Vampires, horoscopes: the same
by Rawly Bransom
editor-in-chief

Superstitions have been with us since the beginnings of man. Still, with advanced science and technology and a society skeptical of anything supernatural, it is a wonder that vampire hunting still exists.

According to the Monterey Herald, the Romanian government is attempting to improve the sophistication of its law enforcement agencies to increase its chances of joining the European Union.

Police officers are trying to stop to the practice of vampire slaying, but villagers in the Transylvania region of Romania are resisting.

Unlike the Hollywood stereotype, vampires are not blood-sucking monsters killed by crosses or garlic.

By Transylvanian tradition, a vampire is a dead person who goes bad and begins to terrorize his family and must then be re-killed to end the assault.

The only way to kill the vampire is to dig up the body and remove the heart with a sickle. Then the heart must be burned (of course, the heart will squeak like a mouse and try to get away) and the ashes mixed with water and drunk.

The villagers of Transylvania are outraged that they might be fined and even imprisoned for up to three years for disturbing the dead.

As ludicrous as this might sound, to some people believing in vampires is no worse than the near religious fervor with which people consult their horoscope or read tarot cards.

In my mind, superstitions share certain characteristics. How is it that because a person is born on one day, everyone born under the same sign will have the exact same day, week or even love life? How is it possible that millions of people born under one sign will have the same basic characteristics?

I am sure many believers will tell me I am ignorant of the ways and subtleties in which the stars affect us, but why do two horoscopes written by different people never tell me the same or even similar things?

Superstitions are not necessarily bad. To this day, I won’t put a hat on the bed because my mom told me something bad would happen if I did.

The problem comes when we use the beliefs to explain our failures so we are not responsible or we allow our belief to blind us to greater truths.

Believe what you want, and I will do the same. But we should never allow a superstition to rule our lives.

Last Updated: 4/21/2004
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