The magical power of blood

Abstract

We all have heard about vampires. Many cultures have developed myths and legends about vampires with different features. These tales have several common elements, as the dualism between life and death. Vampirism is one of the most enduring, universal, popular myths of all times, being one of the most archaic images that society has feared. Popular tales, folk legends and mythological stories about beings that prey upon others to drink their blood have been told for centuries across myriad peoples all over the world. Over the past few centuries, modern vampire myths emerging out of Europe have outlined the bloodsucking monsters as those who have risen from the dead to feed on human blood by night, sleeping in coffins by day to avoid the effects of the sun. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula provided us with the now iconic archetype. Vampires are deeply associated to blood, the vital fluid whose consumption has been a curse both for such a being and for the peoples. According to social, anthropological conceptions, these symbols do not come from nothing, but follow a process of transformation, emerging from real experience, intertwined with the cultural tradition. We intend to show and analyze the reason for such a linking.