Strigoi are the troubled souls of the dead rising from the grave.
Some strigoi can be living people with certain magical properties. Some of the properties of the strigoi include: the ability to transform into an animal, invisibility, and the propensity to drain the vitality of victims via blood loss. A strigoi has red hair, blue eyes and two hearts.
There are several ways for a deceased person to become a strigoi.
A person that dies before marriage is at risk of becoming a vstrigoi. In a situation like this, the corpse is wed to another unmarried person around the same age to prevent them from returning from the grave. If this fails, the strigoi will return to have sexual intercourse with their living spouse to be, and will attack other family members. To prevent this, the corpse should be stabbed through the heart with a sickle or other piercing object..
Corpses walked over by cats are also at risk of become strigoi. To get rid of them, bury a bottle of wine near the grave. Six weeks later, dig it up and drink the wine with relatives. Whoever drinks the wine will be protected against the strigoi.
A person who is filled with pain and regret will turn into a cat or dog after death and return as a strigoi to torment his/her relatives. Piercing the body of the strigoi with a needle will prevent it from leaving the grave, as well as placing a candle, coin or towel in the hand of the corpse. Walking around the grave with burning hemp will render the strigoi helpless.
If a child is born with a caul atop their head they are said to be likely to become a strigoi. Garlic is said to be potent against them. Due to this weakness, most burial ceremonies have rings of garlic around the corpse, coffin and grave. One way to dispatch the strigoi is to drive a stake, made from wild rosebush or aspen wood, through its heart(s) and into the earth to hold it to its grave. |
