Blood and the Vampire

The Vampire needs to feed on fresh human blood for survival. This unnatural hunger drives the creature’s existence, and the Vampire constantly craves blood. It is thought by most that the blood invigorates the Vampire’s body, maintaining the undead state of the body and preventing further decay. When it feeds, the Vampire not only takes the victim’s blood, but also infects the victim with the supernatural taint of vampirism. Therefore, while prolonging the creature’s own soulless existence, it damns the unfortunate individual to become a Vampire after their death. Thus, the Vampire propagates its own kind.

When the Vampire feeds, it usually bites its victim on the neck, breast, inner thigh, or wrist. Through these wounds, the Vampire drains the victim of their flowing blood. The Vampire prefers to feed on victims of the opposite sex, although it is not unknown for some Vampires to feed upon the same sex. The Vampire doesn’t require much blood for survival, needing about one-half to a full quart every night. Older Vampires can resist the bloodlust for several weeks, but the creature grows progressively weaker the longer he goes without feeding, eventually reverting to its true age (which proves to be fatal). The Vampire can sate its hunger on the blood of animals if necessary, although this is usually something done only in desperation.

Folklorists, occultists, and vampirologists have debated exactly why the Vampire needs blood for a very long time. In ancient times, people recognized that blood is the source of life. To take another’s blood was to absorb the other individual’s strength and vitality, even to the point of killing the other. Early on, women recognized the innate connection between menstruation and the act of giving birth, as blood is symbolically and physically shed during both acts. People believed that, by drinking the blood of one’s fallen enemies, an individual would absorb his enemy’s strength and become exponentially more powerful. Blood is viewed by some pagan religions (as not all of them practice human or even animal sacrifice) as the sustenance of their gods, maintaining their power and immortality through the sacrifice of humans and animals. But, blood is sacred to God, and in the Old Testament, God emphasizes that drinking the blood of another is a mortal sin and is strictly forbidden. He specifically states this as follows:

“And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.”
-Leviticus 7: 26-27 (New International Version)

It could therefore be argued that the Vampire is a man (the Vampire tends to be predominantly male), cut off from both God and his own people because of his craving for human blood. The Vampire is a horrifying and reviled creature, cursed by God to arise from the grave as one of the undead and to feed on the blood of the living for eternity. As stated earlier, the blood is the life. God spoke to Moses on this matter, again explicitly emphasizing the importance and the sacred nature of the crimson fluid. God thus states:

“Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood — I will set my face against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any alien living among you eat blood.”
-Leviticus 17: 10-12 (New International Version)

Basically, God says that “thou shalt not drink the blood of another, lest thou be damned for eternity.” Think of it as the eleventh commandment. Christians believe that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross saved them from sin and eternal damnation in Hell. Before He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot (whom some believe may have been the first true Vampire), Jesus said at the Last Supper: “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He offered it to His disciples, saying “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26: 26-28).” The Vampire, being a creature born of Satan’s power, drank blood in blasphemous defiance of God’s command, defiling the sacred and stealing what belongs to God alone. In other words, the Vampire eternally hungers for human blood, but may only drink the blood of sin and death, which never satisfies. On the other hand, those who drink the blood of Christ have the blood of eternal life flowing through their veins, and shall never hunger.