Pain from child birth crumples the face of a young woman. Sweat saturates her glossy hair, matting it into stringy, dark locks. Shuddering, she lets out a final groan before collapsing from exhaustion.
The midwife whispers, "The child is already dead."
Malay vampires emerge into the world through sorrowful suffering like this. "The vampire has two manifestations in Malaysia: the langsuyar [langsuir] and the pontianak" (Bush 195). These 'undead' creatures are intimately related, and often confused in the folklore of Malaysia and the surrounding regions.
"Any woman giving birth who died upon discovering that her child was stillborn was thought to become" a langsuyar (Konstantinos 24). The original "langsuyar was a very beautiful woman who had a stillborn baby. The woman flew off into the trees. She is denoted by her ankle-length black hair, green robe and her long fingernails, a Malaysian indicator of female pulchritude" (Bush 195). "The langsuir was not described as having fangs like other vampires, rather," she "sucks the blood of infants through a hole in the back of her neck, hidden by her copious hair" (Konstantions 24, Bush 195).
Malay folklore provides a way that the langsuir "can be captured and cured of her curse in such a way that she can once again live an almost normal life" (Konstantinos 8). This revival may be "accomplished by a mortal who would cut the vampire's nails and hair, and stuff them into the hole in her neck" (24). The task is not easy, but it will return the woman to the mortal condition prior to her miscarriage and subsequent transformation into a langsuyar.
"The pontianak is curiously complimentary to the langsuyar. It's a stillborn child that transformed into an owl-like creature" (Bush 195). "In the Malay Peninsula the Pontianak (or Mati-anak) is usually distinguished as the ghost of a child who has died at birth." This ghost may take possession of living humans and impart impossible powers upon them. "There are many references in Malay literature to the flying performances of Malayan heroes" who were supposedly under the influence of the childlike creatures (Folklore 135).
"Before we move away from Malaysia, one more vampire (not a species, but an individual, legendary creature) deserves mention--the penanggalan. That creature was also believed to be female; a woman who was interrupted in the middle of a penance ceremony. From her great shock and rapid movement, her head became separated from her body and flew off as an evil spirit. The creature was later heard whining on the roofs of houses where children were being born. She apparently wished to get inside the houses to drink the children's blood." (Konstantinos 24). They are also known to be "evil spirits that take possession of women and turn them into predatory witches" (Stevenson 96).
"Just to confuse matters, it is also believed that sorcerers can often raise bodies from the dead and command them to do their bidding...such beings could drink blood or spread disease. Malaysia was a case in point for many of these vampires" (Curran128). Vampires in Malaysia are terrifying and mournful creatures. "Such demons may have served in part to frighten women into upholding the responsibilities of wifedom and motherhood, lest they, too, become monsters" (Stevenson 84).
Kopiruba kawagu,
Ana
Read the blog article about Malaysia, monkeys, and malaria.
Sources:
Bush, Laurence C. Asian horror encyclopedia: Asian horror culture in literature...
Curran, Bob. Vampires: a field guide to the creatures that stalk the night.
Folklore Society (Great Britain). Folklore.
Konstantions. Vampires: the occult truth.
Stevenson, Jay. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires.
Showing posts with label blood-drinker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood-drinker. Show all posts
15 September 2009
18 July 2009
Lamia: the demon enchantress
She seem'd, at once, some penanced lady elf,
Some demon's mistress, or the demon's self.
...
Her head was serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet!
She had a woman's mouth with all its pearls complete:
And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there
But weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?
...
Her throat was serpent, but the words she spake
Came, as through bubbling honey, for Love's sake,
(Keats 55-66)
In his poem, entitled Lamia, Keats describes Lamia as "an enchantress in the form of a serpent" who is transformed "into a lovely maiden" by Hermes as he searches Crete island for the most beautiful nymph of the forest(MacDowell 2). Lycius, a mortal man, is entranced by her beauty and impressed by her grace. But, in the end "Lamia again assumes the form of a serpent...and Lycius is found lifeless" (2). "The tender-person'd Lamia" has melted "into a shade" (Keats Pt 2).
The examples of a romantic Lamia are many. Thomas Hood writes a play with Lamia cast in the romantic role. Others follow the footsteps of the great authors, transfiguring Lamia from a demon into a nymph or glorious goddess. But, like all such ancient stories of archaic fiends, the Lamia that rears her head in myth greatly differs from the one who steps lightly through literature.
Is she a beautiful nymph or is she the "dreadful wild beast called a Lamia" that Plutarch asserts (Plutarch 139). Plutarch describes Lamia in some similar language--creating her a judge. However, "Upon this acccount, Diodorus tells us, that this Lamia became a bugbear to children" (Plutarch commentary by Langhorne). The ancients described her as ghoul or a goblin that scared and tormented children at night. She was an object of dread.
Homer and Hesiod called Lamia Hekate or Echidna. She was a goddess and frightful one at that. She traveled the world, but "the commonest legend of Lamia places her in Libya" (Fontenrose 100). "In Libya there once lived a beautiful queen. Since Zeus loved her and made her his mistress, she aroused Hera's jealousy and hatred. In consequence Hera destroyed every child that was born to Lamia, until from great grief she turned ugly in body and soul." In other words, her despair transformed her into a monstrous creature with evil and vile intentions. "Because she envied other women their children, she went about seizing infants and killing them. Some say that she tore them to pieces or ate them. Finally she became literally a beast and went to live in a cave. Hera sent insomnia upon her too, but Zeus in pity granted her the power to remove her eyes, which she placed in a basket when she wanted to sleep" (Fontenrose).
"Lamia in myth is Scylla's mother, also another name for Hecate, or Echidna, meaning viper, seen in her snake form" (Alban 95). These attributes vary between tales, and Lamia is also called the mother of Sibyl Herophile. In any case, this "frightful woman [Hecate, Lamia, Echinda] was spectre, ogress, vampire, snake, sea monster, several kinds of beast and various mixtures of them" (Kabitoglou 311). Like all ancient monsters, Lamia has been given many names of the millennia. Other names include Sybaris and Gerana. In Latin, her name means witch or vampire and this is what she is (Latin wordlist). She is not a giggling nymph or romantic enchantress, although her human form may be entrancing. She is a vile, disgusting, serpent-woman who tears children apart and drinks the blood of many.
I could speak for days on Lamia, for I know her better than all the other creatures that crawl the earth. (Don't worry, although Calista is dear to me, you needn't fear--she is not the Lamia--but, a predator of a different sort.) I fear that I already bore you with such descriptions, so take this information with you. Lamia adopts many forms and names, and she is closer than you imagine. Time has subdued her raging heart, but she still morns the loss of her children, and at times her anger overpowers her. Beware of the lady with a beautiful face and graceful body, for in her core may beat a heart of evil.
Xaire,
Ana
Requested by @Twilightmyst.
Sources:
Fontrose, Joseph Eddy. Python.
Hood, Thomas. Lamia.
Kabitoglou. E. Douka. Plato and the English romantics.
Keats, John. The Poetical Works of John Keats. "36 Lamia: Part 1 and 2." 1884.
Plutarch, John Langhorne, William Langhorne. Plutarch's Lives.
Some demon's mistress, or the demon's self.
...
Her head was serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet!
She had a woman's mouth with all its pearls complete:
And for her eyes: what could such eyes do there
But weep, and weep, that they were born so fair?
...
Her throat was serpent, but the words she spake
Came, as through bubbling honey, for Love's sake,
(Keats 55-66)
In his poem, entitled Lamia, Keats describes Lamia as "an enchantress in the form of a serpent" who is transformed "into a lovely maiden" by Hermes as he searches Crete island for the most beautiful nymph of the forest(MacDowell 2). Lycius, a mortal man, is entranced by her beauty and impressed by her grace. But, in the end "Lamia again assumes the form of a serpent...and Lycius is found lifeless" (2). "The tender-person'd Lamia" has melted "into a shade" (Keats Pt 2).
The examples of a romantic Lamia are many. Thomas Hood writes a play with Lamia cast in the romantic role. Others follow the footsteps of the great authors, transfiguring Lamia from a demon into a nymph or glorious goddess. But, like all such ancient stories of archaic fiends, the Lamia that rears her head in myth greatly differs from the one who steps lightly through literature.
Is she a beautiful nymph or is she the "dreadful wild beast called a Lamia" that Plutarch asserts (Plutarch 139). Plutarch describes Lamia in some similar language--creating her a judge. However, "Upon this acccount, Diodorus tells us, that this Lamia became a bugbear to children" (Plutarch commentary by Langhorne). The ancients described her as ghoul or a goblin that scared and tormented children at night. She was an object of dread.
Homer and Hesiod called Lamia Hekate or Echidna. She was a goddess and frightful one at that. She traveled the world, but "the commonest legend of Lamia places her in Libya" (Fontenrose 100). "In Libya there once lived a beautiful queen. Since Zeus loved her and made her his mistress, she aroused Hera's jealousy and hatred. In consequence Hera destroyed every child that was born to Lamia, until from great grief she turned ugly in body and soul." In other words, her despair transformed her into a monstrous creature with evil and vile intentions. "Because she envied other women their children, she went about seizing infants and killing them. Some say that she tore them to pieces or ate them. Finally she became literally a beast and went to live in a cave. Hera sent insomnia upon her too, but Zeus in pity granted her the power to remove her eyes, which she placed in a basket when she wanted to sleep" (Fontenrose).
"Lamia in myth is Scylla's mother, also another name for Hecate, or Echidna, meaning viper, seen in her snake form" (Alban 95). These attributes vary between tales, and Lamia is also called the mother of Sibyl Herophile. In any case, this "frightful woman [Hecate, Lamia, Echinda] was spectre, ogress, vampire, snake, sea monster, several kinds of beast and various mixtures of them" (Kabitoglou 311). Like all ancient monsters, Lamia has been given many names of the millennia. Other names include Sybaris and Gerana. In Latin, her name means witch or vampire and this is what she is (Latin wordlist). She is not a giggling nymph or romantic enchantress, although her human form may be entrancing. She is a vile, disgusting, serpent-woman who tears children apart and drinks the blood of many.
I could speak for days on Lamia, for I know her better than all the other creatures that crawl the earth. (Don't worry, although Calista is dear to me, you needn't fear--she is not the Lamia--but, a predator of a different sort.) I fear that I already bore you with such descriptions, so take this information with you. Lamia adopts many forms and names, and she is closer than you imagine. Time has subdued her raging heart, but she still morns the loss of her children, and at times her anger overpowers her. Beware of the lady with a beautiful face and graceful body, for in her core may beat a heart of evil.
Xaire,
Ana
Requested by @Twilightmyst.
Sources:
Fontrose, Joseph Eddy. Python.
Hood, Thomas. Lamia.
Kabitoglou. E. Douka. Plato and the English romantics.
Keats, John. The Poetical Works of John Keats. "36 Lamia: Part 1 and 2." 1884.
Plutarch, John Langhorne, William Langhorne. Plutarch's Lives.
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