The Mark of Cain
In the Bible, Cain, the
eldest son of Adam and Eve, slew his brother Abel in an act of premeditated
murder inspired by jealousy. You can read about it in Genesis 4.
Cursed by the Lord to wander
homeless, Cain carried a divine mark that warned others “whosoever slayeth
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”
Scripture goes on to recount
that Cain married and fathered several accomplished children, including city
builders, cattle drovers, musicians, and ingenious metalworkers. No mention of
monsters.
Yet, literature lists among
the descendants of Cain some horrific characters. In the Midrash, the Jewish interpretation of biblical stories, Cain hooks up with Adam’s first wife,
the succubus Lilith, and they spawn a slew of abominations.
The Old English epic poem Beowulf describes the monster Grendel
and his horrific mom as offspring in the lineage of Cain.
The biblical provenance of
the undead in our literature shows that the vampire has been in conversation
with the human spirit for millennia.
The concept of the human
spirit has changed radically since the Enlightenment, of course. The postmodern spirit is
not a transcendental factor but an idea. And the idea is humanist rather than
otherworldly.
How might our conversation
with the vampire continue in our humanist, postmodern world?
The way we talk with the
vampire reflects how we understand what it means to be human.
Is the cosmos the outer
darkness? And is our spirit, our ability to think and generate ideas, a light
within? Then, vampire darkness comes not from our implicit lineage as human
beings but from without—a misery
like a glass pipe, a needle, a bottle whose inherent darkness infects our
brightness.
The vampire virus is the
metaphor several contemporary writers employ, and the trope I favor. Vampires
are humans infected with a virus that originated before the dawn of life, when
earth was still disaster.
To this virus, old as the
somnambulism of rocks, organic existence is a mutilation.
The vampire virus originally
thrived on gravel. In human flesh, this virus craves the first iron, the
world’s ordinal blood, and the heat of a primordial planet rapt by fire. Once
infected, victims crave the iron and heat of their species.
Might there then be a cure?
The conversation with the damned progeny of Cain offers no human redemption,
only a stake in the heart and oblivion. But now, after ages of alienation, the
vampire becomes human again. Profoundly changed—not cursed but diseased—the
vampire is a human being with a sickness, not unlike addiction.
posted by A. A. Attanasio at
1:33 PM
8 Comments:
It would probably be a good time to be a vampire in our time. Instead of stake in the heart a spot on 60 minutes. If I could ask a vampire a question (baring it not sucking my soul till I couldn't speak.)what would you do if you weren't vampire? This seems like the question of the era.
Vampire celebrities - the hottest ticket for late night talk shows! And is this an acceptable emoticon for a vampire? :)=
I see a tee-shirt. Or a slogan; Got Fe?
or like 26 in white letters on a red background. Cain and Able shared the same father. The "damned progeny of Cain" has the same origins as the saved progeny.
Very clever! If I understand, "26" refers to gematria, the alphanumeric Hebrew tradition, that identifies "26" with YHVH, the Biblical sobriquet for the God of Israel. And yes! Cain and Abel define the edge of mystery, where the Divine divides. Great point!
26 is the atomic number of iron. I saw a Scutigera coleoptrata and thought, it was beautiful. The Divine does divide but what is divided can multiplied back to the whole, is how I check my long division. The Scutigera coleoptrata or, the house centipede, usually resides in the Mediterranean region. That is why it was beautiful. To see one in Brooklyn? I would like to think of the story; A house centipede, from the Mediterranean, to end up in the most boring part of Brooklyn. What a story.
I could imagine what a vampire, from previous times (or Eras) would think. Or, in this present time; How can I feed?
Who will keep me company?
The story of the centipede’s journey from the Mediterranean to Brooklyn doesn’t fit words. Words are good-for-nothings with such soulful encounters. Reality is more real for not knowing. Thanks for pointing out that the atomic number of iron and the gematria for the Biblical God of Creation share equivalency: Stars reach the end of their fusion sequence with the creation of iron – and stars with more than 25 solar masses (there’s 26 again) collapse, bounce off the iron core (at near the speed of light) and explode as supernovae, which create the elements heavier than iron. 26 does seem to have a lot to do with creativity…
It's been a while since I've posted. I had a thought that needed to get out. The thought occurred to me while watching one of those survivor shows (I don't really watch those shows because it's like watching a hotdog eating contest. What one of the contestant throws up could have been the food to feed a village).
The thought that occurred happened when the host of the show referenced the saying, if the clouds look ominous, then the weather will be. What if, what "ominous" looks like, is based off of the clouds?
Also, I think the idea of "vampire" is netted in human nature. From where our atoms come from (we get them from outer space). To where we get our raw materials from (outer space or from other nations that have those materials, which they acquired from outer space) is necessary for life on our planet.
There is no cure from vampirism. Only balance.
If Cain carried the divine mark, and fathered accomplished progeny, could there have been an original misunderstanding insofar as what scriptures intended to convey about him and his dark nature? Might Cain have been more synonymous with the wolf, that preys upon the weak or diseased, thus strengthening the tribe of its victims? Was it really "jealousy" that inspired Cain to murder his brother Abel, or could that be part of what's been lost in translation? This series of questions, having arisen after reading this illuminating six-year old entry of yours Al, leads me to question one more thing: who was Abel, really; and was there a necessary reason for him to die?
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