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Vampires, “strigoi” or “moroi”!
The Western vampires, who get out of their tombs for sucking their victims` blood, turning them into beings like them, can be considered the represention of the “strigoi” or “moroi” from the Romanian tradition.
The “strigoi”, dead or alive, are human souls which can`t find their rest.
The living “strigoi” are formed from the children born with an additional vertebra (“with tail”), from the ones born with “shirt” or “cap” (remains of the embryonic membrane) or from the ones born from an incest. A “strigoi” also becomes the third child born without father, the ninth or the twelfth baby of the same sex or a child conceived on a feast day. It is said that the women give birth to children with “cap” if during their pregnancy they drank the water in which a devil left his slobber or if they came out in the night with the head uncovered and the devil put a red cap on their head, cap with which their baby will born. If the midwife sees that cap, she must break it so the baby shouldn`t eat it and thus become a “strigoi”. Also the midwife, when she sees the “tail”, the “cap” or the “shirt”, can decide where the “strigoi” will cause damages: in the agriculture, in the tame animals etc.
The living “strigoi” are invisible and they only can be seen by those who were born on a Saturday or by those who on St. George`s Eve cut the head of a white snake with a coin, put incense and garlic in its mouth and buried it under the house entrance. During the day, the “strigoi” can be recognized, as they don`t eat onion and garlic and they don`t touch the incense. During night, the “strigoi” (the souls) leave the bodies of the human beings (who remain as dead) and they cause all kind of damages: they steal the milk of the cows, the wheat from the field or even the men`s virility, they influence the rain or turn the world upside down. There are two very important critical nights from this point of view: St. George`s Eve (April 22nd to April 23rd) and St. Andrew`s night (November 29th to November 30th).
On St. George`s Eve, the “strigoi”, but especially the “strigoi-women”, steal the wheat of the field and the milk of the cows, but the men`s virility also. On St. Andrew`s night, the souls, after having got out of the body, roll over three times and turn into different animals. They meet the dead “strigoi” on the crossroads and fight for choosing this way the one who will be their leader in the next year. After having healed their wounds, before the first crock of the cocks, they return to the bodies they left at home.
Unlike the living “strigoi”, who are people whose souls leave their bodies during night, the dead “strigoi” are dead people whose souls can`t reach the other world, for one reason or another. Their bodies don`t rot and they return (after nine days, six weeks, six months or six years), especially in the nights with full moon, between the first and the third crock of the cocks, tormenting the ones who are still alive.
After the death, if a man was a living “strigoi”, will turn into a dead one if certain rituals haven`t been respected. That is why the mother of a child who was born a “strigoi” will tell him about it. If it is known that someone was a “strigoi” during his life, a spike, a pale or a spindle is sticked in his heart before being buried.
Dead “strigoi” become also the ones in whose cases the burial traditions weren`t respected. The dead mustn`t be left alone during the night before being buried, as there is the risk that he become a “strigoi” if an animall will pas under him. Another custom is to put in the dead man`s mouth or handkerchief a holed coin, in order to have money to pay the customs duties to the other world or to put incense in all the openings of the body. Also become “strigoi” the ones who sold their souls to the devil during life time, the unbaptized children or the children who were murdered by their mothers.
Means of protection against the “strigoi”
In order to protect themselves against the living “strigoi”, the people put green branches at the windows or doors or graze them with garlic. For the same purpose fires were lit and noises were made or the cattle and the fields were carefully watched over.
In the case of the dead “strigoi”, the protection and annihilation means are more complex. In order to find the grave of a dead “strigoi”, a horse was used during night. The grave over which the horse refused to jump was the grave of a dead “strigoi”. The same thing happened also if the tomb had a hole in it (the “strigoi” got out through it) or if the earth was lowered. Sometimes the dead thought to be “strigoi” were found in the coffins in other positions (a possible explanation can be the clinical death). When he was identified, a “strigoi” had to be killed. Thus, his heart was taken out of the body and burnt, different things were stuck in his heart, the coffin was turned upside down, the dead was shoot or incinerated or garlic sauce was poured through the hole from the tomb. It is believed that when a “strigoi” is killed, a great rain will follow and if a “strigoi” is buried, the drought comes next.
Brrr; always wear a garlic necless and you're going to be safe and healthy for sure. A bit of smell, never harms! :-D
Your friend,
Anamaria
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