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A Short History of Werewolves
Topic Started: Jun 21 2006, 01:39 PM (364 Views)
Isis
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The Goddess of Darkness & Desire



The story starts deep in the mists of prehistory. There is no doubt that cavemen felt very connected to animals, even wanted to become animals. The creatures they admired were large, magnificent beasts such as cave lions, bears, dire wolves, reindeer, aurochs and wild horses. Cults of animal worship sprang up, along with practices that allowed the shaman to become one with an animal... in mind even if not in body.

The story remains the same for many ages, until the rise of agriculture brings on a struggle with nature that colors our perceptions of animals even today. Now, the big predators and magnificent herbivores were no longer objects of such envy and admiration.

They were outlaws, thieves and criminals. They were the wolves who slaughtered an entire herd of sheep at once, or the deer that invaded fields and left starving children behind. These animals were the symbols of everything that humans struggled against as they tried to obtain food, shelter and a prosperous life for their children.

A new twist arises in the story. Theology turns against animals, belittling them, ignoring them, or demonizing them. Hand in hand with this trend, legends of shapeshifters and werewolves become sinister or silly, depending on the culture. In any case, turning into a wolf or other animal is held up as a stupid thing to do. It leads to bloodlust, ruin, soul loss or hopelessly silly predictaments. Nobody in their right mind would want to be a werewolf, would they?

The answer given by cultures in this stage of the story is that only insane or evil people would want such a power. The next step, of course, is seeking out these deviant individuals and ridding society of them. In Medieval Europe, this stage of the story was representated by the witch trials and the werewolf trials. Torture was involved, and a silly local legend could turn deadly serious in an instant as another "werewolf" was dragged away to be burned at the stake.

Then people began to be ashamed of their werewolf superstitions. Science came on the scene and said that werewolves, werecats, kitsune, selchies, kelpies and other such creatures could not possibly exist. Anyone who continued to believe in such creatures was obviously a stupid country bumpkin. The legends began to fade from view, but they were still there. Even today, new werewolf legends are continually unearthed by investigators.

At the latest stage of the story, the legends have taken a back seat to new trends. The werewolf is known to most of us through movies and novels, not from folktales told to us by our grandmothers. At first, the werewolf was a rather cardboard character who did nothing but transform on the full moon and kill people. Eventually, the werewolf made the transition from horror to fantasy fiction and even romance novels. With more roles open, even heroic ones, the werewolf became a more interesting creature.

Fan societies sprang up, and the belief came full circle as some of those fans admitted that, like the cavemen of 40,000 years ago, they felt that they had such a strong personal connection with animals that they sometimes became animals. These modern-day "werewolf people" formed little groups that evolved into a subculture with its own belief systems and slang.

Here, our story ends. But it is not over. The next breakthrough might be right around the corner. In another thousand years, who knows what more will have happened with the story of werewolves and shapeshifters? Perhaps science will have invented nanotechnology shapeshifting techniques or genetically engineered werewolves and the legend will finally be real beyond a doubt.
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Isis, The Goddess of Desire & Darkness. In The Darkness, We Find The Light.

This is a Drama Free Zone..!
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Isis
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The Goddess of Darkness & Desire

Why do all the built one's have to be so hairy....... :rofl:


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Isis, The Goddess of Desire & Darkness. In The Darkness, We Find The Light.

This is a Drama Free Zone..!
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