~CREEPY STORY& PICS~ What is The True Story Behind Vampires?

Vampire. The word conjures up images of suave, handsome, or strikingly beautiful creatures, such as is depicted in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Those of you who are fans of her books are quite familiar with the arrogant and sexy Lestat.

One of the most famous vampires of all time is, of course, Count Dracula. The brain child of Bram Stoker who based his immortal monster on a Hungarian ruler know as Vlad Tepes, also know as Vlad Dracul-a, which when translated means "son of the dragon", a nicknamed that was well earned, for the count was a blood thirsty and ruthless ruler.
He was also known as Vlad the Impaler due to his habit of impaling people on very sharp stakes and letting them suffer until they died a horrible and extremely painful death. The legends of vampires were around long before Stoker wrote his book.
From very early times there have been reports and tales of vampires, or vampyr, which means, when roughly translated, "blood drinker". In nature there are all kinds of vampires. Mosquitoes, tick, fleas, bedbugs, and a species of bat that drinks blood, named most aptly the vampire bat. But, what about the vampires of legend? Do they exist? There are some well documented accounts that indicate they do.
There was the case of Arnold Paole. It was reported that Arnold was bitten by a vampire while he was serving as a soldier in his country's army. When he returned home from service he became a farmer. One day while cutting hay Paole had an accident which killed him. A few days later, people started dying from loss of blood. The people started saying there was a vampire in their midst.
There were several eye-witness reports that said they had seen Arnold walking around after his death. His eye were glassy and his teeth had grown long and sharp. The locals went to dig up Paole's body, and when the had unearthed the corpse, there was no decay and there was fresh blood on the lips and a bloom of color in the cheeks. Arnold looked as fresh as the day he had died. The locals pounded a stake through the vampire's heart and heard the vampire screech in agony. Then they cut off the head and burned the body. The deaths stopped.

Count Dracula ~ Vlad Tepes

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Transylvania was a region where the Hungarian king allowed German people to settle down in the 11th century. In the 15th century, when Dracula was born, Transylvania was one of the richest regions of Europe, which made it one of the main goals of the Turkish invasions.
Vlad's father, which was the first one to be called "Dracula", was a warlord, who was set on the throne of the Wallach country (in the south of Transylvania) by Hungarian and Transylvanian rulers, after he swore to protect Christian regions against Turkish Invasions. But he was beaten, and his two sons, Vlad and Raul, were taken to Turkey to force their father to cooperate and send large amounts of silver to Turkey each month. While Raul became a friend of the Sultan, Vlad used the time to study the Turkish language, Turkish torture methods and Turkish strategy. After his father's death the two sons could return to Transylvania, Vlad took his father's place and refused to cooperate with the Sultan. He chose the Danube as a border the Turkish army shall not cross and founded today's Romanian capital Bucharest as a strategic base.
In his three reigns, he became known as a cruel, but genius warlord, and he remained victorious until he was killed in a battle against his own brother Raul.

THE NAME:

In his lifetime, Dracula was known as Vlad Tepes, where Tepes means "The Impaler". It was always said that "Dracula" comes from "The Dragon Order", whose members, like his father, swore to defend the Christian world against Islam, especially the Turkish Invasions. But if you look at any Romanian source or ask local people, you get another answer: "dracul", in the Romanian language, originally means "the devil" - therefore, Vlad the cruel impaler gave it a whole new meaning.

THE BLOODTHIRSTY:

Vlad was known for his cruelty. There are paintings of him, having lunch while enjoying to see people die on the sticks. It was said that after a great battle there was a whole forest of sticks with impaled Turkish soldiers, which made the Sultan withdraw in horror, although he had the better chances to win the war.
There are also stories about Vlad killing children and drinking their blood in front of their parents. Also, cooking people and solving the poverty problem by burning hundreds of poor in a locked off building.
But, today Vlad Tepes is seen as a Romanian hero. For it was said that he was the only ruler who managed to control the country. It was said that there was a lonely spring in the middle of a forest, where he laid a golden cup so that all wanderers could drink, and that it wasn't stolen during his whole reign. Although he used cruel methods, it was said that he had a great sense of justice.

HIS DEATH, THE MYTH:

One legend says that Dracula dressed himself as a Turkish soldier to spy on the Turkish troops, and, by accident, was killed by his own soldiers. Raul took his head to Turkey, while his body was buried on a small island in a lake. After that, it was said that paranormal things happened round that lake. For example, once a group of prisoners crossed the bridge to the island, every one tied to his next, when the bridge broke down - none of them survived.
This information about Count Dracula and Vlad Tepes was provided to us by Irmi Meister, who was actually born in Transylvania.

Vampires Amongst Us:

Our culture delights in tales of the Vampire; that suave, powerful creature that preys on the blood of mere mortals for its sustenance. But no one has ever dragged a blood drinking, immortal "Count Dracula" wanna-be into the light for proof so this creature continues to thrive in myth and storytelling. But behind all good tales there lies a grain or two of truth and herein we expose the vampires amongst us.
First let us dispel the classic form. Through misunderstanding of disease and only recently studied aspects of the physics of decomposition have scientists been able to adequately explain the cause of some of these myths. There are conditions of humidity, airtightness and makeup of human bodies that have been shown to slow down and sometimes even suspend the decomposition process. However, when these preserved bodies are exhumed; brought into the sunlight as it were, the reintroduction of fresh air has disrupted that balance and the decay sets in, sometimes at accelerated speeds.
The pathology of comas are even now not entirely understood but sometimes research doctors have studied people who's life signs have dropped so low that it requires advanced technological devices to see that they ARE still corporeal. So it is no wonder that people in the past would be horrified when someone "dead" would suddenly rise up again.
Since the first recorded instances of vampires; coming from the Sumerians who five thousand years ago wrote of the "ekimmu" the "evil gust of wind" that drains the life force, people have tried to determine what comprises vampirism. Today, research has shown that there is truly a vampiric force at work in the world. Any scientist will tell you that all life is comprised of energy and it is this energy that is the target of transference by what has come to be known as the "psychic vampire".
No, the psychic vampire is not a demonic revenant; it is a much more frightening phenomena in that they are living, mortal humans. They are the individuals who's life force, the "pranic energy" which emanates from all living things, has gotten out of balance or has been depleted.
Under normal circumstances, we each create and use this energy to propel us through our lives. It is usually a balanced flow from creating it with the energy absorbed from food and air and used through the muscle and mental activities we perform. There is a normal fluctuation in the energy flow. When fatigue toxins build up in our bodies we feel "tired". After a rest, so these toxins can be removed by the blood, we will feel "refreshed".
The psychic vampire is a person in whom this flow is perpetually imbalanced and therefore they boost their own levels by contact with other people and "absorb" that energy for themselves. You will most likely recognize the signs of psychic vampires. They are the individuals who need constant attention, sympathy, or reaffirmation of their worth. They are the often belligerent people we meet who demand they be noticed and obeyed; the ones who waste our time being made to give them our attention or else.
To their credit, this phenomena is not usually a conscious process. They feel weak and run down and for some reason talking to or being around other people makes them feel better, for a while. Without realizing it, they create a psychic vortex around themselves that draws life energy towards them. Meanwhile, those who have been in balance find themselves increasingly "drained" of energy and can find themselves "exhausted" after dealing with these people.
The main defense against this type of parasitic attachment is to recognize the symptoms and try to avoid these people. Keep a clear mental shield up in your thoughts that they cannot absorb you and make sure to hang up the phone when you are through, no matter how hard they try to keep you on the line and sucking you dry.