Early Roman Churches Reaction to Vampyres by Everglais
POSTED: 28 December 98
Witches and vampyres have been considered to be related since Roman times. Before
then, Pagan beliefs in such entities were pushed aside by Christianity and thought to be
non-existent. However, in ancient Rome, the first witch, called a strega or strix, was a
night-flying demon that attacked and sucked the blood of infants. The strix was also the
first being that was thought to have the powers of transformation. It could transform
itself into the forms of animals, particularly a crow, and attacked its victims in disguise.
From this ancient myth comes the superstition that crows are evil beings. From Rome,
this legend spread through Italy and Romania.
The church still insisted that no such creatures existed and published legal documents
stating that people who believed in such beings "were infidels". In an authoritative
document, "The Nomocanon", the church states:
"It is impossible that a dead man should become a vampyre, unless it be by the power
of the Devil who, wishing to mock and delude some that they may incur the wrath of
Heaven, causes these dark wonders, and so very often at night he casts a glamour
whereby men imagine that the dead man whom they knew formerly appears and holds
converse with them, and in their dreams too they see strange visions..."
Laws were passed, saying that those who believe in vampyres and/or witches would be
counted as a heretic and would be punished as one. Because the belief was no longer
thought to be non-existent; it was now given the name Satanism, and a belief in such
beings was heresy.
In the 1500's, the problem of vampyrism emerged from Roman Catholics who had
encountered vampyres. In 1645, Friar Leo Allatius published a document which brought
up a reconsideration of the current view of vampyres. Twelve years later, Friar Francoise
Richard published his document supporting Allatius' views.
These documents basically stated that vampyrism was in deed the work of Satan, and
Satan not only had the power to cause illusions of reanimated corpses, but could also
reanimate the corpse. Thus, vampyres were more than simple ghosts. However, it was
thought that because vampyres were real evil, they could be apprehended with religious
paraphernalia such as crucifixes, Eucharist wafers, and holy water.
Though the belief in vampyres was banished in the Eastern countries of Europe, it was
widespread throughout the west. In the twentieth century, the belief in psychic vampyres
emerged, and blood-sucking vampyres, once again, became more of a myth than
belief.
Everglais is a gothic writer and poet who writes a frequent Vampyre column for the
X-Project Paranormal Magazine.
