Editing Werewolf (section)

== Folk beliefs ==
{{Further|Shapeshifting}}

=== Characteristics ===
[[File:GermanWoodcut1722.jpg|thumb|A German woodcut from 1722|270x270px]]The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his [[Doppelgänger|double]] whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his [[soul]], which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in a [[altered state of consciousness|state of trance]]; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a [[familiar spirit]], whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being.

Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear telltale physical traits even in their human form. These included the [[Unibrow|meeting of both eyebrows]] at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue.<ref name="Woodward">{{cite book |title=The Werewolf Delusion |last=Woodward |first=Ian |year=1979 |publisher= Paddington Press |isbn=0-448-23170-0 }}{{unreliable source?|date=April 2013}}{{page needed|date=April 2013}}</ref>

The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like a tail.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Varulv|url=http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|access-date=16 May 2011|series=Väsen|credits=[[Ebbe Schön]]|network=[[Sveriges Television|SVT]]|airdate=16 May 2011|language=sv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414121333/http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|archive-date=14 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression.<ref name="Woodward" />
One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the ''Annales Medico-psychologiques'' in the 19th century.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Becoming a werewolf ===
Various methods for becoming a werewolf have been reported, with one of the simplest being the removal of clothing and putting on a belt made of wolfskin, probably as a substitute for the assumption of an entire animal skin (which also is frequently described).<ref name="Fate">Bennett, Aaron. "So, You Want to be a Werewolf?" [[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]. Vol. 55, no. 6, Issue 627. July 2002.</ref> In other cases, the body is rubbed with a [[Flying ointment|magic salve]].<ref name="Fate" />

The 16th-century Swedish writer [[Olaus Magnus]] says that the [[Livonia]]n werewolves were initiated by draining a cup of specially prepared beer and repeating a set formula. Ralston in his ''Songs of the Russian People'' gives the form of incantation still familiar in Russia. In Italy, France and Germany, it was said that a man or woman could turn into a werewolf if he or she, on a certain Wednesday or Friday, slept outside on a summer night with the full moon shining directly on his or her face.<ref name="Woodward" />

In other cases, the transformation was supposedly accomplished by [[Satanism|satanic]] allegiance for the most loathsome ends, often for the sake of sating a craving for human flesh. "The werewolves", writes [[Richard Verstegan]] (''Restitution of Decayed Intelligence'', 1628),<!-- DO NOT FIX SPELLING, THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE ORIGINAL ARCHAIC TEXT -->

{{blockquote|are certayne sorcerers, who having annoynted their bodies with an ointment which they make by the instinct of the devil, and putting on a certayne inchaunted girdle, does not only unto the view of others seem as wolves, but to their own thinking have both the shape and nature of wolves, so long as they wear the said girdle. And they do dispose themselves as very wolves, in worrying and killing, and most of humane creatures. [''[[sic]]'']}}

The phenomenon of repercussion, the power of animal [[metamorphosis]], or of sending out a [[Familiar spirit|familiar]], real or spiritual, as a messenger, and the supernormal powers conferred by association with such a familiar, are also attributed to the [[magic (paranormal)|magician]], male and female, all the world over; and [[Witchcraft|witch]] superstitions are closely parallel to, if not identical with, lycanthropic beliefs, the occasional involuntary character of lycanthropy being almost the sole distinguishing feature. In another direction, the phenomenon of repercussion is asserted to manifest itself in connection with the bush-soul of the West African and the ''[[nagual]]'' of [[Central America]]; although there is no line of demarcation to be drawn on logical grounds, the assumed power of the magician and the intimate association of the bush-soul or the ''nagual'' with a human being are not termed lycanthropy.

The curse of lycanthropy was also considered by some scholars as being a [[Divine judgment|divine punishment]]. Werewolf literature shows many examples of [[God]] or [[saint]]s allegedly cursing those who invoked their wrath with lycanthropy. Such is the case of [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]], who was turned into a wolf by [[Zeus]] as punishment for slaughtering one of his own sons and serving his remains to the gods as a dinner. Those who were [[excommunicate]]d by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] were also said to become werewolves.<ref name="Woodward" />

The power of transforming others into wild beasts was attributed not only to malignant sorcerers, but to [[List of saints|Christian saints]] as well. ''Omnes angeli, boni et Mali, ex virtute naturali habent potestatem transmutandi corpora nostra'' ("All angels, good and [[fallen angel|bad]], have the power of transmutating our bodies") was the dictum of [[St. Thomas Aquinas]]. [[St. Patrick]] was said to have transformed the [[Wales|Welsh]] King Vereticus into a wolf; [[Natalis of Ulster|Natalis]] supposedly cursed an illustrious Irish family whose members were each doomed to be a wolf for seven years. In other tales, the divine agency is even more direct, while in Russia, again, men supposedly became werewolves when incurring the wrath of the Devil.

A notable exception to the association of lycanthropy and the Devil comes from a rare and lesser known account of an 80-year-old man named [[Thiess of Kaltenbrun|Thiess]]. In 1692, in [[Jürgensburg]], [[Livonia]], Thiess testified under oath that he and other werewolves were the Hounds of God.<ref>Gershenson, Daniel. ''Apollo the Wolf-God''. (Journal of Indo-European Studies, Monograph, 8.) McLean, Virginia: Institute for the Study of Man, 1991, {{ISBN|0-941694-38-0}} pp. 136–137.</ref>
He claimed they were warriors who descended into hell to battle witches and [[demon]]s. Their efforts ensured that the Devil and his minions did not carry off the grain from local failed crops down to hell. Thiess was ultimately sentenced to ten lashes for idolatry and [[Superstition|superstitious belief]].

=== Remedies ===
Various methods have existed for removing the werewolf form. In antiquity, the Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in the power of exhaustion in curing people of lycanthropy. The victim would be subjected to long periods of physical activity in the hope of being purged of the malady. This practice stemmed from the fact that many alleged werewolves would be left feeling weak and debilitated after committing depredations.<ref name="Woodward" />

In medieval Europe, traditionally, there are three methods one can use to cure a victim of lycanthropy: medicinally (usually via the use of [[Aconitum|wolfsbane]]), surgically, or by [[exorcism]]. Many of the cures advocated by medieval medical practitioners proved fatal to the patients. A Sicilian belief of Arabic origin holds that a werewolf can be cured of its ailment by striking it on the forehead or scalp with a knife. Another belief from the same culture involves the piercing of the werewolf's hands with nails. Sometimes, less extreme methods were used. In the German lowland of Schleswig-Holstein, a werewolf could be cured if one were to simply address it three times by its Christian name. One Danish belief holds that merely scolding a werewolf will cure it.<ref name="Woodward" /> Conversion to Christianity was a common method of removing lycanthropy in the medieval period. A devotion to [[Hubertus|St. Hubert]] has been cited as both cure for and protection from lycanthropes.

=== Connection to revenants ===
{{Further|Revenant}}
Before the end of the 19th century, the Greeks believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life in the form of wolves or hyenas that prowled battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In the same vein, in some rural areas of Germany, Poland, and Northern France, it was once believed that people who died in mortal sin came back to life as blood-drinking wolves.
These "undead" werewolves would return to their human corpse form at daylight. They were dealt with by decapitation with a spade and exorcism by the parish priest. The head would then be thrown into a stream, where the weight of its sins was thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used. The [[vampire]] was linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as ''vulkodlak''.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Hungary and Balkans ===
In [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] folklore, werewolves are said to live in the region of [[Transdanubia]], and it was thought that the ability to change into a wolf was obtained in infancy, after suffering parental abuse or by a curse. It is told that, at the age of seven, the boy or the girl leave home at night to go hunting, and can change to a person or wolf whenever they want. The curse can also be obtained in adulthood if a person passes three times through an arch made of [[birch]] with the help of a wild [[rose]]'s spine.

The werewolves were known to exterminate all kind of farm animals, especially sheep. The transformation usually occurred during the [[winter solstice]], [[Easter]] and a full moon. Later in the 17th and 18th century, the trials in Hungary were not only conducted against witches, but against werewolves, too, and many records exist documenting connections between the two. Vampires and werewolves are closely related in Hungarian folklore, both being feared in antiquity.<ref>Szabó, György. Mitológiai kislexikon, I–II, Budapest: Merényi Könyvkiadó (év nélkül) Mitólogiai kislexikon. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Among the [[South Slavs]], and among the ethnic [[Kashubians|Kashubian people]] in present-day northern Poland, there was the belief that if a child was born with hair, a birthmark, or a caul on their head, they were supposed to possess shapeshifting abilities. Though capable of turning into any animal they wished, it was commonly believed that such people preferred to turn into a wolf.<ref name="willis">{{Cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Roy |last2=Davidson |first2=Hilda Ellis |author2-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |year=1997 |title=World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide |publisher=Piaktus |isbn=0-7499-1739-3 |oclc=37594992}}</ref>

[[Serbia]]n [[Vrykolakas#Etymology|''vukodlak''s]] traditionally had the habit of congregating annually in the winter months, when they would strip off their wolfskins and hang them from trees. They would then get a hold of another ''vulkodlak''{{'}}s skin and burn it, releasing from its curse the ''vukodlak'' from whom the skin came.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Caucasus ===
According to [[Armenia]]n lore, there are women who, in consequence of deadly sins, are condemned to spend seven years in wolf form.<ref>''The Fables of Mkhitar Gosh'' (New York, 1987), translated with an introduction by R. Bedrosian, edited by Elise Antreassian and illustrated by Anahid Janjigian {{ISBN?}}</ref> In a typical account, a condemned woman is visited by a wolfskin-toting spirit, who orders her to wear the skin, which causes her to acquire frightful cravings for human flesh soon after. With her better nature overcome, the she-wolf devours each of her own children, then her relatives' children in order of relationship, and finally the children of strangers. She wanders only at night, with doors and locks springing open at her approach. When morning arrives, she reverts to human form and removes her wolfskin. The transformation is generally said to be involuntary. There are alternate versions involving voluntary metamorphosis, where the women can transform at will.

=== Americas and Caribbean ===
{{Main|Skin-walker}} {{See also|Soucouyant|Rougarou}}
The Naskapis believed that the [[Reindeer|caribou]] afterlife is guarded by giant wolves that kill careless hunters venturing too near. The [[Navajo people]] feared witches in wolf's clothing called "''Mai-cob''".<ref name="SAM">{{cite book
| author = Lopez, Barry
| title = Of Wolves and Men
| year = 1978
| isbn = 0-7432-4936-4
| publisher = Scribner Classics
| location = New York
| oclc = 54857556}}</ref>
Woodward thought that these beliefs were due to the [[Norse colonization of North America|Norse colonization of the Americas]].<ref name="Woodward" />
When the [[European colonization of the Americas]] occurred, the pioneers brought their own werewolf folklore with them and were later influenced by the lore of their neighbouring colonies and those of the Natives. Belief in the ''loup-garou'' present in [[Canada]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ransom |first1=Amy J. |title=The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French-Canadian "Loup-garou" |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |date=2015 |volume=26 |issue=2 (93) |pages=251–275 |jstor=26321112 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26321112 |access-date=24 August 2024 |issn=0897-0521}}</ref> the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of [[Michigan]],<ref>
[http://www.gphistorical.org/legends03.html Legends of Grosse Pointe].</ref> and upstate [[New York (state)|New York]] originates from French folklore influenced by Native American stories on the [[Wendigo]].

In [[Mexico]], there is a belief in a creature called the ''[[nagual]]''. In [[Haiti]], there is a superstition that werewolf spirits known locally as ''Jé-rouge'' (red eyes) can possess the bodies of unwitting persons and nightly transform them into cannibalistic lupine creatures. The Haitian ''jé-rouges'' typically try to trick mothers into giving away their children voluntarily by waking them at night and asking their permission to take their child, to which the disoriented mother may either reply yes or no. The Haitian ''jé-rouges'' differ from traditional European werewolves by their habit of actively trying to spread their lycanthropic condition to others, much like vampires.<ref name="Woodward" />