Vampire and Werewolves and Witches, OH MY!
So I've been working on this blog post over on the book blog that I thought was really cool...
Admittedly most of my research came from PBS and Wikipedia, but I'm a busy law student, y'know! Since over on the book blog the comments seem to run to: Can you help me with my term paper about vampires?, I figured I'd let you take a look at it. Hope you enjoy!
caramellunacy.blogspot.com/2008/10/vampires-and-werewolves-and-witches-oh.html (if you're interested in links etc. You're going to have to pop over to the blogspot version. I'm much too lazy to recopy them all here.)
I thought in honor of the Halloween season, it might be fun to examine some alternate explanations for some of our favorite things that go bump in the night:
Werewolves or Serial Killers?
"Many authors have speculated that werewolf and vampire legends may have been used to explain serial killings in less rational ages. This theory is given credence by the tendency of some modern serial killers to indulge in practices commonly associated with werewolves, such as cannibalism, mutilation, and cyclic attacks. The idea (although not the terminology) is well explored in Sabine Baring-Gould's seminal work The Book of Werewolves."
from Wikipedia
I first stumbled across this idea in a lecture in undergrad (a Halloween lecture) on the history of witchcraft and similar scary things given by a man who came to be one of my favorite professors. But it slipped my mind until I saw it again months ago when I was reading Mind Hunter by John Douglas - the memoir of an FBI profiler who worked on many of the most famous serial killing cases of our day. He throws in a quick mention on p.18 with the idea that these legends may have been a way of explaining deaths so hideous that people couldn't believe that they were the work of human beings like themselves.
Some of the discussion in the Wikipedia article certainly seems to support the idea that these 'monsters' may have been very real people - and very similar to serial killers today. Particularly the cyclical aspects of serial crimes seem to hearken back to legends of werewolves - the uncontrollable drive to kill with the full moon. In addition, doesn't this sound like killers who return to the grave sites of their victims, often to take souvenirs?
"After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. Many historical werewolves were written to have suffered severe melancholia and manic depression, being bitterly conscious of their crimes. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait which is documented extensively [...]"
from Wikipedia
Whether true or not, this is certainly an interesting alternate explanation for the origins of werewolves.
Rabies or Vampirism?
"Folkloric vampirism has been associated with a series of deaths due to unidentifiable or mysterious illnesses, usually within the same family or the same small community. Tuberculosis and the pneumonic form of bubonic plague were associated with breakdown of lung tissue which would cause blood to appear at the lips. Dr Juan Gómez-Alonso, a neurologist at Xeral Hospital in Vigo, Spain, examined the possibility of a link with rabies in the journal Neurology.
The susceptibility to garlic and light could be due to rabies-induced hypersensitivity. The disease can also affect portions of the brain that could lead to disturbance of normal sleep patterns (thus becoming nocturnal) and hypersexuality. Legend once said a man was not rabid if he could look at his own reflection (an allusion to the legend that vampires have no reflection). Wolves and bats, which are often associated with vampires, can be carriers of rabies. The disease can also lead to a drive to bite others and to a bloody frothing at the mouth."
from Wikipedia
In early folklore, vampires were most commonly associated with dogs, wolves, and bats (just re-read Bram Stoker's Dracula, and you'll see links to all of the above). Interestingly, these are the animals most often associated with transferring rabies to humans.
In some cases people with rabies will wander around with their lips curled and their teeth exposed. They cannot swallow, so they tend to froth at the mouth often mixed with bloody vomit. Because rabies attack the limbic system of the brain, rabies sufferers often become very aggressive and attack those near them. They are particularly prone to biting.
Rabies can also lead to hypersexuality - which is another interesting coincidence considering how often vampirism and eroticism tend to be linked. In earlier stories in particular, not in a good way, but more akin to sexual invasion and violence.
There was a major rabies epidemic in Hungary (home of the Transylvanian region) in the early 18th century (1721-1728) - and soon thereafter (1730) Europe could speak of little other than vampires. It's an interesting coincidence if nothing else.
A link to Gomez-Alonso's article (it's a little tough to read because of formatting).
Food Poisoning or Witchcraft?:
One of the more common theories regarding symptoms of bewitchment, particularly in the Salem Witch Trials, is that those suffering severe symptoms (though not those at the trials which were almost certainly faked) were the victims of a fungus, ergot, that often grows on rye and which produces hallucinations and pinpricking sensations. In fact, ergot was the substance from which scientists derived LSD.
Some of the symptoms of ergotism:
" The convulsive symptoms that can be a result of consuming ergot tainted rye have also been said to be the cause of accusations of “bewitchment” that spurred the Salem witch trials. This medical explanation for the theory of “bewitchment” is one first propounded by Linda R. Caporael in 1976 in an article in Science. In her article, Caporael points out that the convulsive symptoms, such as crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo, tinnitus aurium, headaches, disturbances in sensation, hallucination, painful muscular contractions, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as psychological symptoms, such as mania, melancholia, psychosis and delirium were all symptoms reported in the Salem witchcraft records. Caporael also notes the abundance of rye in the region as well as perfect climate conditions for the tainting of rye. In 1982 historian Mary Matossian revitalized Caporael’s theory in her article in American Scientist. In her article, Matossian builds on Caporael’s theories and also notes that according to English folk tradition all the symptoms of “bewitchment” resemble the ones exhibited in those afflicted with ergot poisoning."
from Wikipedia
If you get a chance to watch it, the PBS special The Witch's Curse is a really interesting look at the discovery process, it includes not just the Salem Witch Trials, but also the ergotism outburst in Pont St. Esprit in Southern France (although there are also theories that the sickness in France was caused by mercury poisoning instead). All of this is very interesting indeed. Caporeal links most major witch persecutions and executions with heavy rye-growing regions - making the theory that the symptoms of ergotism may generally have been seen as witchcraft.
This is one of my favorite theories. Personally I find it extremely plausible that the original outbursts at Salem were due to disease which were followed by the girls' desire to remain the center of attention, and the inability to extricate themselves from the mass hysteria.
The original article by Linda Caporeal linking ergotism and the Salem Witch Trials: here
Here's the site PBS put together for their episode of Secrets of the Dead: The Witch's Curse.
Admittedly most of my research came from PBS and Wikipedia, but I'm a busy law student, y'know! Since over on the book blog the comments seem to run to: Can you help me with my term paper about vampires?, I figured I'd let you take a look at it. Hope you enjoy!
caramellunacy.blogspot.com/2008/10/vampires-and-werewolves-and-witches-oh.html (if you're interested in links etc. You're going to have to pop over to the blogspot version. I'm much too lazy to recopy them all here.)
I thought in honor of the Halloween season, it might be fun to examine some alternate explanations for some of our favorite things that go bump in the night:
Werewolves or Serial Killers?
"Many authors have speculated that werewolf and vampire legends may have been used to explain serial killings in less rational ages. This theory is given credence by the tendency of some modern serial killers to indulge in practices commonly associated with werewolves, such as cannibalism, mutilation, and cyclic attacks. The idea (although not the terminology) is well explored in Sabine Baring-Gould's seminal work The Book of Werewolves."
from Wikipedia
I first stumbled across this idea in a lecture in undergrad (a Halloween lecture) on the history of witchcraft and similar scary things given by a man who came to be one of my favorite professors. But it slipped my mind until I saw it again months ago when I was reading Mind Hunter by John Douglas - the memoir of an FBI profiler who worked on many of the most famous serial killing cases of our day. He throws in a quick mention on p.18 with the idea that these legends may have been a way of explaining deaths so hideous that people couldn't believe that they were the work of human beings like themselves.
Some of the discussion in the Wikipedia article certainly seems to support the idea that these 'monsters' may have been very real people - and very similar to serial killers today. Particularly the cyclical aspects of serial crimes seem to hearken back to legends of werewolves - the uncontrollable drive to kill with the full moon. In addition, doesn't this sound like killers who return to the grave sites of their victims, often to take souvenirs?
"After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. Many historical werewolves were written to have suffered severe melancholia and manic depression, being bitterly conscious of their crimes. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait which is documented extensively [...]"
from Wikipedia
Whether true or not, this is certainly an interesting alternate explanation for the origins of werewolves.
Rabies or Vampirism?
"Folkloric vampirism has been associated with a series of deaths due to unidentifiable or mysterious illnesses, usually within the same family or the same small community. Tuberculosis and the pneumonic form of bubonic plague were associated with breakdown of lung tissue which would cause blood to appear at the lips. Dr Juan Gómez-Alonso, a neurologist at Xeral Hospital in Vigo, Spain, examined the possibility of a link with rabies in the journal Neurology.
The susceptibility to garlic and light could be due to rabies-induced hypersensitivity. The disease can also affect portions of the brain that could lead to disturbance of normal sleep patterns (thus becoming nocturnal) and hypersexuality. Legend once said a man was not rabid if he could look at his own reflection (an allusion to the legend that vampires have no reflection). Wolves and bats, which are often associated with vampires, can be carriers of rabies. The disease can also lead to a drive to bite others and to a bloody frothing at the mouth."
from Wikipedia
In early folklore, vampires were most commonly associated with dogs, wolves, and bats (just re-read Bram Stoker's Dracula, and you'll see links to all of the above). Interestingly, these are the animals most often associated with transferring rabies to humans.
In some cases people with rabies will wander around with their lips curled and their teeth exposed. They cannot swallow, so they tend to froth at the mouth often mixed with bloody vomit. Because rabies attack the limbic system of the brain, rabies sufferers often become very aggressive and attack those near them. They are particularly prone to biting.
Rabies can also lead to hypersexuality - which is another interesting coincidence considering how often vampirism and eroticism tend to be linked. In earlier stories in particular, not in a good way, but more akin to sexual invasion and violence.
There was a major rabies epidemic in Hungary (home of the Transylvanian region) in the early 18th century (1721-1728) - and soon thereafter (1730) Europe could speak of little other than vampires. It's an interesting coincidence if nothing else.
A link to Gomez-Alonso's article (it's a little tough to read because of formatting).
Food Poisoning or Witchcraft?:
One of the more common theories regarding symptoms of bewitchment, particularly in the Salem Witch Trials, is that those suffering severe symptoms (though not those at the trials which were almost certainly faked) were the victims of a fungus, ergot, that often grows on rye and which produces hallucinations and pinpricking sensations. In fact, ergot was the substance from which scientists derived LSD.
Some of the symptoms of ergotism:
" The convulsive symptoms that can be a result of consuming ergot tainted rye have also been said to be the cause of accusations of “bewitchment” that spurred the Salem witch trials. This medical explanation for the theory of “bewitchment” is one first propounded by Linda R. Caporael in 1976 in an article in Science. In her article, Caporael points out that the convulsive symptoms, such as crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo, tinnitus aurium, headaches, disturbances in sensation, hallucination, painful muscular contractions, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as psychological symptoms, such as mania, melancholia, psychosis and delirium were all symptoms reported in the Salem witchcraft records. Caporael also notes the abundance of rye in the region as well as perfect climate conditions for the tainting of rye. In 1982 historian Mary Matossian revitalized Caporael’s theory in her article in American Scientist. In her article, Matossian builds on Caporael’s theories and also notes that according to English folk tradition all the symptoms of “bewitchment” resemble the ones exhibited in those afflicted with ergot poisoning."
from Wikipedia
If you get a chance to watch it, the PBS special The Witch's Curse is a really interesting look at the discovery process, it includes not just the Salem Witch Trials, but also the ergotism outburst in Pont St. Esprit in Southern France (although there are also theories that the sickness in France was caused by mercury poisoning instead). All of this is very interesting indeed. Caporeal links most major witch persecutions and executions with heavy rye-growing regions - making the theory that the symptoms of ergotism may generally have been seen as witchcraft.
This is one of my favorite theories. Personally I find it extremely plausible that the original outbursts at Salem were due to disease which were followed by the girls' desire to remain the center of attention, and the inability to extricate themselves from the mass hysteria.
The original article by Linda Caporeal linking ergotism and the Salem Witch Trials: here
Here's the site PBS put together for their episode of Secrets of the Dead: The Witch's Curse.