Wanted Undead or Alive:. Джонатан Мэйберри
a lot of (smaller) things up…and by setting lots of fires. Funny Old World.
• December 31. Iceland celebrates the coming of the New Year with a good luck bonfire.
• Bon-bi. Bonfires lit throughout Japan to welcome the return of the spirits of the ancestors, to encourage them to linger in order to offer protection and guidance.
• The eve of Lag Ba’Omer. Bonfires are lit throughout Israel to celebrate Sefirat Ha’Omer (or, the Counting of the Omer), which is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot.
Lohri: In the Indian state of Punjab, the festival of Lohri is held to celebrate the victory of good over evil. Men and women perform Giddha and Bhangra, popular Punjabi folk dances, around a bonfire. Children go from house to house singing songs, and people reward them with gifts of money and food. The revelers build bonfires, then go three times around the blaze, giving offerings of popcorn, peanuts, rayveri, and sweets. Then, to the beat of dhol (the traditional Indian drum), people dance around the fire.
Bhogali Bihu: In Assam, a state in northern India, the Bhogali Bihu harvest festival is celebrated to mark the end of the winter paddy harvest. On the night before the festival, people fast and pray, and thatched pavilions are put up around the countryside. As a sign of the festival having begun, the pavilions are set on fire at dawn.
GOING FORMAL
Throughout Europe (and indeed much of the world) there is a formal method of disposing of vampires called the Ritual of Exorcism. There are scores of variations on this ritual; but the basic plan works like this:
The vampire hunter is accompanied by at least one able-bodied assistant (and ideally by a bunch of tough guys with sharpened staves, torches, axes, and other useful weapons).
Once the resting place of a vampire is located, the tomb or grave is opened.
As soon as the monster is exposed, one or more of the assistants use long stakes or sharpened staves, preferably of hawthorn, to pierce the body and pin it to the ground or against the bottom of the coffin. The stakes do not kill the vampire, though the hawthorn—which is believed to have positive spiritual qualities—renders the monster temporarily helpless. A long stake is driven through the vampire’s body, pinning it to the coffin or to the ground. This stake does not need to pierce the heart; and most species of rosewood are believed to have a similar effect.
The lead vampire hunter usually steps in at this time and cuts off the vampire’s head with a sword, axe, bone saw, or anything else that will get the job done.
Fresh garlic is stuffed into the vampire’s mouth and sprinkled liberally throughout the coffin. The purifying qualities of the garlic break the bonds between the demonic possessing spirit and flesh.
The arms and legs of the corpse are bound to prevent movement.
A corncob, block of wood, or other object is used to prop open the vampire’s mouth so that it cannot bite.
Long needles are driven through the extremities of the vampire to further immobilize the creature.
The coffin is resealed and buried again.
If, somehow, the vampire rises again, then the vampire hunters dig up the corpse and burn it to ash. That usually does it, but it’s a last result because not all cultures or religions permit cremation.
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