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AHWW FULL FAQ.
Below is the table of contents for the spring cleaning version of the
AHWW FAQ file. New this go around are more book and song titles, a list
of other names for werewolves, and an addendum to the wendigo mini-FAQ.
Since I'm no longer assigned to dispatch, I've moved my FAQ stuff from
the 'puter there to my home 'puter, where I'm doing all the editing now.
Some stuff may have been lost in the move, so: If there's something you
gave me to add to the FAQ and you don't see it, my apologies.
As usual, send additions/corrections/deletions/comments to
katmandu@negia.net. I do skim interesting items from the newsgroup for
addition to the FAQ but might miss some things.
Enjoy!
Frequently Asked
Questions
for
alt.horror.werewolves
Table of Contents
-------------------
PART I - The Basics
-------------------
1) What is AHWW?
2) A little history
3) What is a lycanthrope? A theriomorph?
4) Do you actually believe you're a werewolf?
5) Are you guys for real, or are you just role-playing?
6) Well, then, how does one become a werewolf?
7) Aren't werewolves bloodthirsty killers?
8) What are werewolves like, mentally, while transformed?
9) How does the full moon effect werewolves? (and other legends)
10) So, how would I "exorcise" someone who's a werewolf?
11) What are some other names for werewolves?
12) Do these thoughts mean I'm crazy?
13) What is the "cyberpack"?
---------------------------------
PART II - Spiritual Therianthropy
---------------------------------
1) What's Spiritual Therianthropy?
2) What are totem animals?
3) What do Dreams have to do with anything?
4) Isn't this some kind of New-Age psuedo religion?
5) How does someone shift mentally?
----------------------------------
PART III - Shapeshifter Multimedia
----------------------------------
1) Songs about shapeshifters
2) Books about shapeshifters
a) Non-Fiction
b) Fiction
c) either/neither/unknown
3) Shows and Movies
4) Costuming
----------------------
PART IV - A bit of fun
----------------------
1) What do I do if I meet a werewolf?
2) Top 10 reasons why werewolves make good pets
3) Top 10 reasons why werewolves make poor pets
4) The Lexicon
-----------------------------
PART V - The Wendigo Mini-FAQ
-----------------------------
-------------------------------
PART VI - The Werebear Mini-FAQ
-------------------------------
------------------------------
PART VII - The Feline Mini-FAQ
------------------------------
-------------------------------
PART VIII - The Nahual Mini-FAQ
-------------------------------
-----------------------
PART IX - Odds and ends
-----------------------
1) What are "furries"?
2) What are the "Howls"?
3) Why not change the name of the group?
4) What is/was the "Helpstaff"?
5) Is there a website? FTP site? IRC channel?
6) What are "werecards"?
7) Where do I send suggestions?
8) Our History
Part I
The Basics
1) What is alt.horror.werewolves?
----------------------------------
Welcome to alt.horror.werewolves! This newsgroup is probably a little
different than most groups you've come across in Usenet. If you're reading
it based on the name, then chances are you have an interest in werewolves
and horror-genre fiction. So do we... but there's more to it than that. We
do discuss werewolves in movies, literature, and art... but we also
discuss windigos, werebears, wereleopards, weretigers, ravens, werebats,
wererats, polymorphs... any shapeshifter at all. We talk about
theriomorphs, both physical and spiritual; about methods of changing,
about personal philosophies, and about fun. What were all those terms up
there? Read on; everything will be explained in time. But be aware that
AHWW is more than is seems at first glance!
A little ettiquette before we continue: Whenever entering a new newsgroup,
it's a good idea to lurk for a while, and try to fathom from posts by
folks who have been there a while what sorts of things are okay to talk
about and what topics are forbidden. By reading this FAQ, you've taken a
big step in that direction: A FAQ is the group's official declaration of
being; it tells everyone who read it what the group is about. Most all
usenet newsgroups have a FAQ of some sort; asking for it before you post
is considered good manners. Also: Even if you don't agree with a group's
purpose, flaming them is generally a very bad idea. Especially a group
like AHWW. *toothy grin*
2) A little history....
------------------------
AHWW was originally grouped November 16, 1992, as a logical extension of
the alt.horror heirarchy. As such, it was intended for discussion of
horror-genre movies and books dealing with werewolves. It received very
little traffic; on the order of 2 or 3 posts a day, if that.
It began to attract folks with an intense interest in werewolves and
shapechangers in general. Gradually, the conversations shifted to discuss
what werewolves meant to these people personally, and how they entered
into their worldview. Some of the original posters resented the change and
left... which is unfortunate, because we have had many detailed
discussions about werewolf flicks in the past three years.
As the discussions grew more and more philosophical, a concept known as
spiritual therianthropy was formed. (more on this later) More and more
folks joined in, and soon AHWW was enjoying almost a hundred posts a day.
This led to some confusion... especially during the "winter of our
discontent" recently, when some nasty words were exchanged and confusion
reigned. This revised FAQ is one of the positive things to come from that.
What does the future hold? AHWW, its participants, and its discussions
will always stay with me, personally. Who knows what will happen to the
Internet, and the alt. groups, as time goes by? But the friendships
started here will last, I suspect; even if the "information superhighway"
decides it no longer needs us.
3) What is a lycanthrope? A theriomorph?
-----------------------------------------
Lycanthrope \'li-ken-throp\ n (NL lycanthropus, fr. GK lykanthropos
werewolf, fr. lykos wolf + anthropos man) 1:a person displaying
lycanthropy 2:a werewolf
Lycanthropy \'li-kan(t)-thra-pe\ n 1: a delusion that one has become
a wolf. 2: the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held
to be possible by witchcraft or magic - lycanthropic adj.
Theriomorphic \'thir-e-o-'mor-fik\ adj (GK theriomorphos, fr. therion
beast + morphe form - more at treacle): having an animal form (~gods)
-- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
This is lifted verbatim from the encyclopaedia credited below, without
authorisation. 'Belief in the werewolf, or "spirit-wolf," probably began
with early medieval wolf clans who worshipped their totemic gods in wolf
form, as did some people of the Greco-Roman world centuries earlier. Zeus
Lycaeus, or Lycaeon, was a Pelasgian wolf-king who reigned in a nine- year
cycle as spouse of the Ninefold Goddess, Nonacris. Virgil said the first
werewolf was Moires, spouse of the trinitarian Fategoddess (Moera), from
whom he learned secrets of magic, including the necromantic knack of
calling up the dead from their tombs. Lycanthropy (werewolfism) was named
for Apollo Lycaeus, "Wolfish Apollo," who used to be worshipped in the
famous Lyceum or "Wolf- temple" where Socrates taught. Apollo was mated
to Artemis as a divine Wolf Bitch at Troezen, where she purified Orestes
with the blood of nine sacrificial victims. Pausanias said Apollo was
originally an Egyptian deity, deriving his name from Up-Uat (Ap-ol), a
very ancient name of Anubis. Another Roman version of the wolf god was Dis
Pater, Soranus, or Feronius, consort of the Sabine underground Goddess
Feronia, "Mother of Wolves." A certain Roman family claimed descent from
her Sabine priestesses, and annually demonstrated her power by walking
barefoot over glowing coals during the festival of the Feronia. She was
also identified with Lupa the She-Wolf, whose spirit purified Palatine
towns through the agency of young men in wolf skins, consecrated by
participating in the Lupercalia or Festival of the She-Wolf.
The She-Wolf was another aspect of the Triple Goddess, as shown by her
triadic motherhood. She gave three souls to her son, the legendary King
Erulus or Herulus, so that when he was overthrown by Evander, he had to be
killed three times. The Amazons, who worshipped the Triple Goddess,
incorporated a tribe called the Neuri, who "turned themselves into wolves"
for a few days each year during their main religious festival, presumably
by wearing wolf skins and masks. The same story was told of a certain
Irish tribe in Ossory, who became wolf-people when attending their
yuletide feast, devouring the flesh of cattle as wolves, and afterward
regaining their human shape. "Giraldus Cambrensis relates this great
wonder in detail, as in operation in his own time, and believed every word
of it."
The heathens' devotion to ancestral wolf gods in Teutonic Europe is
evinced by the popularity of such names as Wolf, Wulf, Wolfram, Wolfburg,
Aethelwulf, Wolfstein, etc. "Beowulf son of Beowulf," hero of the
Anglo-Saxon epic, was called Scyld by the Danes, who said he came from the
waters in a basket like Romulus and Remus, foster-sons of the She-Wolf.
Irish tribes said their spiritual fathers were wolves, and for that reason
they wore wolf skins and used wolves' teeth for healing amulets. Celtic
folksongs tell of children or wives transformed into wolves. One whole
tribe was said to assume wolf shape (every) seventh year. As Germanic
"berserkers" could become bears by donning bearskins, so it was thought
that people could become wolves by donning wolf pelts.
In Mercia during the 10th century A.D. there was a revival of pagan
learning under two druidic priests, one of whom was named Werwulf. This
name of "spirit-wolf" seems to have been applied to opponents of
Christianity in general. About 1000 A.D., the wolf "werewolf" was taken
to mean an outlaw.
South Slavs used to pass a newborn child through a wolf skin, saying that
it was thus born of the She-Wolf. After their conversion to Christianity,
the people claimed this ceremony would protect the child from witches.
But its real purpose, obviously, was to assimilate the child to the wolf
totem via a second birth from the wolf.
Livonians said witches routinely transformed themselves into wolves by
passing through a certain magic pool, another instance of baptismal
rebirth in animal form. Polish legend said a witch could transform a
bride and groom into wolves by laying a girdle of human skin across the
threshold at their wedding feast. Later they would receive dresses of fur
and would regain their human shape at will. Against such totemic
ceremonies the 7th-century Council of Toledo issued severe denunciations
of people who put on the heads of beasts or "make themselves into wild
animals."
Italian peasants still say a man who sleeps outdoors on Friday under a
full moon will be attacked by a werewolf, or will become one himself.
Friday was the night of the Goddess, and the warning against her lunar
influence probably dated back to the myth of Endymion ("Seduced
Moon-Man"), who fell asleep on her holy moon- mountain and became her
enchanted bridegroom, never to wake up again, so that the Goddess could
shower her kisses on him each night.
Another story traceable to wolf-clan traditions was "Little Red Riding
Hood." The giveaway details are the red garment, the offering of food to
a "grandmother" in the deep woods - a grandmother who wore a wolf skin -
and the cannibalistic motif of devouring and resurrection. In Britain, "a
red woven hood" was the distinguishing mark of a prophetess or priestess.
The story's original victim would not have been the red-clad Virgin but
the hunter, as Lord of the Hunt. Like Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood
was part of a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity, wearing the same red garment
that Virgin Kali wore; as the red moon of a lunar eclipse she prophesied
catastrophe and inspired much fear. Romanian churchmen declared that the
eclipsed moon was reddened by her own blood, shed when her wolves attacked
her, to "make men repent and turn from evil."
The Gaulish Diana had numerous wolf-cultists among her votaries, in both
ancient and medieval times. Under her totemic name of Lupa she was a
mother of wild animals, and certain women seem to have impersonated her in
southern France. A Provencal troubadour named Pierre Vidal wrote a love
poem to a lady of Carcassonne, whose name was Loba, "She-Wolf":
"When loup-garou the rabble call me,
When vagrant shepherds hoot,
Pursue, and buffet me to boot,
It doth not for a moment gall me,
I seek not palaces nor halls,
Or refuge when the winter falls;
Exposed to winds and frosts at night,
My soul is ravaged with delight.
Me claims my she-wolf so divine;
And justly she that claim prefers,
For, by my troth, my life is hers
More than another's, more than mine."
Lovers of the She-Wolf sometimes found her on a holy mountain, which the
gypsies called Monte Lupo, Wolf-Mountain. Young men could learn the
secrets of magic by celebrating the sacred marriage: masturbating over the
Goddess's statue and ejecting semen on it. She would guide and protect
them, provided they never again set foot in a Christian church. Her
votaries' shape-shifting followed the phases of the moon, which was
another form of the Goddess herself. In the 12th century, Gervais of
Tilbury noted: "In England we often see men changed into wolves at the
changes of the moon."
Sacharow quoted an old Russian charm, to be spoken by one who wished
to invoke the Moon-goddess and become a werewolf:
"On the sea, on the ocean, on the island, on Bujan, on the empty pasture
gleams the moon, on an ashstock lying in a green wood, in a gloomy vale.
Toward the stock wandereth a shaggy wolf, horned cattle seeking for his
sharp white fangs; but the wolf enters not the forest, but the wolf dives
not into the shadowy vale. Moon, moon, gold-horned moon, check the
flights of bullets, blunt the hunters' knifes, break the shepherds'
cudgels, cast wild fear upon all cattle, on men, on all creeping things,
that they may not catch the gray wolf, that they may not rend his warm
skin! My word is binding, more binding than sleep, more binding than the
promise of a hero."
This charm has a ring of peasant magic, suggesting a hungry poacher hoping
to steal some fresh meat from the baron's herds, under the protection of a
wolf skin. Poaching the overlord's cattle or game was punishable by
death, which may account for the cruelty meted out to those accused of
lycanthropy. One captured "werewolf" in France was so mauled that, a
witness said, "he bore hardly any resemblance to a man, and struck with
horror those who looked at him." The inquisitor, Pierre Boguet, explained
that terrible injuries were common among werewolves, due to the many
lacerations they suffered while running through bramble bushes.
Another werewolf captured by the Inquisition in 1598 was "possessed by a
demon" while in prison, which gave him such a thirst that he drank a large
tubful of water, so his belly was "distended and hard." He refused to eat
or drink any more, and soon died. Translating this official report into
its probable reality, one would assume the unlucky werewolf was subjected
to the water torture and died of a ruptured stomach.
Another unfortunate werewolf was Peter Stubb of Cologne, tortured until he
confessed having transformed himself into a wolf by a magic girdle given
him by the devil. The judges couldn't find the girdle where Stubb said he
hid it, but they explained this by saying it had "gone to the Devil whence
it came, so that it was not to be found." Though his case was unproved,
Stubb was nastily executed for the crime of lycanthropy: he was sentenced
to have the flesh pulled off his bones in ten places with red-hot pincers,
then to have his legs and arms broken with a wooden axe; finally to be
beheaded and burned.
Yet another werewolf in 1541 never even lasted long enough to go to
prison. His captors hacked off his arms and legs, claiming to be
searching for the wolf-hair that he wore on the inside of his skin. The
hair was not found, so the victim was declared innocent of lycanthropy -
which did him little good, as he was already dead.
An often-repeated story concerned a lone man attacked at night by a lone
wolf, which he wounded, usually by cutting off a forepaw. Next day a
woman would be found with her hand missing, which identified her as the
werewolf. Such an incident was reported as fact by Jean de Nynauld in
1615; the woman in the case was burned alive. The story probably
recommended itself to some men as a perfect way to dispose of a woman they
had mistreated, such as a rape victim.
On December 14, 1598, a tailor of Chalons was sentenced to death for
lycanthropy, having confessed to luring children into his shop, murdering
and eating them. Methods by which these confessions were extracted from
the man can only be guessed, because the judges ordered the court records
burned. In 1521 at Poligny, three men were induced by torture to say they
had made themselves wolves with a magic salve given them by the devil, and
in wolf shape they had eaten several children, and enjoyed sexual
relations with wild she- wolves. Gilles Garnier was a famous
"lycanthrope" caught by the Inquisition, tortured and executed for having
devoured children. The charge was not murder or cannibalism, but
lycanthropy. Whatever was left of the pagan wolf cults, it seems the
Christian church molded the material into the enduring legend of the
werewolf.'
--- From 'The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets' by Barbara G.
Walker - Harper & Row, 1983.
In this context, lycanthrope would appear to include only werewolves.
However, it has come to refer to any shapeshifter, whether it be werebear,
wolf, bat, panther, raven, fox, what have you. A more accurate term, and
one that's being used more and more, is theriomorph; as it doesn't connote
any specific animal. Both lycanthrope and theriomorph are used
interchangably, though.
4) Do you actually believe you're a werewolf?
---------------------------------------------
You'll find that there is no one answer to any question on AHWW. The
concept of lycanthropy is held by some to be just an interesting myth, and
to others as a means of explaining their worldview; with many gradations
of belief inbetween. I personally have never seen a man transfrom
physically into an animal, and cannot do it myself; but I'll never rule
that possibility out. When folks here call themselves werewolves, they
generally mean that they find the characteristics of lycanthropy
intriguing and see examples of such in themselves. What those
characteristics are and the extent to which they manifest themselves are,
again, very personal and will no doubt vary from individual to individual.
The next section will deal with this in more detail... patience!
5) Are you guys for real, or are you just role-playing?
-------------------------------------------------------
Oh, my, yes; we are very much for real.
Many of us like to role-play. We enjoy D&D, or Whitewolf's Werewolf: The
Apocalypse, or live role-playing games. But we do not role-play on AHWW...
we reserve that for groups where it's expected and condoned; like on a
good MUD or FurryMUCK. We may talk about arcade or RP games that deal with
shapeshifters, but we don't bog the group down with the minutae of rules
and such: that's best left to groups like alt.games.whitewolf and the
like. And while many of us are "furries", and enjoy good anthro artwork;
alt.fan.furry and related groups are best for that. (More on furries in a
later section)
What we discuss here, fun and games aside (because we DO like to have fun
as much as the other were), is very serious and real to us. For some of us
(not all; again, it's a very personal thing) it's tantamount to discussing
a religion. It's not a role, it's real.
6) Well, then, how does one become a werewolf?
----------------------------------------------
The group has collected a number of ways, outlined in legend and
literature, held to effect the Change. There are no guarantees that any of
this will work... especially if your heart's not really in it. Some of
them are downright bizarre, and a couple possibly dangerous: Swim at your
own risk. There are quite a few different legends and theories on how one
becomes a werewolf; at least as many as there are different werewolf
legends-and almost every country in the world has some sort of
shape-changing myth. Most of them, predictably, involve demonic possession
or enchantment via witchcraft. A few ways to become a were, from Native
American mythology: (Note: This uses wolves as an example. Any other
animal may be substituted, however.) * Be called by the wolf spirit. *
Transformation by the Gods (also appears in Greek myth of Lycan, hence the
term "lycanthrope".) * Have a vision of the wolf spirit on a dream-quest.
* Have a Dreaming that one is a wolf or running with wolves. * Have a
dream of the wolf spirit. * Perform a ritual taught by one's animal
spirit. * Be cursed by a shaman. * Perform a ritual invoking the wolf
spirit. (There is a similar ritual in Khaos Magick involving hunting dogs
where one mentally becomes a dog)
A few more ways to become a were, from Native American mythology:
(Note: This uses wolves as an example. Any other animal may be
substituted, however.)
I posted a long list of the methods from folklore I was aware of
along with their various sources a long time ago, but I can't seem to find
it anywhere now. Anyway, here are a few I am sure were on it or added to
it, but I can't find a source list for them at the moment. Some I am
fairly sure are relatively recent fabrications, or regional variations on
an older method.
1.) Get bitten by a werewolf.
2.) Wear the enchanted skin of a dead wolf or werewolf.
3.) Drink water from a wolf's footprint.
4.) Eat dust from a wolf's footprint.
5.) Drink water from certain springs, especially in the
Harz Mountains in Germany.
6.) Drink downstream from wolves.
7.) Possess and wear a moonstone (supposedly not all would do
it, perhaps an extra enchantment was required?)
8.) Eat a wolf's brain.
9.) Sleep outside on a Friday night when the light of a full
moon can shine on your face while you sleep. This one
seems to have originated in Italy.
10) The 7th of 7 consecutive daughters was supposed to carry
the werewolf strain (from Germany).
11) Pluck and wear a rare white marsh flower (the flower's name
is supposedly lost, but this method comes from the Balkans
so it is probably a species that either grows or grew
there).
12) Children born on the winter solstice or Christmas eve
supposedly had a good chance of becoming a werewolf when
puberty was reached.
13) Get cursed by a powerful witch or wizard or god (eg Zeus
doing so to Lycaon).
14) Have sex with a werewolf and survive. (This is one of
those methods that I believe is a recent addition, but
many werewolves seem to vouch for it as being valid.
I wonder why? ;-)
15) Participate in the rituals of a secret society, such as
one among the Nootka Sound natives.
16) In shamanistic ritual, gain the wolf as your totem animal
(or guardian or familiar or whatever applies to the
tradition in question) and from this the ability to assume
its form. This method would also proably include those who
gain such a spirit through meditation or dreams. This is
the source for many "spiritual werewolves".
That is all I can remember right now. I am sure there are a few
more, but they were even more obscure than some of these, I think. Not
included above is the method of just being born with the genetics, since
you can not do much about this one way or the other.
-Snowlock {*}
I found this stuff while browsing our university and couldn't resist
sharing it with you, although most of you old wolves already know
this trivia.
The source is A.Wuttke: "Der Deutsche Volks- und Aberglaube der Ge-
genwart", published in 1925, and I'll translate a part dealing with
belts rumored to enable their wearers to change. It is, as the rest
of the book, a compilation of several German folklore sources.
"People (men, women, even boys) change, mostly just for several
hours, into wolves by wearing a wolfbelt on the naked body
(sometimes also on clothes).
[this belt is made of] wolf's leather or human skin, especially
the skin of a hanged man, often adorned with the zodiac, and with
seven tongues on the buckle [which must be put] into the ninth
hole; if they want to return to their human form, they open the
buckle."
Phew, I don't think I got the translation quite right. But those
intent on manufacturing such a belt should have gotten the picture
on how it is supposed to look like.
And when you're trying this at home, don't forget: one hit to your
belly'd loosen the belt and leave you reverted and stark naked.
-Holger
There are medical cases of dementia in which the victim believes he or she
is a werewolf; and a disease called congenital porphyria whose symptoms
are very similar to those ascribed to lycanthropy. Science seems to be
catching up with it:
The following appeared in the London "Times" newspaper, Wednesday 31
May 1995.
Scientists hunt down the "wolfman" gene
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[by our science correspondent]
"Scientists have pinpointed the gene responsible for "Werewolf" syndrome,
an extremely rare genetic condition in which patients are covered in dense
hair. A team from Texas, which studied a family of Mexicans suffering from
congenital generalised hypertrichosis, say that the precise identification
of the gene could provide useful information about the normal distribution
of human hair, and could eventually have significant application in the
treatment of baldness.
Many of the victims of the condition have spent their lives
performing in circuses. Four years ago, two Mexican boys aged 9 and
14 were banned from appearing in a circus in Blackpool after
protests from child welfare groups.
There have been only about 50 known cases since the Middle ages. The
scientists report in "Nature genetics" that they have isolated the
gene responsible to the X chromosome. Members of the Mexican family
volunteered to provide tissue samples, from which the rough position
of
the gene was identified".
In addition, it should probably be noted that among many societies,
the werewolf has a very negative connotation. The Navajos, for
example, fear werewolves as evil witches, bent on causing harm for
no reason other than pure malice. To them, the intent to do evil is
enough to make one a Navajo Wolf. Which brings us to:
7) Aren't werewolves bloodthirsty killers?
------------------------------------------
Wolves in general have had a bad reputation. Seen as evil killers,
used to embody the worst traits of men, harassed and eradicated as
dangerous menaces. Is it at all surprising, then, that humans who
can turn themselves into wolves face the same bad press?
In a lot of cases, that's exactly what it is: Bad press. Hollywood,
especially, has done more to distort and villify the werewolf than
any church. While a lot of original legends and myths hold the
werewolf to be a savage, animalistic killer; there are, in fact,
many legends that portray him as a kindly soul... although they
generally view lycanthropy as a curse rather than a blessing.
The impetus behind such labeling is probably fear: Fear of the
unknown, the unexplainable, the unthinkable. Were I to be faced with
a snarling, fur-covered manlike shape, I would be enthralled... but
I doubt the general public would. Shoot first, ask questions of the
corpse later. When the farmer loses his livestock to predation,
better to blame the wolf; and by extension, the were.
So what is it? Are shapeshifters vicious animals? I suppose that
depends on the personality of the shifter and how his mind functions
while shifted. Listen to Ron the Werebat, while I go refill my
drink...
8) What are werewolves like, mentally, while transformed?
---------------------------------------------------------
This question has been the topic of many discussions here on
A.H.W., and although each of us probably has our own answer to this
question that we are most comfortable with, we are all able to
accept other viewpoints on the myth (although most of us don't like
the "ravening beast" idea, I think...)
The major ideas given for the mentality of the werewolf (and werebat,
and other lycanthrope) while transformed are presented here. I believe
all have been supported or at least posted by members of A.H.W. in the
past.
1. "Mind of a Wolf" - when the werewolf transforms (for whatever reason)
he loses his human mind and takes on the mentality of a normal wolf.
This means that while the werewolf would not go out of its way to commit
heinous acts of evil, it might for example attack a small child and eat
it if it were hungry enough. Similarly, the noise and confusion of the
city might scare a werewolf into a frightened frenzy, where it leaps
about ripping out throats... It is more likely that a werewolf in wolf
form with this mentality would flee to the woods, however, if any were
available. The territorial nature of the wolf might prove interesting
here - should transformation occur in the house or apartment of the
werewolf's human form, it might (if it retains any of its human memory)
stick around and "guard" its "territory." Should the transformation
occur while walking through unfamiliar territory, the werewolf might be
extremely cautious, as it knows that it may well be on someone else's
(read: "another territorial wolf's") land.
Exactly how much of the human form's memory is carried over to the wolf
form's memory is debatable. Subsets of "Mind of a wolf" might include
"memory wiped" (the wolf form has no memory of the human form, no
recognition of familiar places/faces), "vague memory" (enough to give
the wolf a sense of security in the human form's house or apartment, a
sense of trust and connection with one's spouse and loved ones, etc.),
and "complete memory" (albeit interpreted through the mind of a wolf).
The
movie _Ladyhawke_ portrayed a werewolf (and werehawk) with this
mentality.
2. "Mind of a Beast" - Similar to the Stevenson tale "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr.
Hyde," the werewolf (while transformed) loses all inhibitions and goes on
a wild ID-spree, expressing as many repressed urges as possible before
reverting back to human form. This werewolf could be the "ravening
beast" who slaughters her cheating husband, her whining children, and her
abusive parents in one fell night, or perhaps the disgruntled lawyer who
stalks parks on the nights of the full moon to rape and mutilate
attractive young women. As with "Mind of a Wolf," the werewolf may or
may not remember his or her actions in wolf form after the change. This
is the werewolf of classic Hollywood horror.
All of us generally repress violent and sexual urges throughout the
course of our lives, although there might be plenty of other things held
back by our Egos (or Superegos? I keep forgetting...) regarding those
two. Perhaps the homosexual werewolf, repressing his true nature for
years and years due to the pressures from his family or church, finds the
change enabling him to break free and express his love interest in a co-
worker or close friend. Of course, given the fact that all other
barriers are down as well, this poor fellow might find himself raping his
love interest... Oh, well. This is not the kind of werewolf mentality
any of us on A.H.W. would WANT to have, I think. These lycanthropes are
typically violent and destructive, more so than normal humans or animals.
Name a Hollywood werewolf film (_An American Werewolf in London_, _Silver
Bullet_, etc.) and you can bet it will portray werewolf mentality in this
manner.
3. "Super-hero" - this is the lycanthrope who remains completely human in
mentality after the change occurs. It could just as easily be labelled
"Super-villain," since not all humans would use lycanthropic powers for
good... Still, it is probably the least horrific of lycanthrope
mentalities (at least for the individual lycanthrope). The White Wolf
game _Werewolf - the Apocalypse_ seems to portray werewolf mentality this
way, although werewolves are slightly affected by their wolf nature
depending on what form they are in and can still frenzy on occasion... a
better example of a lycanthrope with this mentality would probably be
Kirk Langstrom as Man-bat, after he perfected his formula and could
retain his sanity while he changed (before this, Man-bat had possessed a
"Mind of the Bat" mentality). It is not one of the more exciting
mentalities to talk about, since we already know it in human form -
however, even a normal person's psyche may be considerably altered on
looking into the mirror and seeing the reflection of a wolf, having to
walk on all fours, and recieving a cornucopia of sensory stimulii in the
form of new scents and sounds.
These are the three main viewpoints, although I must stress that rarely
do we find a lycanthrope that expresses only one of these mindsets.
Usually, the lycanthrope is primarily one of the three types, with
aspects of one or both of the others apparent from time to time. A
"Super-hero" werebat might use his sonar to hunt live pigeons and eat
them on the wing (Who? Me? Nah... Well, maybe...). A "Mind of the Wolf
(Bear)" werebear might be outside eating berries when he catches his wife
making love to another man on a grassy knoll, and fly into a rage (Mind
of the Beast), killing them both. You get the picture.
- Ron the Werebat ^*^
Thank you, Ron! *fresh Coke fizz sounds* Well, if that old saw is
mostly just legend, what about the others? Like:
9) How does the full moon effect werewolves? (and other legends)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Again, this is going to have MANY different interpretations. The moon
didn't always figure into the equation in a lot of myths, and silver is a
fairly recent adaptation... The moon has long been held to cause insanity
or otherwise effect human thinking. Many of us feel energized on nights of
the full moon, and spend long hours gazing at its face. In legend, the
effects of the moon range from nil to being the only time a were can
change; and often forcing that change. I prefer somewhere in the lower
middle: It can facilitate the change, but isn't necessary.
Silver is one of those metals that's held to have mystical
properties, for various reasons; not the least of which is its
relative scarcity and value. It's generally regarded to hold
religious significance, being a "pure" metal; and therefore be able
to effect such "satanic" creatures as werewolves. It's appearence in
werewolf mythology, not surprisingly, seems to be after the rise of
the catholic church. Again, it's influence ranges from zero to being
the only thing that can injure or kill a were. If you still want to
try it, silver bullets can be made; but casting them is reported to
be difficult.
So what about longevity and health? Some hold that werewolves are
invulnerable to mortal insults; that it would take some supernatural
influence to injure or kill one. Others say that a werewolf is no
tougher than a human to kill. I personally like the idea of
increased healing ability and slightly lengthened lifespan... Some
also hold that werewolves turn into undead (ie, vampires) upon their
expiration: the group has decided that this is a fairly rare idea;
based on a slavic myth.
Finally, there's some thought that werewolves naturally hate
vampires. Again, this is probably mostly Hollywood myth. In real
life, however; just as we call ourselves werewolves, there are folks
that call themselves vampires... some weres find that the very idea
of being a living dead creature is an anathema; werewolves are the
very embodiment of energetic vitality. Having met many vampires,
both on AHWW and groups like alt.vampire, I can proudly say that
some are my friends. There are some vamps, yes, that would get on
anybody's nerves; but there's no real reason why a were HAS to
dislike a vamp.
Virtually every culture has some sort of mythos regarding
shapechanging. Specific animal mythos are covered in the individual
mini-FAQ's later on. As I collect different culture's views on
therianthropy, I'll add them in. Here's some info on how the
Egyptians viewed shapechanging, collected from the group:
I just bought a copy of the Book of the Dead/The Papyrus of ANi, which
is a text on the preparation for the afterlife. In it, there are two
main gods i have found that have ties to the wolf. The first is ANpu,
also known as Anubis. He is depicted as a dog headed man or a dog, the
son of Osiris or RA, sometimes by Nephthys or Isis. He was the guard
and protector of the dead, the Embalmer, and the messenger of Osiris.
The second god is Up-uat. He is depicted in the form of the Wolf. He
was the Opener of the WAys, and a member of the Tchatchau, the
taskmasters of Osiris in the Underworld.
Of greater interest, however, are chapters in the actual text
concerning transformations. In order, the chapters describe the
following transformations, into a swallow, a golden Hawk, a divine
hawk, the Prince of the Tchatchau Chiefs, the serpent Sata, the
Crocodile God Sebak, Ptah,Tem, a Benu bird(?), a heron, and a lotus.
The chapters are for
presenting onself to Osiris, and true transformation may not actually
work(ihaven't tried yet). The Prince of the Tchatchau Chiefs may be
the closest i have found to a wolf. The chapter wasn't very specific
as to what chief you become(there are 12). The book of the Dead that i
have is properly, The Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead. There
are two other Recensions, the Heliopolitan, and the Saite. I have
never seen a translation of the latter two. They may have different
transformations. The Heliopolitan is believed lost.
As an aside, and relating to ways of becoming a werewolf, here's some
information regarding ergot and lycanthropy:
Ergot and Lycanthropy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By MegaDog and his brother (who has a BS in Organic Chemistry)]
How many of you ever thought of your local bakery as a possible source
of werewolf beliefs?
Or of hallucinogenic drugs?
In medieval times, it could have been both.
Ergot [Claviceps purpurea] is a parasitic fungus that can be found
growing on rye or other cereal grasses. Rye grass is by far the most
widespread species parasitized, though wheat and barley are also
commonly affected. The 'ergots' appear as a blackish-purple club-
shaped growth [sclerotia] on the tops of the rye where the seeds are,
and are referred to as "heads of ergot"; from these heads sprout the
Claviceps purpurea fungal fruiting bodies. They have long stems with
bulbous heads when seen under a strong glass or microscope.
See reference [1] for more information.
Ergot naturally produces a wide range of chemical compounds, the ones
of relevance here are collectively known as the "Ergot Alkaloids", and
include ergotamine, ergosine and beta-ergosine, ergonine, ergovaline,
ergostine, ergotine and beta-ergotine, ergocornine, ergocristine,
ergocryptine and beta-ergocryptine. These compounds all have some
degree of psychoactivity; indeed LSD was first synthesized from ergot
compounds. Their other major medical effect is vasoconstriction
[narrowing of blood vessels], which, if severe, can lead to gangrene of
the extremities.
Ergotamine has medical uses; for example it is frequently prescribed
[often in combination with caffeine] as a therapy for migraine
headaches.
Ergot was a widespread parasite of cereal grains in europe in the
middle-ages, growing particularly well during excessively damp summers.
The psychoactive components of ergot are *not* broken down by heat, so
it is fair to assume that they would be present in bread baked from
flour milled from ergotized grains. There was a significant outbreak of
ergot-poisoning in France in the early 1950's; this outbreak gives a
good insight into what may have been experienced in medieval times.
Symptoms of ergot poisoning include hallucinations [the 1950's French
victims reported 'being chased or attacked by horrible beasts',
'terror of the dark', and 'feeling that my body was not mine']
together with tingling/burning sensations in the extremities & the
scalp.
These tingling sensations were known in medieval times as "St.
Anthony's Fire", after the saint to whom sufferers prayed for relief.
It is not hard to imagine how an outbreak of ergot-poisoning, or,
IMHO, more likely, an ongoing low level of ergotisation, could lead
to the development of a werewolf-legend, the 'pursuit by horrible
beasts' hallucination being probably the most likely cause, however
the 'tingling & loss of sensation in the extremities' effect could
possibly have been interpreted as shapeshifting?
For those interested in more detail of such things, see references
[2] and [3].
WARNING
~~~~~~~
If any of you are thinking of experimenting with Ergot at home, I
would discourage this most strongly! To back this up, here is an
abstract from a medical toxicology file I just happened to have to
hand....
Ergotamine:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Acute effects:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May be fatal if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.
Exposure can cause:
Nausea, dizziness and headache, stomach pains, vomiting,
diarrhea.
Other symptoms include:
Thirst, changes in blood pressure and heart rate, tingling
in the extremities and confusion.
Chronic effects:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Oxytocic; in pregnant women may result in abortion or fetal
harm.
Can cause menstrual dysfunction and sterility.
Other effects include peripheral circulatory disturbances and
gangrene. Possible mutagen.
References:-
~~~~~~~~~~~~
[1] "Collins Guide to Mushrooms and Toadstools" by Morten Lange
and F. Bayard Hora. 1978
Description of characteristics of ergot, its distribution & life
cycle.
[2] Fuller, John Grant,_The Day of St Anthonys Fire_, NY:
Macmillan, 1968.
This is a look at outbreaks of hallucinations and other bizarre
behavior believed to have been caused by ergot infections.
[3] Matossian, Mary Kilbourne, _Poisons of the Past: Molds,
Epidemics & History_, New Haven: Yale Univ Press, 1989.
This book covers more ground, from the Middle Ages to witchcraft
scares in Europe. She has charts, maps and graphs to illustrate her
findings.
10) So, how would I "exorcise" someone who's a werewolf?
--------------------------------------------------------
Why would you want to? *grin* If, in any case, you still want to,
here's some thoughts on the subject...
All this time we have been talking about how one may become a
werewolf....I am going to take a walk on the flip side of things for a
bit. But before we get going, I must make the following statement:
!!!WARNING!!! In NO WAY, shape form or manner shall I
claim resposibility for what information follows, especially if you
edeavor to persue this interest. The following post covers potentialy
disturbing material and can and will cause physical harm. Caveat emptor,
Your mileage may vary, and return your seats to their normal upright
position....some material has been changed to protect the innocent. You
have been warned.
That said and done, let's get to the meat.
(Pulling a dusty volume from the shelf and paging through)
Common means for exorcising a werewolf:
A common thread among all exorcisms is that the person is believed
to be possesed of some malevolent spirit. So many folks eploy the use of
some sort of potion and or prayer, or spinkling of holy water, and
calling the person by thier given christian name.....(Looking up fro the
volume) Boring!
Here's one from legend.. "Cast a circle of 9 feet, and a smaller
one only 4 feet in diameter. Place a sieries of candles at equal
intervals, and place a wooden altar in the south. Within the inner
circle, place the werewolf....(you are on your own to figure out how to
get a hold of him/her) Build a small fire exactly oposite of the altar,
and 1 1/2 foot away from the inner circle. Place a pot over the fire,
containing 2 pints of clear water.
To this add:
1/2 oz. camphor
3/4 oz. ammonia
1/2 oz. hypericum
2 drachms sulfur
1/2 oz castorium
6 drachms opium (!)
3 drachms asafoetida
*(!)* (Higly illegal, and potentially lethal)
Mix thoroughly and then add a protion of mandrake root, 1 live
snake, 2 live toads in a linen bag, and a fungus. (Guess any kind will
do...mushrooms, that old pizza that needs a shave that has been in the
'fridge for an epoch) Bind togehter with red ribbon a wand of three
sprigs, each from ash,white popular, ans birch. (The magickal
connotations could easily fill a volume, so I will refrain from
explaining) (At this point it would be wise to employ the services of
your D.O.C.) When the toads cry out from being immersed in the now
boiling water, the mixture is ready. Take a cupfull of the searing
liquid and douse the werewolf, as well as lashing him/her with the
wand....exclaiming "Foul spirit release this persons' soul, return to
the great unknown!" Repeat 3 times." (Lather, rinse, repeat..;) )
Some forms of expulsion use a boiling mixture of baneful
materials, tar, and sulfur. If that does not get rid of a werewolf, it
will certainly rid one of thier hide.
That was legend....
Now What follows is mostly theory, and have yet to prove any of it.
Look in any dictionary, Look for the word lycanthropy. Most likely you
will find the same I have. The Greater Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary
has this entry : "A kind of insanity in which the patient supposes
himself to be a wolf." Go ahead, take a look, you may have an entry that
sounds alot like that too.
Lycanthropy *seems* to fall into several categories...
"Infective Lycanthropy": The Hollywood version of the werewolf. This
creature goes about, with an insatiatable appetite for human flesh, and
those that survive the attack become werewolves themselves. Basically,
place your favorite story here. If there is an ifectious vector, it has
yet to be discovered.
"Wolfen": Probably the most dangerous phenotype there is. The
lycanthropic condition is cause by some demonic expression of a creature
through a host body. Outward shapes/manifestations vary, but usualy the
creature takes the form of a higly feared creature, and can be an
expression of a deeply rooted fear or phobia. It can be placed either by
magickal rite or curse...and similarly dispelled. Because of the
supernatural nature of the creature, it is quite possible for the
creatue to perfom amazing feats of strength and literally be bound by no
known physical laws. (ie. changing to mist, and sliping through a crack
under the door)
"Inherent Lycanthropy": Most likely the most common form of lycanthropy.
In this case the "condition" seems to be hereditary. Passed on from
generation to generation, and sometimes skipping one, it manifests
itself after the person reaches puberty. Sometimes it is not a full
blown case and certain behaviors are the only clues that this person may
be an inherent. Most of the time it is the poor soul who gets locked
away because he imagines himself to be a wild ravening creature, or
wanders aimlessly, imitating the actions of the creature.
"Astral Lycanthropy": Prehaps the most misunderstood form of all. It is
not the physical manifestation of a creature, nor is it a mental
condition, but rather more akin to the Dream quests that a shaman may
take. It is believed that the spirit of a person projects apart from the
body, and takes the shape of one's totem animal/spirit. This is the most
freeform of all shifters, because it is only limited to the imagination
of the individuals mind.
"Magickal Lycanthropy": Like wolfen it entails the use of powers from
outside one's self. But in this case the ability to shift forms is
brought on by the use of elemental forces, or alowing one to be taken
over by an entity... voulentarily. And although different regions tell
different stories, they all have a common thread. Like the "rite of
exorcism" dipicted above..... Except the wording is different. All
involved baneful materials, a clearing of some sort, and a chant.
Some are quite simple, like sleeping under the full moon on a
friday night....drinking blood or water from a wolf's
footprint....drinking from a river know to be frequented by wolves....
But by far the most interesting....
"The History Of Magick" -By Paul Christian 1870 A.D.
Book II
pp.450-451
"....Little can be reliably written on Voodoo, the African magick,
and the reader must be referred to the few works that exist. One aspect
of it however links with similar phenomena reported elsewhere and is
worth note. West Africa has a number of animals said in different
disrticts to be were or *wir*, that is to be a demon or human elementary
transformations: there are the weretiger, the werejaguar and the
werealigator. Now India also has a weretiger, and in Australia amongst
certian tribes is the weredingo. In America there is the werecyote, and
in Europe the evidence for the werewolf....."
It goes on to say "Ancient Egypt is said to have a werejackal,
and nearer home the werecat is reported from Scotland"
-Rich
A.K.A. Trafalgar of #ahww
11) What are some other names for werewolves?
-----------------------------------------------
Here are some terms for werewolves in languages and cultures other
than english/american...
Ok now people I think I finally got the full "other Language" List
completed that has been post on the news group so far. I you have any more
info to add to the list......BY ALL MEANS DO SO!!!!!!! I personally plan
to learn em all! *wink*
werewolf- English
werwolf- German
Loup Garou- French
Oberroten- Russian
WeerWolf- Dutch
Varulv- Swedish
Mactire- Irish (pronounced Mactira)
Okami Otoko- Japenese
Shungmanitu Wa Chah- Native American (one who is wolf)
12) Do these thoughts mean I'm crazy?
-------------------------------------
Aaah, I see you've hit upon another bit of the werewolf mythos...
relatively recent, "scientific" mythos. Lycanthropy has long been held
to be a sign of insanity; a precursor to psychosis and/or
schizophrenia. Indeed, there are documented cases of individuals who
claimed to be werewolves who were extremely mentally ill. But was
their lycanthropy due to their illness or vice-versa?
With modern psychology and society holding such a view, it's not
uncommon for someone who feels they are a werewolf to be uncomfortable
with those thoughts, and to think themselves crazy. I don't think it
has to be so, however. I'm pretty sure I don't have the corner on
sanity... I'm pretty eccentric, if I do say so myself... but insane?
No. Certainly not by the legal definition of the word. Read on, you
may find section II enlightening; and don't short-change yourself.
Judge for yourself if the cyber-pack is insane...
13) What is the "cyberpack"?
----------------------------
I don't know where the term first came from. The cyberpack is
basically anyone who reads AHWW and finds a bond with the others
there. It's an extended friendship circle, a source of moral (and
sometimes physical) support. It's a bunch of people who like each
other's company and find common traits amongst themselves. It's the
social and emotional side to AHWW.
There is no leader of the pack, no alpha, no heirarchy. There's no
need for it. There's also no entrance exam or secret handshake... if
you find you get along with the group on AHWW, and feel a kinship with
them... well, then, you're a member. Welcome, friend.
Part II
Spiritual Therianthropy
The first thing to remember when reading this part is that the ideas
expressed here aren't necessarily held by every reader of AHWW. This
subject is a very personal one, and opinions on it will vary from
individual to individual. The second thing to remember is to keep an
open mind...
1) What's Spiritual Therianthropy?
-------------------------------------------
Physical Therianthropy has been defined as the ability to shift from
human to animal form and back again. Spiritual Therianthropy, then, is
the ability to mentally transform from the normal human mode of
thinking and reacting to an animal one. Each one of us identifies with
an animal whose characteristics we feel reflect our own. For example,
I feel strongly attracted to both the wolf and the cougar... one is a
pack animal, truly comfortable only in a group setting, relying on its
packmates for everything. The other is a solitary hunter, only meeting
others of its kind to mate. I feel that there are aspects of both
animals in my psyche.
Humans are animals. Most of humanity, however, has tried to deny this
fact. Humanity has sought to remove all aspects of animalistic traits
from its behavior; to the point that being called an animal is
considered an insult. It evokes images of uncivilized, impulsive,
hedonistic behavior; acting completely without thought or restraint.
Humanity has attempted to remove itself from nature as well as remove
nature from itself; by subverting and subduing the land, bending it to
suit humanity's purposes, attempting to conquer it rather than coexist
with it. As a result, humanity has had to deal with a number of
ecological problems caused by it's attempts to kill the very thing
that sustains it.
All humans are animals, but very few these days can look into
themselves and find the animal remnants. We who believe in Spiritual
Therianthropy feel those animal remnants very strongly. We exist in
the human world, but long to seek connections with the animal one. It
contacts us through totems, through dreams, through our very souls. We
cannot completely leave the human world, nor completely enter the
animal one. We are in-between, half animal and half human in psyche...
mental, or spiritual, shapechangers. We seek to balance the two halves
of our nature, so that someday we can teach the rest of humanity how
balance its drive to conquer with the reality that it needs nature to
survive.
2) What are Totem animals?
-----------------------------------
Totem animals are animals that best reflect the qualities and needs of
a person. How totems are used varies greatly... some shamanic
traditions place great importance on totems and have many different
totem animals, colors, directions... some barely mention them in
passing.
Most commonly, it's believed that their are two kinds of totems... the
central totem, the one that defines who you are; and "outside" totems,
spirits that surround and guide you. The central totem is the animal
you most strongly identify with, that reflects who you are. As I
mentioned above, I strongly identify with the wolf and the cougar...
reflecting the two sides to my nature.
Outside totems are commonly called upon to guide a person. How they
are called and how they manifest themselves, again, depends a lot upon
the particular tradition you follow and what you believe.
3) What do Dreams have to do with anything?
--------------------------------------------------------
Dreams, with a capitol D, are messages from your soul, or sub-
conscious, or whatever you wish to call it. Not everyone Dreams....
scientists say that everyone has dreams; but not everyone remembers
them upon waking. The Dreams that we're talking about here are dreams
that are exceptionally vivid and memorable, that make a strong
impression upon the dreamer, and seem to have something to impart of
importance.
A lot of my experiences with therianthropy are through my Dreams. I
don't have them every night; sometimes it's months between them... but
the really vivid, technicolor, interesting dreams I try to remember
and write down and decipher. Sometimes I shift into different animals
in the dreams. Sometimes I just know that they have something
important to say. I chereish every one of them as a message from my
elusive animal spririt.
It sounds like I'm attatching a lot of importance to these Dreams...
and I am, really. But one can feel a strong pull to know their animal
side without having them. They are not a pre-requisite for being a
were-creature. They are, however, a valuable tool for discovering what
that spirit has to tell you.
I usually rely on my Dreams to come on their own. There are ways to go
looking for them, however. One involves autohypnosis; Asikaa has
volunteered to tell us more about it:
How do you Dream? Asikaa, I was told by Rimblesah that )you( can enter
Dream quite easily by "spacing out". Is your natural affinity for that
learnable?
[rip]
Yes, I enter a state of autohypnosis called by some a "dreamtrance".
It's really quite easy to do, and is simply a form of extremely deep
relaxation of the mind and body. You might like to print the rest of
this article, starting from here:
It is a learned skill, and fairly easy to learn at that. First you need
to learn how to relax physically. It's best to get hold of a compact disc
(or continuous tape cassette) and put the player on infinite repeat. Oh
sorry, I forgot to mention what should be on the CD! Not Iron Maiden or
Aerosmith! You can get relaxation soundtracks from health stores and
similar places. They contain "nice" sounds, such as birdsong, the gentle
trickle of riverwater over rocks, the wind through the trees...
Now all you have to do is put the CD player on infinite repeat like I
said, and lie down flat on your back, with your legs out straight,
arms by your sides. Let your hands curl slightly into their natural
relaxed position, and make sure you are absolutely comfortable.
Breathe in slowly and steadily, filling your lungs completely. Hold the
breath for two seconds then release it. Don't blow it out, just let the
weight of your chest gently descend, emptying your lungs. Try to breath
like this for the rest of this "session". It doesn't matter if you forget
the breathing later on, just do whatever feels comfortable.
Now you can start relaxing your body. Start at your face, and work
down. Breathe in, concentrate on the muscles of your face and neck,
*feel* the muscles, explore them with your mind. Let the breath out,
and as the air leaves your body, imagine all the tension being drawn
from
the muscles of your face and neck and floating away.
Do this a couple of times for each part... your chest, your arms and
shoulders, your stomach, thighs, legs and feet. Once you've got down
to your feet, mentally check for any feelings of tension left behind,
then go back to that part of your body and relax it a little more.
By now your body should be fully relaxed... a nice warm feeling of
wellbeing. This is the first stage of autohypnosis, and will take a
little practice to master.
Now we concentrate on the mind. Imagine yourself lying warm and
comfortable in your favourite place. Perhaps lying on warm sand, or on
the edge of a forest next to a lake. Clear your mind of all unnecessary
thoughts, and concentrate on that place. Let your mind enjoy the feeling
of total isolation, with no worries or stress. Float along with your calm
thoughts, and you should notice that you have no awareness of your
physical self. Honestly, you really cannot feel your body any more. You
have become just your consciousness, nothing more. Your body is so
relaxed it may as well not exist.
Now you should be able to start Dreaming. You mind is free of all
physical restraints, and your body has assumed the type of deep
relaxation usually found only in alphawave sleep. It is up to you
what you do with this mental freedom, but with practice the
possibilities
are endless.
4) Isn't this some kind of New-Age Psuedo religion?
----------------------------------------------------------------
No. Not on it's own. The concept of Spiritual Therianthropy means a
great deal to me, personally; and might be seen as my religion.... it
certainly forms the core of my belief system. But we have no intention
of starting a church or cult here. Most of us have an intense dislike
of any _organized_ religion, in any case.
But not all... there are christian werewolves out there. This sounds
like an impossability; but the basic tenets of christianity aren't so
far from many other religions... and nowhere in the bible does it
condemn werewolves! Spiritual Therianthropy should work well with many
different beliefs; even atheism.
So there'll be no cups of spiked kool-aid at the Howls, and stop
looking for the BATF. *grin*
5) How does someone shift mentally?
----------------------------------------------
I can tell you how I "shift". It may not be this way for others. I
welcome any additional comments on this subject for addition here.
What I mean by "shifted" is the state of mind that I'm in when I feel
closest to my animal spirit. It's a feeling of heightened awareness, a
sense of prowess and well-being. It's what defensive-tactics
instructors call "Condition Orange"... that state of hyper-readiness
and alertness that means one is ready to handle whatever crisis might
get thrown at him. It's the state that I envision a healthy animal
being in at any given moment... ready to fight or flee, ready for
anything a hostile world might conjure up. I might add one additional
thing that I'm ready for.. fight, flee, or party. :)
I achieve this state unconciously whenever I'm in an area or situation
that might prove to be harmful to me. Most all humans have felt this
at one point in their lives or another... whether they admit it or
not, it's a wonderful feeling. Adrenalin junkies spend their lifetimes
looking for this feeling and beyond. I noticed this feeling
accidentally and connected it with my fascination for animals and
began looking for a way to bring it on voluntarily. I found that if I
concentrated on visualizing myself as an animal, those thought
patterns would return to me and I'd get the ol' predator feeling
again. Now I find myself slipping into it at odd moments... when I'm
driving, under particular full moons, while listening to evocative
music.
Most people can sense an outward change when I'm shifted inwardly.
Perhaps this is the first step, for me, to physical changeing... we
shall see.
Section III
Shapeshifter
Multimedia
1) Songs about shapeshifters
----------------------------
There are generally very few songs specifically about
shapeshifters per se; but there are LOTS of songs that
either evoke a certain mood that some find conducive to
shifting, or seem to deal with the subject in some manner.
Everybody's got their favorites... here's the list we've
come up with so far, in no particular order, and far from
final:
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London" (the classic. If this
isn't on the *Wolf* soundtrack, somebody screwed up)
Metallica - "Of Wolf and Man" (overplayed album, but great
song)
Cure - "The Hanging Garden" (from *Pornography*,
easily their best album; dark and really creepy)
CCR - "Bad Moon Rising" ('nuff said)
Belly - "Low Red Moon" (Tanya Donnelly. sigh...)
Joe Satriani - "Big Bad Moon" (vocals almost a growl.
Cool.)
Golden Earring - "Clear Night Moonlight" (showing my age, I
guess, but it is a cool song)
Sisters of Mercy - "This Corrosion" (on days like
this/ in times like these/ I feel an animal deep
inside / heel to haunch on bended knees...)
Rush - "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" (distorted growling sounds
& and an epic battle. What more could you want?)
Grateful Dead - "Dire Wolf" (don't murder me)
Sam the Sham and the Pharoes - "Little Red Riding Hood"
-- Wolfshadow (afta@midway.uchicago.edu)
There are several songs by Glenn Danzig that deal with
werewolves/lycanthropy, such as "Am I Demon" ("Am I beast or am I
human/Am I just like you?").
Also, Glenn Danzig's "Black Aria"... one particular song deals
with shapeshifters; the whole album is fantastic for setting a
dark mood. Instrumental.
There is a Venom song called "Cry Wolf" that deals with
werewolves.
Sting - "Moon over Bourbon Street" from the Dream of
the Blue Turtles album. Liner notes say that it's inspired by
Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire", but there's a wolf howl
there right in the last few seconds... and it sets a great mood.
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like the Wolf"
A-Ha - "Cry Wolf"
Ozzy Osborne - "Bark at the Moon"
Nine Inch Nails - "Closer"
Genesis - "White Mountain"
The group The Cult put out a lot of stuff that captures the
flavor of werewolves, if not the actual subject. However, two
songs cut
close:
1. She Sells Sanctuary, Howling Mix--one of oodles of remixes of
this well worked song, it is almost eight minutes long. It begins
with electronic howls and has two of those howls inserted into the
song at varying points. No other wolf connections directly, but
still a neat song, and the howls are great. The lyrics are hard to
make out, and just as hard to understand even when you do read them
printed out.
This song is not on any album, but is available in England on a
single off She Sells Sanctuary, or on a CD entitled "The Love Mixes."
In the US, it is only available as an import, so be ready to special
order and shell out.
2. Brother Wolf, Sister Moon--of the _Love_ album, this song is a must
hear for any lycanthrope out there.
--Jon
======================================================================
I know of a few werewolf songs not listed, but the only one I can
think of the top of my head is called "Full Moon Fire" by Walter Egan
(of "Magnet and Steel" fame). Mtv used to show it around '82 or so.
Pretty typical crappy video, but has the singer watching "The Wolf
Man" in a movie theatre and turning into a Lon Chaney Jr. type o'
wolfman. Also, although the song has nothing to do with werewolves,
Real Life's "Send me an angel" featured a wolfman riding around in the
woods on a horse (note: this is the original, not "Send Me an Angel
'88" or whatever it was). Oh, here's another one. "I'm a Werewolf
Baby" by the Canadian band the Tragically Hip. also pretty obscure and
only noteworthy due to the title. -- Ryan Bassler
Please add the Seraphim Gothique to the were mvsic list in the
FAQ. After all, the singer is qvite therianthropic.
"Jane Mary cry one tear" and "Mother/father"
(and others) by Swans. Even though everyone knows Michael Gira is an
ancient vampire, he's written a few songs about werewolves. Also,
Jarboe's howl on "Mother/father" is rather nice. "Let it come down"
also mentions shapeshifters in one verse.
"Rats" by Syd Barrett. A bit of creative interpretation,
not hard to do since the man was way off his rocker, and this is all
about werewolves. Btw "Wolfpack", like at least half of Syd's
songs, is about vampires.
"Leaves of summer" by Cranes. I can't understand a word of
it, bvt it's the best song I've ever heard, and therefore has to be
about werewolves.
"Is there" (and most everything else) by Sunshine Blind.
There's no need to explain this to anyone who has heard it, and if
ya haven't, ya shovld.
"KillyKillKilly (a fire sermon)" by Current 93. This is all
about militant misanthropic weres. The rant in it has caused me to
shift before. Other C93 pieces may also be on lycanthropic themes
("To feed the moon", perhaps?) bvt it's very hard to tell.
"Doppelganger" by Curve. It doesn't make too much linear
sense,
but with all these shapeshifting - related lines, it's more than a
bit difficult to ignore.
"Tarantula" by Colourbox (also covered to good effect by This
Mortal Coil.) Take the word 'tarantula' out of the chorus (maybe it
was
planted there for deception...) and the song is applicable to all
shapeshifters.
"Brute" by KMFDM. I won't vouch for this one, but a friend of
mine who's listened to it many more times than me maintains it's
about lycanthropy and the accelerated healing powers of weres.
- Darkening (pmk2838@rigel.tamu.edu)
* Como un lobo (Like a wolf), Miguel Bose. Romantic (Yuk!) but good for
you were girlfriend: A Werewolf fall in love and describe him girlfriend
like only a wolf know.
* Un hombre lobo en Paris ( A werewolf in Paris ), La Union. This song is
based in the novel "The wolf-man" and talks about a imaginary trip of
Denise (a wolf that can convert in human) to Paris.
Just a few musical entries you might add to your FAQ:
1. "Hollywood Millionaire," by THE WEREWOLVES (RCA 11283)--a late
'70s/early '80s track off the group's
rather unsuccessful album "Ship of Fools."
2. "Strange," by THE WOLF MAN (Okeh 7269)--1950s blues.
3. "Werewolf," by THE FIVE-MAN ELECTRICAL BAND (Polydor 14221)-
-Spring
1974 rock song which registered nationally at #64.
4. "Werewolf," by THE FOURTH WAY (?)--early 1970s
"progressive" album,
with all tracks being instrumental performances.
5. "Werewolf," by THE FRANTICS (Dolton 16)--Winter 1960
instrumental
from the Pacific Northwest. Charted nationally at #83.
6. "Watusi Beat," by THE WOLFMEN (Bobbette 380)--1987 psychedelic rock
in the '60s tradition.
"Hovr of the Wolf" by Christian Death. This is by the Rozz Williams
version of C. Death, so the lyrics make no sense, bvt the word "wolf"
occvrs qvite often and there's lots of wolves howling and growling.
"Bannoy" by the Pain Teens. A highly distvrbing story of an abvsed little
boy who thinks he's a dog... a were horror story that will scare even
weres.
- Darkening
"Teenage Werewolf," by THE CRAMPS; occasionally seen under the
name "(I Was a) Teenage Werewolf." Rereleased on Elvira's
Hallowe'en compilation. I've never heard it in its entirety-
sorry. Best regards. . . .
**If you know of some music that should be added to this list,
email me!**
2) Books about Shapeshifters
----------------------------
Non-fiction first; then the fiction stuff. Like all the lists, this
is far from complete; feel free to email me and suggest new entries.
**Phaedrus's excellent list of transformation stories, available
from ftp.halcyon.com as /local/phaedrus/translist/translist.text;
and a much nicer HTML version at
"http://www.halcyon.com/phaedrus/translist/translist.html";
not included in this shortened FAQ due to space
limitations.**
Non- Fiction
------------
Transformations / by the editors of Time-Life Books. (I know, I
know; just trying to be thorough.)
Time-Life Books, c1989
A Lycanthropy Reader : werewolves in Western culture
Edited by Charlotte F. Otten
Syracuse University Press, 1986
Were-wolf and vampire in Romania
Harry A. Senn
East European Monographs, 1982
The werewolf : in legend, fact, and art
Basil Copper
St. Martin's Press, 1977
Human-wolves among the Navajo
William Morgan
Human Relations Area Files Press, 1970
The Werewolf
Montague Summers
University Books, 1966
Man into Wolf: an anthropological interpretation of sadism,
masochism, and lycanthropy (Sounds interesting, eh?) Robert Eisler
Philosophical Library, 1952
Angelo de Gubernatis (1978 reprint of an 1872 text) _Zoological
Mythology or The Legends of Animals_
New York: Arno Press
LC Call #: GR825.G9.1978
El perro negro en el folklore
Rafael Jijena Sanchez
Ediciones Dolmen, 1952
Greek Wolf-lore
Richard Preston Eckels
Philidelphia, 1937
Vampires, werewolves, and demons : twentieth century reports in
the psychiatric literature
Richard Noll
Brunner/Mazel, 1991
The Werewolf of Ponkert
H. Warner Munn
Grandon Co, 1958
The Story of Werewolves
Thomas G. Aylesworth
McGraw-Hill, 1978
Adam Douglas
The Beast Within (1992, London)
PY: 1989
LA: FRENCH; NON-ENGLISH
CP: FRANCE
AB: After a short historical review of the contemporary medical literature,
the authors analyze a new and original observation of lycanthropy. He is a 28
years old man, imprisoned for deadly violence, who has been showing, for many
years, the belief of being transformed into a werewolf during
depersonalization episodes when he presents a lycanthropic behaviour. Our
observation is closer to hysteria and mythomania on an antisocial personality,
although it seems difficult to place the mental pathology of this alcoholic
recidivist delinquent into a nosographical frame.
MESH: Adult-; English-Abstract; Psychosexual-Disorders-psychology MESH:
*Delusions-psychology; *Personality-Disorders-psychology
TG: Case-Report; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW-OF-REPORTED-CASES
AN: 90054739
UD: 9002
TI: The social biology of the werewolf trials [letter; comment] CM: Comment
on: J R Soc Med 1989 Jan;82(1):37-9
AU: Russell-WM; Russell-C
SO: J-R-Soc-Med. 1989 Jun; 82(6): 379-80
ISSN: 0141-0768
PY: 1989
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
MESH: Great-Britain; History-of-Medicine,-16th-Cent.; History-ofMedicine,17th-
Cent.
MESH: *Delusions-history; *Mythology-
TG: Human
PT: COMMENT; HISTORICAL-ARTICLE; LETTER
AN: 90040618
UD: 9002
TI: Werewolves down under--where are they now? [see comments] CM: Comment
in: Med J Aust 1990 Apr 16;152(8):448
AU: Yellowlees-PM
AD: Broken Hill Base Hospital and Health Services, NSW.
SO: Med-J-Aust. 1989 Dec 4-18; 151(11-12): 663-5
ISSN: 0025-729X
PY: 1989
LA: ENGLISH
CP: AUSTRALIA
MESH: Anthropology,-Cultural; Australia-; History-of-Medicine,Ancient; History-
of-Medicine,-Medieval; History-of-Medicine,-16thCent.; History-ofMedicine,-
17th-Cent.; History-of-Medicine,-19thCent.; History-of-Medicine,20th-Cent.;
Porphyria-psychology; Psychotic-Disorders-history
MESH: *Psychotic-Disorders-psychology
PT: HISTORICAL-ARTICLE; JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 90081505
UD: 9003
TI: Werewolves, vampires and cannibals.
AU: Fahy-T; Wessely-S; David-A
SO: Med-Sci-Law. 1988 Apr; 28(2): 145-9
ISSN: 0025-8024
PY: 1988
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
MESH: *Cannibalism-; *Mental-Disorders;
*SuperstitionsTG: Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW,-TUTORIAL
AN: 88260757
UD: 8810
TI: Werewolves down under--where are they now? [letter; comment] CM:
Comment on: Med J Aust 1989 Dec 4-18;151(11-12):663-5
AU: Berkley-R
SO: Med-J-Aust. 1990 Apr 16; 152(8): 448
ISSN: 0025-729X
PY: 1990
LA: ENGLISH
CP: AUSTRALIA
MESH: Australia-epidemiology; Mythology-
MESH: *Art-; *Delusions-epidemiology
TG: Human
PT: COMMENT; LETTER
AN: 90231210
UD: 9008
TI: Another case of lycanthropy [letter]
AU: Jackson-PM
SO: Am-J-Psychiatry. 1978 Jan; 135(1): 134-5
ISSN: 0002-953X
PY: 1978
LA: ENGLISH
CP: UNITED-STATES
MESH: Guilt-; Middle-Age
MESH: *Aggression-; *Delusions-psychology; *Libido-;
*PsychoticDisorderspsychology
TG: Case-Report; Human; Male
PT: LETTER
AN: 78058473
UD: 7803
SB: AIM
TI: A case of lycanthropy.
AU: Rosenstock-HA; Vincent-KR
SO: Am-J-Psychiatry. 1977 Oct; 134(10): 1147-9
ISSN: 0002-953X
PY: 1977
LA: ENGLISH
CP: UNITED-STATES
MESH: Body-Image; Delusions-therapy; Middle-Age; Projection-
; Schizophrenia-therapy; Sex-Disorders-diagnosis
MESH: *Delusions-diagnosis; *Schizophrenia-diagnosis TG:
CaseReport; Female; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 77264354
UD: 7712
SB: AIM
TI: Lycanthropy revisited.
AU: Surawicz-FG; Banta-R
SO: Can-Psychiatr-Assoc-J. 1975 Nov; 20(7): 537-42
ISSN: 0008-4824
PY: 1975
LA: ENGLISH
CP: CANADA
MESH: Adult-; Delusions-drug-therapy; Delusions-history; Depersonalization
Disorder-drug-therapy; Hallucinations-drug-therapy; Lysergic-Acid-Diethylamide;
Schizophrenia,-Paranoid-complications; Superstitions-; Thioridazine-therapeutic
use; Trifluoperazinetherapeutic-use
MESH: *Delusions-etiology; *Depersonalization-Disorder-etiology; *Organic-
MentalDisorders,-Psychotic-complications; *Psychoses,Substance-Induced-
complications TG: Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 76090124
UD: 7605
TI: Lycanthropy: a review [see comments]
CM: Comment in: J R Soc Med 1989 Jun;82(6):379-80
AU: Fahy-TA
AD: Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospital, London.
SO: J-R-Soc-Med. 1989 Jan; 82(1): 37-9
ISSN: 0141-0768
PY: 1989
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
MESH: Delusions-history; History-of-Medicine,-Ancient; History-ofMedicine,
Medieval; History-of-Medicine,-15th-Cent.; History-ofMedicine,-16th-Cent.;
History-of-Medicine,-18th-Cent.; History-ofMedicine,-19th-Cent.; History-
ofMedicine,-20th-Cent.; MythologyMESH: *Delusions-
TG: Human
PT: HISTORICAL-ARTICLE; JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW,-TUTORIAL AN:
89178392 UD: 8907
TI: Multiple serial lycanthropy. A case report.
AU: Dening-TR; West-A
AD: St Crispin Hospital, Northampton, UK.
SO: Psychopathology. 1989; 22(6): 344-7
ISSN: 0254-4962
PY: 1989
LA: ENGLISH
CP: SWITZERLAND
AB: A case is described who exhibited lycanthropy during an acute
psychotic illness. During a short period she experienced herself as four
different species of animal, an occurrence not previously reported. The
phenomenon of lycanthropy is most appropriately regarded as a delusion,
but the abnormal subjective experience is stressed, not just the falsely-
held belief.
MESH: Adult-; Affective-Disorders,-Psychotic-diagnosis; Animals-; Diagnosis,
Differential
MESH: *Affective-Disorders,-Psychotic-psychology; *Delusionspsychology;
*Hallucinations-psychology
TG: Animal; Case-Report; Female; Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 90311541
UD: 9010
TI: A lycanthropic murderer [letter]
AU: Benezech-M; De-Witte-J; Etcheparre-JJ; Bourgeois-M SO: Am-J-Psychiatry.
1989 Jul; 146(7): 942
ISSN: 0002-953X
PY: 1989
LA: ENGLISH
CP: UNITED-STATES
MESH: Adult-; Antisocial-Personality-Disorder
MESH: *Delusions-; *Depersonalization-Disorder; *HomicideTG: Case-Report;
Human; Male
PT: LETTER
AN: 89300931
UD: 8910
SB: AIM
TI: Lycanthropy: alive and well in the twentieth century. AU: Keck-PE; Pope-
HG; Hudson-JI; McElroy-SL; Kulick-AR
AD: Epidemiology Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02178. SO: Psychol
Med. 1988 Feb; 18(1): 113-20
ISSN: 0033-2917
PY: 1988
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
AB: Lycanthropy, the belief that one has been transformed into an animal (or
behaviour suggestive of such a belief), has been described by physicians and
clerics since antiquity, but has received scant attention in the modern
literature. Some have even thought the syndrome extinct. However, in a review
of
patients admitted to our centre since 1974, we identified twelve cases of
lycanthropy, ranging in duration from one day to 13 years. The syndrome was
generally associated with severe psychosis, but not with any specific
psychiatric diagnosis or neurological findings, or with any particular
outcome. As a rare but colourful presentation of psychosis, lycanthropy
appears to have survived into modern times. MESH: Adolescence-; Adult-;
Delusions-complications; Delusions-drugtherapy; Electroencephalography-;
Factitious-Disorderscomplications; Psychotic-Disorders-complications
MESH: *Delusions-psychology
TG: Case-Report; Female; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 88204005
UD: 8808
TI: Lycanthropy lives on.
AU: Coll-PG; O'Sullivan-G; Browne-PJ
SO: Br-J-Psychiatry. 1985 Aug; 147: 201-2
ISSN: 0007-1250
PY: 1985
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
MESH: Aged-; Aggression-; Delusions-therapy; ElectroconvulsiveTherapy
MESH: *Delusions-diagnosis; *Depersonalization-Disorder-diagnosis TG: Case
Report; Female; Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 86001205
UD: 8601
TI: [Animal metamorphosis (lycanthropy) still exists]
AU: Sirota-P; Schild-K; Ben-Zui-Levi-Y; Elitzur-A
SO: Harefuah. 1994 Jan 16; 126(2): 88-91
ISSN: 0017-7768
PY: 1994
LA: HEBREW; NON-ENGLISH
CP: ISRAEL
MESH: Animals,-Wild; Carnivora-
MESH: *Delusions-
TG: Animal; Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW,-TUTORIAL
AN: 94193070
UD: 9407
TI: A partial form of lycanthropy with hair delusion in a manicdepressive
patient.
AU: Verdoux-H; Bourgeois-M
AD: University of Bordeaux, France.
SO: Br-J-Psychiatry. 1993 Nov; 163: 684-6
ISSN: 0007-1250
PY: 1993
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
AB: A 45-year-old man was admitted with a hair growth delusion and
depressive symptoms. The delusion persisted for three years and disappeared
after a manic episode. This odd delusion has some similarities with
lycanthropy.
MESH: Antipsychotic-Agents,-Phenothiazine-administration-and-dosage;
Antipsychotic-Agents,-Phenothiazine-therapeutic-use; Delusions-drugtherapy;
Depressive-Disorder-drug-therapy; Hypochondriasis-drugtherapy; Lithium-
Carbonateadministration-and-dosage; LithiumCarbonate-therapeutic-use; Manic-
Disorder-drugtherapy; Middle-Age; Phenothiazines-administration-and-dosage;
Phenothiazinestherapeuticuse; Psychiatric-Status-Rating-Scales
MESH: *Delusions-complications; *Depressive-Disorder-complications;
*Hypochondriasis-complications; *Hypochondriasis-diagnosis; *ManicDisorder
complications
TG: Case-Report; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
RN: 0; 0; 3546-03-0; 554-13-2
NM: Antipsychotic-Agents,-Phenothiazine; Phenothiazines; cyamemazine; Lithium
Carbonate
AN: 94129957
UD: 9405
TI: [Anorexia and lycanthropy ++: grandiosity and fall]
TO: Anorexie et lycanthropie: grandeur et decadence. AU: Vedie-C; Poinso-F;
Hemmi-F; Katz-G
AD: Hopital La Colombiere, Montpellier.
SO: Ann-Med-Psychol-Paris. 1993 Mar; 151(3): 285-9
ISSN: 0003-4487
PY: 1993
LA: FRENCH; NON-ENGLISH
CP: FRANCE
MESH: Anorexia-classification; Anorexia-diagnosis; History-ofMedicine,-19th
Cent.; History-of-Medicine,-20th-Cent.; Mythology-; Psychiatry-history;
Psychotherapy-
MESH: *Anorexia-history; *Delusions-history
TG: Female; Human; Male
PT: HISTORICAL-ARTICLE; JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 94079209
UD: 9403
TI: Psychopharmacology of lycanthropy.
AU: Davis-WM; Wellwuff-HG; Garew-L; Kydd-OU
AD: Orphan Drug Research Institute, Jefferson, Miss.
SO: Can-Med-Assoc-J. 1992 Apr 1; 146(7): 1191-7
ISSN: 0008-4409
PY: 1992
LA: ENGLISH
CP: CANADA
AB: OBJECTIVE: To develop pharmacotherapies for the orphan disease
lycanthropy through the pursuit of the etiologic hypothesis of a genetically
determined hypersecretion of endogenous lycanthropogens. DESIGN: Quadruple-
blind, Rubik's Cube matrix analysis. SETTING: Community practice and
malpractice. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects selected
from inbred Ruficolla populations in Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and
Minnesota. All who entered the study finished it. INTERVENTIONS: Chemical
screening of blood samples over a hypothesized secretory cycle of
lycanthropogen peaking on the day of maximum lunar illumination.
Administration of synthetic lycanthropogens for behavioural testing.
Experimental lycosomatization through the illumination method of Kirschbaum.
OUTCOME MEASURES: None were post hoc, but some are still in hock. MAIN
RESULTS: Two putative lycanthropogens were isolated from the blood samples.
Structural elucidation and synthesis permitted animal and clinical trials; in
each of these, behavioural dysfunction was observed. Antilycanthropogen
strategies included application of the principle of caged compounds and
generation of a therapeutic immunoglobulin. The effects of a newly developed
antihirsutic agent seemed promising. An interaction of the lycanthropogen-
secretion system and ethanol was noted, which may explain behavioural aspects
of alcoholism. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of lycomania in North America is
underestimated. Soon-to-be-available pharmacotherapies should promote its
early detection and treatment. Full control may depend upon advances in gene
therapy.
MESH: *Delusions-; *Wit-and-Humor
TG: Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 92208802
UD: 9207
SB: AIM
TI: [The delusion of lycanthropic transformation] TO: El delirio de
transformacion licantropico.
AU: Rojo-Moreno-J; Rojo-Moreno-M; Valdemoro-Garcia-C; Rojo-Sierra-M AD:
Facultad de Medicina, Valencia.
SO: Actas-Luso-Esp-Neurol-Psiquiatr-Cienc-Afines. 1990 Sep-Oct; 18(5): 327-31
ISSN: 0300-5062
PY: 1990
LA: SPANISH; NON-ENGLISH
CP: SPAIN
AB: The authors describe one case of Lycanthropy and revise the literature
about this theme. They observe that Lycanthropy has received scant attention
in the
modern literature, but appears to have survived into modern times. In some
cases the patient (as a Delusion) has the belief that he has been transformed
into an animal. In other cases there appears only what seems to be behaviour
of an animal. About the first group, the authors make a phenomenological
analysis and present a clinical case of Lycanthropic delusion. MESH: Adult-;
AntidepressiveAgents-therapeutic-use; AntipsychoticAgents-therapeutic-use;
Delusions-drugtherapy; Delusions-psychology; Depression-etiology; English-
Abstract; Hirsutismpsychology; SelfConcept; Social-Isolation
MESH: *Delusions-
TG: Case-Report; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW-OF-REPORTED-CASES
RN: 0; 0
NM: Antidepressive-Agents; Antipsychotic-Agents
AN: 91150521
UD: 9106
TI: Lycanthropy and demonomania: some psychopathological issues. AU: Koehler-
K; Ebel-H; Vartzopoulos-D
AD: University Psychiatric Clinic, Bonn, West Germany.
SO: Psychol-Med. 1990 Aug; 20(3): 629-33
ISSN: 0033-2917
PY: 1990
LA: ENGLISH
CP: ENGLAND
AB: Modern reports on lycanthropy mainly concentrate on the content of
patients' beliefs in being transformed into an animal. By contrast, an
interest in the form of the symptomatology is usually
minimal. This paper draws on Karl Jaspers' phenomenological views and focuses
on some important albeit neglected psychopathological issues related to form
which are relevant to any comprehensive consideration of lycanthropic
phenomena. MESH: Awareness-; Reality-Testing; Self-Concept
MESH: *Delusions-psychology; *Depersonalization-Disorder-psychology; *Magic-;
*Manic-Disorder-psychology
TG: Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW,-TUTORIAL
AN: 91046496
UD: 9102
TI: Lycanthropy and self-identification.
AU: Kulick-AR; Pope-HG Jr; Keck-PE Jr
AD: Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178.
SO: J-Nerv-Ment-Dis. 1990 Feb; 178(2): 134-7
ISSN: 0022-3018
PY: 1990
LA: ENGLISH
CP: UNITED-STATES
AB: Lycanthropy, an unusual psychiatric syndrome involving the delusion of
being an animal, usually occurs as a transient symptom of severe psychosis. A
review of the historical and modern medical literature, as well as of
contemporary anthropological reports, suggests multiple etiologies for
lycanthropy, including seizure disorders and use of psychotomimetic drugs. A
clinical illustration is presented in which the delusion of being an animal in
human form has persisted for over 15 years and has been refractory to
treatment. The authors speculate that disturbances of self-identity may
combine with neurological abnormalities to produce some cases of this
syndrome.
MESH: Adult-; Delusions-drug-therapy; Delusions-etiology; Delusionstherapy;
Psychotherapy-; Psychotic-Disorders-complications; Psychotropic-Drugs
therapeutic-use
MESH: *Cats-; *Delusions-; *Ego-
TG: Animal; Case-Report; Human; Male
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE; REVIEW; REVIEW-OF-REPORTED-CASES
AN: 90132623
UD: 9005
SB: AIM
Title: The Beast Within - Animals in the middle ages Author:
Joyce E. Salisbury.
Publisher: Routledge, 1994
ISBN: 0-415-90769-1
Cost me about 12 pounds sterling [make that $20].
It's basically an analysis of the human perception of animal forms since
about
the 10th century, from religious, sexual, social and economic standpoints.
The bit at the end 'humans as animals' and "what is a human", are IMHO
really rather good; certainly changed *my* way of looking at myself in the
traditional sense as a human, to the way I feel now, which is much more
animal-centred.
Ed Warren - *Werewolf: a true story of demonic possession* Apparently about a
man who was "possessed" by a wolf spirit, which is exorcised by a Catholic
priest. On the back cover, they describe seeing him change, yet with the
included photos, there is not one picture of
said change.
Methinks they were just trying to sell books with a little hype. New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1992
Tim Kelly - *Curse of the Werewolf* (?)
Dramatic Pub. Co., 1990
Terry Crawford - *The werewolf miracles* Oberon
Press, 1976
Title: Animal Spirits
Author: Nicholas J. Saunders
Publisher: Macmillan/Duncan Baird Publishers, 1995
ISBN: 0-333-63846-8
Price: 9.95 pounds sterling.
A strange book; at first it starts with a discussion of "the shared world" the
way animals have been perceived by humans, discusses soulflight, animals in
heraldry, hunter and hunted, food, animal-related beliefs, shamanism etc. Then
the second part has specific sections
on animals [bat, jaguar, wolf, dog, shark, fish, bear etc]. The third part
is a gazetteer of animal beliefs from around the world.
But this book's 2-page definition of Werewolves is in the section "Imaginary
Beasts". Huh! So *I* am a figment of somebody's imagination, am i?? Anyway,
the picture to go with the Werewolf ('Cannibal, or Werewolf' by Cranach the
Elder) is worth it, just for all those severed limbs, heads etc!
A useful introduction.... and a good list of references at the back
too!
An excellent way to acquire basic knowledge is to read. The Native Book
Centre has several excellent books about herbal and spiritual healing and
medicine. If you have access to the WWW please visit our WWW site at
http://www.9to5.com/9to5/NBC/ where you will find our complete catalogue.
Look under the topics of Health and Medicine, and Spirituality. There you
will find 40-50 titles on these topics. If you cannot access the Web, we can
send you our print catalogue for $3.00 (refundable with your first order).
Title: 'Of Wolf and Man' or 'Of Wolves and Man' (I forget which)
Author:Barry Lopez
It is technically only about how people think of wolves and
have reacted to wolves throughout history, with only a few chapters on
werewolves(which are fairly dry repititions of legends from the dark ages)
but the multi-faceted, mysterious view of the wolf it gives is FANTASTIC,
especially the stuff about how native americans see the wolf, and the way
the wolf is presented as an intelligent being that we can never really
classify or understand, but that evokes deep feelings in the human soul.
Title: Dance of the Dolphin
Author: Candace Slater
This book is a collection of recently-gathered and supposedly recently
happening stories of weredolphins along the amazon river. Apparently
some people there still believe that they have witnessed weredolphin
transformations, recently, not in the 17th century or anything, and
a lot of them. Unfortunately the author goes deep into psychology
trying to explain why so many people have these delusions, and treats
the subject as if all these were delusions. It is the only book I
know of that has this many supposedly-true recent were stories.
GooseBumps:
Werewolf in Fever Swamp.
It was pretty good and I enjoyed it. It was down to earth and was well
written, even though it was less than 300 pages. Which IMO, was one of
the guidelines that I placed on books to see if they were good or not,
"can't tell a book by it's cover" :)
The White Goddess by Robert Graves (Faber & Faber)
Subtitled A historical grammar of poetic myth.
This is one of my favourite books. It's more a research into
pre-christian religion than anthing else. But a riveting read.
The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer (Wordsworth Reference) and
MacMillan & Co.)
Subtitled A Study in Magic and Religion.
This book was published first in 1890. A lot of Robert Graves' source
material comes from this book.
The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myth and Secrets
by Barbara Walker ( Harper & Row)
This is a feminist approach of most myths legends, saints and sinners.
There is an interesting couple of pages under the heading Werewolves.
I found an interesting collection of folk tales in the Children
Section of my local library. Published by the Oxford University Press
and retold by different authors, the come under the general heading of
Myths and Legends in Paperback.
About sixteen titles. Myths and legends from Africa, Amenia. China.
England, France. Gemany, Hungary, India, Japan, Persia,Russia,
Scandinavia, Scotland, Turkey, West-India etc.
another Oxford Paperback, "The Tain" translated by Thomas Kinsella
Treats the story of Cuchulain. The Ulster Hero.
(For the American among you. Ulster is Northern Ireland)
Cuchulain means the Hound of Culain.
Culain was a smith who had a dangerous dog which had to be kept down
with three iron chains held by three strong men each. The boy Setanta
killed the dog in a fight. The smith was heart broken and Setanta made
up by becoming a watch dog until the next bag of pups was raised.
That's how he got his name Cuchulain.
The story is pre-Christian and more for adults than for children. ;)
The Mabinogian, translated by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones. (Everyman's
Library)Those are very old stories and legends from Wales. A whole
population is transformed into mice. It's a classic.
There are many Irish Fairy tales on the market. I haven't found
werewolves in them but men and woman who are animals by night and
people by day or vise versa. Seals, dogs, cats etc.
For some it was because of a curse, some because they have special
powers and the rest just as a matter of fact without any explanation.
_Deerdancer, The Shape Shifter Archetype in Story and in Trance_, by
Michele Jamal -- she apparently has a book called _Shape Shifters_, too.
This one goes into depth in many archeypes -- bear shifters, wolf
shifters, buffalo, seal, deer, and even tree and deity shifters.
Fiction
---------
"Naked came the Sasquatch" by John Boston, published by
TSR but amazingly good for a first novel. VERY humorous, although alas Mr
Boston sometimes repeats characterization to the word, and there is a gap in
the storyline. Still worth the reading. And yes, despite the title, there are
werewolves in it.
BTW, I thought of a book we should add to the FAQ. Really it should have been
on my werecard in the category of Fav Were Lit -_Steppenwolf_, a novel by
Herman Hesse. It's fiction, but man does he have the anguish of a dual soul
thing down. Vlad seconds this motion too...actually I mentioned the book to
her, and then she asked me if
it
was in the FAQ, and we agreed that if it wasn't, it oughta
be.
Moon of Three Rings
Year of the Unicorn
The Jargoon Pard
-all by Andre Norton
In the first, a space trader gets transformed into the body of a wolflike
creature called a barsk at the hands of a woman of a Gypsylike people. The
second features a were-snow leopard, a half-breed of a
shape- shifting people who falls in love with a witch, and the third is
about a were-leopard who turns out to be the witch's and snow leopard's
son. Everything works out in the end -- Andre Norton is addicted to happy
endings.
Darker Than You Think
-by Jack Williamson
An old but classic science-fiction novel in which shapeshifters are the last
remnants of an ancient race that once ruled humans.
Jennifer Roberson - Chronicles of the Cheysuli (a series about a people who
are bound to one animal, or more, into which they can transform, and with they
are in close psychic contact. The first was *Shapechangers*, and I think
there were a total of 8.)
Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time Series (I think he's up to 4 or 5 books in the
series now. One of the main characters, Perrin, is a lycanthrope of some
sort. He can communicate with wolves, sees through their eyes,
and is in constant danger of turning into one permanently...)
Stephen King - *Silver Bullet* (as you say, for completeness only...)
J.R.R. Tolkien - Lord of the Ring series (Beornings are werebears)
Tanya Huff - *Blood Trail* (second in a series of fantasy/murder mysteries,
this one involves something that's been killing all of Canada's
werewolves...)
*The Ultimate Werewolf* (I think Dell published this excellent collection of
modern short fiction about werewolves.)
Whitley Streiber - *Wolfen* (they made a movie out of this too. The main
creatures aren't quite were, but they're not quite wolves, either, and there's
some cool stuff about Native Americans performing shapechanging rituals)
Will Shetterly - *Elsewhere* (part of the Borderlands shared world series, in
a place where Faery and the modern world meet. This one's about a boy
who ends up getting cursed into becoming a Weredog.)
*Drums Around the Fire* (from White Wolf; a book of legends & tales told to
the Garou of the Werewolf game around the sacred fire by a number of
authors)
BTW, Nancy A. Collins' "Wild Blood" does have several hot scenes, and some
sexual stuff also appears in S.P.Somtov's "Moondance". I wondered anyhow why
they didn't show up in KatmanDu's info collection (the one with the large
number). [ed. note: Wonder no more! *grin*]
Nyx Smith - "Striper Assassin" One of the main characters, Striper, is a
weretiger, and a hired assassin for a Mage named Adama. Point of interest: at
one time, she goes to a club run by Werewolves. To prove she's Were, she cuts
herself, then heals it with her saliva. Very good portrayal of Weres, IMO.
Esp. the Wolves :), even if they are only featured once.
R.L. Stine - *The werewolf of Fever Swamp*. (adolescent)
Eric Wilson -*The St. Andrews werewolf: a Liz Austen mystery*
(adolescent)
Peter Haining - *Werewolf: horror stories of the man-beast* (a
collection)
John Gardner - *The werewolf trace*
*Werewolf!* edited by Bill Pronzini
Seon Manley - *Ladies of horror; two centuries of supernatural stories by the
gentle sex* (adolescent)
Anthony Boucher - *The compleat werewolf, and other stories of fantasy and sf*
Clifford Simak - *The werewolf principle* (adult/adolescent)
_The Wild_ by Whitley Strieber. Essentially about a man whose desire to
escape the Kafkaesque nature of his life is the catalyst for his
transformation into a sentient wolf. Also, one of the best endings of a
werewolf novel I've read. _Saint Peter's Wolf_ by Michael Cadnum. A
psychiatrist whose life is falling apart discovers hope in the form a
mysterious new lover and a strange pair of silver fangs. Extremely good book
that questions every assumption people have about lycanthropy. [NB I wrote a
paper on this book and it snagged me an "A" :)] _Wilderness_ by Dennis
Danvers. The story centers around a young woman learning to control her life
and her lycanthropy for the first time when she falls in love with her new
neighbor. This books actually
more of a love story than a horror novel.
_Animals_ by John Skipp and Craig Spector. The crown princes of splatterpunk
pull out all the stops in this surpisingly good novel with one overriding
theme: "Lycanthropy is no excuse for being an asshole."
The story and the characters have a refreshingly blusey feel to them, aided
and abetted by the Pennsylvania rust-belt setting and the blues music that
permiates everything.
_Lycanthia_ by Tanith Lee. Very very hard to find but an excelent book. A
young lord retuns to his family estate and discovers that the "horrible
monsters" living in his woods are neither, but graceful and very sensual
werewolves. Quietly erotic book with a sad ending.
_Heart Beast_ by Tanith Lee. Her "raving beast" book, here a young man is
cursed to become a werewolf after gaining posession of a diamond
with a flaw shaped like a running wolf. The werewolf here acts as a symbol of
male sexuality, which simultaneously awakens and oppresses the main female
charcater's own sexual nature until it's destruction.
---0tt0
The Wilding, by Melanie Tem. (1992; ISBN 0-440-21285-5; Abyss line of Dell
Publishing). Follows a family of matrilineal
werewolves outside Denver.
Focus is on coming-of-age ritual where youngest member learns what she
is and what it means. Really cool!
Peter David. Howling Mad. ISBN 0-441-34663-4. This book has a thoroughly
marvelous premise: a wolf gets bit by a werewolf and turns into a man at every
full moon and is completely pi**ed off about it! It's
a *lot* of fun to read.
Thomas Tessier. The Nightwalker. ISBN 0-330-26225-4. This is one of my
favourite novels about a very sympathetic character who happens to be a
werewolf. Highly recommended.
Angela Carter. The Bloody Chamber. ISBN 0-14-012837-9. This collection of
short stories is notable for including the very Jungian tale, "The Company of
Wolves", which the movie of the same name was based on, as well as another
short story, "The Werewolf".
Leslie Whitten. Moon of the Wolf. ISBN 0-380-00285-X. Whitten wrote good old
fashioned, straight-ahead horror stuff. This is a fairly classic and somewhat
predictable Hollywood-style werewolf tale, but it's
entertaining.
Eileen Datlow & Terri Windling (eds.) Snow White, Blood Red. ISBN 0-380-71875-
8.
This is one of those books that's becoming popular nowadays where a bunch
of writers get together and do up modernized, adult versions of classic
fairytales. This volume includes a pretty good
story by Wendy Wheeler called "Little Red".
The Lays of Marie de France. Penguin Classics edition. ISBN 0-14-44476-9. This
is a collection of late 12th century French poetry which includes the classic
tale of lycanthropy, "Bisclavret".
Serling, Rod, ed. _Rod Serling's Triple W: Witches, Warlocks, and Werewolves_
New York: Bantam Books, 1963.
Hey, Kat, add _Prince of Wolves_ by Susan Krinard to the fiction section of
the FAQ. hmmm, guess i should write a short critique, eh... hmmm
Prince of Wolves is a standard "Romance" novel. If you aren't in to the
feisty heroine, broody hero, "heat of their passion was like a thousand suns
burning" sorta soft-porn prose then stay clear. On the other
paw, it's a well written example of the genre and the brooding hero is quite a
fine example of a "good" werewolf. I recommend the book but good
luck finding it... romance novels have a short shelf life.
(Her second book is also a romance, this one with some untraditional
vampires. _Prince of Dreams_. Not as good and void of weres but okay for a
romance...)
for all that... Is _The Beast WIthin - Erotic Tales of Werewolves_ listed in
the FAQ? I didn't think they were all that erotic actually but the last of the
four stories was pretty good.
I recently read a Were story that wasn't listed on the FAQ.
Its called 'The Wild One' by Marion Zimmer Bradley in a collection
of shortstories called "The best of Marion Zimmer Bradley, edited
by Martin Greenberg...pub. 1985".
ShadowFox
"The Orphan" by Robert Stallman, New York, Pocket Books, 1980
"The Captive" by Robert Stallman (surprise!), 1981
"The Offspring"
_The_Jaguar_Princess_ and was written by one Claire Bell. It's "a Tor
Book/published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc." and was copywrighted 1993. The
ISBN number is 0-812-51516-1. The Library of Congress Card Catalogue number
is 93-25920.
_Thor_, by Wayne Smith. (Ballentine Books, 1992) Primarily aimed at mass
adolescent market, but still interesting to older folk. Werewolf character is,
alas, straight out of ravening Lon Chaneyesque I-just-can't-help-myself-gotta
rend serial killer mold, but what makes book interesting is that it's told
from perspective of family dog. Nice stab at canine psychologizing,
dog/human/were interaction. Definitely worth a read, if only for the immortal
line, 'I'm the moon's indentured
servant'. Nice, eh?
I believe there's a Tanith Lee werewolf story (can't remember title off-hand,
alas) in _Don't Bet on the Prince_, edited by Jack Zipes. Feminist Fairy
Tales. The story might be reprinted elsewhere, perhaps in another were-story
anthology. Nice little twist (with the accent on the 'twist') to Red Riding
Hood. And of course, being Tanith Lee, gorgeously tactile writing.
It's mentioned in movie list, but I'm still a bit surprized that _Werewolf of
Paris_ by Guy Endore seemed to be missing from book list. Very well-written,
tho' again the unfortunate were in question is of the reluctant Jack-the-
Ripper type. Lots and lots of werewolf lore distributed in rather scattershot
fashion throughout--alomst as tho' the guy (Guy) is telling us, 'look, I did
my homework!' Still, a fab read for the gothic fan particularly. Kind of the
'Dracula' of werewolf novels.
_The Crossing_, Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, 1994). Not technically a werewolf
story, but might be interesting to weres. First part of the book (set in New
Mexico in the 1930's) deals with a boy who is responsible for trapping wolf
that is killing cattle on family ranch. He ends up trying to return her to her
original range in Mexico. Along the way he bonds with her in a very
visceral fashion. Funny, heartbreaking, ravishingly lush prose/poetry a la
Faulkner-almost *too* much sometimes, but who doesn't like to get a bit
intoxicated on words? I know I do ('so much so, that truth to tell, I'm
rarely sober'--thank you, Lord Peter Wimsey).
IMHO, McCarthy should have ended the book after the first part with the
wolf, but the rest of it makes for interesting reading as well.
_Favorite Folk Tales from Around the World_, edited by Jane Yolen
(Pantheon, 1986) has an entire section on Shapeshifter stories. *Wonderful*
for telling, which is a special passion of mine.
And of course, who could forget the Wolfriders in _Elfquest_? (WARP
Graphics) Classic example of the spiritual-bond
-ejackson@nwu
And, of course, Cheri Scotch's werewolf trilogy...
Either/Neither/Unknown
----------------------
"The Book Of Werewolves" by Sabine Baring-Gould.
266 pages, paperback, published by:-
Senate Books, Princess House, 50 Eastcastle Street, London, England ISBN
185958-072-6
Prince of Darkness
Gerald Verner
Rider and Co., 1946
Werewolves
Elliot O'Donnell
Methuen, 1912
While I don't mean to seem a pest, I remembered in addition to those
records I mentioned a book entitled THE WEREWOLF PRINCIPLE, by Clifford
Simak. The book, as I recall, was dated 1967 and only last year was put
back into print.
I did not notice, though might have missed, a listing of the Satyricon
by Petronius (d.AD 65) which has a great Werewolf story.
3) Shows and Movies About Shapeshifting
---------------------------------------
"Werewolves on the Silver Screen"
compiled by Wolfshadow (aka Dave Aftandilian)
MAIN SOURCES (first two provided most of the info):
_The Scream Factory_ #15 (Autumn 1994) -- werewolves in film review
article by Lawrence McCallum [top-notch stuff!!]
Donald Willis -- _Horror and Science Fiction Films: A Checklist_
(Scarecrow Press, 1972)[thorough, if opinionated, film notes]
_Fangoria_ #s 129 & 134 (July 1994)
Pierre Benichou -- _Horror et Epouvante dans la Cinema Fantastique_
(Collections Tetes d'Affiche PAL, 1977)
Adam Douglas -- _The Beast Within_ (Chapmans, 1992)
Stephen Jones (ed) -- _The Mammoth Book of Werewolves_ (Carroll & Graf, 1994)
(introduction only)
_Imagi-Movies_ Vol. 1, #4, Summer 1994
ANNOTATED LIST OF FILMS:
The Werewolf (Canadian; 1913, Bison)
DIRECTOR: Henry McRae
NOTES: loosely based on Henry Beaugrand's story "The Werewolves". Short in
which a Navajo witch-woman transforms her daughter into a werewolf to seek
revenge against invading whites. Real wolf used in transformation scene.
The Wolfman (1915, Reliance-Mutual)
NOTES: lost film
Le Loup Garou = The Werewolf (French; 1923)
STARS: Jean Marau, Madeleine Guitty
NOTES: a priest curses a murderer, who becomes a werewolf
The Wolfman (1924, Fox)
STARS: John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Eugene Pallette, etc.
DIRECTOR: Edmund Mortimer
NOTES: non-supernatural dual-personality melodrama
Wolf Blood (1925, Lee-Bradford)
STARS: George Chesebro, Marguerite Clayton, Ray Hanford, etc. DIRECTOR:
George Chesebro, George Mitchell
NOTES: man turns "half-beast" after transfusion of wolf blood
The Werewolf (German; 1932)
STARS: Magda Sonja, Vladimir Sokolov
DIRECTOR: Friedrich Feher
NOTES: first talkie to feature a werewolf. From the novel
_Der Schwarze Mann_ by Alfred Machard.
The Werewolf of London (1935, Universal)
STARS: Henry Hull, Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester
Matthews, Spring Byington, etc.
DIRECTOR: Stuart Walker
MAKE-UP: Jack Pierce
SPECIAL FX: John Fulton
NOTES: based on Oliver Onion's 1929 story "The Master of the House". First
mention of "moon-flower" (Mariphasa) in film (?); but here it is the only
antidote for lycanthropy, not its cause
The Wolfman (1941, Universal)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Bela Lugosi, Maria
Ouspenskaya, etc.
DIRECTOR: George Waggner
MAKE-UP: Jack Pierce
NOTES: the biggie. Gotta love those crazy gypsies. "Even a man whos
is pure in heart..."
The Undying Monster (1942, Fox)
STARS: James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard, etc.
DIRECTOR: John Brahm
NOTES: from the 1922 novel by Jessie Douglas Kerruish
Terror House (UK; 1942, PRC/Pathe Pictures)
STARS: James Mason, Wilfrid Sutherland, Mary Clare, etc.
DIRECTOR: Leslie Arliss
NOTES: from a novel by Alan Kennington
The Mad Monster (1942, PRC)
STARS: George Zucco, Anna Nagel, Johnny Downs, etc.
DIRECTOR: Sam Newfield
NOTES: man turned to werewolf by transfusion of wolf blood
Le Loup des Malveneur = The Wolf of the Malveneurs (French; 1943) STARS: Madeleine
Sologne, Pierre Renoir, Gabrielle Dorziat DIRECTOR: Guillaume Radot
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943, Universal)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Patric Knowles, etc.
MAKE-UP: Jack Pierce
DIRECTOR: Roy William Neill
Return of the Vampire (1943/1944, Columbia)
STARS: Bela Lugosi, Matt Willis, Nina Foch, etc. DIRECTOR: Lew
Landers
SPECIAL FX: Aaron Nadley
NOTES: werewolf is the hero who kills vampire
House of Frankenstein (1944, Universal)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., Boris Karloff, John Carradine, etc. DIRECTOR: Erle
C. Kenton
SPECIAL FX: John C. Fulton
NOTES: first film use of a silver bullet to kill the werewolf
Cry of the Werewolf (1944, Columbia)
STARS: Nina Foch, Stephen Crane, Osa Massen, etc.
DIRECTOR: Henry Levin
NOTES: first female werewolf in film
House of Dracula (1945, Universal)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Onslow Stevens, etc. DIRECTOR:
Erle C. Kenton
SPECIAL FX: John C. Fulton
She-Wolf of London (1946, Universal;= UK The Curse of the Allenbys) STARS: June
Lockhart, Don Porter, Lloyd Corrigan, etc. DIRECTOR: Jean Yarbrough
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948, Universal)
STARS: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi DIRECTOR: Charles
T. Barton
MAKE-UP: Bud Westmore
SPECIAL FX: David S. Horsley, Jerome H. Ash
The Werewolf (1956, Columbia/Clover)
STARS: Steven Ritch, Joyce Holden, Don Megowan, etc.
DIRECTOR: Fred F. Sears
NOTES: serum turns accident victim into a werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1956/7, American International/Sunset) STARS: Michael
Landon, Yvonne Lime, Whit Bissell, etc. DIRECTOR: Gene Fowler, Jr.
The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957, Allied Artists)
STARS: Gloria Talbot, Arthur Shields, John Agar, etc.
DIRECTOR: Edgar G. Ulmer
NOTES: vampire-like, scientifically-created werewolf
How to Make a Monster (1958, American International/Sunset) STARS: Gary Clarke,
Robert H. Harris, Paul Brinegar, etc. DIRECTOR: Herbert L. Strock
NOTES: sequel to I Was a Teenage Werewolf
The Curse of the Werewolf (UK; 1961, Hammer)
STARS: Oliver Reed, Richard Wordworth, Clifford Evans, etc. DIRECTOR:
Terence Fisher
MAKE-UP: Roy Ashton
NOTES: Hammer's only werewolf film. Based on Guy Endore's 1933 novel _The
Werewolf of Paris_.
Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (Italian/Austrian; 1961/3, MGM/Royal; original
Lycanthropus; UK I Married a Werewolf)
STARS: Barbara Lass, Carl Schell, Maurice Marsac, etc. DIRECTOR:
Paolo Hensch (aka Richard Benson)
La Loba = The She-Wolf (Mexican; 1964, Sotomayor/Azteca) STARS: Kitty de Hoyos,
Joaquin Cordero, etc.
DIRECTOR: Rafael Baledon
Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1965, ADP/Diana; merged footage from Mexican
originals La Momia Azteca, 1957 and La Casa del Terror, 1959)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., Yolanda Varela, Yerye Beirute, etc. DIRECTOR:
Gilberto M. Solares (Jerry Warren -- US) NOTES: first mummified werewolf in
film (!)
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (UK; 1965, Paramount/Amicus) STARS: Peter Cushing,
Christopher Lee, Roy Castle, etc. DIRECTOR: Freddie Francis MAKE-UP: Roy
Ashton
SPECIAL FX: Ted Samuels
NOTES: multi-story format; one has werewolf
Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors (1967, American General)
STARS: Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Rochelle Hudson, etc. DIRECTOR: David
L. Hewitt
The Maltese Bippy = The Incredible Werewolf Murders (1969, MGM) STARS: Dan Rowan &
Dick Martin (Laugh-In)
DIRECTOR: Norman Panama
NOTES: minor character werewolf on motorcycle
Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969, A & E Film Corp.)
STARS: John Carradine, Paula Raymond, Alex D'Arcy, etc.
DIRECTOR: Al Adamson
The Ancines Woods OR The Wolfman of Galicia OR The Wolf's Forest = El Bosque de
Ancines OR El Bosque del Lobo (Spanish; 1969, Amboto)
DIRECTOR: Pedro Olea
NOTES: from a novel by Carlos M. Barbeito. Epileptic murderer believed to be
a werewolf.
Night of the Werewolf (1969)
NOTES: in Daninsky series (see next)
Frankenstein's Bloody Terror (1970; original Spanish 1967/8 La Marca del Hombre
Lobo OR El Hombre Lobo cut for US release)
STARS: Paul Naschy, Manuel Manzaneque, Aurora de Alba, etc. DIRECTOR:
Enrique Eguiluz
NOTES: begins series of films involving Waldemar Daninsky, a scientist
afflicted with lycanthropy
Assignment Terror (1970, American-International)
NOTES: released direct to TV. In Daninsky series.
The Werewolf's Shadow (original La Noche de Walpurgis German/Spanish; 1970, Atlas
International/Plata)
STARS: Paul Naschy, Gaby Fuchs, Barbara Capell, etc.
DIRECTOR: Leon Klimovski = Leon Klimowsky
NOTES: in Daninsky series
Fury of the Wolfman (original Spanish La Furia del Hombre Lobo; 1970, Maxper)
STARS: Perla Cristal, Veronica Lujan
DIRECTOR: Jose Maria Zabalza
NOTES: in Daninsky series
Dr. Jekyll and the Wolfman (original Spanish Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo; 1971)
NOTES: in Daninsky series
Werewolves on Wheels (1971, Fanfare Films)
STARS: Stephen Oliver, Severn Darden, D.J. Anderson, etc. DIRECTOR:
Michel Levesque
NOTES: werewolf biker gang -- 'nuff said
Moon of the Wolf (1972, ABC TV)
STARS: David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Bradford Dillman DIRECTOR:
Daniel Petrie
The Vampires Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (UK; 1972)
Curse of the Devil (original Spanish El Retorno de Walpurgis; 1973) STARS:
Paul Naschy, Fabiola Falcon, Vidal Molina, etc. DIRECTOR: Carlos Aured
NOTES: in Daninsky series
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973, Universal) STARS:
Kerwin Mathews, Scott Sealey DIRECTOR: Nathan
Juran
The Werewolf of Washington (1973, Diplomat) STARS: Dean
Stockwell
Scream of the Wolf (1974 ABC TV)
DIRECTOR: Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows)
The Beast Must Die (1974, Cinerama)
STARS: Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring
NOTES: script based on James Blish's "There Shall Be No Darkness"; 1989
video release titled Black Werewolf
Legend of the Werewolf (UK; 1974)
STARS: Peter Cushing, Ron Moody, Roy Castle, Hugh Griffith DIRECTOR: Fred
Francis
Night of the Howling Beast (original Spanish La Maldicion de la Bestia; 1975)
STARS: Paul Naschy
DIRECTOR: Miguel Iglesias Bonns
NOTES: another in the Waldemar Daninsky series. Daninsky meets the
Abominable Snowman.
The Werewolf of Woodstock (1975, ABC TV)
Daughter of a Werewolf (Italian; 1976, Dialchi)
STARS: Annik Barel, Frederick Stafford DIRECTOR:
Rino diSilvestro
Wolfman (1979, EO Prod.)
STARS: Earl Owensby
Wolfen (1980/1981)
STARS: Albert Finney, Gregory Hines NOTES: from a
book by Whitley Strieber
The Howling (1981, Avco-Embassy)
STARS: Dee Wallace, Rob Bottin, Patrick MacNee, Chris Stone, Slim Pickins,
Dennis Dugan, Robert Picardo
DIRECTOR: Joe Dante
SPECIAL FX: Rob Bottin
NOTES: from novel by Gary Brander
An American Werewolf in London (1981, Universal) STARS: David
Naughton, Jenny Agutter SPECIAL FX: Rick Baker
NOTES: first four-footed werewolf in film
The Craving (original Spanish El Retorno del Hombre Lobo; 1981) STARS: Paul
Naschy
Frankenstein Island (1983)
STARS: Robert Clarke, Katherine Vicot, John Carradine, Andrew Duggan,
Cameron Mitchell
DIRECTOR: Jerry Warren
NOTES: werewolf minor appearance
The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1984) STARS:
Christopher Lee, Reb Brown, Ferdy Mayne DIRECTOR: Philippe
Mora
MAKE-UP: Steve Johnson
The Company of Wolves (UK; 1984, Palace)
STARS: Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Rea
MAKE-UP & SPECIAL FX: Christopher Tucker
NOTES: really twisted version of the Red Riding-Hood tale; different video
copies said to have different endings
Silver Bullet (1985, Paramount)
STARS: Gary Busey, Terry O'Quinn
MAKE-UP & SPECIAL FX: Rimbaldi (of E.T. fame)
NOTES: based on Stephen King's "Cycle of the Werewolf"
Teen Wolf (1985)
STARS: Michael J. Fox
Teen Wolf Too (1987)
STARS: Jason Bateman
The Monster Squad (1987, Tri-Star)
The Howling III (1987)
DIRECTOR: Philippe Mora
The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)
DIRECTOR: John Hough
SPECIAL FX: Steve Johnson
The Howling V: The Rebirth (1989)
My Mom's a Werewolf (1989)
The Howling VI: The Freaks (1991)
SPECIAL FX: Steve Johnson
Mad at the Moon (1992)
STARS: Mary Stuart Masterson, Fionnula Flanagan, Hart Bochner DIRECTOR:
Martin Donovan
Full Eclipse (1993, HBO)
NOTES: digitigrade werewolf (in some scenes)
Wolf (1994, Columbia)
STARS: Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader
DIRECTOR: Mike Nichols
MAKE-UP: Rick Baker
NOTES: the proof of the man is the soul within, not the beast without
Howling VII (1994)
DIRECTOR: Roger Nall
SPECIAL FX: Roy Knyrim and Jerry Macaluso (SOTA FX)
RELATED FILMS:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (various versions)
The Island of Lost Souls (1932, Paramount)
STARS: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, etc.
DIRECTOR: Erle C. Kenton
NOTES: based on _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ by H.G. Wells. Mad scientist tries
to turn animals into humans.
Cat People (1942, RKO)
STARS: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, etc.
DIRECTOR: Jacques Tourneur
The Leopard Man (1943, RKO)
STARS: Dennis O'Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, etc.
DIRECTOR: Jacques Tourneur
NOTES: from the novel _Black Alibi_ by Cornell Woolrich
The Curse of the Cat People (1944, RKO)
STARS: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, etc. DIRECTOR:
Robert Wise, Gunther Fritsch
NOTES: sequel to Cat People
Catman of Paris (1946, Republic)
STARS: Carl Esmond, Robert Wilke, Lenore Aubert, etc. DIRECTOR:
Lesley Selander
SPECIAL FX: Howard and Theodore Lydecker
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977, American International)
STARS: Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Nigel Davenport, etc. DIRECTOR:
Don Taylor
NOTES: remake of Island of Lost Souls
The Crow (1994, Miramax)
STARS: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Tony Todd, etc.
DIRECTOR: Alex Proyas
MAKE-UP: Lance Anderson
SPECIAL FX: Dream Quest Images
NOTES: tragic film based on James O'Barr's tragic graphic novel. A
truly gothic love story.
Cat People (1982)
STARS: Nastassia Kinski, Malcolm McDowell
NOTES: remake of 1942 original
"MetalBeast" (??)
I do know that there was a British TV series featuring a University professor and an
American girl (who was bitten by a werewolf). It was ok; didn't really get to watch
it too much. The point was to prevent her from shifting, kinda like Nick Knight on
_Forever Knight_. I believe the show was called "Werewolf in London" which is where
it took place. The closest I ever saw to a shift was turning her pupils red. Big
deal(sarcastically). But it was a kind of X-Files type show that dealt with the
paranormal. I'll see if I can find out any more on it, and will forward anything that
I discover.
--Windrunner
This is the show "She-Wolf of London," which is playing on the Sci-Fi Channel right
now. It does have the occasional so-so transformation scene, just not in every
episode. There's some info about it on the Web... check:
http://www.nevada.edu/home/4/geno/Web/lc.html
-WizardWolf
....and as a special treat, Ysengrin sends us this info on the TV show "Werewolf":
Hmmm... somehow the message from ddrake never appeared on the newsreaders here ... USA
still runs the 2 hour pilot from time to time (last time was about four months ago),
usually on Saturday afternoons. It was part of the Fox network's premire lineup, and
was apparently troubled by the censors from day one. Two episodes were delayed for
almost two
months due to their violent content, and thus were shown out-ofsequence.
WEREWOLF EPISODE LIST
The dates given are the show dates in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
This is the first run on the Fox network; episodes were shown in a different order
on USA and were re-cut for three commercial breaks instead of two and in many case
were also shortened.
Tristar (1987)
July 11 - Pilot (2 hours)
July 18 - NIGHTWATCH
July 25 - THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF
Aug 1 - THE BLACK SHIP
Aug 8 - SPECTRE OF THE WOLF
Aug 15 - THE WOLF WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A MAN
Aug 22 - the boy who cried werewolf [R]
Aug 29 - NOTHING EVIL IN THESE WOODS
Sept 5 - nightwatch [R]
Sept 12 - RUNNING WITH THE PACK
Sept 19 - pilot [R] ("WEREWOLF - THE MOVIE")
Sept 26 - FRIENDLY HAVEN
Oct 3 - LET US PREY
Oct 10 - A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE (part one) Oct 17 -
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE (part two) Oct 25 - THE UNICORN
Oct 31 - ALL HALLOWS EVE
Nov 1 - BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
Nov 8 - NIGHTMARE AT THE BRAINE HOTEL
Nov 15 - WOLF HUNT
Nov 22 - BLOOD TIES
Nov 29 - BIG DADDY
Dec 6 - EYE OF THE STORM
Dec 13 - spectre of the wolf [R]
Dec 20 - the black ship [R]
Dec 27 - spectre of the wolf [R]
Jan 3 - the wolf who thought he was a man [R]
Jan 10 - the boy who cried werewolf [R]
Production changes from Tri-star to Columbia JAN 17 - NIGHTMARE
IN BLUE
JAN 24 - SKINWALKER
JAN 31 - running with the pack [R]
FEB 7 - KING OF THE ROAD
FEB 14 - A MATERIAL GIRL
FEB 21 - TO DREAM OF WOLVES (part one)
FEB 28 - TO DREAM OF WOLVES (part two)
MAR 7 - BLIND LUCK
MAR 14 - GREY WOLF
MAR 20 - blood on the tracks [R]
MAR 27 - let us pray [R]
APR 3 - (no episode)
APR 9 - spectre of the wolf [R]
the unicorn [R]
APR 16 - to dream of wolves parts I and II [R]
APR 23 - a world of difference parts I and II [R]
MAY 1 - (no episopde)
MAY 8 - material girl [R]
MAY 15 - big daddy [R]
MAY 22 - AMAZING GRACE
MAY 29 - wolfhunt [R]
JUN 5 - the wolf who thought he was a man [R]
28 half hour episodes (two two-part episodes), plus the two hour pilot.
The best episodes (in no particular order) were "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf," "A World
of Difference," "Grey Wolf," "To Dream of Wolves," "Let Us Pray," "Nothing Evil in
these Woods" and "The Unicorn."
The two worst episodes were easily "Blood on the Tracks" and "All Hallows Eve".
THE CAST
Eric Cord . . . . . . . . John J. York
"Alamo" Joe Rogan . . . . Lance LeGault Janos
Skorzeny . . . . . Chuck Connors
Nicholas Remy . . . . . . Brian Thompson
Eric/Werewolf . . . . . . Tony Snegoff
Janos/Werewolf . . . . . Alex Daniels
Producers . . . . . . . John Ashley & Frank Lupo
Created by . . . . . . . Frank Lupo
Werewolf makeup crew: (apologies to anyone I missed) Earl Ellis Larry Oden
Stuart Artingstall Camilla Henneman Linda Notaro
John Vulich
Kieth Edmier Tony Rupprecht
Mitch Devane Martha Vanek
Gino Crognale Anthony Ashly
Werewolves designed by Rick Baker (The Skorzeny werewolf was originally to
have been the Eric Cord werewolf, but was decided to look too 'evil'. Baker then
drew up the Eric werewolf with gentler features. For more info on this, plus
some nifty stills, see Fangoria #68) (Rick Baker's sketches were included in a
travelling 'makeup effects exhibit' that was making the rounds at museums in the
early 90's)
Transformations & Makeup by Greg Cannom.
Skorzeny werewolf - dark brown/black fur, black skin, left side of muzzle eaten
away from just under the eye to the jawline as if by acid - the eye is intact.
Upper jaw about 1/2" longer than the lower; single canines. Tall - over 6'6" - in
height. Skorzeny rips
his skin off to effect the transformation. Skorzeny seems to be both more
sensitive of when a transformation is coming and able to force a shift when
needed, even to control timing of a "called" shift.
Eric werewolf - light brownish-tan fur, brownish skin. Shorter perhaps 5'4".
Pockets under the eyes on either side of the muzzle. Both ears are notched about an
inch from the tips. Full form has dual upper canines, although the transitional
does not. Is very recognizent of the memories and desires of Eric, although Eric
can remember very little of what happens when he shifts, other than the euphoria.
This suit does double duty as Terry in the pilot. Remy werewolf - darker brown fur,
brownish-black skin. This suit seems to be the same one used whenever a "third"
werewolf was needed - the suit is first seen in Let Us Prey, and the only time
Remy shifts in To Dream Of Wolves. It is hard to tell this suit from Eric's at a
glance. Remy himself seems to shift partially when angry. Remy can force other
weres to shift. Shifting seems to fall into two categories - "called" in which
there is
much foreshadowing of the shift, including the pentagram, without any causative
trauma; and, "self-induced" in which either there has been major trauma (being
shot, for example) or the desire to shift - these are not always
accompanied by the pentagram-blister in the palm.
Terry (Eric's roomate in the pilot), Skorzeny, and Eric himself all have
foreknowledge of shifting at times ("called"), while Skorzeny, Eric, Remy, Brother
Mark, Michelle, Grey Wolf, Marta, and Diane all can also control their shifts ("self-
induced").
The appearing werewolves, in order of "birth"
ZORA PACK
Grey Wolf (Head of Bloodline? Apparently last member, several thousand
years old if he is to be believed)
HOWARD PACK
Nicholas Remy (several centuries old)
Diane
Janos Skorzeny (300-400 years old)
Mary Peterson (around a century old)
Terry
Eric Cord
Bobby [possible?] - THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF big daddy's girl
Brother Mark
Michelle
Renfield
Hank (May have been bitten by a were other than Skorzeny) [unknown]
PACK
Marta (Head of bloodline)
Servan Dumball
the 'father' in the Braine Hotel
4) Costuming
----------------
If you ever get a chance, stop by Verdun Manor in Forney, Texas and look
at the creations there... Ysengrin has constructed some really incredible
werewolf suits. There are also others interested in costuming, as this
list of costuming suppliers shows:
Larry Lyle wrote asking about costumeing supplies...being the theatre
junkie that I am (Technical that is). I have a list of suppliers mostly
for make-up but, there might be more in some of the catalogs. I couldnt
get your e-mail address to work right Larry, so I'm posting it. So far I
havent had any problems.e more in some of the catalogs.
Cinema Secrets
4400 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91505
818-846-0579
Ben Nye Corporation
5930 Bowcraft Street
Los Angeles, CA 90016
213-839-1984
Cinemagic, Inc.
7492 Republic Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
407-351-3330
Bill's Trick Shop
6217 West 79th Street
Burbank, IL 60459
708-599-4949
Alcone Paramount Company
5-49 49th Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
718-361-8373
Here are a few the list goes on...If you are really interested in more I
can pull out a few more...just E-mail me I also have some for England,
Canada, Australia...etc. Almost forgot...I get dental supplies from Burman
Ind. you know for making those really convincing canine tooth caps.
Caution dental monomers require lots of ventilation. Burman Industries,
Inc. 14141 Covello Street, Suite 6-A Van Nuys, CA 91405 818 782-9833 *Fax
818 782-2863 I just write and request catalogs.
Alcone Company
(718)361-8373
Burman Industries
(818)782-9833
Cinefex (magazine)
(909)781-1917
Cinema FX
9818)765-4995
National Hair Technologies (I'd think this ones kinda needed) (508)6862964
Special Effects Supply Co.
(801)298-9762
Makeup & Effects Lab
(818)982-1483
Polytek Developement
(908)534-5990
Sword & Stone
(818)562-6548
Quantel,inc
(203)656-3100
All of these are in the U.S.
You may want to get the July 1994 of Fangoria #134 which boasts "wall to
wall werewolves"(Awsome cover!) You can back order from an order form in
the back of thier issues. It can be obtained by ordering it form this
address
Ian(Who's been so lonely without net accsess)
Part IV
A Bit of Fun...
1) What do I do if I meet a werewolf?
---------------------------------------------
Count yourself lucky; you may the only one who has seen one in
the flesh. :) Just in case, we have a handy guide for you:
Howls to the cyberpack! Graham and I were contemplating what a
potential victim of a Werewolf might do to escape being a late
night snack. Feel free to add any new ideas you might have.
Enjoy!
1) throw a stick and shout fetch.
2) HOWL! Confuse the bugger.
3) Don't be there.
4) Be kind and nice to all canines, you should be anyway.
5) Don't be a vampire.
6) Don't be human.
7) Definitely don't be a cat.
8) Throw a Frisbee.
9) Be a Wereskunk.
10) Rub the Werewolf's belly and hope for a leg response.
11) Always carry some fresh meat to distract the beast so you can
get away.
12) Give the Werewolf a very large, gravy coated, rawhide, chew
toy.
13) Point one direction and say "Look it's Elvis!" and run the
opposite way.
Darren
* Respect their territory. :)
* DON'T TELL ANYONE as a) they'll think you're a nutter and/or b)
they'll dissect the poor fella...
* Windigowak: Point in the direction of the nearest well-stocked meat
locker (it's nice and cool, and there's LOTS of food :).
* Remember who's the boss in the situation. (It ain't you. :)
* ASk them (if they shift to homid form) if lycanthropy is contagious
(and if so, would they be so kind as to give you a little nip? :)
2) Top Ten Reasons Why Werewolves Make Good Pets
------------------------------------------------
10. Needs no pet license, walkies, or litter box
9. Sensitive friends unlikely to be allergic to werewolf
8. Werewolf can get outside job and pay part of rent
7. No special bedding required, unlike vampire
6. A good conversation starter at parties
5. Weapons carried by typical burglar ineffective
4. As long as you have neighbors, no need to worry about feeding
3. Easy to fool landlords who have a "no pets" policy
2. If landlord not fooled, werewolf can eat landlord
1. Never lose annual "Biggest Dog in Town" contest again
--
3) Top Ten Reasons Why Werewolves Make Poor Pets
------------------------------------------------
10.) The mailman is afraid to deliver.
9.) Keeps throwing out your silver jewellery.
8.) The shower drain is ALWAYS clogging with hair.
7.) Uses a whole bottle of conditioner to "de-tangle" after a full
moon romp.
6.) Invites the pack over on Friday nights and they drink all your
beer.
5.) The 6 month freezer order of meat is always gone in 2 weeks.
4.) Hogs the T.V. to watch nature documentaries.
3.) Howls in his/her sleep.
2.) Always gets blamed when the neighbor's cat disappears.
1.) KEEPS HOGGING THE COMPUTER TO LOG IN TO A.H.W.!!!
WARNING: SOME OF THE WORDS IN THIS LEXICON ARE OF AN ADULT NATURE.
IF YOU ARE ONE WHO IS EASILY OFFENDED, PLEASE IGNORE THIS MESSAGE.
4) THE LEXICON
-------------------------
Words from the Spring Thaw Howl
At the recent Spring Thaw Howl, there were a number of words that were
introduced into the vocabularies of the folks there. They came from a
number of sources, and have even begun to show up in various posts here on
Alt.Horror.Werewolves. I was asked by many of the weres who were at the
howl to write up this lexicon and post it.
Now, so that there can be a reduced level of confusion . . . here are the
words and their meanings. If there are any that I have forgotten, or that
were given an improper definition, please e-mail me so that I may correct
them.
The format is simple. A pronunciation guide, usage, definition, and
an example sentence.
MAD \MAD\ adj: wild, passionate "They were _mad scrumpin_"
MUNG \MUHng - to rhyme with dung\ adj: any material which cannot be
identified. Usually a liquid, or semi-liquid. "When we added
water to the dried remains of Kat's chili, it became a foul
mung."
SCRUMPIN \SCRUMPIN - to rhyme with pumpin\ a.) v: to engage in sexual
intercourse. "No one wanted to go near the tent for fear
that they would interrupt _mad scrumpin_." b.) An alcoholic
beverage often served in England. Often called, "nicking apples"
"Mind if I have some scrumpin?"
Scrumpin requires 2 editorial footnotes. It's most common usage
is using the adjective mad, simply because sex is frequently
impassioned, and therefore often mad -- it is almost never seen
without mad, in fact.
I was recently introduced to a usage of the word that I was
unfamiliar with, namely b.) and therefore it caused a moment of
confusion. On IRC one evening, one of the participants was offering
"Scrumpin" to anyone who wanted it. Several of the folks on the
channel cheerily accepted it. I was appalled. Scrumpin in public? I
stated as much, and was soon informed that Scrumpin is an alcholic
drink, often served in England. The slang for it there is, "nicking
apples."
Needless to say, that confusion was quickly cleared up. The use of
mad to describe a.) is a good indicator of which the writer means.
SPOOGE \SPOOJ\ a.) n.: upchuck, vomit, hurl, the technicolor yawn,
selling Buicks to Ralph. "I'm gonna spooge!" b.) slang. to
ejaculate.
"I'm gonna spooge!"
Another editorial note here. Spooge is NOT a romantic word.
In it's b.) incarnation it is VERY unromantic, and generally
reserved for use in the locker room.
TWEE \TWEE -- to rhyme with gee\ adj: _irish slang_ feminine,
delicate. "You are a twee little bastard!"
The final editorial note is reserved for this word. It is VERY
unkind to call a male twee unless you REALLY mean it. Even if
someone has NO clue what the word means . . . it SOUNDS feminine.
It is one of the few words that one can figure out the meaning
PURELY from it's sound.
Well, there they are. I hope they provided some enlightenment.
I'm certain that future howls and special events will add to this
list, and when they do, your faithful lexiconographer will be
there to compile them.
Cheers,
Gary (Werebear @ IRC)
Part V
Wendigo Mini-FAQ
This is the Wendigo Mini-FAQ, compiled by our own
net.wendigo. Eventually, I'd like to have mini-FAQ's
representing all of the werephenotypes... if you know a lot
of folklore and fact about your own were-animal, or just
feel an urge to do some research and writing, put something
together and mail it to me.
Windigowak (that's the proper plural) are Shifters, like
werewolves and the like...they tend to take the (natural) form of
either a wraithlike being, a 2-3 meter tall skeleton of ice, or an
emaciated 2-3 meter tall, hairy, slightly felid-looking-inthe-face
critter with _very_ large fangs and claws. They can also go dim, and
can (and very often, do) take their original human forms, the sole
thing giving them away in the latter guise being the eyes (which tend
to glow red). Windigowak have hearts of ice, visible in the ice-
skeleton form, and voices that can be alternately soft as a whisper or
loud as a tornado. Oh...and they tend to dine on anything they can
catch, due to an eternal hunger...including the occasional meal of
"long pig", if any of you know what I'm getting at... :)
There are variants on this--at least one myth claims that windigowak
also have animal-like feet, while another states they have but one
toe.
Other common names are Kokodjo and Atcen (pronounced AT-shen); the
myth was all over, even if the names were different (In fact, the
really proper name is _witiko_: it means something to the effect of
"He who lives alone". I make no claims on knowing anishinabeg, so if
I'm wrong, please correct me on the translation). Even the French-
Canadians adopted the myth.
AS to how one becomes a windigo, there are several ways. One is to
dream of the windigo spirit calling one's name (or even better yet,
dreaming one IS a windigo). Another is to be lost in the forest and
be called by the windigo spirit. A third is to violate tribal custom
of the anishinabeg (Ojibway) by committing a transgression (such as
eating human flesh) and being cursed to go windigo by a mide' shaman.
A fourth way is to undergo a ritual that will affect the change.
As to killing windigowak (note: windigowak are our FRIENDS, even
though they eat human flesh...DON'T try ANY of this :), the most
effective way (well, the _only_ effective way) is to burn it, the
theory being the fire will melt the heart of ice. There are also
stories of windigowak being cured; one involved pouring hot suet down
the poor windigo's throat till he puked up the heart of ice, the other
being one where (upon the first symptoms of vomiting "normal" food and
looking upon one's neighbors as snacks) the mide' shaman attempted a
cure using migis shells (ritual shells that had curative properties,
and were blessed by the gods themselves).
Now, to windigowak in myth and folklore: The best book of windigo
myths I have seen is a book called _Windigo Psychosis_ (a psychology
text that explored "windigo psychosis", which is much like the medical
definition of lycanthropy). It lists all the major stories...quite a
good book if you can find it. If not, any book on Ojibwa mythology
should have a few of the original windigo stories in it. (You could
also try Cree, Lakota, or any other northern tribe; it's pretty
universal.)
As far as fiction goes, the most famous windigo story is Algernon
Blackwood's "The Wendigo"; it is one of the wraith stories, and is
hands down the most imitated (Derleth's stories of Ithaqua in
the Cthulhu Mythos are perhaps the most famous Blackwood
inspirations). The Blackwood story ended up in a television show in
the 1960s, and was in a comic in the 1940's. Also, recently a
children's book was released ("Call OF The Wendigo") that was based
heavily on Blackwood. Ogden Nash did a poem about the windigo (part of
it goes "The wendigo/the wendigo/it's eyes are ice and indigo/it's
blood is thick and yellowish/it's voice is hoarse and bellowish..."),
and there are several good stories in the "modern" depiction of
windigowak such as "Sins Of The Flesh", "The Unseen", and "Where The
Chill Waits" (sorry, can't remember the author's names)...there is
supposedly a song about windigowak that someone told me they learned
in school, as well. Also, John Colombo put out a collection of
windigo stories back in 1980; however, I can't find it, and it may
well be out of print.
There's crap as well in the fictional realm...the worst is Stephen
King's "Pet Sematary", which so bastardized the legend the creature
bears little resemblance to a windigo (and I refuse to call it such).
I also have a personal beef with stories such as Slade's "Cutthroat"
which make windigowak out as nothing more than overgrown apes!
Alas, most of the RPG's are, well, crap. Shadowrun makes windigowak
out to be vampiric orcs (eukkk!)...White Wolf does something unusual
by making a Wendigo clan (tho' in a way they had made windigowak a
separate race), and Dark Conspiracy does the finest job of the RPGs
that has attempted to do a windigo IMO. For those who like the
Blackwood windigowak, Call of Cthulu is quite good as well. (They all
need work, tho'... :)
And finally, windigowak in comics, and the "They Don't CALL it w
windigo, but if it slashes critters to bits like one, and eats people
for breakfast like one..." category: In comics, the only two
"official" windigowak I've seen were the ones in Eerie Comics #10
(circa 1940), which was a good Blackwood imitation (but weren't they
all then? :), and the one in the X-Men comics, which is utter and
unmitigated crap. (And doubly inexcusable IMO...the original creators
were Canadian, and should have known better.)
As for the "walks like a duck, quacks like a duck" category...there
are LOTS of contenders. There is a creature in the comic _Poison
Elves_ that is called a Doppelganger, that is much like a windigo in
many ways; there's Feral Jackson in _Strontium Dogs_, who looks _so_
much like the way I've always pictures windigowak (minus the height
and the body hair) that I swear Alan Grant, Garth Ennis, and/or
artists Harrison or Pugh _had_ to have heard of windigowak somewhere
(and if I ever see 'em at a comics con, you bet yer sweet Aunt Agnes
I'm askin' them :); there's the "manitou" in the "Shapes" episode of
_The XFiles_ that for all intents and purposes was a windigo (and yes,
windigowak ARE considered manitou, or spirits); and I even see some
similarity in the story of Grendel in Beowulf (there are reportedly
windigo stories as far west as Iceland, and "grendel" means "frost
giant")...
-Windigo The Feral (NYAR!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Windigowak - by Spyder Everhunger
This is my attempt at further clarification and expansion upon the
collected information of shifters known somewhat generically among the
cyberpack as windigowak or wendigos, which I will hereafter refer to by
their proper name of 'witiko' (I use this name because in a dictionary of
Native American lore, all other names for these creatures simply listed
'See witiko' for their definition.) 8)
I would like to note that I fully support each and every thing that my
sibling Wendigo-the-Feral said in the previous section; this is merely and
addendum to what s/he has said already.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I WAS trying to tell you about the fact that the animal kingdom is dying,
and because it is dying it is beginning to take heroic measures to save
itself. That's why the spirit of the wolves beguiled your husband. The
animal kingdom is after the mind of man."
"IN the West, it used to be thought that there were seven types of
personality. There are more than seven types! A type for every beast in
the animal kingdom. We are reflections of the whole of reality. Among us
there are shrew types, porcupine types, owl types, frog types, lion and
zebra types, eagle types. On and on. Often people change types when they
get dogs. That's why old people and their old dogs look alike. A bulldog
owner becomes a bulldog type. You have to understand the universe as it
really is. A hall of mirrors, and we are the mirrors. I hate to sound
like a broken record, but I would be able to do this better if I had a
beer in my hand."
- Joe Running Fox in 'The Wild' by Whitley Strieber
-=-=-
While of a northern Native American origin, the names witiko and
windigowak have in these days to signify a wider range of creature than
strictly the original Native creatures they once did: the witiko of today
are instead of numerous racial and cultural origins from around the world.
So the term 'witiko' has come to refer to the conglomeration of all such
creatures, much in the same way that Celtic has come to refer to the
amalgam of information and ritual associated with hundreds of Western
European tribes, or that Native American has come to refer to any member
of the numerous tribes of the Americas.
In truth, the fundamental components of the windigowak occur in the lore
and 'mythology' of nearly every culture across the globe: Redcaps and
similar malicious fae can be found in Ireland and Scotland, the Grendel of
the Scandinavian regions, the Wild Hunt in Britain and Wales, ogres and
trolls of the Black Forest and Germany, as well as a wide variety of
dragons and dragon-like creatures throughout Europe. In the East, there
are the Rakshasa to be found in India, the Oni and Goblin Spiders of Japan
and China, and literally hundreds more of which I am as yet unfamiliar.
All my tribe share a few common threads: a monstrous appearance that is
not simply abnormal, but the kind of thing that haunts the nightmares of
the normal human herd; all witiko also possess certain animalistic traits
of appearance, often incorporating multiple traits from several animals
but being not wholly of any one specie's appearance - an important fact
which seperates them from others of the shifting breed; and all witiko
from around the globe prey in one form or another upon humanity, be it
innocents and children, sinners and the unjust, or any of the vast flock
of the human race. And most if not all share a singular angst toward
humanity which ranges from disgust to hatred to blind rage, at what humans
do to the world, themselves, or their children.
So while all windigowak are unique and often of vastly differing
appearance from one another, all are siblings under the skin or in the
blood. We are all brothers and sisters, related peripherally to the other
skin-shifters and therianthropes.
But just where do the windigowak in all their multitude and forms fits
into the scheme of things? Each clan or tribe of therianthrope is linked
with their species: the werewolves of the world are representative of the
lupine species, the werecats of the felines, the foxes of the vulpines,
and there are even reptile and avian species of therianthrope. But where
do the atcen fit in? Who do we represent? What are we, really?
As I and the others I have talked it over with see it, the windigowak in
all our chimerical variety have no one species to watch over, being both
all and none; instead we concern ourselves with safeguarding the welfare
and future of all the Wild, the embodiment of nature itself in all its
violent splendor. A witiko is a spirit of the wood and wild, seducing men
and women away from their campfires to run amok through the trees and prey
upon their brethren. We are more concerned about the limiting of Man's
power and return of the wilderness to the Wild than any one species of
animal.
Part VI
Werebear Mini-FAQ
This is the Werebear Mini-FAQ, compiled by our own Gary Coulbourne.
Eventually, I'd like to have mini-FAQ's representing all of the were-
phenotypes... if you know a lot of folklore and fact about your own
were-animal, or just feel an urge to do some research and writing, put
something together and mail it to me.
Howdy.
Well, over the past few weeks, I have put together--in my spare
time-- this MiniFAQ which gives information on Werebears and Bear
myths in general. I hope someone gets something from it. Special
thanks to Wolfshadow (Dave Aftandilian) for his help in the shamanic
references and in editing.
***************************************************
Werebear MiniFAQ
What are some historical legends associated with
werebears?
The Scandinavians
In Scandinavia, there was a firm belief in the ability
of some people to change into or assume the characteristics
of bears. Our English word "berserk" comes from this
legend. It was thought that if a warrior was to don a bear-
skin shirt (called a bear-sark) which had been treated with
oils and herbs, that the warrior would gain the strength,
stamina, and power of the animal. These people would be
driven into a frenzy in battle and were said to be capable
of biting through the enemy's shields or walking through
fire without injury. No matter how much of the legend is
true, the thought of a group of rabid Vikings made up as
bears is sobering.
The Greeks
The pre-Classical Greeks also believed in the ability
of men to become bears. One of the most commonly told
stories is that of Callisto, who bore a child of Zeus'--
Arcas. Hera, Zeus' wife, became jealous and transformed
Callisto into a bear as punishment. Arcas, out hunting,
came upon his mother and shot at her. Zeus, taking pity on
the mother and son, changed them into Ursa Major and Ursa
Minor, the two great bear constellations. From this one
myth comes a whole score of others.
For instance, Arcas' name comes from the Greek word for
bear--Arctos. By extention, the "Arkades" of Arcadia are
supposedly decended from Arcas. Their name means bear-
people.
The Callisto myth also blends very well into the
werewolf myth of Lycaon. According to legend, Callisto was
Lycaon's daughter. Arcas was the individual who was
supposed to have been served to Zeus as a test of the god's
divinity, but he managed to escape. Even one of the
synonyms for bear used by the Greeks, bee-wolf (for the
bear's love of honey), managed to make it into legend. A
legend, in fact, which was the first great work of the
English language.
The English
The story is titled "Beowulf". And almost every high
school English class reads it. It is basically the story of
a Geatish hero who vanquishes several evils from the world.
Beowulf supposedly had the strength of thirty men in his
left hand. He is a powerful swimmer and has tremendous
endurance. All these traits are commonly associated with
the bear.
The Native Americans
These are not the only legends of bear shapeshifters.
In fact, one of the earliest legends in human experience
concerns a bear-shapeshifter. This legend, that of the Bear
Mother, is found in the traditions of many peoples
throughout the world, including several Native American
tribes.
The cleanest version of it comes from the Haida people
of British Columbia. According to this version, some women
from the tribe were out gathering huckleberries. All but
one of them were singing to appease the bears. She
chattered on about her own concerns, and it angered the
bears--they felt that she was mocking them. So as the berry-
pickers headed home, the chatterbox was the last to go, for
she had spilled her berries and had to gather them up again.
As she worked, she was approached by two men wearing bear-
fur robes, who looked like brothers. One of them offered to
help her if she would go with him. She agreed.
She followed them to a large house. Inside were
several people, all of them dressed in bearskins. One of
them told her that she had been taken to a bear den and that
she was now one of them. She noticed that she too was
wearing a bearskin robe. The chief of the bear-people took
her as his wife and she gave birth to twins which were half-
human and half-bear.
One day, her brothers came looking for her. They found
her, and murdered her husband. Before the Bear Husband
died, however, he taught her the songs that her brothers
must use over his corpse to bring good luck and speed his
soul to the afterlife. The Bear Sons lived with the tribe
as humans until their mother died. Her death ended the
twins' connection with humanity; once again they became
bears and returned to live with the Bear People.
For some peoples, this myth was extended into that of
creation itself; some myths went so far as to say that the
entire human race was decended from the children of the Bear
Sons. And many, many peoples believed in deep spiritual
connections with bears.
What are some spiritual beliefs about bears?
It really depends on whom one asks. Almost
universally, the Bear is represented by the constellation
Ursa Major, the Great She-Bear. It is composed of fourteen
stars, seven of which shine with extreme brightness. Most
of us in the west know the constellation better as the Big
Dipper--the rump of the bear appears to have a long "tail"
extending from it, which looks exactly like the handle of a
saucepan. This "tail" no longer exists in modern bears, but
the cave bears had them and to the early peoples there was
nothing at all strange about the shape of the sky-bear.
Many people used these stars as an indication of the
seasons. As winter drew near, the Bear would slowly dip
lower in the sky, looking for a place to "bed down." These
stars would slowly spiral around Polaris, the north star,
following the same path night after night. They acted as a
clock that was so accurate that many indigenous peoples
still use them to tell the time.
Many of these same peoples looked at the bear as
"brother," or "great grandfather." To them, the bear was
very human in its manners and ways. It could stand on its
hind legs and walk like a man, it ate the same food they
did, walked the same trails, and cared for its cubs in a
fiercely protective way. The skeleton of a bear, if
stretched out, looked very much like that of a man. The
bear became a companion in the path of life and a model for
the living of it. This oneness of man and bear is clearly
represented in the Grizzly Bear Song of the Tlingit Indians:
"Whu! Bear!
Whu! Whu!
So you say
Whu Whu Whu!
You come.
You're a fine young man
You Grizzly Bear
You crawl out of your fur.
You come
I say Whu Whu Whu!
I throw grease in the fire.
For you
Grizzly Bear
We're one!"
In a spiritual sense, the Bear is seen as a totem of
healing, or of strength and introspection. She is the
Spirit of the West. She represents rebirth and
regeneration. In an imitation of death, the bear goes into
her den and is gone through the cold months of winter.
Then, as spring comes, she returns, reborn. Usually, she
comes out with cubs, serving as a symbol of birth.
The Shaman would often dress in the skin of a bear, and
call upon Her medicine to heal the sick or guide him to what
herbs should be used to cure an ailing tribesman.
Today, followers of modern Shamanism look to Bear for
the same reasons. As Spirit of the West, She is one of the
Four Great Powers. She encourages Her followers to consider
their actions, to think about the decisions that they are
about to make.
What about books about werebears?
Well, in the fictional realm, there are several authors
who have written of characters who could change into bears
into their novels. Most notable is the late J.R.R. Tolkien.
He created Beorn, who turned the tide in the last battle of
_The Hobbit_. There is also Dennis L. McKiernen. McKiernen
wrote _The Eye of the Hunter_, a story about a group of
heroes on the trail of an ancient evil. One of the
characters, Urus, is called a "cursed one" because he can
change but has no guarantee that he will be able to change
back. Finally, there is David Eddings. In his Belgariad
series, there was a character, Barak, who was fated to turn
into a bear whenever the protagonist was in danger.
Even in comic books there are characters who can become
bears, or at least, bear-like. In the Image title "New
Men," there is a character named Kodiak who can turn from a
geeky teenager into a huge, bearish humanoid. Marvel has
two. The first is Ursa Major, a Soviet government agent who
can change into a large bear-man. The second is Ephraim
Dees, whose power manifests itself as a spectral bear
superimposed over his aura. Neither one of them is well
portrayed or even worth the time to look into. They are
mentioned here for the sake of completeness.
Fiction's good, but what about fact?
There are a number of good books on mythology. The non-
fiction works make for much better reading. The ones that I
recommend, both on bears and werebears, are:
*Shepard, Paul and Barry Sanders. The Sacred Paw. New
York, NY: Arkana, 1985.
This book is, without question, the best book on the
subject. It explores, in great detail, the biology of
the bear, the spiritualism that many peoples associate
with the bear, and bears in literature. A fabulous
read with the most complete bibliography on the subject
there is. Also has some great stuff on spiritualism
and shamanism in general.
*Brown, Gary. The Great Bear Almanac. New York, NY: Lyons
& Burford, 1993.
*Elman, Robert. Bears: Rulers of the Wilderness.
Stamford, CT: Longmeadow, 1992.
*Savage, Candice. Grizzly Bears. Vancouver, British
Columbia: Sierra Club, 1990.
*Rockwell, David. Giving Voice To Bear. Toronto, Ontario:
Roberts Rinehart, 1991.
These four are all very good books on bears in general,
with a heavy emphasis on the symbolic. Savage's work
is a brilliantly executed photo essay that covers
mythology as well as truth. Brown's work is an
encyclopaediac reference to little known bear facts
including mythology. Elman's work is another photo
essay, but the pictures are wonderful. Not quite as
nice as Savage's work, but they cover a wider variety.
And Rockwell explores Native American beliefs about the
bear.
*Andrews, Ted. Animal-Speak. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn
Publications, 1994.
*Meadows, Kenneth. The Medicine Way: A Shamanic Path to
Self-Mastery. Dorset: Element Press, 1990.
These two books are good references for information on
shamanism. And not just for information about bear as
a totem, either. There is information on quite a
variety of totems and their meanings.
Part VII
Feline FAQ
(edited by Walks-Between-Worlds) Howdy and welcome to the Feline FAQ. I've
tried my best to include information on a variety of cats, both great and
small. If you've ever felt drawn to cats but thought Werewolves were more
up your alley because of their shapeshifting nature, fear not. There are
Werecats, and you just might be one of them.
This FAQ is divided into two sections:
1.) Legends and myths surrounding normal cats and Werecats
2.) Are you a Werecat? (includes twenty ways to know you're a Werecat)
First, though, a list of resources that went into the making of this
FAQ:
_Werewolves In Western Culture_ edited by Charlotte F. Otten
_Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers Of Creatures Great &
Small_
by Ted Andrews
_Meet The Werewolf_ by Georgess McHargue
Part 1: Myths and Legends
---------------------------------
As long as transformation stories have existed, so too have stories
about humans changing into cats. In 1588, a horseman was passing by the
Chateau de Joux in France and saw several cats in a tree. He approached
and discharged a carbine which he was carrying, and a ring with several
keys attached to it fell from the tree. The horseman took them to the
village, and when he asked for dinner at the inn neither the hostess nor
the keys to the cellar could be found. The horseman showed the keys to the
host, who recognized them as his wife's. Meanwhile she came from the
kitchen, wounded in the right hip. Her husband grabbed her and she
confessed that she had just come from the Sabbat, where she had lost her
keys after being shot in the hip from a carbine.
The Inquisitors also tell that in their time villagers saw three large
cats near Strasbourg, which afterward resumed the shape of women.
In India, Weretigers were believed to house the spirits of the dead
who were being punished for evil deeds. I personally don't believe the
evil part, but who knows? };-)
In Africa and South America, the power of shape-shifting is often seen
as a gift from some spirit or God and is for the purpose of getting
revenge. Werejaguars, Wereleopards, etc., don't run around killing for the
hell of it, they only attack those who have harmed them in their human
form.
The following's a Werejaguar story from the jungles of Brazil:
A Dutch trader named Van Hielen went on business to an out-of-the-
way Native village. He was fond of nature and decided to take a walk
toward the forest early in the evening.
At the edge of the clearing, far from the village itself, Van Hielen
found an isolated hut. He heard shouts of anger and the sound of blows
from inside. Suddenly a nine-year-old boy ran out the door. He was
followed by a woman who was beating him with a peice of wood. Van Hielen
liked children and stepped between the woman and the child. In the Native
tongue, he asked the woman why the boy deserved such a beating.
"Done?" cried the woman. "Why, he has done nothing. That's why I beat
him, the lazy lout. Not a stroke of work will he do. His sister is just as
bad. Ah!" she broke off. "There's the wretched child now. She too will get
what she deserves."
With that the woman lunged for the thin girl of about ten who had come
running from the forest at the sound of her brother's cries. Van Hielen
was so upset at the children's beatings that he offered the woman money if
she would let them alone. She took the money greedily and disappeared into
the hut with a glare at the children.
"Poor things!" The trader said, "How can a mother be so cruel to
her own children?"
"Oh, but sir," exclaimed the little girl, "she is not our mother. She
only makes us be her servants. You are kind, but do not trouble yourself.
My name is Yaranka. My brother and I are the true children of the Forest
Spirit, and she will help us to our revenge. We have suffered enough from
that woman. We will get help from our true mother tonight in the Secret
Place." With this speech, the two children made for the forest, leaving
Van Hielen somewhat bewildered.
Keeping to the shadows, for the moon was bright, Van Hielen hid himself
near the hut. He heard the woman snoring, and not long after he saw two
small shadows creep from the doorway and enter the forest.
Van Hielen followed them, thankful that his many years in the country
had taught him how to move silently through the jungle at night. Even so,
he nearly lost sight of the two children many times. They seemed to slip
through the tangle of vines and bushes like elves.
After some time they came to a small clearing where a waterfall plunged
into a pool in a shower of silver. In the center of the pool grew a single
large, white water lily. Yaranka and her brother knelt down by the edge of
the water and began to chant in an unfamiliar language. Then the children
picked flowers from the bank and tossed them into the water.
The motion of the tossed flowers made the trader dizzy. Everything
seemed to be spinning, and the rush of the waterfall was joined by the
rush of a strange dark wind. Out of the earth a vast figure reared itself,
shapeless and towering. Then, in a mere flick of time, the figure
vanished, the sickening motion in the clearing stopped, and all was as it
had been before. Except that where the two children had stood, there now
stood a pair of large jaguars. They were so close to Van Hielen that he
could count the spots on the sleek heads and even the whiskers of the
snarling lips.
Van Hielen was a brave man, but he knew he had no chance against two
such ferocious hunters at such close range. He saw the two pairs of green
eyes gleam as the beasts scented him. Suddenly one jaguar checked its leap
and shouldered the other one aside. The two furred bodies rushed past him
on the narrow trail, so near that he could feel their breath. Then they
were gone. Shaken, Van Hielen pulled himself together and made his way
back toward the village. He arrived at the clearing just as dawn broke .
Everything appeared as usual - except for the woman's hut, which had paw
prints leading into the doorway. From within the hut came the most
horrible sound he had ever heard. It was a soft *crunch*, *crunch*,
*crunch*, as that of a large animal (or animals?) gnawing on bones.
Certain that the woman would no longer beat the children, Van
Hielen left without a backward glance.
Domestic and wild cats represent magic, mystery, and independence. In
Scandinavian lore, the domestic cat was associated with the Goddess of
fertility, Freyja. In the Hindu tradition Shasthi, the Goddess of
childbirth, is depicted riding a upon a domestic cat. And the Egyptian
Goddess Bast (or Bastet), patron of cats, was most often presented in
Werecat form. The Egyptians worshipped the cat perhaps more than almost
any other culture. The cat was thought to be sacred to the goddess Isis,
thus when Isis and her husband, the sun god Osiris, had a daughter the
cat- goddess Bastet (Bast or Pasht) emerged. Originally Bastet was
lion-headed, like the goddesses Tefnut of Heliopolis and Sekhmet of
Memphis with whom she is often confused. Although it was in her later
cat-headed form that Bastet became so immensely popular, she never ceased
to be worshipped as a lion-headed deity. Bastet personified the
life-giving warmth of the sun which encouraged the growth of vegetation.
Because of this as well as being associated with Isis (as Mother Nature)
Bastet was often worshipped as a fertility goddess. Tefnut, the
lion-headed goddess of the Old Kingdom who was known as the "Ethiopian
Cat" personified the cruel, searing heat of the equatorial sun, perhaps
because the cat is seen as cruel in many cultures. No one can doubt the
cats ferocity, and the Egyptians coveted that as well. Thus Sekhmet, "the
Great Cat", which was twin sister to Bastet, "the Little Cat" was very a
ferocious and warlike goddess that emitted flames against the enemies of
the gods, for her aspect was the fierce destructive heat of the desert
sun. When people wanted a fierce goddess to protect them they called on
Sekhmet; and when in need of gentler and more personal help, they turned
to Bastet. A text referring to the solar goddess runs: "Kindly is she as
Bast, terrible is she as Sekhmet." The Egyptian Trinity was known by the
composite name of Sekhmet-Bast-Ra.
The lion was a symbol for the sun-God Mithra. The Egyptians believed
the lion presided over the annual floods of the Nile. Early Christians
believed it to be the earthly opponent of the eagle. The midieval
alchemists associated th lion with the fixed element of sulphur, and a
young lion was often the symbol of the rising sun and all that is implied
by it.
In the Scandinavian and Norse traditions, the lynx was sacred to the
Goddess Freyja, and her chariot was sometimes depicted as being drawn by a
lynx. The Greeks believed the lynx could see through solid objects. In
fact, it was names for Lynceus, a mythological character who could also do
this. In 1603 Italian scholars formed the Academy of Lynxes, dedicated to
the search for truth and the fight against superstition. Galileo was a
member, and its symbol was that of a lynx tearing Cerberus with its
claws.The implication was that knowledge would end darkness and suffering.
The panther has been associated with Jesus. In the *Abodazara* (early
Jewish commentaries on the scriptures), it is listed as a surname for the
family of Joseph. It tells how a man was healed "in the name of Jesus ben
Panther". The panther was also associated with the Greek God of wine,
Dionysus. One story tells how Dionysus was nursed by panthers, and he is
sometimes depicted riding a chariot drawn by them. To the Natives of North
and South America, the jaguar - especially in the form of a black panther
- was endowed with great magic and power. It was seen as a symbol for
mastery over all dimensions.To the Tucano Indians of the Amazon, the roar
of the jaguar was the roar of thunder. The black panther was seen as To
the Arawak, becoming the man-jaguar was the ultimate shapeshifting ritual.
The Olmecs created monuments to the jaguar, and the Aztecs and Mayans
spoke and taught about the power in becoming half-human, half- jaguar.
Even in Egyptian rituals, a panther tail was worn about the waist or
knotted about the neck to help protect and strengthen. It was used in a
process called "passage through the skin" - their own version of
shapeshifting to engender themselves with the panther's power.
In Central Asia there arose a belief that the snow leopard does not eat
the flesh of its victims, but sucks their blood. This belief probably
stemmed from the puncture marks left when the snow leopard suffocates its
prey. Another story is that of Milarepa, Tibet's poet-saint, who was
stranded for six months in the Great Cave of Conquering Demons. When his
followers went to find him, they found he had been transformed into a snow
leopard.
In Korea, the tiger is the king of beasts. In the Hindu tradition, the
tiger is sacred to Kali, the Goddess of creation and dissolution,
sexuality and death. In Greece it was connected to Dionysus, God of wine.
In China, the tiger is both a symbol of darkness and the new moon, as well
as brightness and the full moon. There are five mystic tigers in Chinese
lore. The red tiger is a symbol of the south, summer, and fire. The black
tiger is a symbol of the north, winter, and water. The blue tiger is a
symbol of the east, spring, and vegetation. The white tiger is a symbol of
the west, autumn, and all metals. The yellow tiger is supreme among all
five; it is the ruler of Earth and all energies upon it.
These represent just a few of the "breeds" currently involved in the
Cyberpack. To those whose breeds weren't included, I humbly apologize.
I couldn't find any stories or lore regarding them!
Part 2: Are you a Werecat?
----------------------------------
Discovering one's feline nature is an individual and deeply personal
thing. Often Werecats exhibit a "loner" attitude, and feel uncomfortable
in groups. Werecats tend to value freedom above all else, the freedom to
come and go as they choose, the freedom to be able to think and express
ideas without anyone peering over their shoulder. Some Werecats are social
and Pack-oriented, just like a lion or a beloved family cat.
In the days of the Inquisition, women with "supernumary nipples" (more
than two nipples, marked my faint dimples or freckles under the breasts)
where accused of shapeshifting into large cats and feeding their familiars
from their supernumary nipples. Men who acted particularly feminine or
women who were assertive were termed "catty".
Some Werecats are vain in their appearance and "preen" themselves,
taking great care in their hygeine and style. Other Werecats are too wild
to care for fashion and formalities.
Werecats exude a sexuality and sensuality about them, primarily derived
from the sleek, graceful nature of the cat itself. While not all Werecats
should or do feel this way, many are rather amorous and occasionally
lecherous or teasing.
Cats are regarded for psychic and channeling capabilities, and this
applies to Werecats as well. Werecats usually are empathic, and see things
that others may not. Sometimes Werecats can astral travel more easily than
others. A Werecats eyes are often important in seeing auras, or the
kinetic impression of moods. This makes it difficult to hide intentions
from a Werecat, and often (sadly) leads to the other person fearing and
avoiding them.
The biggest misconception is that Werecats are too selfish and aloof to
run with a Pack. This is silly, as Werecats are part human and humans need
companionship.
As a fun aside, here is a list depicting 20 ways to know you're a
Werecat:
1.) You panic when your mom talks about spaying or neutering the house
cat
2.) When you walk by a sandbox, you have the urge to relieve yourself
3.) When you hear a catfight in the neighborhood, you puff up twice as
big
4.) At the zoo all of the big cats sit still and stare at you...
5.) You can't get from your car to the front door without the
neighbor's dogs chasing you
6.) You feel more comfortable sleeping in tree limbs than in a bed
7.) You would rather lick yourself from head to toe than take a shower
8.) When Spring rolls around you can't stop peeing on furniture and
caterwauling
9.) Mice suddenly seem like a tempting gourmet
10.) The "Meow Mix" theme song suddenly makes sense
11.) You shed everywhere
12.) During Spring the neighborhood cats won't leave you alone
13.) You get chased up trees a lot
14.) The dogs that chase you see you shiftshape and retreat, yipping,
holding their tails between their legs
15.) You've been sharpening your claws on the furniture
16.) People in the neighborhood are disappearing and you wake every
morning with the window open and blood on your hands (just a joke!)
17.) You have an uncontrollable urge to sashay as you walk
18.) You lament at the lack of Werecat films and books
19.) Being "catty" takes on a whole new meaning
20.) Mouse - mmmm, tastes like chicken!
Part VIII
Nahual Mini-Faq
NOTE: The english in this mini-FAQ has been corrected with the
permission of the author, who is not a native english speaker. Any
errors are probably my own.
The Nahual: The mexican werecreature
Ocultist theories about the origin of human race said that men must have
evolved across different animal, vegetable and mineral forms before reach
the actual state.
This is a primitive from to explain the werecreature origin.
Mexico is known for their shamans, wizards and "curanderos" (tribal
doctors), sometimes called Nahuales o Naguales. All cities and towns in
Mexico have at least a Nahual.
The aztec voice for Nahual is "Nahualli" that means "lo que es mi
vestidura o piel" (Something that is my cloth or skin). And it refers to
the abilty of the Nahual to morph himself into a werecreature (wolf,
jaguar, lynx, bull, eagle, coyote, ...) That voice also refers nigromancy,
secret and mailce.
Before the rise of the great Perhispanic civilizations like aztec and
mayan, The yakis, tarahumaras and seris indians, who lived in the North of
Mexico and South of US, around 900 A.C. had Nahuales. These civilizations
were sited in part of the US states of California, New Mexico and Texas,
and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Baja California, Sonora and Sinaloa.
They belived that if a man can know his primitive spirit or Nahual, he can
use it to cure the people and practice magic. Many primitive drawings in
old caves show people like werewolves.
In the aztec empire the Nahuales are protected for Tezcatllipoca: The
aztec god of the war and sacrificie. The legend said that a Nahual can put
away his skin and transforma into a werecreature. Many aztec and colonial
hunters said that in the night they killed an animal and the next day it
turned into a man.
"The Nahual only can morph in the nigth and he attack our babies with
hellish spells" - said the people since the Colonial Time (1500-1800
A.C.). The Santa Inquisition (the catholic tribunal that punished jews,
witches, and the generally non-catholic) hunted Nahuales for many years.
But people beleive in their power and sometimes protect them, especially
in the indian towns.
In modern days Carlos Castanneda, an Southamerican anthropologist that
study the Nahuales, published many books about they since 1960: Las
ensennanzas de Don Juan (The teaching of Don Juan), Una realidad aparente
(An apparent reallity) and Viaje a Ixtlan (Voyage to Ixtlan). But nobody
has confirmed Don Juan's existance; many people say that he is only a
fraud.
He only knows a part of the secret rituals and herbs to morph into a
werecreature, and the forms of how to know our inner Nahual. The books are
very confused and have less info than the publicity shows. A Nahual have
many spirits that protect him like the Native American indians. Basically
all rites are more or less the same in all American civilizations.
Today many people especially in the rural parts of Mexico believe in
Nahuales, the topic was gaining interest from 1982, because the American
geneticist Frank Greenberg of the Baylor College of Medicine discovers a
Mexican family with a disease that show them as werewolves: their bodies
have covered with hair like the classic werewolf film of Hollywood "The
Wolfman" (1945).
That family was segregated from Mexican society, they were forced to hide
in thier home in Loreto's town, and can only obtain work in the circus.
The legend of nahuals have dark parts hidden on the past, on the mexican
magic cosmology. Maybe the truths about this topic will shown, but, until
that moment all is possible.
Information recompiled by:
--------------------------
Lobocursor Lyceus (Gerardo Rubio) - AHWW packmember
* Comments, howls, fleas and more to:
( webman@indiana.acatlan.unam.mx and webman@apolo.acatlan.unam.mx )
Part IX
Odds `n' Ends
1) What are "furries"?
----------------------------
A lot of participants of AHWW consider themselves "furries". What,
exactly, is a "furry"? Well, let's take a look at what the FAQ for
alt.fan.furry has to say: (thanx to lynx@netcom.com for permission to
use this text)
* WHAT IS "ALT.FAN.FURRY"?
Alt.fan.furry is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of all things
"furry" and/or of interest to "furry fans". Of course, tangential
discussions occasionally get into things that are very far from being
distinctly "furry", such as copyrights, cellular radios, meks... =)
* WHAT IS A "FURRY"?
"Furry" when used as a noun seems to refer to one of two things:
a) An animal-like character known as a "furry"
b) A person who is a "furry fan"
The latter is easy enough (knock on wood) to define: A person who
particularly enjoys stories, pictures, dolls, video games or whatever
concerning "furry" creatures. Defining a "furry" creature is somewhat
harder, though. There are several definitions depending upon which
"camp" in furrydom, for lack of a better term, you might be in.
The basic definition for a "furry" is an anthropomorphized animal
character. In other words, an animal character given human-like
attributes, such as sapience and often a humanoid form. The term "furry"
is a misnomer, as a creature does not need to have fur to be "furry" in
this sense. Other terms sometimes interchangeable with a "furry" in this
sense are "zoomorph", "morph", "anthropomorph" or (debatably) "funny
animal".
The core definition of a "furry" seems to include basically humanoid-
formed creatures with animal faces, fur/scale/feathers/whatever, and often
appropriate tails, wings, claws, etc., able to speak, and with a human-
like personality, though quite often with "quirks" hinting at the real-
life animal upon which the character is based.
A broader definition will sometimes include other odd creatures that
simply have some sort of animal features in their makeup. Such would
include mythical creatures such as centaurs, manticores, satyrs or
harpies, all of which have human faces though more-or-less animal-like
bodies. This broader definition might also include the human-like
characters that appear in some Japanese animation that have an animal
tail and ears, but otherwise look about as human as any other anime
character.
One of the narrower definitions held by some is that in order for a
character to be truly considered "furry", the character must exhibit
animal-like characteristics in behavior. Optionally, the fact that the
character is an "animal" must be a major ingredient to the story. This is
exhibited in a frequent criticism of "furry" stories by those who hold
this view: Many stories, while featuring characters fitting the core
definition of "furry" given earlier are criticized as being "humans in
animal suits" if their behavior isn't distinctly animal-like in some way.
Not all AHWWers are furries, as well... but who can resist a good
convention? *grin*
2) What are the "Howls"?
--------------------------------
Speaking of conventions... The first "Howl", the 1994 Harvest Howl,
was organized by Smash Greywolf in Ohio. A Howl is basically a
gathering in the flesh (or fur) of readers of AHWW to socialize, get
to know one another, howl at the moon, leap over raging bonfires, and
to generally share the camraderie that exists amongst members of the
cyberpack. Camped out in the woods, as far from civilization as
possible, watching the full moon dance over shimmering heat waves from
the bonfire, surrounded by folks of a like mind... it's truly a
recharge for batteries drained my mundane human existance. Contact a
HelpStaffer for information about the next scheduled Howl... they're
worth it, no matter the distance traveled to attend.
3) Why not change the name of the group?
----------------------------------------------------
It's been suggested before that alt.horror.werewolves is no longer an
appropriate name, given the groups' change of focus. It is true that
it is no longer strictly about werewolf horror fiction. However:
making a new alt. group, like alt.therianthropy or the like, while
easy to do, runs the risk of losing readership. Not all university
news servers carry alt. groups; and those that do are usually loathe
to add new ones without a considerable amount of hassle. The
likelyhood that large numbers of folks would lose their access is too
great. Grouping a rec. or soc. group is difficult.. It is possible
that we now have the readership and activity to pull it off; but the
fear of some sites not carrying the new group is still a large one.
Also, there's some safety in the name. It's in such an obscure section
of the usenet world that folks who have no real interest in werewolves
are likely to skip it altogether; and that fact alone has undoubtedly
saved us from a lot of hit-and-run flamers. Something like
alt.spiritual.werewolf is likely to garner more attention from the
wrong types of people than it's worth.
4) What is/was the HelpStaff?
-------------------------------
Back in the "winter of our discontent", mentioned earlier, there was
quite a bit of confusion surrounding the group's intent. Some folks
seemed to think we were running some sort of virtual RPG and jumped in
as if it were a MUCK. Some of the folks who had been on here for a
while became suspicious of any newcomer, for fear that they might be
just another RPGer. As a result, there were probably several well-
meaning, earnest newcomers who felt like they'd stumbled into the
wrong place and left.
Everyone on AHWW knows what the group means to them. For me
personally, it's a link to other folks who feel many of the same
things I do. It's been quite a blessing in my life; providing me with
support and allowing me to support others. I hate to think that any
person who is in the situation I was when I first found AHWW was
turned away due to any misunderstanding.
The Helpstaff was formed as a group of people who volunteered to
answer questions about the group and greet newcomers to the group.
However, there was some confusion as to the intentions of the
Helpstaff, who was on it, and whether there was some sort of elitism
involved. As a result, the Helpstaff, per se, is no more...
But that doesn't mean help isn't available... lurk on the group, email
people you like and ask them questions, read this FAQ and ask
questions... you will find help available from almost any member.
5) Is there a Website? FTP site? IRC channel?
--------------------------------------------------------
World Wide Web:
There really is no official AHWW website (although that may
change soon!); but several of the cyberpack have personal home pages
that include lycanthropic information and point to other pages. Try
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~rosenfem :Canis Lupus
http://www.wpi.edu:80/~jwind :Justin Wind
http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/kdmiller/kdmiller.html :Ken Miller
http://jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu/~smash :Smash Greywolf
http://**address changed**/~wolfbard :Wolfbard
http://**address changed**/~bear :Werebear
http://www.io.org/~tibm :Wizard Wolf
http://www.wpi.edu/~kedz :Dreamwolf
http://www.musenet.org/~frnkzk :Kevin Kane
http://www.uvm.edu/~jhilborn
http://www.negia.net/~katmandu
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~tygris :STriker Price
http://www.teleport.com/~wnorton/wolf.html (This is the page for
Wolf Haven)
http://www.yahoo.com/Environment_and_Nature/Wildlife/Wolves
I suppose some of the pack already know about it, but there's an archive
of transformation stories at: http://www.t0.or.at/~thomas/tsa/index.html
Most are sex-change stories, but there are four on changing into an
animal. Warning: they all have sexual content, and "The Island of Circe"
particularly wouldn't interest many of you. But "The She-wolf" is pretty
good. -Lyka
If you don't see your page here, or know of others to add, drop me a
line... I know there are many that aren't on here yet.
FTP sites:
The former AHWW FTP site, wolf.pc.cc.cmu.edu, is DOWN. Many
thanks to Larry Lyle for running the site for so long! Lycanthrope.com
also has many items of interest to AHWW; as well as other sites that I
need to collect and list here! If you run or know of an FTP site that
carries items of interests to AHWW, let me know at the address below!
Also of interest is
avatar.snc.edu
Home to furry art and artists.
IRC Info:
There are a couple of IRC servers that have been frequented by
AHWWers. The Edge, formerly at eagle.dmv.com, requires you to read a
disclaimer before using... email edge@lycanthrope.com for more
information. irc.it.com.au 6666 is an Austrailian IRC server that's
frequented by AHWW denizens, but US users may suffer some lag.
To link to IRC, you must be running an IRC client on whatever
platform you access the internet with. You can set that client to
access the server directly, or access whatever server you like
and type /server (server name) to reach the server. IRC is a lot
of fun, but it can be quite addictive!
Mud's and the like:
As of this revision, there is no MUD geared towards AHWW
specifically. However, with this group, anything's possible!
Furrymuck may be of interest to AHWWers, and can be reached at
furry.org 8888.
6) What are werecards?
-----------------------------
A werecard is a sort of info-questionnaire; where you can answer
questions about yourself and your therianthropy, if any. It's
basically just a way of telling folks about yourself all at once,
rather than answering a million little questions. It makes a good way
to de-lurk. Here's a blank werecard.. snip and fill out, if you like;
and post the results to the group.
Human Name:
Were Name:
Phenotype: (e.g. werewolf, werebat, etc.)
Birthdate:
Birthplace:
Home Territory: (where you live now)
Dream Territory: (where you'd like to live, ideally)
Physical Description, Human:
Physical Description, Were:
Human Career:
Hobbies/Interests:
Favorite Movie:
Favorite Were Movie:
Favorite Literature:
Favorite Were Literature:
Favorite Art:
Favorite Were Art:
Favorite Saying/Quote:
Favorite Were Saying/Quote:
Favorite Personal Quote:
Favorite Song/Band(s):
Favorite Were Song/Band(s):
Favorite Season:
Favorite Holiday:
Preferred Prey:
Hunting Tips:
Preferred Method of Attack:
Favorite Non-Were Mythological Beastie(s):
Feelings Toward Vampires:
Feelings Toward Normal Humans:
Personal Lycanthropy: (This is probably the most important part
of the card. What we're after here is a few paragraphs explaining
what your lycanthropy means to you, how it fits into and affects
your life, your goals, etc. Tell us about your first transformation /
realization of your were nature. Describe the lycanthropy myth as
you see it. And so on...)
7) Where do I send suggestions?
---------------------------------------
The current Keeper of the FAQ is KatmanDu. He can be reached at
katmandu@negia.net for suggestions and additions.
Finally, here's a closing piece by Windrunner. I think it speaks well
of the group's past and future.
Our History
Forget about the Michael Jackson album. Forget about the university
course. But never forget us.
People, do you realize what is happening here? WE are making history.
Every single day that we exist, every single day that this GROUP exists.
History is occuring right before our eyes. And I don't think a lot of us
see that.
This letter is being sent out not only to the newsgroup, but also to
those who once were its backbone; as Smash accurately calls them the grey
muzzles. Their muzzles are grey, not out of physical age, but simply the
fact that they have been a part of this group longer than the rest. And
the greyer, the wiser, has been my experience.
I am not one of them, but oh, how I wish I was. From the stories I have
heard, this virtual bonfire never burned as bright as when it was the
original few. But those days have passed, passed on long ago. As many have
pointed out, it was only this past winter that alt.horror.werewolves
started to truly be recognized for what and who was in it. But it happened
in a sad fashion, drawing attention from the wrong kinds of people. People
who thought that "Hey! Here's a chance to play with a bunch of werewolves,
frolicking in the snow, and get a bowl of virtual chili." Many were they
who came seeking fun. Many were they who left when the truth came to
light. But some, like myself, stayed. Why? I think it's because we came in
with ourselves (so to speak), and at first, it WAS all fun. Throwing
snowballs, and all that. But finally, when the fun was ended out of, well,
annoyance, we were still here. Because, while the fun was great, it wasn't
the only reason we decided to reveal ourselves. We longed for contact with
those who might understand, who might actually know what we were talking
about when we spoke of lycanthropy in our lives.
Life moved on. The ones who stayed gradually integrated into the pack,
no matter what their animal was, be it bear, raven, wolf, dog, cat, lion,
panther. And they have shown themselves to be truthful, and wise. While we
still have fun, it isn't as totally rampant as it was. Many interesting
subjects were brought before the fire, and all were discussed as much as
possible. I was here when Gevaudan admitted what he truly was, and watched
as he was not chased, but comforted by others saying "Don't go; stay". (To
those who do not know, it has nothing to do with games or flames; but it
is not my story to tell). I was here when the first flamewars erupted. I
remember efridine's first post, as well as PainEater, the
recently-returned "Lord" Kelkemen, and Savak.
We got over them, since they were no different from other flamers,
bothering us then leaving (except perhaps L.K.; but I won't go into that
here). And again, we returned to our conversations via the net. The other
big event was the Spring Howl. I had not attended the one in the fall,
since I did not know of this group then. But as Spring rolled around, the
idea was formed to throw another one. And after it was over, all those who
had attended could not stop howling in joy and revelry. It was a renewal
for those in attendance, and a source of envy for those who could not go.
But not one person who had attended had wanted to leave. The sense of
closeness that was created there, I can only speculate at. But had I the
means, I would have been there in a second. That feeling is mutual for
many of us. But that has come and gone, and will not happen again (ie the
spring of 1995 will not repeat itself).
Time passed, bringing us up to where the group is now. Many have left
for reasons beyond their control. Many have grown disillusioned with the
way this group is going. But a lot of us have decided to stay, no matter
what our inner feelings tell us. There are a lot of new faces that do not
even know of the old ones. How many of these new ones will stay, and how
many will leave, is impossible to tell. But we continue to grow, and the
group changes with each new face. What it was, and what it is, are very
hard to compare. One does not mirror the other. But, as has been said many
times, that's a fact of life on the Internet. Things will inevitably
change since it is impossible to prevent new people from finding us. And
we wouldn't want that, since there are still so many of us out there,
looking for a ray of hope in a dull sky.
I guess what I'm saying is, look at us. To anyone reading this right
now, I want you to stop for a second. Just stop, and look at yourself.
Then look at where you are reading this. Consider what you are, and why
you are here. If being here, or having been here (meaning ahww),
feels/felt right, then know that your life has been worthwhile. Everyone,
WE, are creating a portion of history. RIGHT NOW. Though I do not believe
it has ever been discussed, look at what has become of
alt.horror.werewolves. *We* have created a place unlike any other. Never
before have so many come together in one place, even if it is technically
non-existant, sharing many ideas, but with one thing in common. Whether we
are werewolves, werebears, werecats, whatever, or simply people who are in
very close contact to our animals spirits, LOOK at where we are from.
This, this place spans the globe. There are weres here from Germany,
Norway, England, Ireland, Australia, The U.S., Canada. I am sorry if I
missed anyone's home country, these were all I could remember. But even if
I did, look. We have no borders here. All are welcome, provided they are
honest with us. Not all of us here are were; some are humans, some are
vampires. But one thing we all share in common is acceptance. The majority
of people who have visited this fire (and stayed for a while) have
accepted that yes, we are indeed what we claim. We are spiritual
theriathropes, shifters in one method or another. Whether it is through
Spiritual Dreams, or a mental process, or physically changing shape. I
know of very few here who have ever gone around, finger waving, accusing
someone of being false. And that's incredible. To my knowledge, something
like this has never before happened: a meeting of beings such as us. I am
fairly certain that anyone reading this now, whether new or old, would
never have met so many like him/herself if alt.horror.werewolves did not
exist. I sure wouldn't have.
Many of us who have been around here for a bit, and even some who
haven't, have strong feelings towards this group, or more specifically,
its members. To turn to a sad note: what would happen if tomorrow, you
woke up, and the group no longer existed. Through infighting, or this Exon
bill, or just simply the removal of the group from existance, what would
your first feeling be? Personally, I think my depression would last a long
while. But not forever. Why? Although having this newsgroup is important
to me, simply knowing that the beings behind the text exist gives me hope.
We have broken a barrier that no one thought existed. We have formed
friendships, and deeper relationships that have no name.
We do not keep written records of what has happened here, in this
newsgroup, since it fully became what it is today. Our history is only the
one where each individual joins, stays, and starts to learn. Learn not
only what the current topic is, or what we are about, but also of those
wiser than you. There is no hierachy here. But there are people who have
been here long enough to see more than they let on. Smash, Vladwolf,
Firewolf, Katmandu, Dreamwolf, Asikka, Gevaudan, Wolfshadow, Windwolf,
Medicine Wolf, Hiker, Snowlock, Winterdreamer, Dean R., Rimblesah,
Wolfbard; as well as many, many more. These, to me, are important weres.
They are some of those who helped create what we now take for granted.
Every day, I wake up, on log in to read what's been posted. I expect it to
be there, with names which I recognize. But most of the names I have just
listed are not here anymore. I will admit, some have left due to the
summer. But their presence, and it was a PRESENCE, is sadly missed.
I do not post much. I do not have the voice to post most of my opinions.
And this may be my death, or my rebirth. I have felt what Smash feels.
And, in my mind, I must find a way to re-vitalize what was once a powerful
group. It still is. But the power has changed. And I am not used to it
yet. Please, I am not writing this as something personal. It is meant FOR
ALL. All in this group. I sing it into the air, hoping that at least
someone here will listen. Perhaps I am too melodramatic. Perhaps I will be
chased off because of this. But even if that happens, I WILL NEVER FORGET
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE. Simply because I cannot. It is too important.
I will end this now. But not on a sad note. I want each and everyone
reading this to realize one thing: YOU HAVE BECOME A PART OF HISTORY. It
may be a history that will never be known publically. You will hopefully
never hear about it in the media. But in my mind, and the minds of those
who have ever been a part of this group, it will be hard to forget. I will
personally never forget anyone I have ever met on this group. We have, in
effect, created the one thing no one ever thought of, or even dreamed
about: this newsgroup IS a haven, for ones of our kind. You do not need
any more reason than that. If you see the group for what it is, and are
glad it is there, then you should be happy. There are many ideologies
here. May no one EVER say that their's is the "one true way". History has
taught us otherwise, that there can never be only one way. And now, we are
a part of history.
Windrunner
End Part IX
And of the FAQ
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