# Would a blessed animal have an effect on a vampire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284 "2008-10-16T22:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/21 "2008-10-17T12:53:08Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > While I don’t think the Christian blessings on animals make them holy (they’re more likely to be prayers for protection, no?) there are religions in which animals are blessed to hold holy energy, or are themselves sacred. Hindu cows being the obvious, but also some animals sacrificed in Santeria, Ifa, Vodoun and classical Egyptian and Celtic rites (although most reconstructionists leave those bits out). Play it safe and use a Siamese sacred elephant. That way, even if the sacred part doesn’t work, the elephant can just stomp on him . . . ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/22 "2008-10-17T13:17:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Play it safe and use a Siamese sacred elephant. That way, even if the sacred part doesn’t work, the elephant can just stomp on him . . . Brilliant! Perhaps we can rig a sparking device under the elephant’s tail so when it farts, it can set fire to the vampire mush. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/23 "2008-10-17T13:22:02Z")
If you’ve said the blessing before your dinner, can you kill a vampire by driving your steak through its heart? Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/24 "2008-10-17T13:52:04Z")
Isn’t there some legend that says if you set a white horse loose in a graveyard, you can tell where the vampire is buried because the horse won’t walk over the grave and has a hissy fit? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/25 "2008-10-17T14:29:08Z")
Depending on size thy could be filling. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/26 "2008-10-17T14:53:57Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I apologize for being an ignorant heathen, but…I kind of understand the distinction with the cross, but aren’t communion wafers and holy water just wafers and water that have been blessed by a priest? In the case of communion wafers, absolutely not. It’s more than just a blessing: according to most Christian religions, the wafers have been transformed into the body of Christ. Holy water is less clear. It has a definite identity and a clear place in Catholic ceremonies; and I think there’s a definite ritual associated with creating it. So it’s arguably more special than, say, a shovel that a Priest has said a random blessing over. But it’s not clearly transformed in the same way that communion has been. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/27 "2008-10-17T14:56:28Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > If I know that holding up an object that I believe will protect me from vampires will protect me from vampires, does that mean I can use whatever’s close by to protect me from vampires? If you’re asking, then the answer is clearly ‘No’. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/28 "2008-10-17T17:19:21Z")
> [@BaneSidhe](#): > > Isn’t there some legend that says if you set a white horse loose in a graveyard, you can tell where the vampire is buried because the horse won’t walk over the grave and has a hissy fit? That’s from Albanian folklore, I believe. But the horse has to be a virgin stallion, and there also has to be a virginal male youth riding the horse for it to work. Good luck setting that test up on short notice. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/29 "2008-10-17T19:02:17Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > That’s from Albanian folklore, I believe. But the horse has to be a virgin stallion, and there also has to be a virginal male youth riding the horse for it to work. Good luck setting that test up on short notice. Yeah, not many dopers are Albanian. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/30 "2008-10-17T20:24:30Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > That’s from Albanian folklore, I believe. But the horse has to be a virgin stallion, and there also has to be a virginal male youth riding the horse for it to work. Good luck setting that test up on short notice. Oo boy. Virginal human I can see but virginal stallion…? Wonder why a stallion and not a mare? Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/31 "2008-10-17T22:16:21Z")
Lassie could kill a vampire. As could Nessie. As could Gorgo. From Gorgo up, it just gets silly. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/32 "2008-10-17T23:14:24Z")
I have a blessed cat. Long story, but my mother was once training to be a priest and decided after tormenting my cat and getting bitten a few times that the cat was possessed and needed to be blessed. So, if any-one can provide me with a vampire, I’ll test the theory. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/33 "2008-10-17T23:49:48Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > I’ve always wondered about the implications of this. If I know that holding up an object that I believe will protect me from vampires will protect me from vampires, does that mean I can use whatever’s close by to protect me from vampires? If belief is sufficient, that should work (but you try it first). [Linux Zealot] "This stake must be capable of killing you, it’s well-documented and its design is open-source!!! [/Linux Zealot] ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/34 "2008-10-18T00:58:15Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I apologize for being an ignorant heathen, but…I kind of understand the distinction with the cross, but aren’t communion wafers and holy water just wafers and water that have been blessed by a priest? (My only ‘hands-on’ experience with this stuff is the Jewish approach, which is pretty sparse on the blessing of objects and declaring things holy.) No, the communion wafer plays a very important role in the practice of Christianity, and has a very important association with Christ himself. For most Protestants this association is a powerful symbol, while Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that the substance of the bread actually becomes the body of Christ in a real but non-physical way. I’m afraid that’s not the most clear explanation, but this is a tricky and complicated theological issue that’s really beyond my understanding. But the point is, the communion wafer is not, for any Christian, just some piece of bread that a priest said a prayer over. It either symbolizes or literally contains the essence of Jesus Christ. Oddly, although sacramental wine is equally important I don’t recall it ever being mentioned in vampire fiction. It seems like a rather obvious idea to use the BLOOD of Christ against a vampire, but in the context of a vampire story I guess this raises some rather awkward questions about the nature of Holy Communion (you DRINK the BLOOD of Christ, and yet there’s something wrong with vampires?) so many authors probably felt it best to just avoid the issue. Any liquid-based attack on a vampire could be pulled off with holy water instead, and that’s probably easier to get ahold of anyway. As for holy water, I’d argue that its use in the baptism ritual gives it a much greater religious significance than a bottle of Diet Coke that’s been blessed by a priest. The nature of the baptism ritual is also important here – it is/represents a washing away of sin, and is considered necessary for salvation in many denominations. If we consider a vampire to be a thoroughly evil, damned creature, then water with the power to wash away sin would presumably have a Wicked Witch of the West style affect on him. My point here is that while a priest could in theory bless _anything_, the cross, communion wafer, and holy water carry religious significance beyond that, so it makes some narrative logic for them to be more dangerous to vampires. An author would of course be free to write that any object that had been blessed or that had any association with religion at all (e.g. an altar cloth or book of hymns) would be equally damaging to vampires. But if one wants to go that route, the vampire hunters would be foolish to mess around with getting an animal blessed when they could just ask the priest to say a prayer over a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/35 "2008-10-18T01:44:29Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > As for holy water, I’d argue that its use in the baptism ritual gives it a much greater religious significance than a bottle of Diet Coke that’s been blessed by a priest. The nature of the baptism ritual is also important here – it is/represents a washing away of sin, and is considered necessary for salvation in many denominations. If we consider a vampire to be a thoroughly evil, damned creature, then water with the power to wash away sin would presumably have a Wicked Witch of the West style affect on him. But Coke is better at washing away corrosion from car battery terminals. Positive energy plus acid damage! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/36 "2008-10-18T04:21:44Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In the otherwise forgettable _Fright Night_, it was stated that the religious symbol is not effective unless the person wielding it believes in it… This is also Stephen King’s approach in his excellent vampire novel _'Salem’s Lot_. Father Callahan holds a very powerful vampire at bay with a cheap plaster crucifix for awhile, but then he overthinks it and his doubts starts to grow. The crucifix loses its power, which leads to Very Bad Things happening to the priest. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/37 "2008-10-18T07:32:42Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Oddly, although sacramental wine is equally important I don’t recall it ever being mentioned in vampire fiction. It seems like a rather obvious idea to use the BLOOD of Christ against a vampire, but in the context of a vampire story I guess this raises some rather awkward questions about the nature of Holy Communion (you DRINK the BLOOD of Christ, and yet there’s something wrong with vampires?) so many authors probably felt it best to just avoid the issue. Any liquid-based attack on a vampire could be pulled off with holy water instead, and that’s probably easier to get ahold of anyway. Okay, really overtired insomniac 2:30 AM blasphemous pondering ahead: So, in the Whedonverse, as in many vampire stories, a vampire “sires” another vampire by drinking a person’s blood and forcing some of the vampire’s own blood into the person. So if a vampire drank Communion wine and bled on a wafer, would he make Jesus a vampire? (Hey, what’s with the handbasket…and why is it getting warm in here?) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/38 "2008-10-18T10:25:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > So, in the Whedonverse, as in many vampire stories, a vampire “sires” another vampire by drinking a person’s blood and forcing some of the vampire’s own blood into the person. So if a vampire drank Communion wine and bled on a wafer, would he make Jesus a vampire? Hmmmm. - Pictures a priest running screaming between the pews, being swarmed by hundreds of flying vampiric Communion wafers \* ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/39 "2008-10-18T12:04:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So you should know better than to put this in GQ. Yes, I didn’t ask the question I meant to ask, which would have fit in GQ much more neatly: Does blessing an animal make it holy? I apoligize; inspiration struck and I posted. I appreciate the great answers though. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284/40 "2008-10-18T12:11:55Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > : Does blessing an animal make it holy? No, but stabbing it with a pick-axe will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-blessed-animal-have-an-effect-on-a-vampire/468284.md?page=3)