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Global Hunters
O was it war-wolf in the wood?
Or was it mermaid in the sea?
Or was it man, or vile woman,
My ain true love, that mis-shaped thee?
Greece
The story of Lycaon, which originated in Greek mythology, has been viewed as one of the first werewolf stories ever. According to legend, Lycaon was a cruel leader of a cult. Rumors of the atrocities committed by Lycaon and his cult made their way back to the God Zeus, who decided to investigate. He found these rumors to be fact, and decided to reveal his identity to the cult. The members immediately paid homage to Zeus, however, Lycaon did not believe that he was a real God and prepared a feast for him consisting of human flesh. If Zeus truly was a God, he would recognize the meal and decline to eat it, since cannibalism was a great sin. Zeus immediately noticed what the feast consisted of. To avoid Zeus' wrath, Lycaon fled to the countryside. Once there he found out what Zeus had in store for him, slowly he began to transform into a man-wolf. The term "lycanthropy" was derived from Lycaon's name.
An alternate story is told in the the "Metamorphoses" by Ovid. He tells of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. The king was entertaining Jupiter one evening and placed before him a plate of human flesh. The god, realizing that it was human flesh immediately transformed Lycaon into a wolf.
In vain he attempted to speak; from that very instant
His jaws were bespluttered with foam, and only he thirsted
For blood, as he raged amongst flocks and panted for slaughter.
His vesture was changed into hair, his limbs became crooked;
A wolf,—he retains yet large trace of his ancient expression,
Hoary he is as afore, his countenance rabid,
His eyes glitter savagely still, the picture of fury.
Another tale is of Antaeus who was selected to be changed into a wolf. He was led to the lake of Arcadia where he stripped and leapt into the waters. When he emerged he was transformed into a wolf. If he managed to survive nine years without the taste of human flesh he would be free to swim once more in the waters and resume his former shape, only aged nine years.
Herodotus wrote: "It seems that the Neuri are sorcerers, if one is to believe the Scythians and the Greeks established in Scythia; for each Neurian changes himself, once in the year, into the form of a wolf, and he continues in that form for several days, after which he resumes his former shape."
Argentina
Lobisón is the word that stands for Werewolf in north Argentina. The Lobisón is usually the seventh son in a family. When they turn into a hairy creature that resembles both a man and a wolf, the Lobisón (a legend greatly influenced by the Brazilian traditions), wanders in the hills and mountains, feeding mostly upon carrion. However, if they get to meet with a human being, they will instantly attack. The survivors of an attack will then turn into Lobisones themselves. Transformation like this is quite rare, because most people die in the claws and teeth of these ferocious creatures. It is also said that if a Lobison's saliva sprinkles over a man or a woman, he or she will eventually turn into a Lobisón.
In the early 1900s the legend of the 7th son (it had to be 7 boys in a row, no girls in between) transforming himself into a werewolf was so widespread and believed that it was causing a lot of children to be abandoned or given away for adoption, and it is said that in some cases the parents killed their own son. Because of this, the president passed a law in the 1920s by which the 7th son of a family automatically receives the godfathership of the president of Argentina. Through this, the state gives him a gold medal on the day of his baptism (when the president officially becomes his godfather) and a scholarship for all of his studies until his 21st birthday. Supposedly, this ended the phenomenon of people condemning their children for fear of the werewolf. The law is still in effect, and it is popularly known, and the presidents have always attended at least some of the baptisms, especially during election.
Brazil
In some places of Brazil (Portuguese colonization is responsible for the legend in that Country), the damned man changes in a crossroad, friday night (usually the 13th), after midnight when the moon is full.
In Brazil, A human only will become a "lobisomem" if he was the 7th children (male) from the same father and mother. He changes into a "lobisomem", for the first time when he is 13 years old. Just for two hours: from Midnight to 2:00 am. Always on Friday during Lent. In some places of Brazil (Portuguese colonization is responsible for the legend in that Country), the damned man changes in a crossroad, Friday night (usually the 13th), after midnight when the moon is full.
Other shape shifters are the Boto people or were-dolphins. The legends are that a village of indians angered the spirits of the river and they were cursed to live as dophins for the rest of their days. The only time they are able to become human once more is during certain times of the year during a full moon. They take their human form and journey onto land to claim a mate and take him or her back to the river to become a dolphin as well. For this reason many people stay away from the river's edge at night or on the full moon.
Finland
The Finnish werewolves are rather sorrowful creatures. In most stories or legends a person usually turns into a wolf without really wanting it, accidentally, by performing some act of witchcraft to enable transformation, or because some witch has put a spell on them. According to Finns, these witches would naturally be Sami, although the Swedes thought they were pretty good at magic. The werewolf, who's usually bound to be a wolf for nights and days until something releases him from the spell, then lurks around houses, sometimes eating cattle but rarely people and waits for somebody to recognize him. When somebody does recognize the werewolf, she/he can break the spell by calling the werewolf by his Christian name or giving him/her some bread to eat. Sometimes after the werewolf had regained his human form, he would still have his tail till the day he died. Some houses actually exhibit special benches called lauteet that have a hole in them, presumably cut for the ex-werewolf's tail. Finland's southern neighbor, Estonia is also known for its werewolf legends. Estonia is sometimes called 'Viro' in Finnish, and at one time werewolves were called 'vironsusi' ('Estonian wolf') in Finland. It should be mentioned, though, that 'vironsusi' is originally the same word as 'werewolf', meaning 'man-wolf' and connecting it with Estonia is a falsehood due to Estonia's reputation as a werewolf country.
Mexico
In Mexico, the most widely spread version of the werewolf is the one called "nahual", which comes from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word "Nuahualli", meaning warlock. Since the Spaniards did not bring much on werewolves after colonizing Mexico, the ancient local legends on the subject became predominant. The nahual was a warlock who had the capability to shape-shift at will into an animal, preferably a black or dark coyote. It was believed in the pre-Hispanic times, that people were constantly threatened by these evil beings.
Even if the Spaniards who came to Mexican lands in the mid 1500s were not concerned about werewolfery, they were influenced by other European countries that had pretty strong legends on the subject. And so, this allowed for the nahual myth to survive the Colony times and make its way through present time. Some indigenous groups still currently believe that nahuales turn into coyotes or other animals at night, through the use of magic and sorcery, in order to harm other people. Once they have shape-shifted, nahuales can run the lengths with no difficulty to steal corn of chickens, and to fight other nahuales that pretend to invade their territories. Such indigenous people's legends say that once in animal form, they can get killed if wounded, but in case they survive, they will show the wounds or damage done suffered while in animal form
According to modern-day Mexican indigenous beliefs, the nahuales can shape shift by performing anyone of the following: Jumping over a wooden cross, getting into deep sleep, putting on an animal skin, or covering their bodies with an ointment made of herbs, Not everyone can achieve the transformation. Just a few ones have been nature-granted with the capability to perform the change, but they also need to be skilled warlocks or sorcerers. These legends also tell about the way to kill a nahual or Mexican werewolf: Stoning, or gun-shooting; they can also be killed by using holy water, fire or by hanging them.
The skinwalkers are the equivalent of a Navajo witch. These are not witches in the sense that we know of wiccans and other pagans, these witches have powers that they use for malicious intent. Their powers are not just of shapshifting, they use spells and hexes against both navajos and non-navajos. They can use mind control, disease, and immobilization powders to cause their victims to become sick and cause them harm.
The mind control that they can use can even make the victim cause his/her own pain and inflict injuries on themselves. Skinwalkers have aso been known to immobilize a victim with special powders and place bones and other objects inside the victim's body in order to cause them pain and possibly even death.
Skinwalkers possess supernatural strength, speed, and agility. They can run faster than cars, leap over mesas and perform feats of strength that no human ever could. What makes a skinwalker different from a werewolf is that they do not have just one form. They choose the skins of the animals who's strengths or abilities that they need to accomplish their evil intents.
Through ancient native spiritual abilities and powers they have the ability to imitate the animal whose skin they are wearing. They can be a cat, a wolf, bear, coyote, mountain lion (there are some discrepancies on this claim), or any other creature who's skin they wear. Each skin gives the skinwalker special abilities.
The coyote skin is for high speed, accurate sense of smell, and the acute agility. The bear skin is for brute strength, the wolf is for speed and night vision. The Navajo Skinwalkers also retain full mental faculties and mental capacities. No matter what form the Skinwalker takes they still have their human intelligence and mind so even though they have an animal's form they still have the cunning and deadly deceit of the witch.
Although I find the skinwalker to be an interesting creature and the abilitites to be quite astounding, I really can't classify this person/creature as a werewolf. Perhaps they are for there are some legends that tell of men who wore the skin of wolves and transformed into wolves but usually they took the beastial mentality and became a wolf that devoured livestock and children. Still skinwalkers seem to be in a class by themselves. There are other Navajo and other Native American peoples that had the abilities to change their forms into that of an animal but they did not use their powers for evil and so are not skinwalkers. The very difference between the skinwalkers, and the shapeshifters and were creatures as I see it, are that the skinwalkers were deliberatly malicious and only used their powers to harm or kill others.
Tlaxcala
In the surroundings of the mountain known as La Malinche (the wife of the Spaniard conqueror Hernán Cortés)the nahuas (a local indigenous group) believe that witches or "tlahuelpuchi" turn into fearsome coyotes at night, in order to break inside the houses where small children live to suck their blood. On the day after, parents will find their sons or daughters dead, with savage bites on their necks, legs and arms. To prevent the attacks by tlahuelpuchi witches, parents leave by the bedside in the kid's room a mirror reflecting the sleeping child, a knife or a pair of scissors, all of which are said to have magical properties that scare-off these savage female werewolves.
Oaxaca
There are several indigenous groups, having each one similar beliefs of their own. In regards with the werewolf-like characters, the Zapotecs, for instance, say that nahuales are warlocks who shapeshift into ferocious and damaging animals that can produce great evils to people. They believe that nahuales are warlocks who make deals with the Devil in order to be able to turn into coyotes to suck people's blood while they sleep. They can only shapeshift at night. Their powers, according to such legend, include the capability of damaging unborn children, which explains to them why some kids are born dead or with malformations. In order to scare nahuales off, the Zapotecs place garlic on their doors and a knife or a pair of scissors under the pillow. On the other hand, the Chinantecs, yet another indigenous group living in Oaxaca, also believe in nahuales. To them, nahuales can be both men and women, and they can only achieve the transformation at night, and they get to kill those who see them or even dare to face them. The Chinantecs say that if the nahual is injured in the battle, but manages to escape, on the day after, the man or woman behind the beast will show scars resulting from the wounds inflicted to them while in animal shape.
Italy
The lupo mannaro or licantropo is an Italian werewolf.
There were also "werewolves" known as the "Benandanti". The Benandanti were people who had been born with a caul (inner birthing membrane) over their heads and were said to possess special powers. They ate garlic and fennel because these defended against witches. The Benandanti, although considered to be a type of witch, were in fact against witchcraft. It is said that they armed themselves with stalks of fennel and cloves of garlic and left their form behind, taking on the guise of wolves. Not regular wolves either, the pictures of such creatures were portrayed as anthropomorphic wolves. They would in this wolfish form ride sheep, cats, and other animals and take on evil and battle witchcraft here and in the underworld.
Norway
The Norse legends claim that one can change shape by wearing the skins of the animal one want's to change to. Also used by other cultures, belt made from a wolf etc.. Loki, the Norse god of mischief, often changed and had a lot of skins, including a worm and a flea skin.
In the introduction of the Soemund there is the tale of three women who wore swan skins and were caught when they had taken them off and were swimming in a lake.
From the south flew the maidens
Athwart the gloom,
Alvit the young,
To fix destinies;
They on the sea- strand
Sat them to rest,
These damsels of the south
Fair linen spun.
One of them took
Egil to press,
Fair maid, in her
Dazzling arms.
Another was Svanhwit,
Who wore swan feathers;
And the third,
Their sister,
Pressed the white
Neck of Vślund.
There was the eigi einhamir meaning "not of one skin" who were men believed to change their bodies. It wasn't a transformation of physical flesh but a transfer of mental capabilities. A man who had taken on the body of the animal in question was embued with powers of his own and those of the animal. He was called a hamrammr.
The transformation was acheived in a variety of ways. One was to take the skin of the animal that was desired and throw it over the man reciting a ritual until he left his human body and entered into that of the hamr. His body took on a cataleptic state and appeared to bne dead while he took the animal form. Another way was to create a hamr or borrow one from another person and the third way was an incantation. The method of incantation however left his form unaltered but all that saw him were bewitched into seeing him in his selected form.
The only way to identify the eigi einhammr is to look him in the eyes for the eyes never changed. Whatever form he took he could use the powers of that creature. If he is a bird he could fly, a fish, he could swim, and a wolf would bring about passions and powers of rage that lie inside the wolf.
There is the tale of Bjorn the son of King Hring who was cursed by the queen when he rejected her favors. She cursed him to live out his days as a beast and eat of his father's sheep. And so it was, a great and lumbering gray bear was seen coming forth in the day and eating of the flocks of sheep. Yet one day he saw Bera, a woman whom he had admired before he was transformed and she seeing him as a bear ran from him but thought that his eyes were familiar. And so she followed him to his cave and as night fell his bear form fell with it and there stood Bjorn. They spent many a night together until one eve when he foretold of his own death. In the morning the King and his huntsment came and killed the bear that was Bjorn and that evening the Queen, who had cursed him into being a bear, ate of his flesh.
Portugal
In Portugal, werewolves are called lobis-homems. In the 1400's there was one kind of lobis-homem that was very quite common: The gentle and non-attacking creature. Once fallen under a spell, the lobis-homem would attend a crossroad at night to become a wolf after groveling on the dirt. Then the creature would run into the countryside, howling out loud, without hurting anyone. A shy and sad creature, the Portuguese lobis-homem could be easily recognized, for it was a wolf with a short and yellow-furred tail.
However, there was yet another kind of werewolf in Portugal, with little resemblance to this noble creature. It was the evil and devilish variety, far less-common though, linked directly to the black arts of witchcraft. Evil lobis-homems could be recognized by the shape of their eyes and sometimes because of the presence of the Devil's mark in some part of the body.
Russia
The person wishing to transform goes into the forest, sticking a copper knife into a tree and dances about while saying incantations. When this ritual is performed, the spirit of the Wolf will take over your soul.
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Copyright © 1996-2004
LV426, All Rights Reserved
(Information provided by Time Life Books:Mysteries of the Unknown, Transformations 1989, Baring-Gould: The book of Werewolves,Cohen, Daniel: Werewolves,Daniel Cohen Douglas, Adam: Beast Within, Adam, Douglas Otten, Charlotte: Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves In Western Culture, Pijoan, Teresa: White Wolf Woman and other native America transformation myths.
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