In ancient Mesopotamia there was a vampiric REVENANT known as an uruku (“vampire which attacks man”). The uruku was created when someone interfered with a person’s proper burial rites. It returned as a transparent and ghostlike being, spreading disease and acting as a type of evil muse that inspired criminal behavior.
Source: Konstantinos, Vampires, 19; Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes, 192; Summers, Vampire: His Kith and Kin, 225
В древней Месопотамии был вампирический ревенант, известный как уруку («вампир, нападающий на человека»). Уруку возникал, когда кто-нибудь вмешивался в надлежащие похоронные обряды. Он возвращался как призрачное прозрачное существо, разносящее болезни и, словно, своего рода, злая муза, вдохновлявшее на преступления.
Источники: Konstantinos, «Vampires», 19; Rose, «Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes», 192; Summers, «Vampire: His Kith and Kin», 225
In Russia, there is a vampiric REVENANT called an upyr that is created when a heretic, sorcerer, or witch dies. It can also be created as the child born of the union between a werewolf and a witch. Looking like a normal person, the upyr is active between noon and midnight. It attacks people in their homes, going after the children first and then moving on to the parents. It drains each victim of his blood, and, using its ironlike teeth, gnaws into his chest so that it may consume the heart. In fact, the teeth of the upyr are possibly its greatest assets, as it uses them to chew through the ground that has frozen solid in the winter months so that it can escape its own grave.
To discover where the upyr’s grave is, she must, if at all possible, attach a string to a button on its clothing as it flees the scene of one of its attacks. Then, a person can follow the string from the spool of thread back to its grave. Once there, the ground must be completely soaked in holy water and the upyr must be staked through the chest to keep it in its grave, but the stake must be driven through in a single blow or the vampire will rise again. Another method of destruction is to decapitate the vampire and burn its corpse to ashes.
Source: Indiana University, Journal, vol.14, 255; Oinas, Essays on Russian Folklore, 126-127; Summers, Vampire: His Kith and Kin, 18
The upor is a Russian vampiric REVENANT that preys on the blood of children. In addition to its ability to shape-shift into chickens, dogs, insects, rats, and small birds, it can also create an empathic and telepathic link with numerous types of animals. Once the empathic link has been established, the upor can use the animal as its familiar as well as use it to spy on potential victims. To destroy an upor, its grave must first be found, and then a successful exorcism must be performed on the corpse.
Упёр — русский вампирический ревенант, который охотится за кровью детей. В дополнение к своей способности превращаться в цыплят, собак, насекомых, крыс и маленьких птиц, он также может создавать эмпатическую и телепатическую связь с многочисленными видами животных. Как только эмпатическая связь установлена, упёр может использовать животное как фамильяра, а также для слежения за потенциальными жертвами. Чтобы уничтожить упёра, сначала нужно найти его могилу, а затем провести над трупом успешный экзорцизм.
From Polish vampire lore, the upioras is described as looking like a large man. It attacks its victims at night by grabbing them up and smashing their bodies around until their bones are completely pulped. It then sucks out the soup it has made. When it has finished eating, it skins the corpses and wears the skins of its victims. To destroy an upioras, it must be completely soaked in holy water.
Source: Georgieva, Bulgarian Mythology; Perkowski, The Darkling, 166
Упёрас
В польских преданиях о вампирах, упёрасы по описаниям похожи на крупных мужчин. Они нападают на своих жертв по ночам, хватая и осыпая ударами до тех пор, пока кости в теле не превратятся полностью в мягкую массу. Затем упёрас высасывает полученный таким образом суп. Когда он заканчивает есть, то обдирает труп и носит кожу своей жертвы. Чтобы уничтожить упёраса, его нужно полностью пропитать святой водой.
Источники: Georgieva, «Bulgarian Mythology»; Perkowski, «The Darkling», 166
The Ruthenian people of eastern Poland have in their lore a vampiric REVENANT called an upierzyca. Always described as a beautiful young woman, on nights of the full moon, the upierzyca hunts for young men. It attacks them and, using the barb on the end of its tongue, will pierce their skin, draining them of their blood.
If a deceased woman is suspected of being an upierzyca, her body must be exhumed. Upon examination the body will not only be undecayed, but the creature’s eyes, head, and mouth will still be moving. Its burial shroud may also shows signs of having been partially consumed.
Source: Dundes, Vampire Casebook, 8; Haining, Dictionary of Vampires, 254; Masters, Natural History of the Vampire, 101; Perkowski, The Darkling, 113; Volta, The Vampire, 143
In Russian lore, there is a type of vampiric REVENANT that is created whenever a witch or a heretic dies. It is called an upierczi. Like the UPIER, it is active between the hours of noon and midnight and also has a stinger under its tongue that it uses to pierce the skin of its human victims in order to drink their blood more easily. It too has the ability to cause severe droughts.
The upierczi must be destroyed in the same fashion as the UPIERCI, that is, by driving an aspen wood stake through its heart in a single blow while it is in its grave. Another method to destroy the upierczi is to burn it to ash, but just like with the upier, the upierczi will at some point explode into maggots, all of which must also be destroyed or else the vampire will return seeking revenge.
Source: Masters, Natural History of the Vampire, 101
In Russian lore a type of vampiric REVENANT is created when a person commits suicide, dies violently, or practiced witchcraft while he was alive; it is called an upierci. It has the ability to cause a drought so severe that it will even draw moisture out of plants. To destroy an upierci it can either be drowned in a lake or nailed into its grave with an aspen wood stake. However, it must be nailed down in a single blow, otherwise the upierci will revive.
Source: Bryant, Handbook of Death, 99; Davison, Sucking Through the Century, 354
Упирцы (Упыри)
Варианты: Уппыр, Упырцы
В русских преданиях упырцы — вид вампирического ревенанта, возникает, когда человек совершает самоубийство, умирает насильственной смертью или при жизни практикует колдовство. Он способен вызывать такую сильную засуху, что вытягивает влагу даже из растений. Чтобы уничтожить упырца, его можно либо утопить в озере, либо прибить ко дну могилы осиновым колом. Однако упырец должен быть пригвожден одним ударом, иначе он возродится.
Источники: Bryant, «Handbook of Death», 99; Davison, «Sucking Through the Century», 354
In Poland, when a male child who was born with teeth dies, he will rise up as a type of vampiric REVENANT known as an upier (upiercsa if female).
Active between noon and midnight, it leaves its grave and seeks out humans to attack, using the barb on the end of its tongue to pierce their skin and drain them of their blood. If it has the opportunity, the upier will remove the person’s heart and eat it, as it is especially fond of the taste of that particular organ. When it returns to its grave, it will regurgitate some of the blood it consumed into its COFFIN so that it can submerge itself in it. Like the NACHZEHRER of Germany, the upier will also climb the bell tower and ring the bells, shouting out the names of people in the community. Anyone who hears his name being called while the bells are pealing will die. In order to kill an upier, it must be burned to ash, but be advised, at some point during the cremation, the vampire will explode into hundreds of small maggots. Each and every single maggot must be found and destroyed, otherwise the upier will rise again, but this time, seeking revenge.
Source: Perkowski, Vampires of the Slavs, 163; Sketches of Imposture, 208-209; Summers, Vampire in Lore and Legend, 158
In German vampire lore there is an evil vampiric spirit that acts out against mankind, specifically seeking Christians to be its victims (see GERMAN VAMPIRES). It is called an unholde and its name translates essentially to mean “the one that is not good or beautiful.” It abducts its victim, removes his heart, then cooks and consumes it. Then it returns to the corpse and replaces the heart with one it has carved out of wood. The unholde performs a magical ceremony and animates the corpse.
Traditionally, the unholde was considered to be a HEXE, that is, a practitioner of magic. However, it was not until the late seventeenth century that the word HEXE came to mean a human practitioner of magic. By the early eighteenth century, it became interchangeable with the word witch.
Source: Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, 947, 1045, 1061, 1081; Guiley, Complete Vampire Companion, 176; Günther, Tales and Legends of the Tyrol, 15-16
Undeath, or unlife as it is sometimes referred to, is a word that is used nearly exclusively in regards to vampires and vampiric lore, as it describes a state of being or the existence of an individual that is deceased but still acting in a lifelike manner.
To be undead, a person first has to die. The way in which a person dies is oftentimes a key component in achieving undeath. For instance, numerous cultures believe that if people commit suicide or die while giving birth, they are primed to return to the world of the living as vampiric REVENANTS, beings who exists in a state of undeath. These individuals are clearly deceased, but nevertheless are still active, mobile, and living out an agenda. Depending on the culture, the conditions that can cause a corpse to rise up in a state of undeath varies. The condition of the body and the mindset of the being that has returned varies as well. Most undead beings and creatures are revenants — animated corpses who seek out blood or vital human essences in order to maintain their very existence. Beings who are undead will not die of natural causes and will “live on” until they are destroyed in the very exacting method that their culture or mythology has predetermined.
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