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About Werewolves
this article is a actually a answer of someone's question.so it is based on the following points

1.myths 2.legends 3.facts based on medical data 4.ways to became werewolf

Myths & Literature
In Greek mythology, the story of Lycaon provides one of the earliest examples of a werewolf legend. According to one version, Lycaon was transformed into a wolf as a result of eating human flesh; one of those who were present at periodical sacrifice on Mount Lycæon was said to suffer a similar fate. Herodotus in his Histories tells us that the Neuri, a tribe he places to the north-east of Scythia, were annually transformed for a few days, and Virgil is familiar with transformation of human beings into wolves.

The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, quoting Euanthes,says that a man of Anthius' family was selected by lot and brought to a lake in Arcadia, where he hung his clothing on an ash tree and swam across, resulting in his transformation into a wolf, a form in which he wandered for nine years. On the condition that he attacked no human being over the nine year period, he would be free to swim back across the lake to resume human form.

In the Latin work of prose, the Satyricon, written about 60 C.E. by Gaius Petronius Arbiter, one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61-62). He describes the incident as follows, "When I looked for my friend I saw he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside...He urinated in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turned into a wolf!...after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods."

European cultures

Many European countries and cultures influenced by them have stories of werewolves, including Albania (oik), France (loup-garou), Greece (lycanthropos), Spain (hombre lobo), Mexico (hombre lobo and nahual), Bulgaria (varkolak), Turkey (kurtadam), Czech Republic/Slovakia (vlkodlak), Serbia/Montenegro/Bosnia (vukodlak, вукодлак), Russia (vourdalak, оборотень), Ukraine (vovkulak(a), vurdalak(a), vovkun, перевертень), Croatia (vukodlak), Poland (wilkołak), Romania (vârcolac, priculici), Macedonia (vrkolak), Slovenia (volkodlak), Scotland (werewolf, wulver), England (werewolf), Ireland (faoladh or conriocht), Germany (Werwolf), the Netherlands (weerwolf), Denmark/Sweden/Norway (Varulv), Norway/Iceland (kveld-ulf, varúlfur), Galicia (lobisón), Portugal/ (lobisomem), Lithuania (vilkolakis and vilkatlakis), Latvia (vilkatis and vilkacis), Andorra/Catalonia (home llop), Hungary (Vérfarkas and Farkasember), Estonia (libahunt), Finland (ihmissusi and vironsusi), and Italy (lupo mannaro). In northern Europe, there are also tales about people changing into animals including bears, as well as wolves.

Werewolves in European tradition were sometimes innocent folk suffering from the witchcraft of others, or simply from an unhappy fate, and who, as wolves, behaved in a truly touching fashion, adoring and protecting their human benefactors. In Marie de France's poem Bisclavret (c. 1200), the nobleman Bizuneh, for reasons not described in the lai, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy and accompanied the king thereafter. His behaviour at court was so much gentler than when his wife and her new husband appeared at court, that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. Other tales of this sort include William and the Werewolf (translated from French into English ca. 1350), and the German fairy tales Märchen, in which several aristocrats temporarily transform into beasts. See Snow White and Rose Red, where the tame bear is really a bewitched prince, and The Golden Bird where the talking fox is also a man.

The legends of ulfhednar mentioned in Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði, and the Völsunga saga resemble some werewolf legends. The ulfhednar were fighters similar to the berserkers, who were dressed in bear hides and reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle. These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Ulfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin.

In Latvian folklore, a vilkacis was someone who transformed into a wolf-like monster, which could be benevolent at times. Another collection of stories concern the skin-walkers. The vilkacis and skin-walkers probably have a common origin in Proto-Indo-European society, where a class of young unwed warriors were apparently associated with wolves.

According to the first dictionary of modern Serbian language (published by Vuk Stefanović-Karadžić in 1818) vukodlak / вукодлак (werewolf) and vampir / вампир (vampire) are synonyms, meaning a man who returns from his grave for purposes of fornicating with his widow. The dictionary states this to be a common folk tale.

Common amongst the Kashubs of what is now northern Poland, and the Serbs and Slovenes, was the belief that if a child was born with hair, a birthmark or a caul on their head, they were supposed to possess shape-shifting abilities. Though capable of turning into any animal they wished, it was commonly believed that such people preferred to turn into a wolf.

According to Armenian lore, there are women who, in consequence of deadly sins, are condemned to spend seven years in wolf form.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, but there are alternate versions involving voluntary metamorphosis, where the women can transform at will.

The 11th Century Russian Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was considered to have been a Werewolf, capable of moving at supehuman speeds, as recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign: "Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan. The path of Great Sun, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in Polotsk they rang for matins early at St. Sophia the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev."

There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in sixteenth century France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism, but none of association with wolves; in other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, there was clear evidence against some wolf but none against the accused[citation needed]. The loup-garou eventually ceased to be regarded as a dangerous heretic and reverted to the pre-Christian notion of a "man-wolf-fiend." The lubins or lupins were usually female and shy in contrast to the aggressive loup-garous.

Some French werewolf lore is based on documented events caused by the full moon. The Beast of Gévaudan terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan, now called Lozère, in south-central France. From the years 1764 to 1767, an unknown entity killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children.[citation needed] The creature was described as a giant wolf by the sole survivor of the attacks, which ceased after several wolves were killed in the area. Wolves were still found in England as late as 1600, but became extinct by 1680[citation needed]. At the beginning of the seventeenth century witchcraft was prosecuted by James I of England, who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic.

World folklore

Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans, after performing long and arduous rites, would voluntarily be able to transform into the humanoid Kurtadam (literally meaning "Wolfmen"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form[citation needed]. In popular belief of Ethiopian highlands, similar to the werewolf folklore, is the myth of people being able to transform into hyenas through exposure to a curse or explicit association with the devil[citation needed]. Though not linked to the presence of a full moon or any other seasonal event, the myth has it that those people often perform the transformation at will and often at night. The subjects are closely associated with the phenomenon of the evil eye ("Buda" in Amharic) popular in the province of Gojjam. In the Caribbean island of Trinidad, there is a common belief that a creature called a lagahoo exists. It is described as a male shape-shifter, and is often spotted in the villages.

Legends
Origin of the Werewolf Legend

During middle ages, especially from 15th to 17th century, Europe was under the dark shadow of ignorance and superstitions. Towns were underdeveloped and people lived near woods. The fear of wolves was like a nightmare. Their attacks were so frequent and atrocious in nature that people even feared to travel from one place to another. Every morning, countryside people would find half-eaten human limbs scattered on their fields.

The first recorded Werewolf sighting took place around the countryside of German town Colongne and Bedburg in 1591. An age-old pamphlet describes those shivering moments vividly. Few people cornered a large wolf and set their dogs upon it. They started to pierce it with sharp sticks and spears. Surprisingly the ferocious wolf did not run away or tried to protect itself, rather it stood up and turned out to be a middle-aged man he was Peter Stubbe from the same village.

Stubbe was put on a torture wheel where he confessed sixteen murders including two pregnant women and thirteen children. The history behind his downfall was rather bizarre. He had started to practice sorcery when he was only 12 and was so obsessed with it that even tried to make a pact with the Devil. Wearing a magic girdle he started to attack his enemies, real or imaginary. After several months, he would take the guise of a wolf and continued with his evil acts with more brutality. In the wolf form he used to tear up victims’ throats and suck warm blood from veins. Gradually his thirst for blood grew and he roamed around fields in search of prey.

The savagery of his crimes was beyond imagination. The trial record motioned few of them. Once two men and a woman were walking along a road that went through the forest Stubbe used to hide in. He called one of them into the forest. When the man did not return for a long time the second one followed his trail and also disappeared into the forest. When both the man didn't return for a long time the woman ran for her life. Later, two mangled male corpses were recovered from the forest, but the woman’s body never reappeared. It was believed that Stubbe had devoured it all. Young girls playing together or milking the cows in the fields were his frequent victims. He used to chase them like a hound, catch the slowest one, rape and kill her. Then he would drink hot blood and eat tender flesh from her body. However; the most gruesome sin he committed was upon his own son. He took him to a nearby forest, cracked the poor child’s skull open and ate brain from it.

No punishment could match the magnitude of Stubbe’s crime. His flesh was pulled off with red-hot pincer, his arms and legs were broken and he was finally decapitated. His carcass was burned to ashes.

The Magistrate of Bedburg built a grim monument remembering the ghastly incident. Workmen put the torture wheel atop a tall pole with Stubbe’s head above it structured with the likeliness of a wolf. Sixteen pieces of yard long wood cuts were hung from the rim of the wheel commemorating poor souls of the victims. The words of Stubbe’s trial and execution spread across the lands in no time. His brutality, atrocity and savagery were beyond human comprehension and was readily related with the behavior of a wolf. People started to believe that such individuals with the shadow of wolves were living among them. They named them Werewolves.

The Greek Myth of Lycaon: The Original Werewolf

Few people are aware that even the legend of the werewolf can be tracked back to ancient Greek mythology. Werewolves are also often referred to as lycanthropes. Perhaps because the very first werewolf was a human by the name of Lycaon.

As the story goes, a lot of humans believed that they owed their lives to Prometheus rather than to the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. For that reason, many refused to worship them according to Zeus's rules.

A few chose to do more than refuse to worship the gods, however. They went so far as to challenge them out right. The worst of the bunch was a a man named Lycaon. He constantly spoke out against the Olympians, cursing their names and uttering blasphemies.

Zeus grew tired of Lycaon's attitude and decided to teach him a lesson. He took mortal form and went into Lycaon's village, sharing his identity with many of the humans that he met along the way. Most humans, once they knew who he really was, began to worship the king of the gods according to his will.

Of course Lycaon wasn't about to do that. Still, he gave the appearance that he was going to listen to what Zeus had to say. He invited him to dinner to discuss what he needed to do in order to gain favor with the gods.

However, Lycaon never intended to keep his end of the bargain. Quite the opposite, in fact, he intended to commit the most grievous act of desecration of which he could conceive.

In his dungeon, Lycaon had many prisoners because he was a wealthy man who could get away with almost any act imaginable. His prisoners were all people that he had decided had dishonored him in some way or who had dared to try and take a morsel of bread from his table.

He took one of his prisoners and slit his throat. He then dismembered the poor soul, to use his body as meat for the stew that he planned to serve for dinner.

Once the meal was prepared and set on the table, Lycaon invited Zeus and his entourage into the dining area. But Zeus immediately smelled the meat and knew what Lycaon had done. Using his thunderbolts, he struck the table, sending the food flying and finally capturing the attention of his so-called host.

The Life and Death of Peter Stubbe

A true Discourse Declaring the damnable life and death of one Stubbe Peeter, a most wicked Sorcerer, who in the likenes of a Woolfe, committed many murders, continuing this diuelish practise 25. yeeres, killing and deuouring Men, Woomen, and Children. Who for the same fact was taken and executed the 31. of October neer the Cittie of Collin in Germany.

Trulye translated out of the high Duch, according to the Copie printed in Collin, brought ouer into England by George Bores ordinary Poste, the xj. daye of this present Moneth of Iune 1590. who did both see and heare the same.

AT LONDON Printed for Edward Venge, and are to be solde in Fleet street at the signe of the Vine

A most true Discourse, declaring the life and death of one Stubbe Peeter, being a most Wicked Sorcerer.

Those whome the Lord dooth leaue to followe the Imagination of their own hartes, dispising his proffered grace, in the end through the hardnes of hart and contempt of his fatherly mercy, they enter the right path to perdicion and destruction of body and soule for euer : as in this present historie in perfect sorte may be seene, the strangenes whereof, together with the cruelties committed, and the long time therein continued, may driue many in doubt whether the same be truth or no, and the ratherfore that sundry falce & fabulous matters haue heertofore passed in print, which hath wrought much incredulitie in ye harts of all men generally, insomuch that now a daies fewe thinges doo escape be it neuer so certain, but that it is embased by the tearm of a lye or falce reporte. In the reading of this story, therefore I doo first request reformation of opinion, next patience to peruse it, because it is published for examples sake, and lastly to censure thereof as resaon and wisdome dooth think conueniet, considereing the subtilty that Sathan vseth to work on the soules destruction, and the great matters which the accursed practise of Sorcery dooth efect, the fruites whereof is death and destruction for euer, and yet in all ages practised by the reprobate and wicked of the earth, some in one sort and some in another euen as the Deuill, who was a murderer from the beginning, whose life and eath and most bloody practises the discourse following dooth make iust reporte. In the townes of Cperadt and Bedbur neer vnto collin in high Germany, there was continually brought vp and nourished one Stubbe Peeter, who from his youth was greatly inclined to euill, and the practising of wicked Artes euen from twelue yeers of age till twentye, and so forwardes till his dying daye, insomuch that surfeiting in the Damnable desire of magick, negromancye, and sorcery, acquainting him selfe with many infernall spirites and feendes, insomuch that forgetting ye God that made him, and that Sauiour that shed his blood for mans redemption : In the end, careles of saluation gaue both soule and body to the deuil for euer, for small carnall pleasure in this life, that he might be famous and spoken of on earth, though he lost heauen thereby. The Deuill who hath a readye eare to listen to the lewde motions of cursed men, promised to give vnto him whatsoeuer his hart desired during his mortall life : whereupon this vilde wretch neither desired riches nor promotion, nor was his fancy satisfied with any externall of outward pleaure, but hauing a tirannous hart, and a most cruell bloody minde, he only requested that at his plesure he might woork his mallice on men, Women, and children, in the shape of some beast, wherby he might liue wihtout dread or danger of life, and vnknowen to be the executor of any bloody enterprise, which he meant to commit: TheDeuill who sawe him a fit instrumet to perfourm mischeefe as a wicked feend pleased with the desire of wrong and destruction, gaue vnto him a girdle which being put about him, he was straight transfourmed into the likenes of a greedy deuouring Woolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large, which in the night sparkeled like vnto brandes of fire, a mouth great and wide, with most sharpe and cruell teeth, A huge body, and mightye pawes : And no sooner should he put off the same girdle, but presently he should appeere in his former shape, according to the proportion of a man, as if he hadneuer beene changed.

Stubbe Peeter heerwith was exceedingly well pleased, and the shape fitted his fancye and agreeed best with his nature, being inclined to blood and crueltye, therefore satisfied with this strange and diuelish gifte, for that it was not troublesome nor great in cariage, but that it might be hidden in a small room, he proceeded to the execution of sundry most hainous and vilde murders, for if any person displeased him, he would incontinent thirst for reuenge, and no sooner should they or any of theirs walke abroad in the feeldes or about the Cittie, but in the shape of a Woolfe he would presentlye incounter them, and neuer rest till he had pluct out their throates and teare their ioyntes a sunder : And after he had gotten a taste heerof, he tooke such pleasure and delight in shedding of blood, that he would night and day walke the Feelds, and work extreame cruelties. And sundry times he would goe through the Streetes of Collin, Bedbur, and Cperadt, in comely habit, and very ciuilly as one well knowen to all the inhabitants therabout, & oftentimes was he saluted of those whose feendes and children he had buchered, though nothing suspected for the smae. In these places, I say, he would walke vp & down, and if he could spye either Maide, Wife or childe, that his eyes liked or his hart lusted after, he would waite their issuing out of ye Cittie or town, if he could by any meanes get them alone, he would in the feeldes rauishe them, and after in his Wooluishe likenes cruelly murder them : yea often it came to passe that as he walked abroad in the feeldes, if he chaunste to spye a companye of maydens playing together, or else a milking of their Kine, in his Woolusihe shape he would incontinent runne among them, and while the rest escaped by flight, he would be sure to laye holde of one, and after his filthy lust filfilled, he would murder he presentlye, beside, if he had liked or knowne any of them, looke who he had a minde vnto, her he would pursue, whether she were before or behinde, and take her from the rest, for such was his swiftnes of foot while he continued a woolf : that he would outrunne the swiftest greyhound in that Countrye : and so muche he had practised this wickednes, that ye whoel Prouince was feared by the cruelty of this bloody and deuouring Woolfe. Thus continuing his diuelishe and damnable deedes within the compas of fewe yeeres, he had murdered thirteene yong Children, and two goodly yong women bigge with Child, tearing the Children out of their wombes, in the most bloody and sauedge sorte, and after eate their hartes panting hotte and rawe, which he accounted dainty morsells & best agreeing to his Appetite.

Moreour he vsed many times to kill Lambes and Kiddes and such like beastes, feeding on the same most vsually raw and bloody, as if he had beene a naturall Woolfe indeed, so that all men mistrusted nothing lesse then this his diuelish Sorcerie.

He had at that tiem liuing a faire yong Damosell to his Daughter, after whom he also lusted most vnnaturallye, and cruellye committed most wicked inceste with her, a most groce and vilde sinne, far surmounting Adultrye or Fornication, though the least of the three dooth driue the soule inot hell fier, except hartye repentance, and not altogither so wickedlye giuen, who was called by the name of commendacions of all those that knewe her : And such was his inordinate lust and filthye desire toward her, that he begat a Childe by her, dayly vsing her as his Concubine, but as an insaciate and filthy beast, giuen ouer to woork euil, with greedines he also lay by as the wickednes of his hart lead him : Moreour being on a time sent for to a Gossip of his there to make merry and good cheere, ere he thence departed he so wunne the woman by his faire and flattering speech, and so much preuailed, yt ere he departed the house : he lay by here and euer after had her companye at his commaund, this woman had to name Katherine Trompin, a woman of tall and comely stature of exceeding good fauour and one that was well esteemed among her neighbours. But his lewde and inordinat lust bing not satisfied with the company of many Concubines, nor his wicked fancye contented with the beauty of any woman, at length the deuill sent vnto him a wicke dspirit in the similitude and likenes of a woman, so faire of face and comelye of personage, that she resembled rather some heauenly Helfin then any mortall creature, so farre her beauty exceeded the choisest sorte of women, and with her as with his harts delight, he kept company the space of seuen yeeres, though in the end she proued and was found indeed no other then a she Deuil, notwithstanding, this lewd sinne of lecherye did not any thing asswage his cruell and bloody minde, but continuing an insatiable bloodsucker, so great was the ioye he took therin, that he accouted no day spent in the pleasure wherin he had not shed some blood not respecting so much who he did murder, as how to murder and destroy them, as the matter ensuing dooth manifest, which may stand for a speciall note of a cruell and hart hart. For hauing a proper youth to his sonne, begotten in the flower and strength of his age, the firste fruite of his bodye, in whome he took such ioye, that he did commonly call him his Hartes ease, yet so farre his delight in murder exceeded the ioye he took in his only Sonne, that thirsting ater his blood, on a time he intice him into the feeldes, and from thence into a Forrest hard by, where making excuse to stay about the necessaries of nature, while the yong man went on forward, incontinent in the shape and likeness of a Woolfe he encountred his owne Sonne, and there most cruelly slewe him, which doon, he presently eat the brains out of his head as a most sauerie and dainty delycious meane to staunch his greedye apetite : the most monstrous act that euer man heard off, for neuer was knowen a wretch from nature so far degenerate.

Long time he continued this vilde and villanous life, sometime in the likenes of a Woolfe, sometime in the habit of a man, sometime in the Townes and Citties, and sometimes in the Woods and thickettes to them adioyning, whereas the duche coppye maketh mention, he on a time mette with two men and one woman, whom he greatly desired to murder, and the better to bring his diuelish purpose to effect, doubting by them to be ouermatched and knowing one of them by name, he vsed this pollicie to bring them to their end. In subtill sorte he conuayed himselfe far before them in their way and craftely couched out of their sight, but as soone as they approached neere the place where he lay, he called one of them by his name, the partye hearing him selfe called once or twice by his name, supposing it was some familiar freend that in iesting sorte stood out of his sight, went from his companye towarde the place from whence the voice proceeded, of purpose to see who it was, but he was no sooner entered within the danger of this transformed man, but incontinent he was murdered in ye place, the rest of his company staying for him, expecting still his returne, but finding his stay ouer long : the other man lefte the woman, and went to looke him, by which means the second man was also murdered, the woman then seeing neither of both returne againe, in hart suspected that some euill had fan vpon them, and therefore with all the power she had, she sought to saue her selfe by flight, though it nothing preuailed, for good soule she was also soone ouertake by this light footed Wolfe, whom when he had first deflowered, he after most cruelly murdered, then men were after found mangled in the wood, but the womans body was neuer after seene, for she the caitife had most rauenoulye deoured, whose fleshe he esteemed both sweet and dainty in taste.

Thus this damn able Stubbe Peeter liued the tearme of fiue and twenty yeeres, unsuspected to be Author of so many cruell and vnnaturall murders, in which time he had destroyed and spoyled an vnknowed number of Men, Women, and Children, sheepe, Lambes, and Goates : and other Catttell, for when he could not through the warines of people drawe men, Women, or Children in his danger, then like a cruell and tirannous beast he would woorke his cruelty on brut beasts in most sauadge sort, and did act more mischeefe and cruelty then would be credible, although high Germany hath been forced to taste the trueth thereof.

By which meanes the inhabitantes of Colling, Bedbur and Cperadt, seeing themselues so greeuously endaungered, palgued, and molested by this greedy & cruel Woolfe, who wrought continuall harme and mischeefe, insomuch that few or none durst trauell to or from those places without good prouision of defence, and all for feare of this deuouring and fierce woolf, for oftentimes the Inhabitants found the Armes & legges of dead Men, Women, and Children, scattered vp and down the feelds to their great greefe and vexation of hart, knowing the same to be doone by that strange and cruell Woolfe, whome by no meanes they could take or ouercome, so that if any man or woman mist their Childe, they were out of hope euer to see it again aliue, mistrusting straight that the Woolfe had destroyed it.

And heere is to be noted a most strange thing which setteth foorth the great power and mercifull prouidence of God to ye comfort of eache Christian hart. There were not long agoe certain small Children playing in a Medowe together hard by ye town, where also some sotre of kine were feeding, many of them hauing yong calues sucking upon the : and sodainly among these Children comes this vilde Woolfe running and caught a prittie fine Girle by the choller, with intent to pull out her throat, bu tsuch was ye will of God, that he could not pearce the choller of the Childes coate, being high and very well stiffened & close claspt about her neck, and therwithall the sodaine great crye of the rest of the childre which escaped, so amazed the cattell feeding by, that being fearfull to be robbed of their young, they altogether came running against the Woolfe with such force that he was presently compelled to let oge his holde and to run away to escape ye danger of their hornes, by which meanes the Childe was preserued from death, and God be thanked reamians liuing at this day.

And that this thing is true, Maister Tice Artine a Brewer dwelling at Puddlewharfe, in London, beeing a man of that Country borne, and one of good reputation and account, is able to iustifie, who is neere Kinsman to this Childe, and hath from thence twice reciued Letters conserning the same, and for that the firste Letter did rather driue him into wondering at the act then yeelding credit therunto, he had shortlye after at request of his writing another letter sent him, wherby he was more fully satisfied, and diuers other persons of great credit in London hath in like sorte receiued letters from their freends to the like effect.

Likewise in the townes of Germany aforesaid continuall praier was vsed vnto god that it would please hime to deliuer the from the danger of this greedy Woolfe.

And although they had practiced all the meanes that men could deuise to take the rauenous beast, yet vntill the Lord had determined his fall, they could not in any way preuaile : notwithstanding they daylye continued their purpose, and daylye sought to intrap him, and for that intent continually maintained great mastyes and Dogges of muche strength to hunt & chase the beast whersoeuer they could finde him. In the end it pleased God as they were in readines and prouided to meete with him, that they shoud espye him in his wooluishe likenes, at what time they beset him round about, and moste circumspectlye set their Dogges of muche strength to hunt & chase the beast whersoeuer they could finde him. In the end it pleased God as they were in readines and prouided to meete with him, that they should espye him in his wooluishe likenes, at what time they beset him round about, and moste circumspectlye set their Dogges vpon him, in such sort that there was no means to escape, at which aduantage they neuer could get him before, but as the Lord deliuered Goliah into ye handes of Dauid, so was this Woolfe brought in danger of these men, who seeing as I saide before no way to secape the imminent danger, being hardly pursued at the heeles presently he slipt his girdle from about him, wherby the sahpe of a Woolfe cleane auoided, and he appeered presently in his true shape & likeness, hauing inhis hand a staffe as one walking toward the Cittie, but the hunters whose eyes was stedfastly bent vpon the beast, and seeing him in the same place metamorphosed contrary to their expectation : it wrought a wonderfull amazement in their mindes, and had it not beene that they knewe the man soone as they sawe him, they had surely taken the same to haue beene some Deuill in a mans likenes, but for as much as they knewe him to be an auncient dweller in the Towne, they came vnto him, and talking with him they brought him by communication home to his owne house, and finding him to be the man indeede, and no delusion or phantasticall motion, they had him incontinent before the Maiestrates to be examined.

Thus being apprehended, he was shortly after put to the racke in the Towne of Bedbur, but fearing the torture, he volluntarilye confessed his while life, and made knowen the villanies which he had committed for the space of xxv.yeeres, also he cofessed how by Sorcery he procured of the Deuill a Girdle, which beeing put on, he forthwith became a Woolfe, which Girdle at his apprehension he confest he cast it off in a certain Vallye and there left it, whcih when the Maiestrates heard, they sent to the Vallye for it, but at their comming found nothing at al, for it may be supposed that it was gone to the deuil from whence it came, so that it was not to be found. For the Deuil hauing brought the wretch to al the shame he could, left him to indure the torments which his deedes deserued.

After he had some space beene imprisoned, the maiestrates fround out throught due examination of the matter, that his daughter Stubbe Beell and his Gossip Katherine Trompin, were both accessarye to diuers murders committed, who for the same as also for their leaud life otherwise committed, was arraigned, and with Stubbe Peeter condempned, and their seuerall Iudgementes pronounced the 28 of October 1589, in this manor, that is to saye : Stubbe Peeter as principall mallefactor, was iudged first to haue his body laide on a wheele, and with red hotte burning pincers in ten seueral places to haue the flesh puld off from the bones, after that his legges and Armes to be broken with a woodden Axe or Hatchet, afterward to haue his head strook from his body, then to haue his carkasse burnde to Ashes.

Also his Daughter and his Gossip were iudged to be burned quicke to Ashes, the same time and day with the carkasse of the aforesaid Stubbe Peeter. And on the 31. of the same moneth, they suffered death accordingly in the won of Bedbur in the presence of many peeres & princes of Germany.

Thus Gentle Reader haue I set down the true discourse of this wicked man Stub Peeter, which I desire to be a warning to all Sorcerers and Witches, which vnlawfully followe their owne diuelish imagination to the vtter ruine and destruction of their soules eternally, from which wicked and damnable practice, I beseech God keepe all good men, and from the crueltye of their wicked hartes. Amen.

After the execution, there was by the aduice of the Maiestrates of the town of Bedbur a high pole sut vp and stronglye framed, which first went throught ye wheel wheron he was broken, whereunto also it wsa fastened, after that a little aboue the Wheele the likenes of a Woolfe was framed in the wood, to shewe unto all men the shape wherin he executed those cruelties. Ouer that on the top of the stake the sorcerers head it selfe was set vp, and round about the Wheele there hung as it were sixteen peeces of wood about a yarde in length which represented the sixteene persons that was perfectly knowen to be murdered by him.

And the same ordained to stand there for a continuall monument to all insu- ing ages, what murders by Stub Peeter was committed, with the or- der of his Iudgement, as this picture doth more plainelye ex- presse.

Witnesses that this is true. Tyse Artyne. William Brewar. Adolf Staedt. George Bores. With diuers others that haue seen the same.

The Beast of Le Gevaduan

This tale takes place in a mountainous region in France called Le Gevaduan where the people lived off of cattle herding. These cattle were mostly watched by children. The first person killed was a young girl who was watching a herd of cattle and did not return home. The villagers went out looking for her and found her dead body and her heart torn out. Many other followed and families began to keep their children home because they feared for their lives. Then a peasant women reported that she had seen a weird looking creature that walked on two legs like a human but had a pig like snout and was as big as a donkey. No one believed her until another man named Jean-Pierre witnessed the creature himself.

News quickly spread to King Louis the XV and he immediately sent a group of soldiers to find and kill the animal. They came upon the animal and they killed it. But they were wrong because the killings continued. The King sent the soldiers out a second time but again the soldiers failed and the killings continued. The third time a group of hunters were determined to kill the creature, especially Jean Chastel who would not rest until he killed the animal. He even brought a rifle full of silver bullets, that were known to kill werewolves. The group of hunters met up with the creature and Jean Chastel shot two of his silver bullets. One piercing the werewolf's heart killing it.

The description of this animal is unclear and we only know that it was a "strange-looking wolf, with close-cropped ears and unusual hooflike feet." The animal was buried but no actually knows where. The only remaining evidence is Jean Chastel's rifle at the church in Saint Martin-de-Bouchaux.

Werewolves Cases from Medieval French Chronicles

As centuries passed there arrived a point when fanciful stories told to amuse people were replaced by real incidents and real suffering. Suddenly tales such as Stubbe’s started to emerge. It was as if people believed that werewolves were every where. The trial records of lycanthrope increased at an epidemic rate. In France alone between 1520 and 1630 some 30,000 individuals were labeled as werewolves, many of them underwent traumatic interrogation and torture. Confessed or not, most of them suffered vile death at the stake. Here few recorded sensational werewolf trials have been mentioned.

The case of Pierre Burgot and Michel Verdun

The trial of Pierre Burgot and Michel Verdum, two French peasants in 1521 got wide spread notoriety. Nineteen years ago when Burgot was desperately trying to gather his storm frightened sheeps, he came across three mysterious black dressed horsemen. One of them assured him the future protection of his sheep and gave him some money. In return the stranger asked Burgot to obey him as the Lord. Burgot accepted the offer and agreed to meet them again. In the second meeting the so-called Lord announced the full conditions of the deal; Burgot must denounce the God, the Holy Virgin, the Company of Heaven and baptism.

As year passed Burgot became reluctant to maintain the pact. Then he was called by Michel Verdum. Verdum ordered him to strip naked and rub a magic ointment on his body. When Burgot had followed as instructed he found his arms and legs had become hairy and his hands reshaped into paws. Verdum transformed himself into werewolf too and together they ran through the surrounding countryside. They committed various awful crimes. They tore to pieces a seven-year-old boy, killed a woman and abducted a four-year-old girl. The unfortunate girl was fully eaten up by two of them. When they were caught they were duly put to death. Their picture was hung in the local church as a reminder of all the evil deeds that men could commit under the influence of Satan. Gilles Garnier, “the hermit of Dole,"

After finding several half-eaten children the authorities of the town Dôle in Frenche-Comté province put a price on werewolves’ head in 1573. Two months after the injunction, an alleged werewolf named Gillas Garner was arrested. Most of his victims were nine to twelve-year-old children. He slew them with his paws and teeth. To satisfy his appetite, he ate flesh from their thigh, legs and belly. The story of his crimes and execution still survives through folk songs.

Werewolf of Caude

Again in 1598 Jacques Rollet was tried for killing and eating a boy of fifteen. He was known as the werewolf of Caude. When he was found in the woods, he was half-naked with long matted hair and blood covered hands. He was still holding a lump of flesh. At his trial he described how he had slaughtered various people, including a number of attorneys, lawyers and bailiffs. Though he was sentenced to death he was later sent to a madhouse. Strangely enough he stayed there for only two year.

The Tailor

Among other werewolf cases, the story of a tailor stands out for its peculiarity. The alleged werewolf would hide in the forests and for a passerby. Whenever he could get a chance, he jumped out and killed the unsuspecting person. He had a shop and used it as a bait for children. He would tempt them into his shop and kill them. In his cellars he store body parts and bones in barrels. The records accumulated during his trial were so repulsive that the court decided to destroy The B

The Boy Lycanthrope

There is a record of a child werewolf as well. He was Jean Grenier of Aquitaire. His story was more or less like that of Burgot. When his father had beat him, he ran away from home and wandered around the countryside. One evening another boy named Pierre La Tihaire took him to the depths of the woods. According to them, the Lord of the Jungle was there. He was a tall black dressed dark man upon a dark horse. The Lord got off his horse and kissed Grenier with icy lips. In the second meeting both of the boys submitted themselves to the acclaimed Lord who scratched tattoos on their thighs as brands. He brought out a wine bag and gave them a drink. He also presented them wolf skins and an ointment. The Lord taught them how to rub their bodies with the ointment before putting on the fur.

During their reign of terror fifteen children including one from Grenier’s cradle disappeared. When finally Grenier was caught in 1603, he confessed of eating them all. At that time he was fourteen, physically and mentally retarded.

Taking into account of his age and limited mental capacity, the Judge ordered Grenier to be confined in a cloister for life. There he refused to eat any regular food and devoured offal instead. Seven years later when a man called Pierre de Lancre visited him, he had grown gaunt and lean. His deep-set black eyes were like fire balls, hands were like claws with bent nails and teeth were like canines. Apparently he enjoyed hearing about wolves and readily imitated them. After one more year he died, to be remembered forever in the anal of werewolves as the “boy lycanthrope”.

Greiner’s case is amongst those that contributed to the shift in attitude towards the werewolf phenomenon. The head of the inquest committee who looked into this case found him incapable of rational thought mentioning “The change of shape existed only in the disorganized brain of the insane. Consequently it was not a crime that could be punished”. Judges began to regard werewolf cases with more tolerance.

Possible Explanations of Werewolf Phenomenon
So, what actually is werewolf or lycanthropy? Is it a fact based on concrete evidences? Is it a myth, fabrication of feeble minds? Is it an exaggeration of some other things? Well, all these questions have been puzzling mankind for last 5 centuries. Though many ingenious hypotheses have been suggested as possible explanations, definite conclusion can't be drawn. Some experts have tried to observe it as purely supernatural phenomena while others have relied on scientific observations. Contradictions and debates still persist and will continue till any single theory solves the jigsaw which seems unlikely considering complexity and diversity of the topic.

Mythological Explanation of Werewolf Phenomenon

Some people during middle ages believed that the werewolf was the projection of a demon, which made its victims appear as a wolf in his own eyes and to those around him. For others, the werewolf was a direct manifestation of the Devil. Early seventeenth century French author Henri Bouguet believed, as did a great many people of that day, that Satan would leave the lycanthrope asleep behind a bush, go forth as a wolf, and perform whatever evil might be in that person’s mind. According to Bouguet, the Devil could confuse the sleeper’s imagination to such an extent “that he believes he had really been a wolf and had run about and killed men and beasts.”

Robert Burton, the clergyman and scholar, considered lycanthrope to be a form of madness as mentioned in his book Anatomy of Melancholy in 1621; he blamed every thing from sorcerers and witches to poor diet, bad air, sleeplessness and even lack of exercise for this. The Mysteries of Magic, written by nineteenth century French occultist Éliphas Lévi, postulates the existence of phantom - a body that acts as mediator between a living organism and the soul. “Thus in case of a man whose instinct is savage and sanguinary, his phantom will wander around in lupine form, whilst he sleeps painfully at home, dreaming he is a veritable wolf.” Lévi believed that the wounds so often reported in the cases of werewolves could be attributed to the out-of-body experience. He saw the human body as a subject to magnetic and nervous influences and capable of receiving the wounds suffered by the metamorphosed shape.

Contrary to the popular explanations existed during middle ages, few doctors at that time asserted that it was caused by an excess of melancholy or an imbalance in humors, the liquid or fluid part of the body. Many doctors believed that such melancholy could lead to insanity and delusion. One physician recommended that the lycanthrope should be treated with baths, purging, bleeding, dietary measures and rubbing opium into the nostrils.

Scientific Explanation of Werewolf Phenomenon:

Food contamination

The diet of medieval peasants may have been a source of werewolf delusions. Ergot infection on food grains like wheat and rye was common in Europe during the middle ages. This is actually a fungus which grows in place of grains in wet seasons after very cold winters. Alkaloids of this fungus are chemically related to LSD (LysergicAcid Diethylamide, a strong hallucinogenic psychoactive drug which produces dreamlike changes in mood and thought and alters the perception of time and space. It can create lack of self-control, extreme terror and blurring the feeling between the individual and the environment.) Similar to this modern drug, Ergot poisoning results in hallucinations, mass hysteria and paranoia. Continuous exposure to this contamination through bread or other food items could contribute to either an individual believing he is a werewolf or a whole town believing that they have seen a werewolf. A recorded Ergot poisoning case confirms this hypothesis. Nearly 135 people had to be hospitalized and 6 died poisoning in the French town of Pont St. Esprit in 1951. They ate bread made from Ergot infected rye. The victims had horrible visions of being attacked by tigers and snakes and of turning into beasts.

However, Ergot contamination is not sufficient enough as a single cause to explain lycanthropy; werewolf appearance have been reported from other parts of the world where Ergot infection is rare.

Substance Induced Hallucination

Recorded werewolf cases and contemporary literatures mention rubbing magic ointment on the skin or inhaling vapor from magic potion by the alleged lycanthrope. The main ingredients of the ointment or potion were Belladonna or Nightshade that could produce hallucination and delusions of bodily metamorphose. This might explain how a wicked person make himself believe or act as a werewolf, but still the mystery of werewolf sighting remains ambiguous as it can’t induce same hallucination or delusions on surrounding people who has confirmed werewolf sightings.

Physical or Mental Illness

One branch of modern physicians refers lycanthropes as suffering from any of the five conditions; Rabies, Porphyria, Hypertrichosis, Body Image Distortion and psychological illness.

A strain of virus carried by dogs, wolves and other animals including vampire bats causes Rabies. The virus strikes the central nervous system and produces uncontrollable excitement and painful contractions of the throat muscles’ intervention preventing the victim from drinking. Usually the patient dies within three or four days of first symptom.

The second disease, Porphyria is a rare genetic disorder that results in a deficiency of heme, one of the pigments in the oxygen-carrying red blood cells. At the 1985 conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, biochemist David Dolphin suggested that the untreated symptoms of Porphyria match many of the traits associated with the classic lycanthrope. One of them is severe photosensitivity, which makes venturing out into daylight extremely painful and thus dooms the sufferer to a life of shadows and darkness. As the condition advances, the victim’s appearance grows increasingly morbid; discoloration of the skin and an unusual thick growth of facial or body hair occurs. There is a tendency for an abnormal change in skin and formation of sores. Eventually the disease attacks cartilage (the soft bone) and causes a progressive deterioration of the nose, ears, eyelids and fingers. The teeth, as well as the fingernails and the flesh beneath them might turn red or reddish brown because of deposition of Porphyrin, a component of Hemoglobin in the blood. Porphyria is often accompanied by mental disturbance, from mild hysteria to delirium and manic-depressive psychoses.

The third disease Hypertrichosis is also known as "Wolfitis", refers to a condition of excessive body hair growth. In most cases, the term is used to refer to an above-average amount of normal body hair that is unwanted and is an aspect of human variability. The hair growth can be generalized, symmetrically affecting most of the torso and limbs, or localized, affecting a particular area of skin. Though severe Hypertrichosis is quite rare it results in excessive or animal-like hair on face and body.

Defect in the part of the brain known to be involved in representing body shape causes body image distortion. A neuroimaging study of two people diagnosed with clinical lycanthropy showed that these areas display unusual activation, suggesting that when people report their bodies are changing shape, they may be genuinely perceiving those feelings. Body image distortions are not unknown in mental and neurological illness, so this may help explain at least part of the process. One further puzzle is why an affected person doesn't simply report that their body "feels like it is changing in odd ways", rather than presenting with a delusional belief that they are changing into a specific animal. There is much evidence that psychosis is more than just odd perceptual experiences so perhaps lycanthropy is the result of these unusual bodily experiences being understood by an already confused mind, perhaps filtered through the lens of cultural traditions and ideas.

Psychologists have concluded that lycanthropes are actually patient of psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusional belief that the affected person is, or has, transformed into an animal. It has been linked with the altered states of mind that accompany psychosis (the reality-bending mental state that typically involves delusions and hallucinations) with the transformation only seeming to happen in the mind and behavior of the affected person.

A study on lycanthropy from the McLean Hospital in New York reported on a series of cases and proposed some diagnostic criteria by which lycanthropy could be classified:

* A patient reports in a moment of clarity or looking back he sometimes feels as an animal or has felt like one.

* A patient behaves in a manner that resembles animal behavior, for example crying, grumbling or creeping.

According to these criteria, either a delusional belief in current or past transformation, or behavior that suggests a person thinks of themselves as transformed, is considered evidence of clinical lycanthropy. The authors go on to note that although the condition seems to be an expression of psychosis there is no specific diagnosis of mental or neurological illness associated with its behavioral consequences.

Modern Werewolf Cases from Scientific View Point

There are many individuals today who believe they are werewolves, and some of the lycanthropes have been studied and treated by psychologists and psychiatrists. The November 1975 issues of The Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal reported in details on several recent cases of lycanthropy.

In the first case, the twenty-year-old patient, referred to as Mr. H, was convinced that he was a werewolf. A drug user, he told his doctor that while serving in the United States Army in Europe, he had hiked into a forest near his post and had ingested LSD and strychnine, the latter a deadly poison that acts as a stimulant when taken in tiny quantities. Both substances are pharmacologically similar to some of the ingredient used by shape shifters in the past. They had an instant and potent effect on the young man, who claimed to have seen fur growing on his hands and felt it sprouting on his face. Soon he was overcome by a compulsion to chase after, catch, and devour live rabbits. He wandered in this delusional state for several days before returning to the post.

Placed on the tranquilizer chlorpromazine, Mr. H was weaned away from drugs and received adjunct therapy for some nine months, during which time he continued to hear disembodied voices and to experience satanic visions. Claiming to be possessed by the devil, he insisted he had unusual powers. Tests indicated his delusions were “compatible with acute schizophrenic or toxic psychosis” He was treated with an antipsychotic drug, and when he improved sufficiently, he was referred to an outpatient clinic. After only two visits, however, he had stopped taking the medication and left treatment. Subsequent efforts to contact him failed.

Another werewolf patient, thirty-seven-year-old Mr. W was admitted to the hospital after repeated pubic displays of bizarre activity, including howling at the moon, sleeping in cemeteries, allowing his hair and beard to grow out, and lying in the center of busy highways. Unlike Mr. H, Mr. W had no history of drug or alcohol abuse. He had once been a farmer and considered of average intelligence, which was found in an IQ test administered when he served in the United States Navy. Now, he was seen not only as psychotic but also as intellectually deficient, with a mental age of an eight-to ten year-old child.

Because of the patient’s increasing dementia, the doctors performed a brain biopsy. Their findings revealed an abnormal physiological deterioration of cerebral tissue, known as walnut brain. Mr. W was diagnosed as having a chronic brain syndrome of unknown origin. When placed on antipsychotic drugs, he showed no further symptoms of lycanthropy. Seen later on an outpatient basis, he exhibited quiet, childlike behavior.

The October 1977 issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry details the particularly bizarre story of a forty-nine year-old woman who believed herself a wolf and, with increasing frequency, had begun acting like one. She revealed that just below the surface of a seemingly normal twenty-year marriage she had harbored a consuming desire to indulge in secret, bestial appetites. Her erotic daydreams often involved other women in polymorphous perverse orgies. The wolf was a constant and central figure in her fantasies; she felt its mesmerizing stare fastened onto her by day, its hot breath on her bare neck at night. Soon she began “feeling like an animal with claws.” For her, the message was clear-she was a wolf.

After a time, she began to act out her compulsions. At a family gathering, for instance, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the wolf passion. Stripping naked and dropping to all fours she excitedly approached her own mother, and assuming the sexual posture of a female wolf, she offered herself. The woman’s state continued to deteriorate; the next evening, after making love to her husband, she lapsed into a frenetic two-hour episode of grunting and of clawing and gnawing at the bed. She explained afterwards that the devil “come into her body and she became an animal.”

Enrolled in an inpatient program, she received daily psychotherapy and was placed on medication. In the first three weeks she suffered relapses, during which she would rave: “I am a wolf of the night, I am wolf woman of the day……. I have claws, teeth, fangs, hair………and anguish is my prey at night………powerless is my cause. I am what I am and will always roam the earth after death……….I will continue to search for perfection and salvation.” Concurrently she experienced the urge to kill accompanied by a consuming sexual excitement.

She now saw the head of a wolf, rather that her own face, when she gazed in the mirror. The medical staff commented on “the unintelligible, animal-like noises she made.” There was some improvement, but the patient then relapsed during the full moon. Writing about her experience, she stated: “I don’t intend to give up the search for (what) I lack……….in my present marriage……..my search for such a hairy creature. I will haunt the graveyards for a tall, dark man that that I intend to find.” After nine weeks of treatment, she was released from the hospital on a regimen of drugs designed to free her of her delusion.

On the basis of the woman’s symptoms, her doctors were able to formulate a psychological profile of the lycanthrope, which is not so different, in spite of its modern medical language, from the conclusion of some of the more enlightened physicians and thinkers of earlier times.

Werewolf Syndrome, or, Congenital Generalized Hypertichosis

Werewolf Syndrome, or, Congenital Generalized Hypertichosis is an extremely rare genetic disorder, causing hair follicles to work overtime!

In earlier eras, people afflicted with CGH would stay indoors during the day, going out only at night, to avoid being ostracized. Because of this behavior, people began to associate these unfortunate folks with werewolves, thus the vulgar name of Werewolf Syndrome. CGH is characterized, in its severest form, by thick hair covering the entire body, sparing the palms of the hands, and soles of the feet! Researchers believe the cause to be a genetic mutation, or an “awakening” of a very old, dormant gene-harkening back in evolution to hairier times!

CGH is extremely rare, with only about 50 documented cases since the Middle Ages. One of the first documented cases was found in French King Henry II’s court! King Henry was highly interested in human oddities and quirks of nature, and in 1547 was given, as a gift, a 10 year old boy who appeared to be half human, half animal. Four inch, thick blond fur covered his entire body, except for lips and eyes. The boy’s name was Pedro Gonzales, born in the Canary Islands. Pedro married a lovely French woman, and fathered many children, five of which inherited their father's genetic defect. Many portraits were painted of this unusual family-some still hang in the Ambras Castle, near Innsbruck, Austria. Since then, known cases have appeared in China, Poland, Germany, Russia, and Mexico.

Researchers are familiar with other atavistic genetic behavior. Some rare examples include additional nipples, and small tail-like extrusions at the end of the spine. The defective gene in CGH is passed by both sexes, to 50% of their offspring. Typically, fetuses lose their fine body hair, called lanugo, by the end of the seventh and eight month of gestation. Babies afflicted with CGH are born with this body hair intact, which occasionally fades in adulthood, but typically lastis a lifetime.

Currently, the best known cases of CGH occurs in a family living in Mexico. Sadly, much of this family has resorted to working in circuses and “freak” shows to earn a living. This Mexican family grows an even thicker, darker body hair than their Asian, and European counterparts. Men have thicker and denser hair than the women in this family, suggesting an X-linked dominant pattern of inheritance.

“"This is probably a mutation of a gene that was a sleeping beauty," said Dr. Jose M. Cantu, head of genetics at the Mexican Institute for Social Security in Guadalajara, an author of the new report. "The mutation awakened a gene that had been put aside during evolution."

But Dr. Cantu and his colleagues emphasized that the idea of generalized hypertrichosis as an atavistic mutation was only a theory. "At this point it's strictly speculation, though the idea is a very interesting one," said Dr. Pragna I. Patel of the Human Genome Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, another author of the report, which appears in the June issue of Nature Genetics.

Biologists have observed many other mutations that they suggest fall into this class of atavisms, the reappearance of normally dormant traits. Some people are born with multiple sets of nipples, for example, just as most nonprimate mammals have a double ridge of mammary tissue down the length of the underside of the torso. In very rare cases, girls develop entire extra breasts at puberty.

Other examples of atavistic mutations include the extension of the human coccyx into a small tail, the appearance of hind limbs in whales and the growth of extra toes on horses and cats.

"Atavistic mutations tell us that a lot of information is kept around for a very long time," said Dr. Brian K. Hall, a developmental biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Just because an animal isn't using a gene anymore doesn't mean the information just disappears." Dr. Hall wrote a commentary about atavistic mutations that appears with the report on hypertrichosis.”

Example

 sited on this paranormal magazine on Friday, August 15th, 2008

Werewolf Boy

An 11-year-old “werewolf” boy who desperately seeks a cure for his condition is baffling medical experts.

Pruthviraj Patil is one of 50 in the world who suffers from hypertrichosis, a rare genetic condition known as Werewolf Syndrome.

As a result his face and body is covered in thick, matted hair. But he is hoping doctors will one day find a cure for his ailment.

Born in the Indian district of Sangli, near Bombey, he hardly ever leaves his village because of his fear of being traunted by strangers.

The only parts of his body that are not covered with hair are the palms of his hands and soles of his feet.

The son of a well off farmer, his parents have tried homeopathy, traditional Ayurvedic remedies and laser surgery. But none of them have worked.

“Why did God do this to us,” his 32-year-old mother Anita pleads. “He looks so odd and whever we go people throng to see him.”

Pruthviraj says he is anxious to get the hair removed but even after laser treatment it simply grows back. The doctors don’t have any answers to his predicament.

He appealed to the doctors to help find him a permanent cure.

some events of now times deaing with werewolfs
from

As most horror film buffs know, a werewolf is a person who changes into a wolf-like creature when the moon is full. This is a myth, as most country-dwellers who know their folklore will tell you.

A real werewolf is said to be a large unidentified species of wolf which has no tail and is usually quite long; often more than seven feet in length, and the animal carries out most of its hunting at night when the moon is full.

But these strange creatures also go on the prowl most nights regardless of whether the moon is full or not. Most people have heard of the Beast of Bodmin Moor and the Surrey Puma.

But there is another violent creature roaming parts of the United Kingdom which has also killed people, and this animal is known as the Welsh Werewolf.

Records of an enormous wolf-like animal in North Wales date back to 1790, when a stagecoach travelling between Denbigh and Wrexham was attacked and overturned by an enormous black beast almost as long as the coach horses.

The terrifying animal tore into one of the horses and killed it, while the other horse broke free from its harness and galloped off into the night.

The attack took place just after dusk, with a full moon on the horizon. The moon that month seemed blood red, probably because of dust in the stratosphere from a recent forest fire in the Hatchmere area.

The locals thought the moon's colour was a sign that something evil was at large and the superstitious phrase, "bad moon on the rise" was whispered in travellers' inns across the region. In the winter of 1791, a farmer went into his snow-covered field just seven miles east of Gresford, and he saw enormous tracks that looked like those belonging to an overgrown wolf.

He followed the tracks with a blacksmith for two miles, and they led to a scene of mutilation which made the villagers in the area quake with fear that night.

One snow-covered field was a lake of blood dotted with carcasses of sheep, cattle, and even the farmer's dog.

The farmer was found locked up in his house in a terrible state. He wasn't harmed physically, but he was terrified. He had barricaded himself in after witnessing an enormous black animal that resembled a wolf ripping the throat out of his sheepdog.

The animal had then gone for the farmer, but he had managed to run into the farmhouse in time. He had bolted the heavy oaken door and hid under a table in the kitchen armed only with a pitchfork.

The farmer said the wolf pounded on the heavy oak door, almost knocking it off its hinges. The weird-looking animal then stood up on its hind legs like a human and looked in through the windows of the farmhouse.

Its eyes were blue and seemed intelligent and almost human-like. The beast foamed at the mouth as it peered in, then bolted from the window to commit carnage on the farm.

The church set up patrols in search of what was suspected to be a werewolf, and bands of villagers braved the freezing blizzards with lanterns, muskets and pitchforks in search of the beast, but only its tracks were ever seen.

Seven years later, two men walking across the Bickerton Hills in Cheshire saw something that sent them running for their lives.

They rushed into an inn and refused to continue their journey until morning. At dawn on the following day, the mutilated bodies of two vagrants were found in a wood just five miles from the inn.

The attacks by the large black wolf gradually died out, and the people of Cheshire and Wales breathed a sigh of relief.

But two centuries later, attacks by a large unidentified animal were reported again.

In February 1992, a national newspaper reported sightings of a strange bear-like animal that had been seen across Wales. In the north of the country, a farmer who had spotted the animal on the night of a full moon said he had afterwards found two of his lambs had been killed.

And in 2001 the local newspaper, the Evening Leader ran a series of articles about sightings of big cats, like a puma in Treuddyn, near Mold, and Bangor-on-Dee, near Wrexham.

speech marksTaken from Tom Slemen's The Haunted Liverpool series of books published by The Bluecoat Press of Liverpool.

a true experience of someone with an werewolf encounter as posted on a website

Your True Tales August 2007

Werewolf Encounter by Dan

This encounter happened in May 2006 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. I was walking home from work and it was around 10.00 p.m., so it was still fairly light because of the time of year and it wasn't a full moon. I had stayed behind at the office to meet a deadline for the following day, I'm a journalist for one of the local newspapers.

I was walking home down the main road there was only three other people close by and they all saw the same thing.. a very large, grey dog ran from one of the neighbouring streets, it ran into the middle of the road and stopped still. I was close to it and was scared by what I was seeing. The creature reared onto its back legs and howled. It was not like any dog howl I had heard before. It was frightening and high-pitched, almost like a scream, but not a scream. I wanted to run, but I was intrigued. It was at least six feet tall when it was standing and its fangs were three inches long! It looked around at the other three people, then around at me. It growled and took off on all fours back down the street it had come from.

I ran over to the other people who, like me, were mesmerized by what we had witnessed. None of us knew what animal it was. We all had an idea, although no one said anything. The creature we had seen was a werewolf. It couldn't have been anything else. It didn't act like a dog and it didn't even run like a dog; it sort of loped in a weird way.

I didn't do a report about it for the fact that no one would believe me and I would be out of a job for suggesting it I haven't seen the creature since although I have looked regularly and still walk the same way home I even take a camera in case I do see it. I do regularly hear similar noises very late at night. I swear that every word is true even if nobody else admits to seeing it, this is proof that werewolves do exist.

Possible Ways to Become A Werewolf
1. The number one way to become a werewolf is to be bitten or scratched by another werewolf thereby becoming infected with the werewolf curse. Of course, good luck finding a werewolf that is only willing to only slightly injure you instead of tearing your into a million pieces.

2. Born into a family that has the werewolf curse upon them. Many of these hereditary curses are alleged to go back thousands of years and usually stem from something horrible that occurred in the family bloodline causing that family to be cursed. A powerful sorcerer could have applied the curse to the family or a God or demon could have applied the curse. The only way known to remove this curse is to end the family line.

3. Use black magick or enter into a pact with the devil. Throughout the medieval ages it was believed that werewolves were people who used black magic or make a blood pact with Satan. It was believed that witches could transform themselves into animals in order to kill their enemies and drink their blood.

4. Infections. The reasoning behind the transmission of the werewolf curse is that there is "something" in the bodily fluids (blood, sweat, saliva) of a werewolf that can be passed on to another carrier just like a disease or virus. A person can knowing or unknowingly become infected by doing any of the following: Eating the brain or flesh of a werewolf - eating the brain of a wolf - drinking water from the paw print of a savage wolf - drinking from a cursed stream - drinking from a stream where three or more wolves have drunk from recently - eating human flesh - having sex or sexual contact with a werewolf.

5. Use a magick belt. There is a Polish legend that says a witch can transform a bride and groom into wolves by laying a girdle of human skin across the threshold at their wedding feast. Then later, the couple would receive dresses of fur and would regain their human shape at will. Magical belts are not uncommon in werewolf legend. Many types of belts (werewolf skin, wolf skin, human skin, human skin of a hanged man) worn by witches and sorcerers were said to be the real power behind the werewolf transformation. When the person put on the belt they would transform into the werewolf and when they were ready to become human again they would release the belt. Destroying the belt, cutting it off or removing it from the werewolf would result in the werewolf immediately turning back into their naked human form. The belts were often crafted with magick symbols engraved into the leather and sometimes adorned with human tongues.

6. Incantations and magick ointments. There are so many werewolf incantations that it is almost pointless to start listed them. The incantations are poem sounding chants that can be send at different times of the year, often in conjunction with special zodiac events or full moons. Along with the chants ointments, magic salves, charms and other enchantments can be used to invoke the wolf spirits or the moon-goddess. The magic salve that was used in these rituals often turned out to contain hallucinogenic plants that would be absorbed into the bloodstream causing effects similar to the drug LSD. The recipes often included ingredients such as fat from children, hemlock, aconite, leaves, cowbane, deadly nightshade, and bat's blood.

7. Invoking the animal spirit. It was very common in both Norse and Native American legends for men to invoke the spirit of the animal. It was believed in Native American cultures that individuals were called by the wolf spirit to become a werewolf. The person would have a dream about running with wolves or have a vision quest of a spirit wolf. There were rituals that would be taught by the spirit animal that would allow the person to invoke the animal spirit and transform into that particular animal. American Indian shaman (skinwalkers) also had the ability to drape an animal skin overtop of their bodies and take on the powers of that animal. The Native Americans considered werewolves to be spiritual creatures. Each tribe had a unique set of beliefs. The Norse always had legends of warriors called berserkers who were legendary for their savagery in battle. A berserker would wear bear or wolf skins and take on the behavior of that animal. A berserker was a feared warrior. Berserkers would fearlessly charge into battle without regard for their own safety. They were burial fighters who seemed not to feel pain. Many armies who faced berserkers and survived commented on how they seemed to have supernatural strength and speed. A berserker would never surrender. They would fight ferociously until death.

8. Some old fashion bad luck and other werewolf legends. These methods can also be done accidentally or intentionally to become a werewolf. Being born on the winter solstice or Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - being born on a full moon Friday - being conceived under a new moon - being the elder son of priest - being born on Friday the 13th - not going to confession for 10 years - wearing, smelling or eating wolfbane - being murdered on a full moon - attaching Lycanthropous flowers to your shirt on a full moon - plucking and eating a Lycanthropous flower on a full moon - and sleeping at night on Friday while the light of the full moon shines in your face.

Werewolves have a vast variety of ways to turn into one. Each method of acquiring the gift/curse has its own advantages and disadvantages. I have rated the following methods in the following categories: Accessability (how easy is it to perform this method?), Discoverability (how easy is it for someone to discover the werewolf’s little secret?), Sensibility (is it even possible?) and Overall. The following methods were taken from Brian J. Frost's The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature, pages seven to eleven.

WAY 1

Method: Drinking water from a wolf’s pawprint Type: Non-Material Description: To turn into a werewolf with this method, find a werewolf’s pawprint that has been filled with rain and drink from it. Origin: Middle Ages Marci’s Opinion: Considering the environment of that particular era as well as today’s, this could possibly be one of the unsanitary methods. Plus, this method is pretty ambiguous - how fresh does the wolf’s pawprint have to be? What if someone drinks from a half-wolf’s paw print? What if you drink the rainwater through a straw? How much do you need to drink? Since gravity also pulls water downward, the chance of finding a pawprint with water still in it are pretty slim.

Accessibility: A person would have to live in an area with wolves in order for this method to work. Discoverability: The only chance of someone being caught drinking from the ground is if he or she is with someone, or if that particular person just so happens to have bad karma and get interrupted. Since this is a non-material method, acquiring it would have the highest chance of being found out. The only other opportunity to loose the secret is if the person is attacked in wolf’s form, or is seen while changing shape. Sensibility: Water. From a pawprint. This method is a bit far-fetched, and finding a way to make sure water stays in the pawprint would be difficult, as making a plaster imprint of the paw while shaping it like a bowl can be considered cheating, even though it would make drinking from it easier. Overall: Overall, 2/5 – there’s just too many questions raised by this method to work.

WAY 2

Method: Eating wolf brains. Type: Material Description: Self explanatory: eat the brains of a wolf. Origin: Middle Ages. Marci’s Opinion: Also called "the zombie method," this is a highly revolting and disgusting method to use to become a werewolf. I believe that the brains are meant to be eaten raw, as it is more feral than cooking it as a "civilized" person would.

Accessability: You’d need to get your hands on a wolf - a dead one. That in itself is disgusting not to mention cruel, as wolves are a keystone specie to any ecosystem. A keystone specie is a specie that is few in numbers, but once removed from an area there are drastic changes to the environment. If, say, tigers were suddenly wiped out in Asia, then the deer they hunted would eat all new vegetation in the jungle to the point that only old, tough foliage is left. With wolves, they impact the elk and deer populations and improve the health of the deer and elk's herds by eating the sick and weak. A person seeking to try this method would have to be very desperate to try this, and even then he or she would have to eat grey matter. Uh, ew? Discoverability: Most people scouring the fur and black markets for wolf pelts and trophy mounts, not brains. A person looking for this ingredient would look suspicious. Sensibility: Brains. Only the undead that have pieces of themselves falling off all over the place eat this rare delicacy. Someone who tries this method would most likely experience turning into a werewolf while wearing a straightjacket in a small room complete with padding on the walls after becoming swept up in a vehicle with flashing lights when caught in the act. Overall: This method gets a 0/5 – it’s too disgusting to contemplate, as well as giving off too many red flags.

WAY 3

Method: "Sleeping on the ground in an open field on a Friday night when the moon is full" Type: Non-Material Description: Self-explanatory - simply go outside (preferably on a clear night) and fall asleep out in a field. It can be assumed that the person who attempts this method cannot bring any human comforts such as a pillow or tent, although the position as to whether or not a person needs to go skyclad is debatable. Origin: Middle Ages Marci’s Opinion: Full moons are often associated with werewolves, and in the book Dracula wolves are called "the children of the night," so this method so far makes sense (18) However, I believe that this method is to be used with another method: the werewolf’s bite.

Accessability: It’s easy to go outside and fall asleep - if you enjoy the outdoors and have a relatively remote place, as falling asleep in a baseball field in a neighborhood is likely to get curious people wondering if you’re a mis-placed corpse, thus interrupting your night’s sleep. Discoverability: High if you’re doing this in a neighborhood; low if you’re out in the country. Sensibility: If a person enjoys the outdoors and the weather is warm, then this method should be looked into by those who wish to become a werewolf. Otherwise, it may just result in an uncomfortable night outside. Overall: Overall, 2/5 - just falling asleep doesn’t sound as if it would do it.

WAY 4

Method: "Drinking from a lycanthropous stream" Type: Material Description: Find a lycanthropous stream and drink from it. It can be assumed that the person is to lap out water from this stream in order to be more feral and take on more wolf-like qualities, however it is unknown. Origin: Middle Ages Marci’s Opinion: What makes a lycanthropous stream? A stream frequented by werewolves and/or wolves? A stream that has a dead werewolf in it at the bottom? A stream that looks like a ribbon of silver at night? Finding a stream that fits this criteria would be difficult, as it would require asking others about the location of the stream, any odd histories of the streams, and a lot of research to track one down. It would be wise to check upstream with this sort of method, just to be aware of what a soon-to-be werewolf is going to be drinking. Really, you'd have better luck finding a wandering gypsy and asked to be cursed.

Accessibility: Low if you don’t have a stream like this nearby; high if you do. Discoverability: If you don’t know of such a stream, a seeker would set off a lot of warnings and may attract unwanted attention because of this. Sensibility: This method is a bit unsanitary - boiling the water is out of the question, as you may boil away the factor that turns people into werewolves! Overall: Overall, 2/5. Water is associated with shapeshifting, so it would make sense in order to drink it in order to become one.

WAY 5

Method: Wearing certain flowers Type: Material Description: There are specific flowers that, when worn, can cause the wearer of them to turn into a werewolf. Wolfsbane is not one of them, as these flowers ward off werewolves. Origin: Middle Ages Marci’s Opinion: A flower to induce shape-shifting? It seems as the "certain flowers" would give its wearer more delusions than actually turning them as the legend suggests.

Accessibility: A person would need to find someone who would be willing to make this, as well as having all the ingredients on hand. This sounds like something that the yellowpages and Google won’t be able to help out with. Discoverability: Along with finding someone to make it, a person might also have to buy the seller's silence along with the product. A person’s word can be bought as well, for the right price... Sensibility: How fast does the lotion work? If it worked quickly, then a person using this product would have to slather it on their body quickly, as well as be very flexible in order to cover the entire back. Overall: This method is given a 1/5 as it seems difficult to acquire and use. On top of that, unless a person learns to make it, they would have to rely on another person who could quite possibly double-cross them. Learning to make it may sound more appealing, however a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex may develop as a result. Use with caution.

WAY 6

Method: Wearing a wolf’s skin/belt/garter Type:Material Description: A person can change into a wolf by donning one of these three, magically specified items. Origin: The Vikings (Beserkers) Marci’s Opinion: Of all the methods so far, this one sounds plausible - there’s several stories concerning garments that change people into animals, such as the story with the seven swan sisters who had robes made out of swan’s feathers that enabled them to become swans. There is also the magical race called the "selkies" who were seal-women and changed in and out of their forms by donning/discarding a garment made from seal-skin.

Accessibility: Varies. While getting a wolf’s pelt may be easy to obtain from a crazy hunter, the belt and garter must be made from a wolf’s pelt. Each of these items must also be magically charged. Discoverability: Unless a person lives with another person who enjoys digging through the shapeshifter's things, or is struck by a robber who accidentally stumbles across one of these items hidden away in their sock drawer, being discovered is low. That is, unless, someone obtains a search warrant and ransacks the place and unearths it. To avoid awkward situations and unwanted questions, it is recommended to hide this item in plain sight. Sensibility: This method makes sense, considering the amount of other, similar stories of people turning into animals and back again through the use of a garment. A popular example of this is in book eight of The Saga of the Volsungs. Overall: I rate this method at being 4/5, as the only obstacle with this method is acquiring one of these magically-charged garments.

WAY 7

Method: Werewolf’s Bite Type: Non-Material Description: Simply get bit by a werewolf. Origin: Unknown Marci’s Opinion: The most popular of all werewolf-transformation myths, this bite requires the person wishing to turn into one to first track down a werewolf and entice the werewolf to bite him or her... And only bite, not maim or disembowl. The popular media uses this method the most, as it is the most dramatic.

Accessibility: This requires tracking down a werewolf, or convincing a friend who’s a werewolf to bite and only bite you. Discoverability: A few questions may be asked about the latest wound, so creativity is needed to come up with a good enough excuse. Sensibility: Getting bit is pretty painful - and if werewolf folklore is true, and werewolves have no rationality... Getting just bit and keeping the limb that was just bit may pose some problems. Overall: Overall, this method has many risks. Since it is the most popular, it can be assumed that this method would be the best one that would work, and earns a 4/5.

WAY 8

Method: A Pact with the Devil Type: Material Description: Summon the devil and make a deal - it’s not as if you use your soul daily, right? Origin: Unknown. Marci’s Opinion: This method, while appearing the most ideal (trading something you don’t use for something you can) has its advantages and disadvantages like the others. One keen question that is raised is the validity and guarantee of the wolf-form you’ll receive in exchange. Will you have control? How long can you wear the form for? How do you get in/out of the form?

Accessability: This requires knowledge in the "heretic" and "dark" arts, as well as a place that a person is the least likely to be interrupted in. Discoverability: Depends on the length of time it takes to summon the devil, and how much dramatics he/she/it uses when he/she/it appears and how much attention that brings. Sensibility: Those with religious upbringing and faith may seem horrified at this method. To others, it’s too strange to even consider. Only the serious should attempt this. Overall: Overall, I rate this 2/5. Wolves are seen by many as evil creatures, so it seems fitting that a stereotypical dark force should have control over them. Oh, be sure to read the fine print -- in many stories where someone makes a deal with the devil, the person who signs the contract usually gets cheated because of the nearly invisible print.

WAY 9

Method: Family Curse Type: Non-Material Description: Being a werewolf is passed down from generation to generation. Origin: Unknown. Marci’s Opinion: This method views being able to change into a wolf as a disease that is hereditary. This is also a popular method, since it is easy to do and useful for modern media screenplay writers to explain why Character X is a werewolf without having to waste some of the film’s budget and film on a flashback sequence.

Accessibility: In order to use this method, your family needs to have a history of this. Marrying into a werewolf-family won’t work, unless you are attempting to try the bite method, in which case you would have easier access to a werewolf. Discoverability: Slim, unless a member of the family was caught and convicted as a werewolf, in which case the whole family would be either placed under watch or tried as well. Sensibility: This method seems plausible, providing that being a werewolf is more of an STD than a curse. Overall: This method earns a 2/5, as it is for family-members only.. And even then, it’s for the "special" children who are (un)lucky enough to receive the gene necessary to enable transformation.

--117.194.2.107 (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2008 (UTC)5ayan