Mandrake wrote:Excellent pictures, thank you!
The Star is a XIXth century reliquary containing relics to protect virgins (no kidding)
Probably not used very much these days.....

In case of need, you can throw the reliquary like a shuriken...
Let summarize:
ESP for Vampire Hunters.
- Cross: Crucifix and Crossroads. Keyword: Defense
- Circle: Circle of protection (also Sun, circle of fire, Holy Wafer, Silver Bullet, Ring, ...) Keyword: Protection (cycle of eternal life is nice too)
- Square: Earth, Vampire's Crypt, prayer/esoteric book, Coffin and mirror. Keyword: Detection (also the Door that the creature can't go thru without being invited.)
- Waves: Water (river, limit for the Vampire), Psychic waves and Holy Water Keyword: Psychic Defense and Protection
- Star: Night, mark of the Werewolf, Mark on the victim of the werewolf and/or the servant of the dark. At least in reverse. Also Souless Body. Reverse-the Vampire, Straight-the Hunter. Keyword: the Vampire.(and the werewolf)
Basic synopsis: the Curator shows his Collection about Vampires and give a lecture about the apparition of Vampire in our culture during the XVIIIth centure. Then he tells specific Vampire stories (Rhesus).
Showing the Vampire Killing Kit, he explains that only trained Vampire Killers could use those and enter various tests (I always start with "
Stress Test"), then I enter various psychic defense tests with the ESP cards. (All have been described in Compendium Sortilegionis)

Vampire Killing Kit
Another good point is that ESP can be used for Hunters (H) or Vampires (V):
- Cross: H = Crucifix ; V = Crossroads (meeting point)
- Circle: H = Sun, Holy Wafer, Circle of Protection; V = Eternal "Life"
- Square: H = Mirror, Door, Crypt, book of lore; V = Coffin, Crypt
- Waves: H = Holy Water, Rivers; V = Psychic energy, blood
- Star: H = Pentagram or representation of the Hunter (like the Vitruve man); V = reverse representation of Evil, creatures of the Night, mark of the werewolf.
Some symbols can be interpreted the same way by H and V.

VampireKilling Kit
Best Vampire Hunters are known to be
Dhampires, half-Human Half-Vampires (Blade is one). So, I'll rename my serie of tests: Tests of the Dhampire.
A nice start for a serie of tests may be asking the tested his own interpretation of the symbols. According to his answers, the tested is either on the hunter or the vampire/Werewolf side...
The test is also used to detect charlatans or fraudulent dhampires.
Other tests exists: if you believe the tested is a werewolf (or vampire), let him hold a silver coin. If the coin corrupts and darkened, you've your answer...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhampir http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_hunter 
Dracula's Castle
Note: In March 2007, self-proclaimed vampire hunters vandalized the grave of former Serbian president Slobodan Miloševiæ and staked his body through the heart into the ground. Although the group involved claimed this act was to prevent Miloševic from returning as a vampire, it is not known whether those involved actually believed this could happen or if the crime was simply politically motivated.

Rhesus1, another Vampire Research Kit.
Before Zener Esp cards, the tarot cards were used for the same purpose, detecting and training members of the Vampire Hunters Team. There's is a tradition linking the tarot cards and the gypsies/szganies (helpers of Dracula).
the Minor Arcana.
- Cups: Holy Water/Holy Blood...
- Wands: Stakes
- Coins: Circle + pentagram: Holy Wafer, Day vs Night, Protective Circle...
- Swords: Dhampire's weapon (sometimes with a Cross shape)
Some of the Major Arcana too:
- Sun, Moon, Star
- Devil (Vampire hunting), High Priest blesses the weapons (reminiscences of Don Augustin Calmet), the Magician (holds the wand (stake) and the various symbols (Dhampire), Hermit (looks for the Crypt), ...
- Lovers : strange figure of a man between 2 choices, a bit like Jonathan Harker between Mina and Dracula's Wifes (but the angel is ready to throw an arrow on the vampire).
- Judgement: Vampires raising from the grave.
- The Fool: Under control of the Psychic Vampire, Renfield.
- Death: no specific comment
- The Hanged Man looks like a vampire resting (bat) in reverse position
- Temperance : the Rivers (vampire's limit)
- The Tower is the Castle or the Crypt.
...
There's is a tradition linking the tarot cards and the gypsies/szganies (helpers of Dracula), plus the Tarot is a wonderful tool to deal with the occult world. Even if in the XVIIIth and XIXth century, Tarot cards were scarce and difficult to obtain. Especially the Marseille deck.
And in fact, all the Major Arcana may be interpreted in a Vampire direction.
But ESP cards are more easy to use for elementary tests.
There are Vampire Tarots on the net
http://www.illuminationtarot.com/vampire.php , but I really prefer the classical version of the Tarot of Marseille.
I'll also check Neil Gaiman'story Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot.
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GYPSIES AND VAMPIRES:
Even today, Gypsies frequently feature in vampire fiction and film, no doubt influenced by Bram Stoker's book "Dracula" in which the Szgany gypsies served Dracula, carrying his boxes of earth and guarding him.
In reality, Gypsies originated as nomadic tribes in northern India, but got their name from the early belief that they came from Egypt. By 1000 AD they started spreading westward and settled in Turkey for a time, incorporating many Turkish words into their Romany language.
By the 14th century they were all through the Balkans and within two more centuries had spread all across Europe. Gypsies arrived in Romania a short time before Vlad Dracula was born in 1431.
Their religion is complex and varies between tribes, but they have a god called O Del, as well as the concept of Good and Evil forces and a strong relationship and loyalty to dead relatives. They believed the dead soul entered a world similar to ours except that there is no death. The soul stayed around the body and sometimes wanted to come back. The Gypsy myths of the living dead added to and enriched the vampire myths of Hungary, Romania, and Slavic lands.
The ancient home of the Gypsies, India has many mythical vampire figures. The Bhuta is the soul of a man who died an untimely death. It wandered around animating dead bodies at night and attacked the living like a ghoul. In northern India could be found the brahmaparusha, a vampire-like creature with a head encircled by intestines and a skull from which it drank blood.
The most famous Indian vampire is Kali who had fangs, wore a garland of corpses or skulls and had four arms. Her temples were near the cremation grounds. She and the goddess Durga battled the demon Raktabija who could reproduce himself from each drop of blood spilled. Kali drank all his blood so none was spilled, thereby winning the battle and killing Raktabija.
Sara or the Black Goddess is the form in which Kali survived among Gypsies*. Gypsies have a belief that the three Marys from the New Testament went to France and baptised a Gypsy called Sara. They still hold a ceremony each May 24th in the French village where this is supposed to have occurred.
One Gypsy vampire was called a mullo (one who is dead). This vampire was believed to return and do malicious things and/or suck the blood of a person (usually a relative who had caused their death, or not properly observed the burial ceremonies, or who kept the deceased's possessions instead of destroying them as was proper.)
Female vampires could return, lead a normal life and even marry but would exhaust the husband. Anyone who had a hideous appearance, was missing a finger, or had animal appendages, etc. was believed to be a vampire.
Even plants or dogs, cats, or farm animals could become vampires. Pumpkins or melons kept in the house too long would start to move, make noises or show blood.
To get rid of a vampire people would hire a dhampire (the son of a vampire and his widow) to detect the vampire. To ward off vampires, gypsies drove steel or iron needles into a corpse's heart and placed bits of steel in the mouth, over the eyes, ears and between the fingers at the time of burial. They also placed hawthorn in the corpse's sock or drove a hawthorn stake through the legs. Further measures included driving stakes into the grave, pouring boiling water over it, decapitating the corpse, or burning it.
In spite of the disruption of Gypsy lives by the various eastern European communist regimes, they still retain much of their culture. In 1992 a new king of the Gypsies was chosen in Bistritz, Romania.
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*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sarah
http://www.philipcoppens.com/saintesmaries.html
I just thing that Kali is more a Dhampire than a vampire: she drinks the blood to fight the Demon.
Quote:
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So what is it that attracted the gypsies here? What is so special about Sarah that thousands of gypsies, from all over Europe, come to this area?
First of all, it is not known when and why the local church became so sacred to the gypsies, but what is know, is that it was some time after the gypsies’ arrival in Europe in the early 1400s. Likely, the devotion occurred after René d’Anjou gave the order to excavate an oratory – where the two Marys were allegedly buried – in December 1448. The crypt – in which Saint Sarah stands – dates from the time of these excavations. The excavations indeed revealed several human heads arranged in the form of a cross and the bodies of two women. An altar of compacted earth was also found, as well as a smooth marble stone that was later to be called “the Saints’ pillow”, currently visible inside the church.
(Drabardi Locker)
I gonna check those traditions, I know the Belgian King of the gypsies... Very nice man.
The divination is always performed by a woman called the drabardi.
Palm reading is also practiced: if the palm of your hand is hairy, it may be the sign of a werewolf...