Saturday, October 31, 2020
St. Kosmas the Aitolos on Vampirism and the Devil
When we hear the word "devil", it is he who was once the first among
angels; it is he who moves people to pride, to murder, to theft; it is
he who enters into a dead person, causing him to appear living, and we
call him a vrykolakas.*
- St. Kosmas the Aitolos (First Teaching)
* A vrykolakas is the Greek equivalent to the traditional vampire of European folklore, and was a commonly accepted reality among the Greek population of the 18th century, especially in rural areas. It should be noted that this word is falsely translated as "ghost" in English translations of this First Teaching of St. Kosmas.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
The Case of a Greek Orthodox Nun Who Experienced A Terrifying Poltergeist in 1933
One of the strangest mental phenomenas is the mysterious stoning of houses and the unexplained movement of objects, which usually are investigated by the Police, without being able to discover anything at all.
In the past decades, in Athens in particular, similar mysterious incidents had occurred many times, which had given rise to the President of the Society for Psychical Research, Angelos Tanagras, to intervene, for example in Kallithea, Piraeus and elsewhere.
However, despite all the simple explanations given by psychophysiologists, these phenomena, whenever they occurred, always worried people to the greatest extent, as was the case in 1933, with the strange phenomena that took place in a nun's house in Agia Barbara.
In the past decades, in Athens in particular, similar mysterious incidents had occurred many times, which had given rise to the President of the Society for Psychical Research, Angelos Tanagras, to intervene, for example in Kallithea, Piraeus and elsewhere.
However, despite all the simple explanations given by psychophysiologists, these phenomena, whenever they occurred, always worried people to the greatest extent, as was the case in 1933, with the strange phenomena that took place in a nun's house in Agia Barbara.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
"On Those Who Burn Vampires" (A Greek Orthodox Christian Manual from 1867)
In 1867 a popular 82 page manual for Greek Orthodox Priests was published to aid them in the administration of Holy Confession. This book was called Nomocanon: Various Prayers and Discourses (Νομοκανονικό. Εὐχὲς καὶ λόγοι διάφοροι), and it can be found in many old libraries of Greek monasteries and seminaries. On pages 67-69 there is advice on how a Priest ought to deal with those who burn vampires, with the section titled "On Those Who Burn Vampires" ("Περί των καιόντων τους Βουρκολάκους"). In Greek, a vampire is known as a "vrykolakas", though there are various spellings and pronunciations in Greek, and a Greek vampire may have certain characteristics not familiar to other vampires of folklore from other countries. For the author of this text, vampires were real. The issue was not that people believed in vampires; vampires obviously existed. The issue for spiritual fathers was how to deal with those who burned their undead bodies. Here is an excerpt from this chapter:
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
The 1933 Appearance of the Ghost of an Orthodox Priest Dressed in White in Thessaloniki
In the summer of 1933, the Depot district of Thessaloniki was in turmoil. After more than 35 years of rest and invisibility, the ghost of a Saint appeared, as some said, or a priest, as others claimed.
This strange story took place in the Depot district and specifically on Thermopylae Street, where a small hill was located. At the beginning of June, on Friday, at the time when the bells were ringing for Vespers, a ten-year-old boy, Takis Anagnostopoulos, was reading his lessons in front of the window of his house, which was directly opposite the hill, less than fifty meters away.
This strange story took place in the Depot district and specifically on Thermopylae Street, where a small hill was located. At the beginning of June, on Friday, at the time when the bells were ringing for Vespers, a ten-year-old boy, Takis Anagnostopoulos, was reading his lessons in front of the window of his house, which was directly opposite the hill, less than fifty meters away.
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