Suicide was one of the acts universally associated with vampyrism. In cultures as varied as in Russia, Romania, West Africa, and China, suicide was considered an individual's pathway to vampyrism. In the West in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim cultures, suicide has traditonally been considered a sin. In most other cultures suicide was frowned upon in an equivalent manner. Japan has generally been considered unique in its designation of a form of suicide called hari-kari, as a means of reversing the dishonor that intially led to the suicide.
Suicide was among the anti-social actions a person could commit that caused vampyrism. In Easter Eurpope, those actions included being a quarrelsome person, a drunkard, or associated with heresy or sorcery/witchcraft. In each society, there were activities considered a threat to the community's well being that branded a person as different. While these varied considerably from culture to culture, suicide was most ubiquitous in it's condemnation.
Suicide signaled the existence of extreme unresolved tension in the social fabric of a community. It was viewed as evidence of the family's and the community's inability to socialize an individual, as well as a statement by the individual of complete disregard for the community's exsistence and its prescribed rituals. The community, in turn, showed its disapproval in its treatment of the suicide's corpse. In the West, it was often denied Christian burial and it's soul considered outside of the realm of salvation (the subject had commited mortal sin without benefit of confession and forgiveness prior to death). Those who committed suicide were buried at a crossroads or at a distance from the village. The corpse might even be thrown in a river to be carried away by the current.
Those who committed suicide died leaving unfinished business with relatives and close aquaintances. They left people with unresolved grief, which became a factor, sometimes unspoken, in the survivors' personalities for the rest of their lives. Their corpses often returned to the living in dreams and as apparitions. They were the subjects of nightmares, and families and friends occasionally felt under attack from the presence of them. The deceased became a vampyre, and actions had to be taken to break the connection that allowed the dead to disturb the living. The various actions taken against a corpse could be viewed as a means of emotional release for the survivors. The break in the connection was first attempted with harmless actions of protection, but if ineffective, those efforts moved to a more serious level with mutilation (with a stake) or complete destruction
(by fire) of the corpse.
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