Werewolves

For hundreds of years people have reported the ability to change the structure of their bodies into other forms- including wolves.

Basic Information

Though most know werewolves as simply creatures of nightmares and horror movies, they were once viewed as real beasts who killed in the night. The creatures are less feared in today's society, but the sheer terror can still be inflicted by the thought of the strange horrors. Perhaps the terror is preset in the mind; the fear of wolves and things that go bump in the night is almost natural. Werewolves, however, can be better understood by looking into their past.

Belief in the werewolf stemmed from Greek mythology, when the god Lykaon was turned into a wolf after serving Zues human flesh. This myth helped fuel a cult in Arcadia, which involved human sacrifice and the transformation into a wolf for nine years. Although lycanthropy is usually associated with the metamorphosis into a wolf, different legends include the changing of humans into other animals, including bears, cats and even birds of prey.

Later, during the medieval times, the fear of the werewolf took grip of Europe. Wolves were known to attack man, as wolves in those times had no reason to fear man; guns were unheard of and attacks were usually in self defense. In most of Europe, the fear of werewolves also included that of wolfmen (also known as berserkers), who wore wolf skin and killed without mercy. On the other end of the spectrum, however, was Germany. After death, it was thought, those who were honored and distinguished were reborn as wolves. Names such as Wolfgang and Wolfhard were common. As Christianity slowly gained power, such beliefs were condemned as Satanic.

Soon, werewolves were seen as complete evil and servants of Satan. Philosophers and religious thinkers of the time contemplated the theory that perhaps the person did not change physically into a wolf, but those around them were tricked into thinking they had by Satan. Saint Augustine has been quoted as saying:

"It is very generally believed that by certain witches' spells and the power of the Devil men may be changed into wolves . . . but they do not lose their human reason and understanding, nor are their minds made he intelligence of a mere beast. Now this must be understood, in this way: namely, that the Devil creates no new nature, but that he is able to make something appear to be which in reality is not. For by no spell nor evil power can the mind, nay, not even the body corporeally, be changed into the material limbs and features of any animal. . . but a man is fantastically and by illusion metamorphosed into an animal, albeit he to himself seems to be a quadruped."

In general, most believed that only God had the power to truly change the body or mind of a human being.

Means of Transformation

Though the actual transformation is well known, the actual means by which this is accomplished is very different depending on accounts. Most claimed to have changed into a savage creature by rubbing salve on themselves. Although this may seem impossible, it is now known that the salve had hallucination producing plants, including henbane and nightshade, mixed in them. Most people, including those during the infamous witch trials of the Renaissance, concluded that the only transformation was those in the victims mind after using the drugged infested salve.

Generally, those who believed they could change into werewolves were also considered mentally ill. In 1589, a German man named Stubbe Peeter was put on trial for the murder of twenty five adults and children, including his own son. Peeter was said to not only have killed the victims, but also have committed cannibalism, incest and violence against various animals. Peeter claimed to have made a pact with Satan that would allow him to turn into a wolf.

Sightings of Werewolves

Perhaps one of the most famous and recent cases of a werewolf is told by Delburt Gregg of Greggton, Texas. During a stormy night when her husband was away in July 1958, Gregg moved her bed close to a screened window so she could get some of the night time breeze. Deep in the night, Gregg awoke to the sound of scratching on the screen next to her face. When lightening flashed in the rumbling sky, Gregg saw a "huge, shaggy, wolf-like creature . . . clawing at the screen and glaring at me with baleful, glowing, slitted eyes. I could see its bared white fangs." As she jumped from the bed to grab a flashlight, the creature quickly dashed to a large collection of brush. Awaiting the creature to emerge, she instead saw a tall man walk down the road and into the darkness.

Mark Schackelman claimed to have seen a six foot tall, hair covered creature digging in an Indian mound in 1936 near Jefferson, Wisconsin. Schackelman said the creature had a muzzle, with both ape and dog characteristics. With pointed ears and strangely human hands, the creature stunk of dead meat. The very next night, Schackelman saw the creature at the very same spot. This time, it was making strange strange "three-syllable growing". When he started to pray loudly, the creature quickly made its escape.

On October 31, at about eight thirty p.m., a young woman was driving along Bray Road near Delavan, Wisconsin when she felt her car jump as if the right tire had hit an object on the road. Stopping the car, the young woman saw a dark and hairy figure racing at her. She quickly sped away, but the creature jumped and landed on the car's trunk. Luckily, the metal was wet and didn't allow for the creature to gain a grip. Later, when returning with a friend, the woman saw a large shape standing near the side of the road.

When the story got out, several other people came forward with strange claims. In 1989, Lorianne Endrizzi was traveling along the same road when she saw a figure kneeling at the side of the road. When she slowed her car to get a better look, she saw the creature staring at her through the passenger window. She estimated that the creature was about six feet away. Endrizzi said the creature had grayish brown hair with big fangs and pointed ears. Endrizzi said later, "His face was . . . long and snouty, like a wolf. . . . The arms were really kind of strange . . . jointed like a man or woman would be, he was holding his hands with his palms upward." She also said the creature's legs were behind him, like a person kneeling. These last two reports wouldn't be so strange, but they occurred in the same location as the Schackelman reports. A local farmer also encountered the large creature, which he took to be a gigantic wild dog.

Werewolves have been reported for hundreds of years, but there have been very little in evidence. Without the solid proof that science requires, these strange beasts will be little more than a myth or legend that will scare children.