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I was browsing the net and I saw this thing that said that long ago people who were suspected of possibly becoming vampires after death were buried upside down to prevent the transformation.

Has anyone else heard of this? Do you think that being buried upside down would stop the transformation in any way?

I remember the Lilliputians buried their dead this way in Gulliver's Travels :P

really? Never seen Gulliver's Travels so that's new to me. =] It always seemed a little redundant to me. What's being upside down going to do to a dead corpse, right?

Folklore states that once a corpse has been laid upside down, its soul becomes trapped within its body thereby becoming cursed from the "heavens" so to speak.

This would be understandable as partaining to becoming a vampire in this light. Since said corpse would remain with a curse until its body were found and burried properly. This would be a good indication of a Mara, or the spirit of a vampire.

The term Mara stems into the word Nightmare, brought on by the same adaptation.

i wonder why burying upside down though. why upside down as opposed to another method? Seems a little strange to me.

It was an analogy, facing the earth instead of the "heavens", would be presumed that the soul would be trapped on earth. Or facing hell, would be another analogy causing an apparent "curse" on said corpse.

Cannibals would hang their dead upside down because it made it easier to harvest the meat. As for preventing a vampire from existing, I thought beheading was the only surefire application.

They also used to stake bodies to their coffins so that they couldn't escape. It's the first time that I hear about upside down burial.

Soulshroud got there first with a good reply same as mine….
On the other hand one doesn’t have to be upsidedown.
Head stone facing north just as good.
Iv been trying to find somewhere in England where im aloud to do this when im dead… government still says no….

wait, so in England you can't have a headstone that faces north? wow. I now it's tied up with vampire lore but still, there are so many other things that the government can worry about other than headstones!

Actually if my recollection is accurate, as well as affirmed by ~Lav~, it was religion as well as superstition which made the law in this manner. Another seperation of church and state if you will.

I have never heard of it before this. I wouldnt think it would help at all.

I tend to agree with DWP on this one. I never have heard of that before and i dont belive it matter how a dead one be buried.

seems like something i need to read up on more.... but on the subject.... i've never heard about this before... thanks for posting

I was looking this up on Wikipedia and it says that an Irish Vampire called Abhartach was..
"He had to be run through with a sword made from yew wood, buried upside-down surrounded by thorns and ash twigs, and his grave surmounted by a heavy stone."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhartach

So it seems that it wasn't only done to prevent them from turning, but also to prevent them from escaping their grave once turned.

I agree with DarknessBreath, once your dead who really cares how your buried upside down or front side up. Your soul might be gone but even if your spirit keeps on living only you and love ones would know how you been buried.

I do not think it matters. When you are dead, so is your body and it is not likely to rise from its grave, wandering around no matter how you bury it.

I think it is a little strange, even in our modern days that you are not allowed to have a headstone facing North. But then again, when you are dead, does it really matter? Afterall, you are still dead.

I have not heard about the North thing either, but I think I will look into it.

upside down, interesting, does it mention their resoning behind it and how it would prevent a transformation? I mean if the vampyre is created by a virus, I don't know that being upside down would prevent it from taking over the body?

I also found this on a webpage which sounded very interesting, I never knew Vampires had an obsession with counting.

The most common ways to destroy the vampire are driving a wooden stake through the heart, decapitation, and incinerating the body completely. Ways to prevent a suspected vampire from rising from the grave in the first place include burying it upside-down, severing the tendons at the knees, or placing poppy seeds on the ground at the gravesite of a presumed vampire in order to keep the vampire occupied all night counting. Chinese narratives about vampires also state that if a vampire comes across a sack of rice, s/he will have to count all of the grains. There are similar myths recorded on the Indian Subcontinent. South American tales of witches and other sorts of evil or mischievous spirits or beings have a similar aspect to it.

I think I heard this a long time ago. It's totally false. You are born a vampire.

wow, i'm really surprised about the headstones in England thing. I've heard of having a person buried at an intercection and things like that but never having the headstone face north. and i agree, i think the government could occupy their time with more worthwhile things, but it's their choice i guess.

i have never herd of this burying people this way its weird and i think it does the sperit or soul no good as far as keeping it from transforming to other things

Burying upside down so that when they break through the coffin they begin to dig - and dig the wrong way.

Makes practical sense in a weird way.

I remember reading about this years ago in a book I read about vampire myth and legend. I wish I remember the book, but it was so long ago. I suppose it would be more difficult for the vampire to escape if it were buried facedown in the grave.

I've heard this mentioned once before, the reason why never really occurred to me...I don't see how that would stop the change.

It might prevent them from digging out of their grave though, you'd think it'd be much more difficult that way.

Yes the way your buried is in conjunction with your religion as long as it’s one recognized in the country your in.
So Christians get buried facing west to the land of the myth Jesus.

Scary thought for everyone… if you don’t pay your grave taxes in England they buries someone on top of you after 15 years.

It does make sense in a way that if they are burried upside down they dig their way out the wrong way. It's horrible, even for a vampire.

I have never heard of this. Thanks to all that have added explanations, they were very helpful. In a way it does make sense. I’m not sure if I believe it would work or not. Seems I will have to read up a bit on this idea.

cultural myths...Please read about vampireism throught the ages..great and funny stuff...like throwing rice will stop a vampire..because the have to count it..

Yes I've heard it, they buried suspected vampires upside down so they couldnt dig there way out. If they tried, they'd be digging down, not toward the surface.

i have heard of it and this is what i read up on also

if this helps

Cultural practices often arose that were intended to prevent a recently deceased loved one from turning into an undead revenant. Burying a corpse upside-down was widespread, as was placing earthly objects, such as scythes or sickles,[26] near the grave to satisfy any demons entering the body or to appease the dead so that it would not wish to arise from its coffin

i have heard of it and in most cases it does work but there are a select few cases where it has not worked and the tramsformation occured at a much faster rate.

I have not heard of this perticular but I heard of similarities.
As it was the vampire copmunity who buried the rebellious vampires upside down to keep them in for eternaty.

Ive never heard of it but is sound aweosme! how would you bury someone upside down though?

Put the coffin in the ground upside down I guess.

i've never heard of it ..... Does anyone know why that would stop them from becoming a vampire ?

well I have not ever heard of this yet , I would like to know how it stops the process of them changing.. it is interesting concept..

Ive never heard of it..but I dont see why it would change the formation at all...

I've never heard of it but I don't really think it'd prevent.

i have heard of it also but really dont think how your buried would stop it

well that sounds kinda like someone is jokin around LOL How can being buried upside down do anything to or for anyone or thing... it sounds more like it is done because of a belief is all to me... nothing more. just an opinion...

you know I had a funny thought and now after saying this famous quote that I always would say now I know that it fits in good with this thread. My quote was thi: If I die, I hope that I would be buried upside down so the whole world could kiss my butt!!!! lmao.

wow is all i can say i seen gulllivars travels several times and i dont remember that ..... but to question at hand no i had not heard of this ... thoe it does not make the statement less a possable fact or fiction ... with out seeing some history or facts of sorts i would say no matter what transformation would happen face up or down

I'm not understanding why burying people upside down would prevent a transformation. Wouldn't it happen no matter what?

I hadn't heard of that. I've heard of the headstones being at the head of the grave to prevent corpses from rising and that they used to busy people at intersections to keep them from transforming into vampires. But I've never heard of burying someone upside down. That grave has to be really deep. It must be a pain to dig.

i have heard of this but that is like saying if you do not celebrate your birthday u will not get older makes no sense too me

I have heard of this and I dont think it would work.

this was probly before cremations existed, i cant think of a reason why someone would turn if they busy being ashes.

I have not heard of this either, sound strange to me cannot see how it would stop the transformation

Aye, elemental got the basic reason on why it was initially done that way.
When they are buried face down, when they turned, they would begin to dig "up", which was ... down. lol
So in turn, they would never be capable of getting out.

I have never heard of this , but i shall check more on burials upside down, Heard of the bells in the graves and spikes driven to hold them in their coffins or to the ground huh, wonder why?

Let's face it the exit at this point would be out tha arse. not a pretty option to say the least.

Burying a suspected Vampire upside down... is the same reason a tombstone is placed above the head of a deceased corpse.....

It prevents the body from sitting upright and "rising from the grave".....

many of our funeral rites stem from not truely understanding a human body natural decomposition....

Ex: the groans from a corpse, originally thought to reveal evidence of "undeath", is actually the decompostion gases building up and escaping.

well, this has to do with the Christian philosophy of being buried "facing towards Christ". since the soul has left the body already after death, i find it hard to believe that it would hinder, or help, transformation.

What hawk said is exactly what I know. I was told the reason why we have tombstones is because society was taking a precaution to not have the vampires...

i was under the impression that tombstones go at the feet and help label the burial spot.

I read somewhere, years ago, that they would do this so that when the person transformed and tried to rise from the grave, they dug their way deeper into the ground, instead of digging their way out.

Never heard of this but my father always said he wanted to be buried face down so all can kiss him good bye. (hehe) ok he's got a crazy sense of humor.

it would make sense since when you change, your confused and disoriented, the vampire would dig himself deeper imstead of getting out.

The purpose of being buried upside down is so that if you did awaken after death, you could not sit up or stand. That was an ancient tradition in places of the world without enough stone to carve tombstones which originally had the same purpose of keeping the dead, dead. Also, if buried upside down the coffins would have a spike just above the heart so should anyone choose to move in that fashion, they would be staked through the back into the heart.

also heard a white horse will not jump over a vampire grave

i have no idea about being buried upside down

I believe the belief was that since a vampire crawls out of his grave, he'd just keep digging and not come into contact with the land of the living in general. Just keep on digging untli the wieght of the world crushed him/her to final death or hits a cave of some sort.

I think it was a means of prevention more than anything else. there were similar methods of preventing a Draugr from rising. A Draugr is like a Nordic Vampire of sorts. Some methods were to put a door on the grave facing the opposite way they went into it because there was a superstition that vampires could only enter the way they came in.

Again, a means of prevention. But the buried upside down thing is not vampire specific. some Native beliefs say that if you bury someone face down, their soul doesn't continue on it's journey. Or some such thin, I'm no expert but I think that's how it went.

I always thought if people were buried upside down face first then if they did wake up which i think is inpossible then they would dig themselves out or try to at lkeast but would be to successful because they like the dark and they know that the light would kill them especially if they knew they were a vampire or other said creature.

Sure would make it hella hard to dig ur way out of ur own grave to feed on the living though!

In my country they say that being buried upside-down meant that you would not be able to see the moon rising and that your soul will be trapped forever; but also it was considered a blasphemy so they used the old nail through the heart technique.

I have always believed that it was a form of superstition to stop someone from rising from the dead. Such as murderers, suicides, rapists, etc. As they can return for revenge or as vampires. It is a very old pagan superstition.

some tribes of the native american indians believed that if a person was buried face down that there soul would be traped in there body and not allowed to move on unless reburied the proper ceramonial way. but i have never really herd it about a vampire very interesting.....

never heard of this, wondering if it is true though... at the same time, don't care.. rather not stay on earth any longer than i have to

The burial upside down is new to me. I would rather be buried the way I should.

Right Side Up Summerwerewolf right? lol

I never saw that article but sounds interesting to me.. I dont think upside down really effects anything.

Yeah, I've heard of this before. I think it has something to do with not being able to dig themselves back up to the surface...or something like that.

I remember when my mom died one of the pallbearers lost his footing and slipped...knocking down another pallbearer which caused all the weight of the coffin to go to one side.

My mother almost got buried upside down.

I've heard of this too....the weird thing is that in south america you are buried upside down with a cross upside down when you have done something bad and are cursed...how's that for some weird coinsidence?

WOW.. that is really wierd but they did a lot of wierd things then and still do now.

Here's a site on some reports of this.a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_2_116/ai_n15727507">FindArticles - The Miller's tomb: facts, gossip, and legend [1]
Folklore, August, 2005, by Jacqueline Simpson
As for believing this would have any affect - no.

i for one have never heard of this.. i wanna know who took the time to dig t5hat huge hole to stick a whole body in there upside down.. he must of had alot of time on his hands..

I’m not sure, but I would think a vampire would have some intelligence to it, (Legendary vampire). It may be buried upside down and begin digging down instead of up when it awakes, but in time I think it would realize oh wait I’m going the wrong way. Otherwise the creature would dig down no telling how far, until its body died of starvation. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but hey perhaps that’s why the coffins are laid in cement cases now, can’t dig through concrete…lol.

I remember reading something about this, it is a way of supposidly a curse of some sort.So the vampire cannot see the light of heaven.
And I am thinking you second part of the question concerning stopping the transformation, was as in movie vampires. Then no, I would not think the postion of a dead body that is inhabitated by a demon would stop any transformation.

A very old wives tale. to face hell. But my father said to place him that way when he dies ,so all can kiss him goodbye. lol

Hmmm....... I've never herd of that it sounds stupid. Why would anyone want to stop someone from turning in a vampire.

Haha, Gothfreak! that remark was just hilarious! Indeed..why should they! lol

EEEEEkkk no upside down burial for me ok... Remember that if i croak

Not heard of this before. However, it does sound close to something I've heard of known as corpse binding.

I've never heard of this type of thing actually STOPPING a transformation, although I have heard that if they DO become a vampire, they will not realise that they have been buried upside down and will dig the wrong way.

After not feeding they will become too weak to do anything about it and so will live in their hibernating state indefinitely.

I've heard of burying them with garlic on the backs of their tongues and some sort of ritualistic symbol of ash on their foreheads but never upside down.....

I never heard of such a thing like that but Imust say its sounds very interesting

I somehow doubt that burying a vampire upside down would really make much of a difference, although I suppose according to some folklore it would have.

Technically it wasn't burying vampires upside down, it was burying people who were suspected to become so upside down.

You really have to admire the primitive logic involved here. Suspected vampire buried face down so when it transforms it digs in the wrong direction.

Sort of a revenant/zombie approach to vampire intelligence, but creative and hopeful in its wish to avoid vampire disaster.

IMO, this is the same logic prevalent in most religious and mythological tales.

I've heard that suicides were buried upside down, as a post mortem punishment.

Punishment for what exactly?

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