Post by Daniel-LaSpirits on Oct 10, 2007 19:39:59 GMT -5
Lycanthropy in North America
Many Native cultures feature skin-walkers or a similar concept, wherein a shaman or warrior may, according to cultural tradition, take on an animal form. Animal forms vary accordingly with cultures and local species (including bears and wolves), for example, a coyote is more likely to be found as a skinwalker's alternate form in the Great Plains region. Skinwalkers tend to be totemic.
In modern folklore and fiction the Wendigo found in the stories of many Algonquian peoples is sometimes considered to be similar to lycanthropes, in that humans could transform into them. The original legends varied significantly, however, and the fit may not be very close.
The Cajuns of Louisiana also believed in a similar creature with the variant name of Rougarou.
Modern folklore from Wisconsin describe a werewolf or man-wolf creature called the Beast of Bray Road.
Lycanthropy in South America
According to K. F. P. v. Martius the kanaima is a human being who employs poison to carry out his function of blood avenger; other authorities represent the kanaima as a jaguar, which is either an avenger of blood or the familiar of a cannibalistic sorcerer. The Europeans of Brazil hold that the seventh child of the same sex in unbroken succession becomes a were-man or woman, and takes the form of a headless horse (or headless mule), goat, guará-wolf or pig. The dolphin-man (boto) or encantado is common in native North-Brazilian folklore. However, the myth more likely stems from one of the supposed powers of the boto (wherein it changes its shape into that of a human) rather than a man changing his form into that of an animal.
Lycanthropy in Europe
The wolf is the most common form of the were-animal, though in the north the bear disputes its pre-eminence. In ancient Greece the dog was also associated with the belief. The were-boar variant is known through Greece and Turkey. Marcellus of Sida, who wrote under the Antonines, gives an account of a disease which befell people in February; but a pathological state seems to be meant.
Romanian folklore actually has multiple variations on the lycanthropy theme. The vârcolac is often - though not exclusively - seen as a werewolf though it can refer also to (usually wolf-like) demons, vampires, goblins or ghosts as well; the pricolici is more universally wolf-like, and much like the strigoi is said to be a formerly human member of the undead, having risen from the grave to wreak havoc on the living. Additionally, both the terms strigoi and moroi are traditionally closely associated with both pricolici and vârcolaci, and while modern fiction makes a clear distinction between the terms (with strigoi and moroi being in usage more a reference to the vampiric than the lycanthropic, and the latter in turn referring more to "living" as opposed to undead vampires), older folklore leaves them not always so easily differentiated, especially with regional variants.
Lycanthropy in Africa
In Abyssinia the power of transformation is attributed to the Boudas, and at the same time we have records of pathological lycanthropy (see below). Blacksmiths are credited with magical powers in many parts of the world, and it is significant that the Boudas are workers in iron and clay; in the Life of N. Pearce (i. 287) a European observer tells a story of a supposed transformation which took place in his presence and almost before his eyes; but it does not appear how far hallucination rather than coincidence must be invoked to explain the experience. The animal forms taken in Africa include the gazelle, crocodile, hyena, jackal, lion and leopard.
Lycanthropy in the South Pacific
There are various tales of people becoming sharks in various South Pacific islands. For the most part, these werecreatures are benevolent or at least not malign. There are several variant stories on how weresharks come about. One story is that a wereshark inherits their ability. Others point to children lost at sea or children adopted by a shark god. Many of the humans-turned-sharks are described as having skin patterns that no natural sharks have: similar to the cloth patterns of blankets that are wrapped around infants.
Lycanthropy in the East Indies
The Poso-Alfures of central Celebes believe that man has three souls, the inosa, the angga and the tanoana. The inosa is the vital principle; it can be detected in the veins and arteries; it is given to man by one of the great natural phenomena, more specifically the wind. The angga is the intellectual part of man; its seat is unknown; after death it goes to the under-world, and, unlike the inosa, which is believed to be dissolved into its original elements, takes possession of an immaterial body. The tanoana is the divine in man and after death returns to its lord, Poewempala boeroe. It goes forth during sleep, and all that it sees it whispers into the sleeper's ear and then he dreams. According to another account, the tanoana is the substance by which man lives, thinks and acts; the tanoana of man, plants and animals is of the same nature. A man's tanoana can be strengthened by those of others; when the tanoana is long away or destroyed the man dies. The tanoana seems to be the soul of which lycanthropic feats are asserted.
Among the Toradjas of central Celebes it is believed that a man's "inside" can take the form of a cat, wild pig, ape, deer or other animal, and afterwards resume human form; it is termed lamboyo. The exact relation of the lamboyo to the tanoana does not seem to be settled; it will be seen below that the view seems to vary. According to some the power of transformation is a gift of the gods, but others hold that lycanthropy is contagious and may be acquired by eating food left by a lycanthrope or even by leaning one's head against the same pillar. The Todjoers hold that any one who touches blood becomes a shapeshifter. In accordance with this view is the belief that lycanthropy can be cured; the breast and stomach of the shapeshifter must be rubbed and pinched, just as when any other witch object has to be extracted. The patient drinks medicine, and the contagion leaves the body in the form of snakes and worms. There are certain marks by which a shapeshifter can be recognized. His eyes are unsteady and sometimes green with dark shadows underneath. He does not sleep soundly and fireflies come out of his mouth. His lips remain red in spite of betel chewing, and he has a long tongue. The Todjoers add that his hair stands on end.
Some of the forms of the lamboyo are distinguishable from ordinary animals by the fact that they run about among the houses; the were-buffalo has only one horn, and the were-pig transforms itself into an ants' nest, such as hangs from trees. Some say that the lycanthrope does not really take the form of an animal himself, but, like the sorcerer, only sends out a messenger. The lamboyo attacks by preference solitary individuals, for he does not like to be observed. The victim feels sleepy and loses consciousness; the lamboyo then assumes human form (his body being, however, still at home) and cuts up his victim, scattering the fragments all about. He then takes the liver and eats it, puts the body together again, licks it with his long tongue and joins it together. When the victim comes to himself again he has no idea that anything unusual has happened to him. He goes home, but soon begins to feel unwell. In a few days he dies, but before his death he is able sometimes to name the shapeshifter to whom he has fallen a victim.
From this account it might be inferred that the lamboyo was identical with the tanoana: the absence of the lamboyo seems to entail a condition of unconsciousness, and it can assume human form. In other cases, however, the lamboyo seems to be analogous to the familiar of the sorcerer. The Toradjas tell a story of how a man once came to a house and asked the woman to give him a rendezvous; it was night and she was asleep; the question was put three times before the answer was given "in the tobacco plantation". The husband was awake, and next day followed his wife, who was irresistibly drawn thither. The lycanthrope came to meet her in human form, although his body was engaged in building a new house, and caused the woman to faint by stamping three times on the ground. Thereupon the husband attacked the shapeshifter with a piece of wood, and the latter to escape transformed himself into a leaf; this the husband put into a piece of bamboo and fastened the ends so that he could not escape, he then went back to the village and put the bamboo in the fire. The shapeshifter said "Don't", and as soon as it was burnt he fell dead.
In another case a woman died, and, as her death was believed to be due to the malevolence of a lycanthrope, her husband watched by her body. For, like Indian witches, the werewolf, for some reason, wishes to revive his victim and comes in human form to carry off the coffin. As soon as the woman was brought to life the husband attacked the werewolf, who transformed himself into a piece of wood and was burnt. The woman remained alive, but her murderer died the same night.
According to a third form of the belief, the body of the shapeshifter is itself transformed. One evening a man left the hut in which a party were preparing to pass the night; one of his companions heard a deer and fired into the darkness. Soon after the man came back and said he had been shot. Although no marks were to be seen he died a few days later
Many Native cultures feature skin-walkers or a similar concept, wherein a shaman or warrior may, according to cultural tradition, take on an animal form. Animal forms vary accordingly with cultures and local species (including bears and wolves), for example, a coyote is more likely to be found as a skinwalker's alternate form in the Great Plains region. Skinwalkers tend to be totemic.
In modern folklore and fiction the Wendigo found in the stories of many Algonquian peoples is sometimes considered to be similar to lycanthropes, in that humans could transform into them. The original legends varied significantly, however, and the fit may not be very close.
The Cajuns of Louisiana also believed in a similar creature with the variant name of Rougarou.
Modern folklore from Wisconsin describe a werewolf or man-wolf creature called the Beast of Bray Road.
Lycanthropy in South America
According to K. F. P. v. Martius the kanaima is a human being who employs poison to carry out his function of blood avenger; other authorities represent the kanaima as a jaguar, which is either an avenger of blood or the familiar of a cannibalistic sorcerer. The Europeans of Brazil hold that the seventh child of the same sex in unbroken succession becomes a were-man or woman, and takes the form of a headless horse (or headless mule), goat, guará-wolf or pig. The dolphin-man (boto) or encantado is common in native North-Brazilian folklore. However, the myth more likely stems from one of the supposed powers of the boto (wherein it changes its shape into that of a human) rather than a man changing his form into that of an animal.
Lycanthropy in Europe
The wolf is the most common form of the were-animal, though in the north the bear disputes its pre-eminence. In ancient Greece the dog was also associated with the belief. The were-boar variant is known through Greece and Turkey. Marcellus of Sida, who wrote under the Antonines, gives an account of a disease which befell people in February; but a pathological state seems to be meant.
Romanian folklore actually has multiple variations on the lycanthropy theme. The vârcolac is often - though not exclusively - seen as a werewolf though it can refer also to (usually wolf-like) demons, vampires, goblins or ghosts as well; the pricolici is more universally wolf-like, and much like the strigoi is said to be a formerly human member of the undead, having risen from the grave to wreak havoc on the living. Additionally, both the terms strigoi and moroi are traditionally closely associated with both pricolici and vârcolaci, and while modern fiction makes a clear distinction between the terms (with strigoi and moroi being in usage more a reference to the vampiric than the lycanthropic, and the latter in turn referring more to "living" as opposed to undead vampires), older folklore leaves them not always so easily differentiated, especially with regional variants.
Lycanthropy in Africa
In Abyssinia the power of transformation is attributed to the Boudas, and at the same time we have records of pathological lycanthropy (see below). Blacksmiths are credited with magical powers in many parts of the world, and it is significant that the Boudas are workers in iron and clay; in the Life of N. Pearce (i. 287) a European observer tells a story of a supposed transformation which took place in his presence and almost before his eyes; but it does not appear how far hallucination rather than coincidence must be invoked to explain the experience. The animal forms taken in Africa include the gazelle, crocodile, hyena, jackal, lion and leopard.
Lycanthropy in the South Pacific
There are various tales of people becoming sharks in various South Pacific islands. For the most part, these werecreatures are benevolent or at least not malign. There are several variant stories on how weresharks come about. One story is that a wereshark inherits their ability. Others point to children lost at sea or children adopted by a shark god. Many of the humans-turned-sharks are described as having skin patterns that no natural sharks have: similar to the cloth patterns of blankets that are wrapped around infants.
Lycanthropy in the East Indies
The Poso-Alfures of central Celebes believe that man has three souls, the inosa, the angga and the tanoana. The inosa is the vital principle; it can be detected in the veins and arteries; it is given to man by one of the great natural phenomena, more specifically the wind. The angga is the intellectual part of man; its seat is unknown; after death it goes to the under-world, and, unlike the inosa, which is believed to be dissolved into its original elements, takes possession of an immaterial body. The tanoana is the divine in man and after death returns to its lord, Poewempala boeroe. It goes forth during sleep, and all that it sees it whispers into the sleeper's ear and then he dreams. According to another account, the tanoana is the substance by which man lives, thinks and acts; the tanoana of man, plants and animals is of the same nature. A man's tanoana can be strengthened by those of others; when the tanoana is long away or destroyed the man dies. The tanoana seems to be the soul of which lycanthropic feats are asserted.
Among the Toradjas of central Celebes it is believed that a man's "inside" can take the form of a cat, wild pig, ape, deer or other animal, and afterwards resume human form; it is termed lamboyo. The exact relation of the lamboyo to the tanoana does not seem to be settled; it will be seen below that the view seems to vary. According to some the power of transformation is a gift of the gods, but others hold that lycanthropy is contagious and may be acquired by eating food left by a lycanthrope or even by leaning one's head against the same pillar. The Todjoers hold that any one who touches blood becomes a shapeshifter. In accordance with this view is the belief that lycanthropy can be cured; the breast and stomach of the shapeshifter must be rubbed and pinched, just as when any other witch object has to be extracted. The patient drinks medicine, and the contagion leaves the body in the form of snakes and worms. There are certain marks by which a shapeshifter can be recognized. His eyes are unsteady and sometimes green with dark shadows underneath. He does not sleep soundly and fireflies come out of his mouth. His lips remain red in spite of betel chewing, and he has a long tongue. The Todjoers add that his hair stands on end.
Some of the forms of the lamboyo are distinguishable from ordinary animals by the fact that they run about among the houses; the were-buffalo has only one horn, and the were-pig transforms itself into an ants' nest, such as hangs from trees. Some say that the lycanthrope does not really take the form of an animal himself, but, like the sorcerer, only sends out a messenger. The lamboyo attacks by preference solitary individuals, for he does not like to be observed. The victim feels sleepy and loses consciousness; the lamboyo then assumes human form (his body being, however, still at home) and cuts up his victim, scattering the fragments all about. He then takes the liver and eats it, puts the body together again, licks it with his long tongue and joins it together. When the victim comes to himself again he has no idea that anything unusual has happened to him. He goes home, but soon begins to feel unwell. In a few days he dies, but before his death he is able sometimes to name the shapeshifter to whom he has fallen a victim.
From this account it might be inferred that the lamboyo was identical with the tanoana: the absence of the lamboyo seems to entail a condition of unconsciousness, and it can assume human form. In other cases, however, the lamboyo seems to be analogous to the familiar of the sorcerer. The Toradjas tell a story of how a man once came to a house and asked the woman to give him a rendezvous; it was night and she was asleep; the question was put three times before the answer was given "in the tobacco plantation". The husband was awake, and next day followed his wife, who was irresistibly drawn thither. The lycanthrope came to meet her in human form, although his body was engaged in building a new house, and caused the woman to faint by stamping three times on the ground. Thereupon the husband attacked the shapeshifter with a piece of wood, and the latter to escape transformed himself into a leaf; this the husband put into a piece of bamboo and fastened the ends so that he could not escape, he then went back to the village and put the bamboo in the fire. The shapeshifter said "Don't", and as soon as it was burnt he fell dead.
In another case a woman died, and, as her death was believed to be due to the malevolence of a lycanthrope, her husband watched by her body. For, like Indian witches, the werewolf, for some reason, wishes to revive his victim and comes in human form to carry off the coffin. As soon as the woman was brought to life the husband attacked the werewolf, who transformed himself into a piece of wood and was burnt. The woman remained alive, but her murderer died the same night.
According to a third form of the belief, the body of the shapeshifter is itself transformed. One evening a man left the hut in which a party were preparing to pass the night; one of his companions heard a deer and fired into the darkness. Soon after the man came back and said he had been shot. Although no marks were to be seen he died a few days later