Skip to main content

Did You See That........

Shapeshifters via crystalinks.com
It seems that the night is full of things that we do not see in the light. And it is those things, that it seems, we have been taught to fear, through the ages. All those bumps and thumps, all those shadows and whispers, even the creaks and moans of the night send shivers down our spines. Why is it that we fear the creatures of the night?

Even older than the tells of vampires and ghouls are the legends of were-creatures or shape-shifters. Creatures that by choice, design or fated curse have the power and or ability to change the form of their appearance. For those that were always shape-shifters the power to change their outward appearance is something they do at will. It seems that they usually take the form of an animal, bird or even sea creature, as suits their needs, at the moment. Those shape-shifters that seem to be merciful and or helpful seem to not take forms that would scare us. Yet, it has been known that others are not so kind.

There are creatures that have been cursed, usually by an encounter with a were-creature, that sentences them to a life of torture and solitude. According to some of the lore, one becomes a were-creature by being bitten or scratched by a were-creature. This of course raises the question of where the first were-creature came from, if you must be bitten or scratched by one to become one.

The Wolfman via The Independent
The most famous were-creature is the werewolf or lycanthrope. There are many legends from the Fox tribe of the Americas to the Epic of Gilgamesh that contain references to wolf-man or man-wolf creatures. In addition, Ovid and the Icelandic Sagas contain the werewolf within their lines. In some stories, such as the Fox tribe lore, the ability of man to become wolf was a gift; however, in other lore, such as with Ovid, it was punishment from the gods for bad behavior.

There are many accounts of persons be tried for being a werewolf. Some of these cases we can now more intelligently reassess as serial killers, which steals Jack the Ripper's fame as the first. And some of these cases were simply the over zealous furor of the witch hunters!

Another theory, as to the origin of the werewolf, is the affliction of rabies in humans that were attacked by rabid animals. There is also the relations between the behavior of the accused and the behavior of animals. Such as in the case of cannibalism. This behavior was one of the confessed behaviors of some of the executed werewolves of the Middle Ages. It was also cannibalism that was the act that punished King Lycaon (the origin of the word Lycanthrope) who offended the gods by serving human meat to them at dinner.

We may never know the true origin of the story, but it seems that if it were merely a tale that it would have lost its appeal by now. So what is the truth that keeps this legend alive? For, I believe there must be some truth, more than just the lure of a good tale, by the fire, in the dead of night, that keeps us looking up at a full moon and peering into the darkness, searching the shadows, for those things that go bump, in the night.....

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Denisovans, Another "Grandparent"

In previous articles we have discussed our connection to Neanderthals and how their public image, little by little, is improving . If you follow the news you will have heard a lot recently about a new  member of our human family. Today we are going to introduce you to that new ancestor of ours, the Denisovans. Denisova Cave, Siberia In a remote part of Siberia, the Denisova Cave, in the Altai mountains, remains of human habitation going back thousands of years was discovered. Since the initial discovery, research has continued right up to present day. The first amazing discovery that the cave yielded was the finger bone of a child, later determined to probably be female, her mtDNA was distinctly different from modern man and Neanderthal, however it also revealed that a common ancient ancestor was shared with Neanderthal. More recent finds revealed not only interbreeding between Neanderthal and Denisovans, but also included an unknown human ancestor as well. Based on finds,...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Giza to Gobekli Tepe

One of the things that interest me most and inspires me to learn more and read more and research more are the enigmas around us. Those pieces of the puzzle of our story that don't fit nicely where we are told that they should fit and the pieces that are sitting off to the side cause the 'experts' are not quite sure what to do with them, they cannot deny them, but there is no room for them in their solid unbending version of history. Our story should never be set in stone, it should be allowed to grow and change and shift as we learn more and more about where we come from and how we got where we are. We must remind ourselves that we have not searched every millimeter of dirt and earth, we have not preserved every manuscript, document, monument that recorded the histories and legends of our ancestors, worse, we have destroyed more of our story than we have ever preserved. So we should never judge as if we have or know it all. One of the most illustrious examples of this...
2 comments
Read more

The (A) History Of Witches

The origins or history or witches is very much dependent on the researchers definition of just what a witch is. That might seem absurd, everyone knows what a witch is, most dictionaries define one as "a woman thought to have magic powers, especially evil ones, popularly depicted as wearing a black cloak and pointed hat and flying on a broomstick." (See the clip art image on the left) However, if you ask an individual that identifies as a witch or several, you are likely to get more definitions than you ever imagined existed. Thus, with so many modern ideas and concepts of a witch, it is easy to see how a researcher's journey might actually wander 'off-course' in the search for the "fist witch" or the "origin of the witch." Let us explore some of the journeys of academic witch-hunters. In modern translations of The Bible, in English, Exodus mentions witches; Ch. 22:18 " Thou shall not suffer a witch to live. " (KJV) There are o...
Post a Comment
Read more