A Book Review

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

"The Element Encyclopedia of Vampires", by Teresa Cheung, who wishes to be asserted as the moral owner of her words

"KALI

"The vampire-like and bloodthirsty goddess Kali is a major figure in Indian mythology,...In early sixteenth century texts Kali is described as having fangs, wearing a garland of corpses and living in cemeteries,and in most representations she is depicted as a blood-drenched creature with dark hair and four hands, holding a knife, a severed head and a noose.

Followers of Kali sacrificed goats at her temples, but the Thugyees (bands of assassins and bandits who were devoted to Kali) , who were more extreme,, would offer their victims as ritual sacrifices to the goddess"

"LILITH

"Lilith is among the oldest known vampire demons in world folklore. She is often portrayed in Hebrew folklore and legend as the first woman, created to be the wife of Adam. She became known as the Queen of the Night because she had an evil nature and left Adam to join the forces of darkness. According to the Talmud (sixth century AD) Lilith disagreed with Adam over who should be in the dominant position during sexual intercourse. Adam insisted on being on top so Lilith used her magical knowledge to escape to the demon-infested Red Sea. Here she had many lovers and bore children called the Lilum(sic)

Three angels sent by God eventually worked out a truce with her; Lilith was granted vampiric powers over babies but agreed to leave those alone who  wore an amulet bearing the names of three angels. Still in love with Adam, Lilith returned to haunt him and his second wife, Eve, in the form of a succubus when they had been expelled from the garden of Eden. Also known as Lili or Lilitu, Lilith appeared in the Epic of Gilgamesh as a beautiful vampire woman who had owl's feet (suggesting her nocturnal life) and was one of the seven Babylonian evil spirits incorporated into Hebrew folklore.In Islamic folklore, she is the mother of the Djinn,a type of demon.

Her story was well-established in the Jewish community during the early Christian era but it was not until the tenth century that her biography was expanded and elaborated on in contradictory detail in the writing of the early Hasidic Fathers. In the Zohar, perhaps the most influential Hasidic text, Lilith is not a vampire but a succubus, who attacks and steals the souls of human babies, especially those who laughed in their sleep. She is accompanied by a host of succubi demons and her powers are greatest during the waning moon.

...

Conclusion

Whatever version of the story is told, Lilith typically hates children,perhaps because her own are always portrayed as twisted, deformed and wicked. She is always particularly hateful of normal sexual relations between men and women, and takes out this anger on the children born of this mating by sucking their blood and killing them. Lilith was also said to curse women with barrenness and miscarriages and as such became a vampiric being that was typically blamed for any problems or deaths associated with childbirth..."

HEKATE

"Hekate was a goddess believed by the ancient Greeks to be the patroness of sorcery and magic and the Queen of the Underworld - the world of the sleeping and the dead.

She was an influential figure in linking vampirism with witchcraft, sorcery and the occult.

She was often depicted with three bodies standing back to back so she could see in all directions from a crossroad.(lol)

Her association with vampirism and blood-drinking probably originated from her involvement with sorcery as well as the actions of her evil servants; demons known as mormos and phantom-like vampires called empusas."

CROSSROADS

"Crossroads-places of meetings and parting of ways- have long been regarded as likely places for evil activity.They are unhallowed ground haunted by vampires, demons, the Devil, witches, ghosts, spirits, fairies(sic) and other evil entities."

CHRISTMAS

"The pre-Christian pagan winter solstice (Dec 21) was seen as an especially problematic time, when the boundary between this world and the next could be breached, allowing harmful spirits to seep through, to perhaps claim a victim or two. It became customary to put up decorations and hold loud, cheery celebrations in the hope that the noise and color would convince the lurking demons and evil spirits that there was too much brightness and too many humans gathered in one place to take them on.

From this vantage point of pagan folk beliefs a number of Christmas customs, such as decking the halls with holly, singing carols,lighting candles, and flinging open the door at midnight on Christmas Eve to let the evil spirits out, 

can be better understood."

THE BOOK REVIEW

"I cannot profess to be a theologian, but it seems to me that Christians (such as the author-my note) who believe in a personal, superhuman Satan have got themselves into a logical impasse with regard to their own religion.

For either God cannot prevent the mischief of Satan,in which case he is not omnipotent; or else he could do so if he wished, but will not, in which case he is not benevolent.

Fortunately, as a pagan witch, I am not called upon to solve this problem"

~ Doreen Valiente

(my note)