Vampires of the World

Throughout the Ages and the World there have been a lot of vampire like creatures, In the following we will take on a trip around the World to see what we can find out there:

Africa:

In the 1920's Montague Summers searched the World for Vampires, he found that in Africa, there was very little literal vampirism, actually he found only 2 examples: the Asasabonsam and the Obayifo.

The Asasabonsam was a vampire like creature found in the folklore of the Ashanti people of Ghana. It was humanoid in appearance except for a set
of iron teeth and their hook shaped feet. They were very rarely encountered as they lived deep in the forest, sitting in the trees allowing their feet to hang down and catch unwary people passing by below.

The Obayifo was in fact the Ashanti name for a West African vampire which were known in many different tribes under similar names. It was a witch
living incognito in the tribe community. Secretly in the darkness of the night the witch was able to leave her body and travel as a ball of light. They then
attacked people (especially children) sucking their blood.

More recently John Vellutini argued that beneath the surface of African beliefs about witchcraft, much material was analogous to the Eastern European or Slavic Vampire. Witches had numerous powers, including the ability to change their shape into that of various animals. They were known to indulge themselves in acts of cannibalism and vampirism.

America:

As in Africa, there was very little literal vampirism, it was the European settlers that brought the belief to America, and that was mostly the original
vampire, the African Americans brought their types with them, and only one new type is heard of here, the Fifollet.

The Fifollet or Feu-follet known to the residents of Louisiana, were furthermore known as the traditional Will-O-the-Wisp deriving from the French
Incubus/Succubus, they were the souls of a dead person most likely a child who had died before baptism. Normally their attack were only mischief, but it happened they became vampires and sucked the blood of their victims, which mostly were children.

Armenia:

Little is known of vampirism in Armenia, but Montague Summers mentioned a certain Dakhanavar.

The Dakhanavar protected the valleys from intruders. He used to attack people at night and sucked their blood from their feet. Legends say it that he was outwitted by two men who slept with their feet under each other's head. The creature thereafter ran away frustrated by having seen a creature with two heads. It haven't been seen since...

Assyria:

The writings of ancient Mesopotamia indicated an elaborate mythology with a legion of deities, but they only told about one example of true vampires The Seven Evil Spirits as described in a poem quoted by R. Campbell Thomson:

Seven are they! Seven are they!
Spirits that minis the heaven and earth,
that minis the land,
spirits that minis the land,
of giant strength,
of giant strength and giant tread.
Demons like raging bulls, great ghosts,
ghosts that break through all houses,
demons that have no shame.
Seven are they!
Knowing no care, they grind the land like corn;
knowing no mercy they rage against mankind.
They spill their blood like rain,
devouring their flesh and sucking their veins.
They are demons full of violence, ceaselessly devouring
blood.

Montage Summers spoke of a Vampire like creature called the Ekimmu a spirit of an unburied person, he based his case on some literature concerning the Neatherworld (the abode of the dead) wherein the line: "His spirit resteth not in the earth" appears, he then connected this with some other passages, and came to the conklusion thah, what we spoke of here was vampires. BUT recent translations of the same line has made it clear that the spirit didn't roam around restlessly through the earth but through the Neatherworld. Thus while the idea of vampires did exist in Assyria (Mesopotamia), it was not as prominent as Summers would indicate.

Australia:

Only one Vampire like creature has been known in Australian folklore. In the Aboriginal cultures there existed a creature known as the Yara-ma-yha-who.

The Yara-ma-yha-who was a little red man about 4 ft. tall with an exceptionally large mouth, it's hands had suckers like an octopus. It didn't hunt for
food, but as the Asasabonsam it lived in the trees (mainly fig trees) and when unwary people sought shelter below the tree, it would drop down on them, place it's hands and feet on the body and then drain the blood from the victim until the victim was left weak and helpless.

Later it would return and swallow the living body whole, drink some water and take a nap. After it's nap the undigested portion of it's meal would be regurgitated. The person regurgitated would then still be alive. People might be captured on several occasions, and each time they would grow a little shorter to the point where they were at the same size as the Yara-ma-yha-who, and they would then gradually change into being one too.

Bulgaria:

In Bulgarian folklore two vampire types are known: the variety of the Slavic Vampire the Vampir and the Ustrel. The word Vampir is a borrowing from the Russian language, original it was called Opyri or Opiri which later changed to Vipir, Vepir or Vapir. Among the Gagauz people (Bulgarians speaking their own language Gagauzi) this vampire was known as the Obur.

Most commonly the Vampir was associated with problems of death and burial. The myth says that the soul of a dead person travelled to all the places it had visited during its lifetime. After this journey (which took 40 days) it would then move on to the next life, but if its burial had been done improperly or if the person had died a violent death, the passage to the next life might have been blocked and a Vampir would then have been born.

This vampire type could live for centuries among normal people and even father children there, they were known to eat a normal diet. The Vampire could be killed as normal by using the traditional stake. But a very unique method has been reported: the bottling. This method required a specialist, the djadadjii, normally also the priest. He would chase the Vampire with his holy icon and drive it towards a bottle filled with the Vampire's favorite food, the Vampire would then enter the bottle, which would then be corked and thrown into a bonfire.

The Ustrel was a particular Bulgarian vampire type. It was described as the spirit of a child who had been born on a Saturday and had died before receiving baptism. On the ninth day an Ustrel was believed to work its way out through the grave. It would then attack sheep and cattle and drain their blood.

After about 10 days of feeding the Ustrel didn't need to return to the grave at day anymore. It would then rest at day between the horns of a calf or between the hind legs of a milch-cow. If a herd owner believed that there was an Ustrel among his herd, he would hire a so-called vampirdzhija, a person who had the ability to see these creatures, so no doubt about its presence would remain.

The village people would then start a large ritual. Beginning on a Saturday morning, all the fires of the village were put out. The cattle or sheep were then marched to a nearby crossroad where two bonfires were lit (created by rubbing two sticks together). the herds were then guided between the two bonfires, and the vampire were then believed to drop to the earth and remaining at the crossroad until it later would be devoured be wolves.

All the household fires were then relit be using the fire from the two bonfires.