The Bulgarian name for vampire originated from the original Slavic word opyri / opiri and gave rise to forms such as vepir, vapir, vipir or vampir. It was believed that the souls of the dead would rise from the grave immediately after their death and go to the places they had visited during their lifetime. Their journey was to last 40 days, then they returned and fell asleep in eternal sleep. However, some people were not properly buried, which allowed the gate to the afterlife to close, and it was then that they became undead.

Transformation into a vampire

The group of people prone to this transformation included individuals who died a violent death, were expelled from the church, drunkards, thieves, murderers and witches. Legends have even been said that some of the vampires returned to 'living' in a completely foreign city, found new partners and even had children. However, they had to deal with a new aspect of their being: the desire for blood.

Cognitive vampire characters

One of the smallest European nations, the Gaugazs, called vampires giants. He believed in their hunger for blood, the ability to move objects like a poltergeist, and the ability to create a noise similar to, for example, firecrackers. People tried to get the giants from their cities with offerings in the form of various delicacies and delicacies or, very interestingly, because that is the exact opposite of the first example, feces.

Ustrelové - souls of baptized children.

Ustrel is another type of vampire. This is a child who was born on a Saturday, but unfortunately did not live to see the next day, ie Sunday, when he would be baptized. Ustrel wakes up on the ninth day after his funeral and sucks the blood of pets. He feasts all night and returns to the coffin before dawn. After ten days of feeding, the lettuce becomes so strong that it no longer has to return to its grave. He now rests during the day, sitting between the horns of a calf or ram, or between the hind legs of a dairy cow. At night, they attack the fattest animals from the herd.

People sought help from these creatures from vampirdzhija (vampire hunters). Once the vampire was identified, the entire local community gathered to perform the ritual of 'lighting a guard fire'. The whole event started during Saturday morning. All fireplaces in the village were extinguished and cattle were driven out into the open. The villagers then led the animals to a crossroads, where campfires blazed on each side. The idea of ​​the whole ritual was that in this way he was lured out of his hiding place and appeared in the animal he was resting with during the day. This would then be left to the wolves at the crossroads, which would kill not only the pet but also the vampire himself.

How to kill a vampire

Another expert in eliminating vampires was Djadadjii. Again, it was a vampire hunter trying to catch a vampire in a bottle. He first filled her with human blood. Then he set out in search of the vampire's lair. For this purpose, and also for protection, he used the religious icons of the saints, Jesus or the Virgin Mary. As soon as the icon began to shake, it meant that the vampire was somewhere nearby. The hunter then drove the vampire into a bottle, which he entered either voluntarily (because of a desire for blood) or was forced to do so by a holy relic. The bottle was then very tightly closed and thrown into the fire. When she burst, the vampire was dead.