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Why do (some) vampires need to be invited in?

Because it is proper ettitquete?

Alot of the old fable is that if a vampire was invited in, the traditonal acts too notice a vampire , crosses, mirrors or other vampire means of destrution were not able to work,

To me this is just a roost on the vampire way, maybe the house of another was still sacrid to the owners and now with an invitation, evil too say could now invited into a holy land persay..

new realism of vampiric lore as in todays society doe not use this anymore that i have seen. vampires have now the right to invade a church or holy grounds(cemetaries)

In older myths and some modern ones, vampires are really seen as a type of malevolent spirit or a demon, often one that has come to inhabit the body of a person who died under unfortunate circumstances (such as being the victim of a vampire, a suicide, a cursed individual, etc).

A person's home is his sanctuary and automatically gives him some protection against outside demonic influences, which is why the vampire cannot enter without an invitation. Once invited once, however, the gateway has been opened and the vampire is free to come and go as he pleases.
Source(s):
Spence, Lewis (1960). An Encyclopaedia of Occultism. New Hyde Parks: University Books.

We tend to buffer ourselves from crafted fears, so to place strict guidelines on imagined monsters (yet still keep them frighting is a story tellers/writers balancing act.

I think Dracula had to be invited in. It could be metaphorical for allowing evil inside.

Buffy adhered to that myth. She even rescinded Spike's invitation.

As a plot device, it would add the challenge to the main character (vampire) of seducing a potential victim into bring invited, sort of like the Shady Door to Door sales men. Gypsy hold to a code similar to invited entery only.

also Hollywoods lostboys show this, where micheal invites max in and at the end revokes his privaliges.

Hmm i am unsure of this but i thought by inviting someone in you are throwing down your basic Psychic barriers and exposing yourself.

Come in friend you are welcome it removes ,suspicion,doudt , uncertainty ,mistrust
etc etc and changes the state of mind.

Your home is like holy ground, it's yours. They can't come in unless welcomed

To do what a vampire does, vampire as in ghost inhabited preserved courpse, then just as the Rule of Tradition in Lore, a ghost can only dwell, either where the person died, or where welcome, to cross the Threshold would be like throwing a preserved corpse in a room, the ghost not crossing over, is stuck out side.

my guess is the transition and the magick of the door itself. Doors are "tween" areas that work as mundane/mystical threshes to another place. Since the Vampires of lore could not use "good magicks" they would be bared from using a door way to a place where "good" resided without the prior consent of the living inside.
Hope that makes as much scene outside my head as it did in lol.

Really? Thresholds are magical then?

It goes to the same 'demons are not welcome in the houses of the holy' thiing. Vampires are percieved by legend as the 'undead' and therefore unholy beings.

When I asked my Hungarian Grandfather about myths about vampires He said that back in the old days when a family would move into a house, and many reasons afterwards a Prist would Bless the home.
Now its said that vampires could not cross a thresh hold due to the ground would consencrated.

maybe when the stories were told to children, the parents added that part so that their kids didnt get nightmares. "don't cry, they can't come in unless you invite them"

I think the caveat regarding a vampire coming through the door only after being invited was initiated by Bella Lugosi as Dracula in the movie. There is little or no evidence that the custom predates that movie, which was based on the novel by Bram Stoker.
The influence of "Dracula" has been predominant in the evolution of vampire fiction; it was not until "Interview with a Vampire" by Ann Rice that vampires appeared in modern fiction and added significantly to the genre.
There also is the custom of most cultures that any visitor would seek an implied, if not verbal invitation to enter someones dwelling. Maybe the scene in "Dracula" has been given too much meaning and Drac was just doing what was polite.

I always have to be invited...Anywhere.

For me, its a feeling of comfort. If I am not invited, it makes me feel unwanted. Not the emotional unwanted feeling mind you, but a certain air surrounding whereever I am at the time before the invite.

When the individual walks into someones house unannounced, there is a certain air...That tainted feeling. It always passes when the individual knows they are welcome.

Just my opinion on the matter.

Yet would this invitation to come in regard also to clubs and resturants. the threshold idea was cool, like it yet it seems to fall short on these public places?

There are few things that compare to a person defending their home. Someone mentioned stronger psyche is related to dwellings, Molly makes a
Valid point as well.

So I wonder if it has to be the owner of the house? Something else to mention to a house, or babysitter" Oh don't invite any vampires over the threshold."

Well no, depending on the hollywood myths, I would say an invitation is an invitation.

But it would not in my opinion be lightly given, especially in these days with crime so rampant.

I think in part the idea that vampires have to be invited in might be a throwback to the basic human need for security. Remember back in the days of childhood when the monsters couldn't get you if you completely under the blanket?

It's just like inviting a dark spirit into your house. Unless you are doing something wrong they shouldn't come in either.

saying it is derived from old tales like close the closet door to keep the boogyman trapped or under the covers keep the evil from you, our own security reasons that are irrational ideas. may have lead to writers to make this part of the monster tradition.

Morgans concise post real hit a cord with me.

When the imagination runs away with us, and mythos, meshes with pathos.
A mnemonic "release valve" is a welcomed anchor to reality.

A poison mixed, with an anacdote built in to the process.

I believe that a person's home is their sanctuary their safe-haven. A home is not only a place for shelter, but also to protect you from other people, animals, and other things. And therefore someone's personal space and you cannot manipulate someone's sacred space.

Also, in some vampiric legends, a vampire couldn't come near your person unless allowed. Most of the time that the vampire was allowed to touch the person is because the person CRAVED it. Because of the vampire's alurring charm and exquisite beauty.

I believe the reason why a vampire could enter a public place is because most places have a sign that says "come in we're open" or "welcome in".

But then comes the question, if they are allowed to come in public places because of the signs, then what about people's doormats?

I think that just because someone has a doormat that says "welcome" or "welcome in", doesn't mean that an entity or vampire are still welcome inside because it's still a sacred place. Unless, the person wants the home to be desecrated by allowing the being inside.

i learned a long time ago that a demon /spirit can not approach you unless you invite him to approach...it can not speak to you first unless you give it permisstion to do so the whys of this i do not recall but here is more food for thought for those who have a fear line your doorways and window seals with salts or sand before the entity can enter he must count every grain and by that time day light aproaches and he is fouled up to do as he had wished for that eve.

My mom tied needles with thread in the form of a cross and stuck them inside all the windows and above the doors. Not sure they would work with a non-christian demon. She also had the priest come out and bless the house when we first moved in. My pagan friends use sage to clear a new home from any malign spirits.

So I think the "invitation only" is a human rule. Not sure how it would work if the vampire could glamour you.

depending on the religion base of the home owner, there are different methods to protect your house, wether by blessings or crosses or flowers.

in the movie constitane he had script around the outside of his doors. so what ever the belief to ward off the demons or evil is up to them.

If your home is like your Holy Ground(I read someone's post above) then why do some people put up protection around their home? I've know some to guard their doors and windows, as well as a fireplace....

Sometimes its because fear is an overwhelming thing. In human nature you have to make SURE, prove to one's self that its completely safe, in case the being has found a loop hole of some sort.

So all these rituals are just a precaution.

thresholds were always considered sacred to the indoeuropean peoples. in rome, it was protected by the god janus.
in the northern lands, the lady of the house would greet someone coming in her home with a horn of ale. this wasnt because she was being subservient (she wasnt), the ale ment you were allowed to visit...if you werent given a drink, then you knew youd better get your butt out of the house before she put a knife in you....
and yes guys....the man of the house...the lord of the manor....he had zero say in that.
~Wolf~

Precautionary reasoning makes alot more sense. Thanks for clearing that up. To me it was seeming like a double positive and I was wondering if it would be canceled out then.

its a myth

something about how your home is your sacred place, your safety.... or something, and actually it started becuse of christian people who had "god-fearing" homes. vampires were thought not to be able to enter a house of the lord without direct invitation.

but its a myth.
lol

i go in my friends houses uninvited all the time :D lol

the point i was trying to make in my earlier post is that when one was invited in, you were considered the host. the host had a sacred duty to ...well...to be a good host!
this ment you had to give the guest food and a place to sleep and they could get away with much beyond what we would consider good manners and be immune from punishment (to see an example of this, read ivanhoe when the normans knights are welcomed into the saxon castle).
to flip this to the lore side, if something were invited in, you did lose power over them. they no longer had to go when you said go...and with all due respect to buffy, it wasnt an easy thing to recend such an invitation.
yr obt svt
~W~

Lord Wolf well said post,

I think that ivitation also amkes all forms of hurtful plans not work.

The perfect scene for this is on lost boys when Max gets invited in and the frog brothers plans do not work on him.

As for public places, the invite had already been extended...Hence public. All comers welcome unless they are under the age of whatever. Thought this would have been common sense.

They are invited because they want to make sure they have the clan/coven the way they want it

well according to old fable a Vampire has to be welcomed into the home of someone and I feel it is as ws said an ivitation to open the door for Evil.

IF you allow them into your home/domain then they can control you and take ya.


Yet, that could be just in the movies cause some do not need and invitation.

yes I have heard that folk lore about inviting the vampire in your home. i do think thats what they mean by opening the door to evil.

I am not sure If the invited in actually applies to the vampire.
except as proper manners.The invite applies to demons and spirits when wielding magics.Or invoking so I would say the writes have applied it to the vampire is a demon and gets me wondering why it is,That no one ever invites a werewolf in lol they seem to just jump threw your window.I think that it also depends on the writer of the story and who's telling it.
Then again Suppose if something comes back It is a demon or spirit.So i guess it applies to the vampire.But why not the werewolf?

well a werewolf is not the living dead as a Vampire is, just some poor soul who got bit and now has a curse to the moonlight, I think they are different as to the whole evil theory. LOl I am not sure yet, would love to find out.

A persons home is their sancutuary and many old myths say that the could not cross the threshold because of the floors and not the dirt ground. superstitions made to ward of evil in the saftey of ones home.

Even neanderthal's carved symbols onto rock to protect themselves from the unknown. Humans devised ritual and continued their use of symbols which developed into myths, all in order to gain some power on our side. If vampires could just enter at will the scales would be unbalanced. They are, of course, endowed with the ability to glamour their desired into an invitation.

The Zoroastrians painted all entrances to a home blue...
to keep out evil, most buildings in the moslem world do the same. I believe that also explains why boat hulls under the waterline are also painted that colour.

It is age old custom to ward houses, even older than passover, and threshholds.

Being invited in, breaks the ward.

An invitation is summoning. Its nothing todo with the Cause and effect. But it dictate. If you invite for good cause, it will not harm you at all. butif you call any soul for harming other or bad cause, it impact on invitor too.
Coz to cause bad impact on other once the soul invited its appearance is damaging and if it damage others it want some thing in return, it can not be love and friendliness but the sacrifice... andthat must be the like wise the apperance of the soul. coz nothing in this world rebound. once one help you to destroy others it will like to earn from you the even bigger thing than your expectation such as your slavery or your habit to use them again. r tehy will appear in front of you and will play with your conscious that you make mistake and pay at that level the level you used them.

But you invited in friendliness and not to harm any party in the world, they will not harm you but may they help you in your crucial time but this is sure that they will not harm you. Or no bad impact on you or at your place.

The theory is that the feaure you wishes to appear in your place, the appearance of that feature will be live at your place in invitation of any power (soul, energy + conscious + spirit)

So then if I am understanding what you have said Venumstings, it would depend on whether or not your intentions were for good or evil? If I have misunderstood you please let me know nicely. :)

I have always been told and believed that the house was your sanctuary or holy ground. That you would have to welcome in or give permission for someone (vampire, spirit, or demon) to come into your home.

(Bows in utmost reverence)
Deare Majestic SpiritWalker,
You understood what i said. You can invite any kin, but there must be good cause behind it. Coz every spirit is the part of Universal Spirit (Power) and what ever feature you wish in it, it will adopt hat feature to the best of its power exercised. But to handle that feature you must be able. If you wish one ghost be in harming feature... it will be with you and may not go again without its returns. But if you invite a ghost to respect it, it will be with you and will go in silence. Or if may not go, it means it wish to be closer to you as your welwisher as you gave that ghost a good hospitabilty and respect. The features of the universe you invoke in the spirit during the invitation, that feature will become the nature of that invited spirit.

kglitterous, that reminds of the adobe homes in New Mexico where the window frames and porch rails and doors are painted turquoise. A firm believer in witches, my grandpa painted his entire house turquoise to keep out evil spirits.

It was explained to me as a biblical metaphore.
A vampire is evil....if you invite evil into your household you can expect bad things to happen.

Invitation can be as simple as association. And many use to believe if you speak of evil, it was soon to follow.

"The phrase is an abbreviation of English proverb, "Speak of the devil and he doth appear." Deriving from the Middle Ages, this proverb (which was, and to a certain extent still is, rendered as "Talk of the Devil...") was a superstitious prohibition against speaking directly of the Devil or of evil in general, which was considered to incite that party to appear, generally with unfortunate consequences. Its first printed usage in modern English can be found in Giovanni Torriano's Piazza Universale (1666), as "The English say, Talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."

From the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_of_the_devil

Yes Honorable Spiritwalker,
By mistake i did half exorcism in my 20s and it did cost me losing my focus even on meditation too. I get irritated when think of any psychic exercise and the past come in my mind... to ejects me from those exercises including meditation.

I think that I agree with alot of people here when they say that its like letter down your own defense barriers, and that vamps could not enter unless invited because it is like a personal sanctuary in which evil/dark/malevolent beings must be invited by an individual.

..because, if you don't invite me, I will not attend. Vampires are Gentlemen and Ladies, they use proper "manners" when come to human traditions. "No invitation, no Vampire"

Why must you need an invite if you can chose to just lure one out into the open?

because it's the polite thing to do

I think that apart from etiquette it is because not every vampire is welcome and accepted, so they have to be selected.

An invitation would be a choice

Depends on what type of Vampire we are talking about. Some require an invitation so they can repeatedly visit, and some need no invite at all.

I agree with Tzzadi... Got beaten to that one. *laughs*

because its the rite thing to do? would you want me in your house uninvited? :)

I think that with Dracula it was an etiquette thing, afterall and above all he did consider himself an "Old World"aristocrat. I'm sure its tied to some Eastern Vampire lore, I don't believe Stoker "invented" any vampire lore, but rather incorporated from various sources.The trick with Dracula though was that once he was invited in, he was free to enter anytime he wished.

Although, if you look at his own introduction to Harker.."Enter freely and of your own will".....Perhaps he expected the same when being invited, his host allowing him to enter "of his own will," meaning as someone has already stated here, his own choice...allow the evil in.Then he never had to leave.

As previously pointed out by others, the concept of the vampire needing to be invited in was a plot device used in fiction. Thus, the fictional vampire... depending on the author... might require some form of "invitation" prior to entering a residence.

Where the historical "vampire" is concerned, on the other hand, the original Slavic accounts make no mention of an explicit invitation requirement. However, mention is often made of the vampire courting and seducing young women and, following several days and nights together, leaving them "exhausted and emaciated"... and occasionally pregnant, as well. Thus, consent on the part of the women is most certainly and strongly implied... as also is the true nature of the communion (not "attack") between them.


- Upir'

Well, im going to be a bit more zionic in my response perhaps.

If you are not invited into the private sanctums, then you should not go. When Chirst knocks upon the door to the heart saying "i am looking for an honest man" why should vampires being the offspring of demons be the same? I mean really, if we are bound by basic laws of privicay and intimacy that men and women go to jail for, then would it be a stretch to say things that once obeyed these human laws, are subject to them in a spiritual capacity as well?


Such is the indiviualization from the source as the vampire exhibits the traits of the antinomian lucifer, while as those who are the offspring of the God force.legion/ that is the all pervaisve then one who is not god, is subject to the laws imposed by such view points.

Just a thought.

infernally

custom, tradition, Hollywood myth.

Upir has struck a chord in terms of the "classic" vampire tale. Even Carmilla persuaded and seduced. Rampaging should be left to zombies. Vampires are a higher form of ghoul.

To me the" invitation only" is nothing more then a hollywood myth that sells movies

At some point myth and metaphor collide. One slaps you in the face, the other slips up on you.

Some need to be invited in due to proper etiquette because they are a higher level like a Sire or Superior Sire. They are very high leveled so they cannot be forced in therefore they an invitation is sent to be invited in.

NOTE: Never look to Fiction for answers, they are merely distorted fragments of the truth. Instead, look to the truth and you'll see how fiction got everything wrong.

No work of fiction has ever got this information correct.


Your Question: Why do (some) vampires need to be invited in?

Answer:

1. The invitation is not for physical purposes, it's for spiritual purposes. If one acts like they cannot enter till they are invited, it's only to gain spiritual access to the property.

2. The invitation does not have to be spoken, written, or even consciously made. It is in the form of energy transfer and can also be done by physical touch (such as a hand shake or hug), eye contact, taking or giving of a personal belonging, thinking of them or talking about them, or simply being close to someone that has already done one of these things so they can be used to get to you.

3. If a vampire makes their self visible to you without actually being there physically, then they will not be seen in a mirror. Also, mirrors act as doorways in the spiritual world so they allow easy access for outside forces to enter.

4. The gaining of permission to a certain place has nothing to do with (sacred ground, religious practice, it being Your Home), none of these things. It's all about the energy! All energy has magnetic properties. When you get really bad anxiety, that's the energy repelling. In the spiritual world, this anxiety will stop you like hitting a wall.



I could go on and say much more, but this will do for now.

I doubt it, why would they even need in? If they wanted you bad enough they could just wait you out. After all they are suppose to be Immortal!