Werewolf History, Myth and Folklore
Much to the degradation of us all,
Hollywood has very much distorted the creatures of myth and folklore.
To my mind, not only do Werewolves
exist, but each and everyone of us contains the seed of the wolf within
his/her psyche. Unfortunately throughout history the majority of
myth and folklore have linked werewolves with witchcraft (as it was
defined in the Middle Ages) by the "learned" church fathers
and sadistic Inquisitors.
Being a student of the strange, the
unusual, and the unknown, I have always held a particular fascination
for the folklore and legends related to werewolves, vampyres, and the
other children of the night.
Who are these
shape shifting beings of the night?
The first written account of a
werewolf appears in the Scriptures in the Book of Daniel (4:15-33)
where King Nebuchadnezzar exhibited symptoms of were-wolfism for nearly
four years.
The Greek legend of King Lycaon of
Arcadia being transformed into a wolf by Zeus after offending the god by
serving him a meal of human flesh gave birth to the scientific term for
werewolf, "lycanthrope".
Later in the 5th century BC the
celebrated Greek historian Herodotus reported on the Neuri, a strange
people who became wolves for a brief time once a year.
Then in the first century AD, noted
Roman poet Virgil described a sorcerer who could transform himself into
a wolf through the use of secret herbs. In that same century,
renowned Roman author Gaius Petronius Arbiter wrote of such
shapeshifters in his compilation of short stories call "Satyricon".
Do they really
exist?
Absolutely! They exist in each
and everyone of us. Most humans are able to control their
lycanthropic tendencies - domesticated one might say. But though
the majority of us tend to hearken to the inner voice of conscience that
has been strengthened by moral and spiritual values over the
centuries, there are those individuals who have succumbed to the
darkside of the wolf to walk among us as those sadistic criminals who
slash, tear, rip, rape, mutilate, and cannibalize their victims.
It should be noted however, that
"the werewolf of tradition is the deliberate creation of a human
who, motivated by a desire for power or revenge, has sought to release
the beast within and accomplish the transformation of human into wolf.
Therefore, one becomes a werewolf through a self-willed and carefully
structured magical quest to achieve a metamorphosis into wolf."
(Brad Steiger - The Werewolf Book).
How does one become a
werewolf?
Legend tells us that an
individual may become a werewolf through several diverse means.
Foremost is that of being bitten by a werewolf (aptly demonstrated on
the silver screen in The Werewolf of London - 1935 starring Henry
Hull; and in The Wolf Man (1941) featuring Lon Chaney Jr as the
infamous Lawrence Talbot).
 Curses
can also lead to the transformation - an idea that was intriguingly
presented on the gothic TV series Dark Shadows with David Selby as
the unwilling changeling Quentin Collins (one of my favourite shows of all
time!).
Of course there are other circumstances
that can lead to lycanthropy: being conceived at the time of the
full moon, sleeping outdoors on a Friday beneath a full moon, wearing a
wolfskin belt or garment, being subjected to demonic possession, consuming
the raw flesh of a rabid wolf -- just to name a few.
Is there any way of
"curing" a werewolf?
According to popular lore, it is
possible to "cure" a werewolf. One way is to call
him/her by his/her human name while in the animal state. Another
requires the highly dangerous trick of extracting 3 drops of blood while
in the wolf state. A third technique demands that the lycanthrope
restrain him/herself from attacking humans for a full 9-years.
Of course, Hollywood has to get
involved with new and inventive means of tackling this problem of a
"cure". In The Werewolf of London devouring a
special flower that blooms only during moonlight prevented the dreaded
transformation for one night only. In Dark Shadows,
consumption of a moon poppy while in the werewolf state would end the
affliction forever. Another Dark Shadows lycanthrope, the malevolent
Count Petofi (Thayer David) was cured by a gypsy spell, but only upon
payment of his right hand, which he then spent the next 100 years
searching for.
What
relationship, if any, is there between werewolves and witchcraft?
Due to a centuries old association of
witchcraft with the forces of evil and the belief (wrong though it was)
that its practitioners were all agents of Satan, many creatures of
forest and farmyard seen in the company of alleged witches and sorcerers
were also judged to be masquerading demons. Millions of cats were
identified as companions of witches and were given summary trials like
their human counterparts and then burned -- gotta love those christians
and others who must torture and destroy that which they do not
understand!
What of the
Shaman and the spiritual traditions of other cultures?
 In
the spiritual traditions of other cultures, Shamans are expected to seek
the assistance of their spirit helpers, who appear most often in the form
of their totem animals. In certain instances, to explore more effectively
the spiritual dimensions, shamans may even assume the persona of their
totem animal and become that animal for a time, be it a wolf, a raven, an,
or whatever creature has granted its power to their quest.
However, in the Europe of the Middle
Ages, those who employed any kind of shamanic practices were in grave
danger of being tortured and dragged to the stake to be burned to death.
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