Vampirism

The following is provided by... Wikipedia.

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times", the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

While even folkloric vampires of the Balkans and Eastern Europe had a wide range of appearance ranging from nearly human to bloated rotting corpses, it was the success of John Polidori's 1819 novella The Vampyre that established the archetype of charismatic and sophisticated vampire; it is arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century, inspiring such works as Varney the Vampire and eventually Dracula.

However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and which provided the basis of modern vampire fiction. Dracula drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late Victorian patriarchy". The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, video games, and television shows. The vampire is such a dominant figure in the horror genre that literary historian Susan Sellers places the current vampire myth in the "comparative safety of nightmare fantasy".

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Personally, I have always been fascinated by the subject of Vampirism. There is something truly magical and tantalizing about the possibility of ever-lasting immortality, such as is portrayed by Bram Stoker's novel.

But also, let's not forget where Mr. Stoker had originated his idea of a "walking dead guy" that had the need to feed off of the blood of the living...

And that would be in regards to Vlad The Impaler (Vlad's Story). He was a ruthless, dark, murderous ruler who had those he had captured staked *ALIVE* and then captured their blood in a cup and drank of it. Hence the true origin of Stoker's 'Dracula' character.

Although Vlad The Impaler dies, his alter ego, Dracula lives on in novels, movies, cartoons and even in CEREAL (Count Chocula).

                                   Mr. Bram Stoker, author of "Dracula" (1897)

               One of the most modern Television shows of my generation, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (based off of movie of the same name, featuring Kristy Swanson)

                               The most infamous "Dracula" portrayal of all time.. Bella Lugosi.

                              Vlad The Impaler, original ideal for Stoker's novel.

               
                                  Depiction of impaling prisoners of Vlad's. As you can see, Vlad would DINE at the impalings of his victims and drink of their blood that is collected.

       

                              Personally, I have never tried this cereal. Surprising, I know (lol)! But maybe one day I will. After all, I would kill for chocolate. (=

Halloween

It is one of my two most favorite Holidays. Christmas is the other one.

The reason I love Halloween so much is because, for one night, I can escape in to another realm of thinking. I can be who I want to be. Not who I HAVE TO BE. Which of course is wife, mother, sister-in-law, daughter and daughter-in-law.

This year, I am planning on doing a cool project with my youngest daughter's Kindergarten class. It's going to be Jug Jack-O-Lanterns that will also serve as a Trick-Or-Treat bucket.

My kids, my husband and I all love to dress up on Halloween. We love seeing all of the different costumes, the smiles on all of the children's faces, and we love hearing "trick or treat" from the little ones. Especially those that are still trying to learn how to talk.

Here is a bit of a rundown on the history of this spook-tastic holiday from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween...

"Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films...

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".[1] The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".[1] A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av).

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes[2] regarded as the "Celtic New Year".

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[4][5] Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.[6] Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual...

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Eve, that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hálȝena mæssedæȝ, the feast of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556."

Also, many Christians are very against this "holiday of evil and devil worshiping". To them, it is not pleasing or glorifying to God, to prance around asking for handouts and being dressed as things that are un-holy in nature (witches, ghosts, monsters). The Chrsitian sects that are primarily against this fun night are the Fundamentalists and the Evangelicals...They feel that the holiday's Pagan ways stray too far from Godliness, that there is no 'good' that can come from 'celebrating the devil' (which to those who know the TRUE origins and nature of this night's festivities, know that those ASSUMPTIONS are very far from the truth).

Do you like Halloween? Do you and/or your family celebrate by passing out candy and maybe go and have a little fun getting some goodies in return? What are your thoughts about the one night that you can be whomever and whatever you want to be?