Discover Romania: Part III – Mysteries, Myths and Legends

First of all, I want to stop the myth of Vlad Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula. So I’ll post two links that should clarify this at a very basic level. Or, at least a part of it. Vlad Tepes was a Christian who defended his land and Christianity… yes, with very violent methods, but then again, violence at that time was pretty common in Europe, torture and stuff like that was all over the place. He is seen as a defender of Christianity and of the Wallachia, but because of his methods and the inspiration of Bram Stoker he became the legend of the vampire Dracula… and Dracula is presented as a count, but Vlad Tepes was a Voivode. Two different things.

Presentation of Vlad Tepes on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler

Here’s a video about Vlad Tepes created by Biographics!

Vlad the Impaler: The Real Life Dracula

However, if you want the biggest and best documented source on Vlad Țepeș, the best place is the Youtube channel Corpus Draculianum.

IF you’re really interested in vampires from Romania, you must know that the tradition of vampires in Romania is indeed old, but not connected to Vlad Tepes. They are called Strigoi instead of vampires. I’ll post here a few videos about those passionate about the subject. Many thanks to Ingrid Serban, Mr Nobody and TVR Timisoara.

Also, as a bonus, I’ve posted a link to a Romanian movie called Domnisoara Christina, which is a film adapted from Mircea Eliade‘s novel of the same name, about a vampire woman named Christina who falls in love with a man. Very good movie in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpMWPRsJHsA

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ingridserban/strigoi-the-real-vampires-of-transylvania?token=3f465d3d

Ultimul vanator de strigoii-The last vampire hunter (Romania)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tCXv2DlR-U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amb433IizE4

Vampiri sau Strigoi la Ilidia? Nici acum nu e clar

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2064864/?ref_=tt_urv

Since we’re still in the mythological, folk and magical traditions of Romania, I’ll also post some links about Ielele and other legends and even “occult” practices. Unfortunately, those about authentic romanian folk magic have not been documented in English, they still lie in old books written by great ethnologists and folklorists and haven’t yet been translated. Thus, I will not post anything that is not related to Romanian tradition (gypsy magic is similar with Romanian folk magic but not the same). Thanks to Curiosity Fever, Samca, Occult-Study, Blurallis and UNESCO.

Romanian Urban Legends: The legend of the CRAZY FAIRIES

https://occult-study.org/descantecele-or-disenchantments/

https://ligeiavaughan.wordpress.com/

Calusari – Romanian custom explained

The Căluş Ritual

We have haunted castles, but I think the most special is Iulia Hasdeu Castle in Câmpina, built by scholar and writer Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu in the memory of his daugther Iulia Hasdeu who died at the age of 19, and the castle is said to be haunted by her spirit. It has a great story for those interested in spiritism and esotericism. So take a look and this great introduction by Alina Dima!

Museums under the spotlight – Iulia Hasdeu Castle

Also about Iulia Hasdeu’s tragic end and her mysterious continuity is a well written article published by Radiana Piț which I really recommend checking out. (she is also the translator of Romanian poet Lucian Blaga for the limited edition book Yearning for Spirit (Hellfire Club Books, 2018). The publisher currently has some issues and I don’t recommend buying directly from them at the moment.)

http://www.paranormalscholar.com/iulia-hasdeu-castle/

Going further with the mysteries from Romania, we must mention Hoia Baciu Forest. This is a world renowned paranormal site, that has been studied for many years and many things have been said about it. A short documentary can be seen here.

Hoia-Baciu | The World’s Most Haunted Forest Documentary

Romania may be seen as a dark territory by some, but it isn’t. Well, one thing that really is dark is our humour. We present to you The Merry Cemetery. Thank you Atlas Obscura!

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/merry-cemetery