What connects them? Well, blood of course – and if it weren’t for the ancient vegetation dying and resurrecting gods, it’s unlikely vampires would exist in our consciousness – but then, I dare to suggest, nor would Christianity in its present form.
There have been plenty of conspiracy theorists and prejudiced people who have accused various groups of human sacrifice and drinking blood, but why this particular accusation? Because it does have some root in reality – thousands of years ago, there were tribal communities who worshipped nature through the union of god and goddess: they venerated the feminine as the source of life. They thought of the womb as holy, and the blood that emanated from it represented – well, lifeblood. The idea was that if it could support new life, it could also enhance existing life: it was believed that menstrual blood could extend life and enhance spirituality, putting one in touch with the gods. Therefore it was given to the (male) elders of the tribe – the priests and kings (who were often one and the same). Priestesses were the source of this blood, and dedicated their lives to the service of the gods in this way.
As disgusting as this sounds to us, recent research shows that menstrual blood does indeed have high levels of melatonin and serotonin in it – the so-called relaxation hormones. This may incidentally explain the existence of PMT – a lack of these hormones would cause mood swings, stress and irritation.
The hormones are released by the pineal and pituitary glands respectively, and these glands appear to have been known to the Egyptians and to have formed part of their healing knowledge. Descartes viewed the pineal gland as the seat of the soul – the place where body and mind meet.
In Greek the blood-giving priestesses were known as Scarlet Women, or Hierodulai, which gave us our word ‘Harlot’. The Germanic term for them was ‘Hores’ – Beloved Ones – from which we have the word ‘Whore’. Both these words were at one time terms of veneration – it was the coming of the patriarchal religions which changed their tenor and made them synonymous with prostitute.
As with most religious rites, this one developed a symbolism of its own: as actual blood drinking faded out, the religious significance was preserved by ritual drinking of the nearest palatable substance – red wine, representing blood, drunk from a ritual cup, the chalice, representing the womb. This rite is found in many religions involving dying and rising gods, such as the cult of Bacchus, or Dionysus, before passing to Christianity.
The red colour of fire led to it being associated with life-giving, which gave rise to fire goddesses such as Vesta in ancient Rome, on whose altar stood candles whose flame never went out, tended by Vestal Virgins who, like their ancient counterparts – and indeed like their descendants, nuns – gave their life in service to the gods.
And the vampire? In the days of witch-hunting and the need for people to believe there were all kinds of nasties out there from which the church could protect them, the myth of the vampire grew from the – probably in part true – story of Prince Vlad,, a 15th Century leader of a group known as the Society of Dragons. His title was therefore from the Latin for dragon, Draco – and he was known as Dracul. He was also a Germanic overlord – or ‘Oupire’ – the source of the word Vampire.
He seems to have been someone with a highly performing pineal gland and therefore a high level of melatonin, although possibly this was enhanced through later-developed herbal substitutes – chasing the dragon? High melatonin levels are best achieved in darkness, and Vlad was known from his cruelty – his story therefore gave rise to a fictional beast who lives on blood (albeit from the neck), hates sunlight, is cruel and evil – and can be destroyed by the church, in the form of a cross. All great material for a gothic horror story, to this day.
Thursday 14 January 2010
Monday 11 January 2010
The Cult of the Individual.
I went to see the rightly-acclaimed ‘We Will Rock You’ a few days ago, and apart from my enjoyment of the music and humour in the production, along with some cracking performances, I was struck by the subtext of the cult of the individual running through it. I’m pleased to see that this is something Ben Elton still espouses.
Many people mistake rebellion for individuality: indeed rebellion is usually the precursor and an inherent part of youth. We can all remember wearing certain clothes, make up, jewellery and hairstyles with the primary intention of pissing off out parents. From parents, any representation of the establishment are fair game, whether getting piercings against school rules or going on protest marches against the government – the key word is ‘against’. A rebel’s opinions are shaped by the establishment just as much as the conformist – s/he is just firmly placed on the opposing side.
A true individual stands aside from the establishment and decides what is right independently. Perhaps the best dramatic rendition of individuality is the 1960’s TV series ‘The Prisoner’, while in reality the founder of Radio Caroline – and ultimately the catalyst for commercial radio generally – embodied the spirit of the individual when on being told he had to pay a radio station extortionate amounts to get airtime for his acts, he replied: ‘Looks like I’ll have to start my own radio station then…’
Ben Elton was part of the ‘alternative comedy’ set of the 1980’s and their initial raison d’etre was to provide an alternative – aka rebel against – the pretty dire mainstream humour of the day. They did this so successfully that they became absorbed into the establishment and ironically eventually became the mainstream against which future generations of comedians would rebel. Few comedians manage to escape this process, and most lose their credibility along the way. Ben Elton has managed to salvage something via his writings, but from those days the only comedian I can think of who hasn’t compromised for money, fame or at the behest of TV or film moguls is Eddie Izzard. His standup remains exactly what he considers right for him, quality is not compromised for popularity, and while his audience may not be representative of the whole population, it is intelligent and appreciative of Eddie’s truly unique talent.
Queen occupy a similar place in the field of music. Though rooted in rock, their music was like no other; they famously disregarded advice that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ would not be played on the radio because it was too long, and would flop. It has to be admitted that they were helped here by another wonderful individual, Kenny Everett, who disregarded any rule about what could or could not be played. I always felt that Queen played the music they loved and just appreciated the fact that others loved it too. How different to the homogenised bands created by moguls whose sole motivation is to make money
‘Twas ever thus – while Wordsworth wrote verse that could be understood by anyone, TS Eliot, anther famed individual, cheerfully threw in bits of Sanskrit and Ancient Greek along with allusions to vegetation rites various other writers on the basis that if the reader didn’t understand they could always go and look it up – he wasn’t going to compromise his integrity as a poet by dumbing down for popularity. Good for him – we need individuals, especially talented ones, or we will end up at the mercy of the GaGa society.
Many people mistake rebellion for individuality: indeed rebellion is usually the precursor and an inherent part of youth. We can all remember wearing certain clothes, make up, jewellery and hairstyles with the primary intention of pissing off out parents. From parents, any representation of the establishment are fair game, whether getting piercings against school rules or going on protest marches against the government – the key word is ‘against’. A rebel’s opinions are shaped by the establishment just as much as the conformist – s/he is just firmly placed on the opposing side.
A true individual stands aside from the establishment and decides what is right independently. Perhaps the best dramatic rendition of individuality is the 1960’s TV series ‘The Prisoner’, while in reality the founder of Radio Caroline – and ultimately the catalyst for commercial radio generally – embodied the spirit of the individual when on being told he had to pay a radio station extortionate amounts to get airtime for his acts, he replied: ‘Looks like I’ll have to start my own radio station then…’
Ben Elton was part of the ‘alternative comedy’ set of the 1980’s and their initial raison d’etre was to provide an alternative – aka rebel against – the pretty dire mainstream humour of the day. They did this so successfully that they became absorbed into the establishment and ironically eventually became the mainstream against which future generations of comedians would rebel. Few comedians manage to escape this process, and most lose their credibility along the way. Ben Elton has managed to salvage something via his writings, but from those days the only comedian I can think of who hasn’t compromised for money, fame or at the behest of TV or film moguls is Eddie Izzard. His standup remains exactly what he considers right for him, quality is not compromised for popularity, and while his audience may not be representative of the whole population, it is intelligent and appreciative of Eddie’s truly unique talent.
Queen occupy a similar place in the field of music. Though rooted in rock, their music was like no other; they famously disregarded advice that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ would not be played on the radio because it was too long, and would flop. It has to be admitted that they were helped here by another wonderful individual, Kenny Everett, who disregarded any rule about what could or could not be played. I always felt that Queen played the music they loved and just appreciated the fact that others loved it too. How different to the homogenised bands created by moguls whose sole motivation is to make money
‘Twas ever thus – while Wordsworth wrote verse that could be understood by anyone, TS Eliot, anther famed individual, cheerfully threw in bits of Sanskrit and Ancient Greek along with allusions to vegetation rites various other writers on the basis that if the reader didn’t understand they could always go and look it up – he wasn’t going to compromise his integrity as a poet by dumbing down for popularity. Good for him – we need individuals, especially talented ones, or we will end up at the mercy of the GaGa society.
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