Tag Archives: death and dying

The Undead… and the Saints

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Bela Lugosi as the most famous portrayal of Dracula, the most famous of the Undead.

Bela Lugosi as the most famous portrayal of Dracula, the most famous of the Undead.

Happy birthday to Bram Stoker, the father of the modern vampire story, on November 8! (This also happens to be my granddaughter Sophie’s birthday, so “Happy Birthday!” to Sophie as well!) Vampires, known today for attacking the throats of the living, are perhaps the most well-known category of a class of beings known collectively as “the Undead.” (The Undead was also one of the possible titles Stoker considered for his novel before selecting Dracula!)

The undead (also known as revenants) are creatures that were once living humans but are now deceased and yet continue to act as if they are alive. They may be physical (vampires, zombies) or immaterial (ghosts) and are most often violent and angry with the living. The best-known ghosts and undead creatures are those known for attacking the living; few people tell stories about the FRIENDLY undead — Caspar the Friendly Ghost is perhaps the exception that proves this rule!

Many of the same signs are used to identify the corpse of both the undead and the saints, especially a corpse that does not decay according to the usual rules or expected timetable. It is the personality of the person before death that usually determines if the body is determined to be undead or saintly: an angry, miserly, or vindictive person is more likely to be identified as an undead monster whereas a kindly, charitable, or generous person is more likely to be identified as one of the saints. The interaction of the saints with the living is considered a miracle; the interaction of the undead with the living is considered a danger and a horror.

The undead are frightening for perhaps no other reason than that they blur the distinction between the living and the dead. They are the shadow-side of the saints, dead people known for interacting with the living in order to help those still on earth. Furthermore, the undead can seem indestructible — because how do you stop or kill a creature that is already dead?!?!

St. Mark’s Eve

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St. Mark's in Venice (begun in 832 and burned in a rebellion in 976, was rebuilt in 978 and completed in 1647) is full of treasures taken from Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade.

St. Mark’s in Venice (begun in 832 and burned in a rebellion in 976, was rebuilt in 978 and completed in 1647) is full of treasures taken from Constantinople in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade.

 

St. Mark’s Eve is the day before the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist. His feast is observed on April 25 of each year; thus St. Mark’s Eve is April 24.

On St. Mark’s Eve it was the custom in the villages of England, from the 17th century to the late 19th century, to sit in the church porch between the hours of 11.00 p.m. and 1.00 a.m. for three successive years. On the third such sitting, it was said that the ghosts of those to die during the coming year would be witnessed passing into the church. This practice took place throughout England, but was most prevalent in northern and western counties. Some accounts of the custom state that the watchers must be fasting, or must circle the church before taking up position. The ghosts of those who were to die soon would be the first observed, while those who would almost see out the year would not be witnessed until almost 1.00 a.m. Other variations of the superstition say that the watchers would see headless or rotting corpses, or coffins approaching.

Another, one might say opposite, tradition holds that a young woman can see the face of her future husband appear on her smock by holding it before the fire on St Mark’s Eve.