer on the shoulder he both caused and announced the death of the farmer.When the soldier reported this his commanding officer questioned the family under oath.Eventually they exhumed the old man's body.Which according to reports had looked like the body of a man who died recently.The commanding officer ordered the man's head cutoff and they layed the body to rest again.A notable part of Vampire stories is that relatives and lovers are always the first to suffer attacks.

While the officers were questioning the towns people they were told of another Vampire roaming the city.A deputation with seemingly impeccable credentials was sent to investigate.This Vampire had killed three nieces and one brother in a fortnight and was attacking the fourth niece when he was interrupted.When the Vampire's body was dug up it was discovered to have hair,nails,and eyes all in good condition.The interesting part about this Vampire is that hisheart was still beating.The deputy drove an iron stake through his heart, cut off his head with an ax, and then buried the body in quicklime.The fourth niece finally started to recover.

Of course through all this the Vatican has held a firm stance on Vampires. It was'nt until these and many other strange happenings that the Vatican issued a word of caution that all suspected Vampires should be exhumed and their bodies burned.Of course leave it to the Christians to come up with a way to put the fear of god into people.They actualy started telling people that sinners and people of that kind were doomed to become Vampires.HA!as if.Throughout both 16 and 1700's the tale and fear of vampires spread, largely due to the Plague.Whenever multiple people in a village fell ill it was automatically assumed that a vampire was the cause.Scary huh I could see"modern" society thinking the same way.During the fourteenth century when the Black death swept across what is now known as Germany amid all the pestilence grew the tales and sightings of Vampires.It would be quite easy to find a logical explanation for Vampires during that period of time.Fear of being infected was high and many times people were buried accidentally and some still alive. Hence the rising from the grave.


One significant difference between modern Vampires and that of traditional Vampires is sex.Thats right the lovely little act all you baby gothers are trying to do.In the 19th century sex was heavily censored.Now media and t.v. are going crazy with it.Many psycholigists throughout the years have dissected vampirism.One thing they all notice is the bite.We all know that biting is can be highly erotic.Maurice Richardson a british expert on Vampirism believes that Vampires are a symbol of our repressed sexual desires and sexual guilts beginning at infancy.It is a common knowledge that traditionally Vampires if male would go for young female victims and vice versa.There are many clinical explantion for Vampires but I think Hamilton Deane said it best when he said:
As the curtain fell on the first stage production of Dracula,the producer Hamilton Deane came out and warned the audience to take care as they went home."Remember, there are such things, well are there?"
EDITORIAL

Well that was a lot of information.There is plenty more where that came from. One subject I sort tap danced around is why people believe in Vampires. In Europe during difficult times some homeless people would often use mausoleums for their homes.Since it would'nt look very good for them to be coming and going during the day they would leave and get food and things like that during the night.Well not all of them were'nt seen.this did'nt help the rumors of Vampires in Europe.The people were in mausoleums all day they were very pale and wore tattered clothes,and snuck out of graves at night even I might think they were Vampires.Alot of the reason is also because there are alot of really sick people in the world.As I surfed the net for graphics(which was very difficult to find any suitable graphics) I went through several pages and I only have one thing to say.YOU ARE ALMOST ALL LOOOOOOOOOSERS.Come on now, I saw things likehow to tell if you are a Vampire, my Vampire life,Vampires only pages,GET A GRIP.You are not Vampires, you are delusional. Either that or very sad and twisted people with no lives.Now there are some of you out there who's page's I did'nt get to so you may not be included. The easiest way to tell if you are included is Do you really think you are a Vampire? If you do, you are included.But anyway people like them are the ones who keep feeding the beliefs.And it was people like them in the previous centuries(with the help of some very un-intelligent people)that helped Vampires to the fame they have now.Here is one page I thought was really cool.If you wanna check it out here you go.