Tools Against the Supernatural

I have already written here about the effectiveness of using iron against spirits, but iron is not the weapon one can use. Other tools include weapons made of silver or brass, the blood of a dead man and salt.

The use of silver as a tool against the supernatural goes back to European folklore. Because of its association with the Moon and purity, it has long been believed to be useful against sicknesses and mythical creatures. Silver's use as a weapon against vampires stems from the relation to purity as well as to the fact that some of the early mirrors were polished silver. Silver can also be used against werewolves and is said to cause them great pain in the moments leading up to their deaths, like being burned up from the inside out.

A knife of pure brass is said to be the only sure way to kill a rakshasa. A rakshasa, for those who don't know, is a demon of chaos out of Hindu myth. They like to disrupt sacrifices as well as eat people. They can appear as human or bird, and have the power of invisibility. Anyway, no particulars are given as to where to stab the rakshasa, but the heart might not be a bad idea.

Dead man's blood is another weapon that be useful against vampires. The use of blood from a dead person has been part of vampire lore for a long time. It has been said that a vampire must stop drinking the blood of its victim before they die. Tricking a vampire into doing this can lead to the death of the vampire. Other strategies include injection of the blood directly into the vampire, assuming you can get that close. This aspect of vampiric lore stems from the belief that blood is the source of life, therefore the blood of a dead man would have the opposite effect as the blood of a living person.

The most widely known weapon against evil is salt. One can protect oneself from vampires or demons by either placing a barrier of salt around yourself or on window sills and at the doors. This provides protection because the lore states that the evil creature trying to pass the barrier can only do so after having counted out every single grain of salt. As this is next to impossible, the demon is prevented from passing. This also means that the thicker the line, the greater the protection.

Sources:
Silver; Wikipedia
Werewolf; Wikipedia
The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons, and Ghouls; Alex Irvine