Yes! Jewish vampires and crosses! Inquiring ficcers need to know!

edit: of course, in other vamp universes, it's not the faith of the vampire but the faith of the wielder that matters.

I think Joss has said that it's nether the faith of the vampire nor the faith of the wielder, crosses are just "holy."

Which is a weird idea from an atheist, but whatever. I don't know if stars of David (or the muslim/Buddhist/Pagan/etc. equivalents) would also work, though that would have been a neat subplot in S2 -- Willow repells Angelus because she's wearing a star of David necklace.

Munch would probably say that they represent a hierarchy and a seat of power, thereby creeping him out. But I don't really know. Unlike him, I'm not "I've got a theory" about everything. Much.Although it occurs to me I may be getting a Munchkin-obsession instead. So far today, I've gone on at some length about his sexual proclivities in somebody's lj and now am trying to puzzle out his vampire cross-response thing...this can't be good. Over and above the "babe" thing. He's been good for my vocabulary, and coaxed everything I know about philosophy out of hiding, though(there ain't much, babe, but more than I expected)

Very odd idea from an antheist, and I'm pretty convinced that, should I become a vampire, a cross isn't likely to make me so much as blink. I'm not big on symbology as power, just as personal expression.

I wonder, if Willow had been, say, an orthodox Jew and therefore a total believer in her own star of David and the power behind it, if she could have played Van Helsing and made vampires cower back with it?

Because the mythology of vampirism predates Christianity, and certainly western culture.

From what I remember, vampire legends from non-Christian countries don't mention religious symbols repelling vamps.

Now I'm trying to remember if using a cross against vampires is something that Stoker came up with on his own, because I don't remember it in the pre-Dracula folklore; it was all about wild roses and garlic.

"In order to protect yourself from a vampire, the cross or crucifix was thought to be very powerful in the Christian countries. Little is known of how holy symbols were used as vampire protection before the Christian era, however, folk-cures were often employed." Yaaay for Encyclopedia Mythica.

Resistance to a cross increases with age, doesn't it? Angel has managed to keep his reaction to a wince (then snatching the cross from Kate's hand and embedding it in the wall) while lesser vamps actually cower.

Did research on this for an unrelated topic a while back.

Basically, the Christian cross is a symbol of God's covenant of true life forever with JC, rather than the false promise of immortality of a vampire. The vampire is repelled by the truth of that symbol.

My understanding of Jewish iconography is limited, but I think I can safely assume that the Star of David is not to JC's sacrifice on the cross for immortal life, and while it may have some symbolic meaning that I am not aware of, it would not affect a vampire in the same way, in an act of repelling

I've always thought the Tetragrammaton would be the correct Hebrew symbol to repel a vampire.

It would seem so, Connie. Hmm, wonder how being vamped at...ahem, midlife, would affect Our Antihero.(Of course, he may never speak to me again, since I said that.)