Difference between revisions of "Vetala"

Latest revision as of 17:54, 18 April 2007

A vetala is a vampire-like being from Hindu mythology. Vetalas differ from vampires in that they exist as wraithly beings who reside by day in the corpses of others.

Main Belief

In Indian lore, vetala is a type of Ghoul or Vampire haunting cemeteries and reanimating the dead. Corpses may be used as vehicles for movement, as they no longer decay while so inhabited, though at night vetala may also leave the body in order to feed.

Vetala are hostile spirits of the dead whose offspring did not perform funerary rites in their memory. As a result they are trapped in the twilight zone between life and after-life. These creatures can be appeased with gifts or frightened away with spells. Performing properly the funerary rites mean getting rid of those evil spirits.

Appearance

The vetala has a demonic appearance.

Victims reanimated by vetala have their hands and feet pointed backwards.

Behaviour

Being spirits, unfettered by the laws of space and time, they have an uncanny knowledge about the past, present and future and a deep insight into human nature. Hence, many sorcerers seek to capture them and turn them into slaves. They make their displeasure known by troubling humans by:

causing madness;
causing miscarriages
killing children:

They are also said the guard their villages.

Habitat

The vetala lives in stones scattered around hills inside and/or surrounding cemeteries.

In Decca it supposedly guards villages and inhabits red-painted stones.

Vetala in Lore

A sorcerer once asked King Vikramaditya to capture a vetala who lived in a tree that stood in the middle of a crematorium. The only way to do that was by keeping silent. However, every time Vikramaditya caught the ghost, the ghost would enchant the king with a story that would end with a question. No matter how hard he tried, Vikramaditya would not be able to resist answering the question. This would enable the vetala to escape and return to his tree. The stories of the vetala have been listed in the book Vetala-pachisi.

Sources

Guiley, Rosemary The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{stub}}
+A '''vetala''' is a [[vampire]]-like being from '''Hindu mythology'''.
-{{wikipedia}}
+Vetalas differ from vampires in that they exist as [[Wraith|wraithly]] beings who reside by day in the corpses of others.
+==Main Belief==
+In Indian lore, '''vetala''' is a type of '''[[Ghoul]]''' or '''[[Vampire]]''' haunting cemeteries and reanimating the dead.
+Corpses may be used as vehicles for movement, as they no longer decay while so inhabited, though at night vetala may also leave the body in order to feed.
+'''Vetala''' are hostile spirits of the dead whose offspring did not perform funerary rites in their memory.
+As a result they are trapped in the twilight zone between life and after-life.
+These creatures can be appeased with gifts or frightened away with spells.
+Performing properly the funerary rites mean getting rid of those evil spirits.
+===Appearance===
+The '''vetala''' has a demonic appearance.
+Victims reanimated by vetala have their hands and feet pointed backwards.
+===Behaviour===
+Being spirits, unfettered by the laws of space and time, they have an uncanny knowledge about the past, present and future and a deep insight into human nature. Hence, many sorcerers seek to capture them and turn them into slaves.
+They make their displeasure known by troubling humans by:
+*causing madness;
+*causing miscarriages
+*killing children:
+They are also said the guard their villages.
+===Habitat===
+The vetala lives in stones scattered around hills inside and/or surrounding cemeteries.
+In Decca it supposedly guards villages and inhabits red-painted stones.
-A '''vetala''' is a [[vampire]]-like being from [[Hindu mythology]].  They differ from vampires in other traditions in that they exist as wraithly beings who reside by day in the corpses of others.  These corpses may be used as vehicles for movement (as they no longer decay while so inhabited), but a vetala may also leave the body at night to feed.
-In Hindu folklore, the vetala is an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses. They make their displeasure known by troubling humans. Victims reanimated by a Vetàla would always have their hands and feet pointed backwards. They can drive people mad, kill children and cause miscarriages but they also guard their villages.
+===Vetala in Lore===
+A sorcerer once asked '''King Vikramaditya''' to capture a vetala who lived in a tree that stood in the middle of a crematorium. The only way to do that was by keeping silent.
+However, every time Vikramaditya caught the ghost, the ghost would enchant the king with a story that would end with a question.
+No matter how hard he tried, Vikramaditya would not be able to resist answering the question.
+This would enable the vetala to escape and return to his tree.
+The stories of the vetala have been listed in the book ''Vetala-pachisi''.
-They are hostile spirits of the dead whose children did not perform funerary rites in their memory. As a result they are trapped in the twilight zone between life and after-life. These creatures can be appeased with gifts or frightened away with spells. One can free them from their ghostly existence by performing their funerary rites. Being spirits, unfettered by the laws of space and time, they have an uncanny knowledge about the past, present and future and a deep insight into human nature. Hence, many sorcerers seek to capture them and turn them into slaves.
-A sorcerer once asked King Vikramaditya to capture a vetala who lived in a tree that stood in the middle of a crematorium. The only way to do that was by keeping silent.
+==See Also==
-However, every time Vikramaditya caught the ghost, the ghost would enchant the king with a story that would end with a question. No matter how hard he tried, Vikramaditya would not be able to resist answering the question. This would enable the vetala to escape and return to his tree. The stories of the vetala have been compiled in the book "Vetala-pachisi".
+*[[Ghost]]
+*[[Ghoul]]
+*[[Hold Hag]], reportedly sucking the blood off women gone to bed drunk
+*[[Nightmare]]
+*[[Vampire]]
+*[[Wraith]]
-{{HinduMythology}}
-{{hindu-myth-stub}}
-[[Category:Hindu demons]]
+==Sources==
+*[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816046859/qid=1152701396/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9667874-2159829?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Guiley, Rosemary ''The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters'']
+[[Category:Hindu mythology]]
+[[Category:Ghouls]]
-[[fr:Vetalâ]]
+{{wikipedia}}