Can anybody tell me where the myth came from that vampires don't have reflections?


Thanks
SB

The myths told through the ages tell us that Vampires are the undead manifestation of the human they used to be in life. Only the soul has been removed, (that which made the body human).
Since in the old days mirrors were thought to show the reflection of the soul, and a Vampire had no soul, it followed that they would have no reflection.

Of course when you think about it with common sense, it couldn't really be possible.
Even if the Vampire cast no reflection, what about their clothes? An undead dress or suit that also casts no reflection sounds more than slightly ridiculous, yet you never look into a mirror and see a suit of clothes walking around by itself, or pocket change just jangling through the air all alone do you?
Even if you say that the Vampire extends it's undead-ness outward beyond it's body limits where does it stop?
Also a good question for the ladies how would a female Vampire put on her make-up if she couldn't see what she was doing? That would go far beyond inconvenient and into the realms of the circus clown!
As we all know water reflects images too, so what would happen in a rainstorm, as the drops reflected and then landed would the Vampire appear and disappear like a flickering cine film?
As I said right at the start, when you think about it with common sense, it couldn't really be possible.

Lady C.

Lady C,
You have answered it from a common sense point of view, so I suppose I will take it from a different perspective.
If you think about it Vampires could never have a reflection, as they are made of energy. Pure spirit encased in a human form, and so therefore technically the reflection belongs to the body not the Vampire.
It is completely impossible for a Vampire to have a reflection, and completely impossible for a Vampire residing in a human body NOT to have one.

How about this for a possible explanation ladies

Consider an energy being feeding in their astral form on a human host.
The being would be to all intents and purposes invisible, except to other kindred that were in the know.
But.
In certain cases some of the hosts would have had an amount of natural extra sensory perception or indeed have a certain amount borrowed from the connection with the "Vampire". So while the "vampiric" feeding was happening the host would have had enough heightened perception to be able to see the "vampire" in its astral form.
(The being may not even have been feeding, I just used it as an easy example)
Remember that your perception does not necessarily require light for you to be able to see.
Think of a memory of your favourite jumper or car.. You can see it in your minds eye, all its colours, every detail probably, but it does not need any external light for you to "see it" only your perception of it from your memory.

The hosts perception allowed them to see the "vampire" in its own natural form floating above them but when they looked in the mirror the “vampire” was not there because, obviously, it wasn't reflecting any light. The only reason they could see what was happening at all was because their Extra Sensory Perception allowed it.

Hence the "Vampires have no reflection myth".

What do you think?

Zygo
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I apologise for the use of Vampire because in truth it could be anyone of a number of beings. I just figured Vampire was the best known and most obviously understood choice.
Zygo

Well it sounds perfectly credible to me. I even think that, if you take it further it might also go some way to explaining the flying Vampire thing. What they saw was a Vampire floating above them, but of course it would have translated into the ability to fly in their minds wouldn't it? It can't float if it can't fly, after all they're very similar things.

Nice one. Makes perfect sense to me.
Can anyone think of a reason for the pointy teeth?
Wings and things
Lanntor

Well the idea from early times was that the Canine teeth on a Vampire were retractable. When extended the teeth were hollow and acted like straws. The Vampire would plunge their fangs into the neck of their chosen victim, and suck very hard and the blood would come up through the teeth, and out at the top of the palate. Into the back of the mouth where it could be swallowed without effort.

hmm folding False teeth perhaps?

Piercing the tops of milk bottles?
Opening tins when you can't find the tin opener?

I didn't know that about the teeth Lady C. But hollowness in the teeth makes sense of how the biting was supposed to work.

Retractable fangs!
It is complete rubbish of course, but it makes for excellent movie imagery, and when done in just the correct way, can provide a second rate movie with unbelievably gruesome visual impact.

Maybe classical Vampires are a mixture of both True Vampires and Therianthropes.
Seeing a rather toothy Wolf floating about above you doing anything would certainly have given me the impression that Vampires had big pointy canines.
just a thought.

Wild

LOL.
Wouldn't that have made you think they had fur, and fluffy ears too?
Or that Wolves could fly?
Although, thinking about it, even though I haven't heard them myself I'm willing to bet that somewhere there are some ancient myths/legends that say exactly that!

Ok. i think I get that.. Why do people still think that though?? We know that a mirror shows the physical us not our soul. So why did it stick??

Sorry for being a pain.. Answer one question get another one. Thankyou for all the answers!

hmm I think thats a 3 word answer for you.

"Hollywood movie hype"

and a lack of common sense in a lot of cases

Zygo

As silly as it sounds I think they still believe those things because tales of us are everywhere and so thay have to believe something, and let's be truthful they haven't been given anything else to believe about us instead.
Under these circumstances what choice have they got?
The Movie rubbish may be just rubbish, but with no one willing to take the risk involved to re-educate them, there is nothing else available for them to believe.