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If the legends are to be believed, lycanthropy has been with us since King Lycaon was transformed into a wolf, in retribution for serving human flesh to Zeus during a dinner party in ancient Greece. Ever since, the werewolf has followed the human race through whispered tales and popular myth, stalking towns and villages from the Caucasus to Colorado.
The popularity and seeming irrationality of these stories has been a traditional target for debunkers of the supernatural. Rationalisations of the werewolf myth have stretched from theories of rabies infection to ergot poisoning. More difficult to dispel has been the delusional convictions of people with clinical lycanthropy. Often submerged in intense psychosis, affected individuals report the feeling of transformation into various forms of animal, some experienced as so unusual, the animal has yet to be identified.
The term lycanthropy was also applied to those individuals afflicted with a form of dark melancholy, a deep depression that gave rise to a violent form of insanity. Clinical lycanthropy or Lycanthropic Disorder is a form of psychosis or dementia in which the patient has delusions of being a wild animal (usually a wolf). The … Read more
For the Navajo and other tribes of the southwest, the tales of skinwalkers are not mere legend. Just ask Michael Stuhff. A Nevada attorney, Stuhff is likely one of the few lawyers in the history of American jurisprudence to file legal papers against a Navajo witch. He has often represented Native Americans in his practice. … Read more
The French verse romance Guillaume de Palerme was composed circa 1200, commissioned by Countess Yolande (who is generally identified to be Yolande, daughter of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders). The prose version of the French romance, printed by N Bonfons, passed through several editions. The English poem in alliterative verse, commissioned by Humphrey de Bohun, … Read more
Lycanthropy is often confused with transmigration; but the essential feature of the were-animal is that it is the alternative form or the double of a living human being, while the soul-animal is the vehicle, temporary or permanent, of the spirit of a dead human being. Nevertheless, instances in legend of humans reborn as wolves are … Read more
There are some stories about werewolves in which the subject in question undergoes not a physical transformation, but a spiritual one. 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 … Read more
The berserker of the Vikings and the ancient Germans was a man who believed that he could transform himself into a bear or a wolf when the need arose. They dressed in bear or wolf skins, and sometimes wore bear claws. Berserkers would attain a mental-shamanistic balance of beast and with a mind sigil of … Read more
Many tribes and military organizations have taken the wolf as their totem animal and considered themselves as werewolves: The mongols of Gengis Kahn who submitted most of Europe called themselves the “wolves” The Berksekr were german and scandinavian tribes who disguised themselves as wolves or bears during battles. The appropriation ritual celebrated by the sorcerer … Read more
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. Even if humans are animals, it has been a constant effort of humanity, however, to … Read more