The True Originals

The Originals I'm referring to is a spinoff from the TV series, The Vampire Diaries. It's about three siblings - Elijah, Niklaus and Rebekah Mikaelson - who are supposed to be the original vampires i.e. the first vampires in existance. Although the series is interesting enough, their origin story is ridiculous (i.e. it sucks). They were the children of a wealthy landowner called Mikael, in an Eastern European village which had been devastated by the plague. The TV scene of that episode showed what looked like an Iron Age settlement caught in the grips of an ice age. When his first born child died, Mikael moved to the New World with his family and they settled next to a village of werewolves...Anyway, once his children reached adulthood; Mikael decided to make sure that his children never die. So he asked his wife, Esther, who was a witch, to cast a spell to turn them into immortals... using the essence of the white oak tree and energy from the sun... but the spell had its dark side so they turned into vampires instead... and the sun and the white oak became their nemesis... ahem well never mind.

The Originals official poster...

What I really don't like are their names... Elijah, Rebekah, Niklaus Mikaelson are not names one would expect from Iron Age Eastern Europeans for one thing... Still the series plot lines, set in New Orleans, are interesting enough. However, Niklaus' (Joseph Morgan) spoilt brat character and his tendency to dagger his siblings is infuriating; even more irritating is his constant tirade about being abandoned and betrayed... what can you expect when you're a paranoid serial killer? Rebekah's (Claire Holt) tendency to give in to her former boyfriend Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) is also annoying; she is after all an Original and should be able to stand up to him. If it wasn't for the cool and unruffled Elijah (Daniel Gillies), I don't think I would watch this series. Sophie Deveraux (Daniella Pineda) the witch is quite likeable although the producers seem to prefer Davina (Danielle Campbell). Davina is a bit of a brat too but not quite on the scale of Niklaus...

In this series, the witches and the werewolves are at the mercy of the vampires, particularly Niklaus, who is half werewolf himself. Apparently, Mikael was not his real father (Klaus was fathered by a werewolf) and he was tortured by Mikael. This may have made him slightly unhinged and created a deep resentment against his other siblings, who failed to protect him. His mother, Esther the witch, placed the Hybrid Curse on Niklaus to prevent him from actually turning into a werewolf... although I wouldn't call it a curse, more of a binding spell. This is a good thing, because vampire-werewolf Niklaus could annihilate all the vampires plus werewolves, not to mention humans, in New Orleans.

However, if one considers the fact that a spell by a witch created the Originals, shouldn't the witches be able to control them and even unmake the spell? Why are the witches (with the exception of Davina) so weak and unable to stand up to the vampires? OK so there was a totally whacky plot line where 12 young witches had to be sacrificed and then brought back to life to restore balance but Davina panicked, escaped and went into hiding so the other witches could not be brought back to life and restore order... in fact Davina took all their power. The idea is of course nonsense and it seems the writers conveniently overlooked 11 young women who are in limbo...

When it comes to character names, True Blood does a much better job. Sookie Stackhouse is annoyingly quirky but at least, Eric Northman had a plausible Viking name and his maker, Godric, had an ancient Anglo-Saxon name...

What does Mythology say about the origin of the vampire?

I believe that the origin of the vampire can be traced to the story of Raktabija (Rakta = blood, bija = seed). According to Hindu myths, in the beginning of the world, there was a great battle between the Devas and the Asuras for supremacy. One particular Asura called Raktabija was impossible to destroy because he could regenerate himself (in modern terms, clone himself), whenever his blood spilled on the earth - a single drop of  his blood coming in touch with the ground was enough to regenerate Raktabija. In fury, Durga (one of the Devas) created Kali or Chamunda (the Black One) to help her destroy Raktabija. Kali was born as a skeletal being, probably a child of literally skin and bones. Whenever Durga struck Raktabija, Kali would lick all the spilled blood to prevent them from coming into contact with the earth.  Raktabija was finally vanquished by Durga and Kali,  one supposes when he was drained of every drop of blood. After this battle, Kali emerged as a full-grown woman, an unstoppable and bloodthirsty goddess in her own right. Did Raktabija's blood create a Vampire Queen in the form of Kali?

Who were the first vampires in recorded history?

Raja Bersiong/The Fanged King

One of the ancient chandis unearthed in the Bujang Valley

As far as I know, the oldest story of a vampire ever recorded is from Malaysia. More precisely, the story originates from the state of Kedah. The Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (Chronicles of Merong Mahawangsa) records the story of a king called Raja Ong Maha Perita Deria, known in Malay folklore as Raja Bersiong or the Fanged King. He is supposed to be the fifth or seventh king in the Kedah Dynasty (which is said to be founded in the 5th Century AD). Raja Perita Deria would have lived between somewhere between 700-900 AD. He is also mentioned in Thai/Siam records as Phra Ong Maha Yatidahara and is/was undoubtedly a real person. He probably lived in the Bujang Valley, now a sprawling historical complex covering 224 sq km near the town of Merbok, Kedah. About 50 ancient temples or candi/chandi , showing Hindu/Buddhists influence have been unearthed at the site dating back to the 5th - 13th Century AD. This timeline coincides with that of Langkasuka, one of the earliest Malay kingdoms to evolve in the region. The timeline also overlaps with Sri Vijaya Empire, a thallosocracy which ruled over the entire Southest Asian archipelago from the 8th Century to the 13th Century AD.



Steps leading up a chandi in the Bujang Valley

What legend says about Raja Ong Maha Perita Deria is as follows: One day Raja Perita Deria returned to his palace from an exhausting hunt and demanded that his cook prepare his favourite dish immediately: gulai bayam (bayam is a vegetable related to spinach and often made into a gulai - spicy broth with coconut milk). Apparently, the cook accidently cut his/her hand in the kitchen and spilled his/her own blood into the gulai bayam. As there was no time to prepare another dish, he/she was forced to serve the tainted dish to the king. However, the king loved the gulai bayam and realised that it was different from the dishes he had been served before. On pain of death, he forced the cook to tell him what was the additional ingredient in the gulai bayam. The cook confessed that he had tainted the food with his own blood. Instead of being outraged, Raja Perita Deria instructed him to add human blood to his food everyday! From then onwards, helpless prisoners were bled so that the king could enjoy his gulai bayam. Eventually, Raja Perita Deria even grew a pair of fangs and came to be known among his people as Raja Bersiong (Raja - king/prince, siong - fang).

Raja Bersiong - a play staged by the Petronas Philharmonic Theatre

The story of Raja Bersiong leads me to speculate that the Fanged King was perhaps suffering from porphyria? Porphyria is a rare genetic disorder of the blood where heme, an important component of hemoglobin is not synthesized properly. Porphyria can take various forms, and produce different symptoms, the most common being extreme light sensitivity - people with porphyria try to avoid sunlight. They also experience severe pain, muscle cramps, seizures, mental disturbances (psychosis) and personality changes. In some cases, porphyrine is deposited in the teeth, which stains the teeth of sufferers red-brown and even makes it glow!

Is it possible that in the case of Raja Bersiong, the blood contaminated food served to him on that fateful day averted an acute attack brought about by the long exposure to sunlight during the hunt?

From the point of view of folklore, the story of Raja Bersiong is surprising mainly because of the fact that he is a man. In Malay folklore, the different forms of vampires such as the pontianak or the langsuir are almost invariably female. Clearly, Raja Bersiong is neither pontianak nor langsuir; in fact he fits the Western profile of the vampire perfectly and yet his story is written in an ancient text before any form of Western influence reached the archipelago. As the Bujang Valley had strong Hindu influence, perhaps he was a vetala - a vampire from Hindu folklore.

But who or what are the vetala/vetal/betal? According to Hindu folklore, a person who dies and is not cremated/buried with the necessary rites will turn into a vetal. A demon/spirit will take possession of the body and re-animate or ressurect it. The vetala however are not mindless zombies; they posses wit, intelligence and acute insight into human nature. Vetalas are also not bound by the laws of nature, which makes them very powerful. In Hindu folklore, the vetala are the rulers of the demon world i.e. all other demons, including the pisacha are subservient to them. In Joss Whedon's TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a somewhat similar explanation was given for vampires - a body taken possesion by a demon; except that it also required blood from another vampire to turn a dying person into a vampire.

 The Vampire of Alnwick Castle



Alnwick Castle is featured in the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts School of Magic. 

The foreboding Alnwick Castle is supposed to be haunted by a vampire. The earliest parts of the castle were built by Yves de Vescy, when he became Baron of Alnwick in 1096. During this time, there were tales of a former lord of the estate, who is said to live in the passages underneath the castle and who preyed on people at night.

A vampire resurfaces in Alnwick a hundred years later. The 12th Century chronicler, William of Newburgh, collected a number of supernatural accounts in his book, The History of English Affairs. Among them was the story of a man who came to be known as the Alnwick Castle Vampire.  As the word vampire only entered the English language in the 18th Century, the term revenant was used then.  Revenants refered to souls who return from the dead, either as visible ghosts or as reanimated corpses.

The incident concerned a man, originally from York, who served the lord of Alnwick Castle. This man, who was described as sinful and wicked, married a young woman from the village of Alnwick. The man from York, who was himself a philanderer, suspected that his wife was unfaithful to him. So one day, he hid among the rafters in the roof above her bed to spy on her. When a young man from the village came to visit his wife, the man lost his balance and fell to the floor. As his injuries were fatal, a priest was summoned. But the man refused to repent for his sins and cursed his wife and the village before he died the next day. He was nevertheless given a proper burial in the local church cemetary.

After the burial, a strange man was seen wandering around the village at night, followed by howling dogs. At the same time, an unnamed disease broke out in the village and people started dying, one after the other. The plague was blamed on the man from York, who had returned as a revenant. Led by the priest, a number of young men from the village dug up the body and were shocked to see that it was engorged with blood. When struck with a spade, a stream of blood gushed out of the body. The body was dragged out of the village and burnt in a bonfire. The plague which afflicted Alnwick village ended soon after.

The Jugra Chronicles : Miyah and Rigih

Buy from  MPHOnline.com

According to Eric Forbes (Senior Editor, MPH Group Publishing. Eric is a bibliophile and has his own blog: goodbooksguide.blogspot.com ) there is a possibility that the second book in The Jugra Chronicles series might be published by mid-May i.e. before I leave for Singapore for the Asian Festival of Children's Content. The first book in the series, Miyah and the Forest Demon, was published in 2011. Illustrated by journalist/children's author Choong Kwee Kim, the folklore influenced YA book is set in 17th Century Borneo. The main protagonist is 12-year-old Miyah, from the Tapoh longhouse. For a write-up about the book, refer to Alan Wong's post:  bpbites.blogspot.com/2011/05/hantu-witch-and-sampan.html  Alan Wong wrote that it was 'styled according to CS Lewis' Narnia Chronicles' (gasp!) but the actual inspiration behind The Jugra Chronicles is Ruth Manley's Chronicles of Old Japan - The Plum Rain Scroll, The Dragon Stone and The Peony Lantern. Unfortunately, Manley passed away before her last book was published. It has always been a secret wish of mine to write the fourth book in the series (anyone from Hodder and Stoughton paying attention?)

Miyah and Suru go for a boat ride.
Illustration by Choong Kwee Kim.

So what is the Forest Demon? This creature from Bidayuh and Malay folklore - the infamous Hantu Rimba - grabs and 'swallows' the unwary who are unfortunate enough to cross its path. But what is the Hantu Rimba really like? What was its true nature? What did it sound like? The folklore tends to be quite sketchy about such matters - we only know about its ogre-like eating habits. But I had a more manipulative and subtle entity in mind.

Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup are the adorable
Powerpuff  Girls!
Copyright owned by Cartoon Network etc

Well, believe it or not, I found my inspiration in Him, a demonic villain from the Powerpuff Girls!  Created by Craig McCraken, this animated TV series was shown over Cartoon Network. My daughter used to watch it as a child and of  course I had to watch it as well. The Powerpuff girls were created by their father, Professor Utonium, using a mixture of 'sugar, spice and everything nice'. But he accidentally spilled some mysterious Chemical X into the mixture and created three perfect girls with superpowers. The girls had a job too - they routinely saved Townsville, USA (incidentally, there is a real city called Townsville in Queensland, Australia) from a series of supervillains. The most formidable (and scary) of them all was, Him. He has no name because he is "so sinister, so evil, so scary, so horribly vile that his real name can never be said..." His gender is somewhat ambiguous as he wore a mini-dress with frills,

Even Mojo Jojo is scared of the vile and scary Him!

high-heeled boots (which could be concealing cloven hoofs) and spoke in a high-pitched falsetto. But it was his voice which was truly scary - a high chilling voice with echoes which turns to a sinister basso profondo when infuriated. To me, it sounded like many layers of voices speaking at the same time. This voice effect is used quite often now, in films of demonic possession. To cut to the chase, Him's voice helped me to 'visualise' the evil entity for my book.

So the Hantu Rimba of Bidayuh folklore acquired some of the attributes of Him. Of course, the true nature of the Hantu Rimba has to be uncovered in the second book, Rigih and the Witch of Moon Lake, otherwise it would be impossible to vanquish it (the devil is in the details).  The second book picks up the story three years after the first book. Miyah's cousin and friend, Rigih, is the main protagonist. He is aided in his quest to rescue Miyah by the mysterious Witch of Moon Lake. The Witch herself is based on the traditional Kadazan/Dusun shamanic healers known as Bobohizan (female) and Bobolian (male). These shamans have deep knowledge of herbal lore and are also the keepers of old tribal customs and traditions. They spend long hours in meditation to go into a trance where they are able to travel to the spirit world. In the past, they also played an important role during the planting and harvest season to invoke the rice spirit for a bountiful harvest. I believe, there are still some practicing Bobohizans and Bobolians in the state of Sabah. Oddly enough, in the southern islands of the Philippines, female shamans are known as Babaylians.

The cover illustration is by Tan Vay Fern.

The cover and the black and white illustrations on the inside are by Tan Vay Fern. She made the Witch/ Bobohizan more beautiful than I had imagined, but I'm not complaining! Her forceful personality comes through from the unwavering, direct gaze. Vay Fern used stylised traditional motifs from Sarawak and Sabah in her designs for chapter headings and also for the costumes of the characters.

A special lake plays a small but important role in the book (you can tell from the title). The Moon Lake is styled after Lake Lonar, located in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra, India. Both the science and the myth behind the lake is fascinating. Most of the blogs will tell you that Lake Lonar was created 60,000 years ago but a study in 2010 put the age of the lake at 650,000 years - plus or minus 80,000 years! Even the

Lake Lonar seen from space. Copyright NASA.

origin of the lake was misunderstood - less than a decade ago, it was thought to be a volcanic crater despite the total lack of evidence. We now know that the lake was created by a meteorite which struck the Deccan plateau and created an almost circular impact crater, with a circumference of 6 km. Lake Lonar is of intense scientific interest because it is the only impact crater on basaltic rock found on Earth. The extremely hard black basaltic rock is thought to mirror the geology of the moon or Mars! Lake Lonar is also much saltier than the sea and only extremophiles can live in its water. For more hard science, check out ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/lake-lonar/


So what is the myth behind Lake Lonar? According to local folklore, a great underworld demon called Lonarasur (Lonar-Asura) would venture out at night and torment the people living in its surroundings. The people prayed to Vishnu (a Deva) for help. In answer to their prayers, Vishnu assumed the form of a beautiful young man called Daitya Sudana, who persuaded Lonarasur's twin sisters to reveal the location of the demon's lair. It turned out to be a subterranean cavern underneath a hill. Vishnu lifted up the hill and found the demon hiding in his circular lair. He tossed the hill away and it is said to have landed near the village of Datephal, 35 miles away from Lonar where there is a conical hill. Vishnu slew Lonarasur in his lair -  and his blood formed the salty water of the lake. The number of ruined temples along the shores of the lake indicate that people must have sensed the powerful magic emanating from the place.

Did I get my idea for Moon Lake from Lake Lonar? Not really. I've known about meteorite impact craters for a long time and had already made up my mind to incorporate one in my story. But the research into crater lakes uncovered Lake Lonar and gave me a sense of the place.

The Rigih book was supposed to have been published last year. In fact, all the illustrations and layout had been completed but Eric Forbes thought that it needed more editing. As I had already read the text for the umpteenth time (umpteenth meaning at least 12 times),  I allowed a couple of months to elapse to 'forget' the book and gain some distance and objectivity. Sometimes you need to forget what you have written to look at your own work with fresh eyes. When I reread it, I felt compelled to make quite a lot of changes. There were no major changes to the storyline or plot but the dialogues and characterisation  had to be revised. I felt some of the story sequence lacked continuity as well. In the end, some sentences were deleted and I may have added 5-6 more pages to the book; hopefully it made a difference. I didn't try to be literary or quirky, in fact this is probably the most severely edited book I have ever written. Of course it was not just more work for me; Eric and Alan Wong had to put in extra time; not to forget Ng Seng Chee, the DTP person who had to painstakingly make all the changes, word by word, and redo the layout as well!

The Devas and the Asuras

Most of us who are familiar with Eastern religions would associate the word Deva with supernatural beings of light and therefore as 'gods' while the term Asura would be associated with beings of darkness and therefore 'demons'. Apparently this was not always so.

While researching the religion of the Zoroastrians on www.sacred-texts.com, imagine how surprised I was to come across this text in a translation of the Avesta:

Ahura Mazda spoke unto Spitama Zarathustra saying:
...The first of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda created, was the Airyana Vaego, by the good river Daitya.
Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created  by his withcraft the serpent in the river and winter, a work of the Daevas.

The Devas are evil? And that was not all, according to the Avesta, the Asuras are the beings of light while the Devas are the beings of darkness. It seemed impossible that two ancient religion had exactly opposite views  on something so fundamental as gods and demons!

The churning of the ocean, Samudra Mantan. Bas-relief sculpture from Ankgkor Wat, Cambodia.
 Image from Wikimedia

Further research showed that both the Avesta (ancient Persia) and the Vedas (ancient India) came from the same Indo-Iranian and an even older Indo-European source. According to a commentary on the Avesta in Sacred-texts.com, Asura meant 'the Lord' and Daeva meant 'the Shining One'. So in the begining, both Asura and Daeva were supernatural beings of light. Apparently, the two religions evolved along separate paths - in the religion of the Avesta, the Daevas were demonised. Among the Hindus, the Devas were the gods and the Asuras became the demons. (Ahura Mazda is also spelt as Asura Mazda and means 'the Lord of High Knowledge'.

But the Rig Veda holds both Devas and Asuras as august beings of light. (The Rig Veda is a collection of ancient vedic Sanscript hymns. It is the oldest of four sacred text of Hinduism known collectively as the Vedas and is thought to be composed between 1700 - 1100 BC). 

In the Rig Veda , the Devas were gods of nature (elemental beings) while the Asuras were gods of social/moral values. Among the original Devas were Indra - god of thunder and lightning, Soma - the sacred potion and the plant, Agni - god of fire, Ushas - the dawns etc. Among the Asuras were Mithra - god of the oath/covenant/contract, Varuna - god of law, Aryaman - god of marriage etc In fact, the original Asuras were also known as the Adityas; seven celestial dieties who were the sons of Adithi. Headed by Varuna and Mitra, they were described as 'bright and pure as streams of water..." Among the Hindus, the Adityas would later be regarded as Devas as well. Varuna, attended by the Nagas, became god of the sky and ruler of the celestial ocean (the Milky Way). In ancient times, there was no air and light pollution and the Milky Way in the clear night sky would have been an awesome spectacle!


The Devas and the Asuras churn the milky ocean for Amrita,
the divine nectar. The living rope around Mount Meru is Vasuki,
 the king of the nagas.
The turtle is Kurma, an incarnation of Vishnu.

In one of the ancient myths, the Devas and Asuras agreed to work together to obtain Amrita, the divine nectar of immortality from the ocean. Using Mount Mandhara/Mount Meru as a churner, the king of the nagas, Vasuki agreed to be the living rope they would use to churn the ocean. The Devas, who pulled the tail end of Vasuki had an easier time compared to the Asuras who pulled the head end. The long-suffering Vasuki  belched out fire and smoke, which singed the Asuras (Vasuki belching fire and smoke indicates that nagas are in fact dragons). The mountain itself was supported on the back of a gaint turtle, Kurma, who was an incarnation of Vishnu himself. The milky ocean threw up fourteen divine treasures, including Lakshmi- goddess of wealth and fortune (she became the consort of Vishnu), Chandra - the moon, Parijata - the flowering tree and last of all, Amrita the nectar of immortality. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the Devas ultimately obtained Amrita while the Asuras were denied this prize.




The Devas pull the tail end (left)
while the Asuras pull
the head end (right) of Vasuki.

In later Hindu texts, the rivalry between the Devas and the Asuras broke into all-out war. They battled for dominion over the three worlds: Svarga, Bhumi and Patala or Heaven, Earth and the Netherworld. Patala is not actually 'hell', in fact it is the watery domain of the nagas (who were also Asuras). In this epic war, the Devas created Devi (who in turn created Kali as mentioned in a previous post - 'The Pontianak, the Vampire...) in order to defeat the mighty Asuras. So who won this War of the Worlds?

Initially, it was the Gods of Civilisation, the Asuras. For over a millenium, the Avesta was the supreme religion in the world. The preisthood of the Avesta, known as the Magi (the Three Wise Men from the East of the Nativity), were known and respected throughout the ancient world while Hinduism evolved in relative isolation. However, an examination of popular culture and numerous entries on Wikipedia would indicate that the Gods of Nature, the Devas are the winners of this cosmic struggle at the present moment. Anand Neelakantan takes a more sympathetic look at the Asura in his book, Asura: Tale of the Vanquished. This is a retelling of the Ramayana, from the point of view of the Asura antoganist, Ravana. For those unfamiliar with the original Hindu epic, the Ramayana is the story of Rama, prince of Ayodhya, who is exiled into the wilderness with his beautiful wife Sita and his faithful brother, Lakhsmana. While Rama is out hunting with his brother one day, Sita is abducted by Ravana, the ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka). Rama and Lakhsmana set out to rescue Sita, with the help of Hanuman, the monkey god. Neelakantan tells the story from the point to view of the people of Lanka.

RAVANA, performed by the Petronas Philharmonic Theatre

However as my interest is in plants, the question arises, what is Soma - the sacred potion and the plant? Soma was a ritual drink of great importance in Vedic culture and was frequently mentioned in the Rig Veda. Soma was not only offered to the Devas in ritual sacrifice but also consumed by the priests themselves. It is known as Haoma among the Persians and was also used in rituals in the Avestan/ Zoroastrian tradition. The plant was described as having long stalks and as being yellow in colour. The juice of the plant was extracted by pounding the stalks with stone mortar and pistil and straining the juice with a cloth.
Unfortunately the exact identity of the plant, Soma is derived from, is lost in the mist of time! How can this happen to this most  important sacrificial offering in Vedic rituals? In fact, Hindu priests offer prayers apologising to the gods for their inability to offer Soma in their rituals now. In South India, Somalatha, a substitute derived from the plant Sarcostemma acidum, is offered as a substitute during Somayajna.


Some experts think that Soma could have been made from hallucigenic mushrooms/ or even cannabis/marijuana type of plants. However, the physical description of the Soma plant does not match mushrooms or cannabis. Hallucinogens are also unlikely as a priest needs to concentrate during ritauls - a mistake in the recitation of vedic hymns to invoke the gods would result in failure. Recent opinion seem to favour a species of Ephedra, most probably Ephedra sinica, mainly because the Zoroastrians still use this plant. Ephedra sinica, known as Ma Huang in Chinese, has been used in traditional Chinses medicine for centuries. Ma Huang is a decongestion i.e. it improves breathing and elevates symptoms of asthma and bronchitis (very useful for Hindu priests since smoke inhalation is an occupational hazard); it also improves concentration, increases blood pressure and reduces hunger and fatigue. Exactly what a priest needs during long exhausting rituals which involves the recitation of hundreds of hymns!