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Religion and VampiresYes, I know that vampires and religion make uncomfortable companions, and many of my students on both sides of this playing field automatically turn off their attention and their brains if either is mentioned – making them what? Zombies? Aren’t Zombies creatures that don’t respond to change by changing? But demonstrating once more great courage (take thatCowardly lion), this begins the summer 09 section on religion and vampires. I ask only that you engage your brain as we wrestle with these overwhelmingly eternal concepts and beings.I am beginning with the sensible but inverse trinities (father/son/holy spirit versus vampire/victim/slayer) and looking at Vampires in their relationship with Catholicism, among other more modern religions; a relationship my students have noted as we’ve read the literature. Why do vampires have a hard-on towards Crosses, the Eucharist, holy water, churches, Bibles, and such-like? And why can’t vampires cross thresh-holds without invitation; is it something to do with free-will and the idea of “crossing?” What is the whole deal with souls, eternal life, and salvation (as in the giving of eternal life)? Please remember that objects such as a cross (or any of the above items) are not just nouns; they are symbols. As a symbol it represents the full spectrum of personality of the idea caught up, and shoved into, the object. To make it less abstract, I am a Leslie. As a Leslie I am more than my physical appearance, I am the sum total of experiences and interactions that have banded together to create the physical object (the body) that is called Leslie. So when you say my name, Leslie, you are invoking the full spectrum of Leslie, and not just the object Leslie. So, when the vampire is faced with a cross, he is faced with more than the physical cross, he is faced with all of the weight – history and interactions – that the cross represents. If the object “Cross” remains just an object to those not aware of its meaning, its representation, is briefly touched upon in the section covering crosses. If you really want a deep discussion on that question, you need a physicist and a philosopher.
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