Library Lore: Gehenna

When [Lasombra’s] dreams come true

on the day when the moon runs as blood

and the sun rises black in the sky,

that is the day of the Damned,

when Caine’s children will rise again.

– Signs of Gehenna, The Chronicle of Secrets, The Book of Nod

In vampire mythology, Gehenna is the end of the world, the time when first the Antediluvians and eventually Caine will awaken and devour all other vampires and the rest of the world.

The signs that lead up to Gehenna are given in “The Book of Nod”, “Revelations of the Dark Mother” and “The Erciyes Fragments”. Among the signs are:

- a red star appear in the sky (Anthelios)

- the “last daugher of Eve” with a crescent moon birthmark (Afifa)

- vampires of thin blood, ie Caitiffs and kindred of very high generation (Thin-Blooded Seer)

- increased activity of enemies of the vampires, like the Garou (The Unmasking)

- solar eclipses (Veil of Darkness)

- vampires start losing their abilities (Blood Weakens)

All this is not to be confused with Gehenna in the real world, or at least according to Biblical myths, were Gehenna is an actual geographical place – the Hinnom Valley south of Jerusalem, modern day Israel. In the Second Book of Chronicles some Israelite kings committed pagan cult offerings to a deity named Moloch here, including human children that was burned alive. This practice was later forbidden and the valley became a place were dead animals, trash and corpses of executed criminals was dumped. Fires always burned here to prevent diseases from spreading. The Valley of Hinnom became associated with evil and after series of early translations of Bible texts, the word became Gehenna (γέεννα) in Greek and synonymous with ‘hell’.