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A vampiric REVENANT from Romania, the strigol is created when a magic user or sorcerer dies. It has the ability to shape-shift into numerous animal forms, such as a cat, dog, frog, or insect, which it uses mostly to get close to the humans from whom it intends to drain the lifeenergy (see ENERGY VAMPIRE).

To prevent its rising from the grave as a vampire, the sorcerer’s heart must be removed, spat upon, and nailed to his forehead with an iron nail. If the sorcerer was a woman, then the heart is nailed to its eye. The body is then taken up into the mountains and abandoned in a secret place. Once at the site, GARLIC is placed in the mouth. Should this ceremony happen to take place on St. Ignatius Day, then the body must also be covered in a layer of pig’s fat. The Feast Day of St. Ignatius is October 17, according to the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, December 20 in the Greek Church, and January 2 in the Coptic Church calendar.

Source: Folklore Society, Publications, vol.79-80, 100; Senn, Were-wolf and Vampire in Romania, 10; Stratilesco, From Carpathian to Pindus, 250; Thigpen, Folklore and the Ethnicity Factor, 131