Werewolves

I must admit, when I first came up with the topic of this blog, I was not too excited about it.  As anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows, my monster of choice is definitely a vampire.  Werewolves are NOT my cup of tea!  But duty to the world of writing overcame me and I proceeded to do a little research.  Some of what I found out has intrigued me, and I intend to share that information with you here.

The myths and stories surrounding werewolves originated in Europe.  Many of today's ideas seem to be heavily influenced by German Paganism.

Belief in werewolves seems to be non-existent before the 14th century.  Werewolf superstitions seem to have arose along side the rising popularity of Christianity.  Once Christianity became the norm, transforming into a wolf - or other beast - was seen as a Pagan belief and thus associated with the Devil.

Werewolves also have a strong tie to the European witch trials, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries.  Once the witch trials subsided, werewolves became extremely popular within folklore and helped bolster the Gothic horror genre. 

There have also been medical explanations given for the belief in werewolves.  I have found four medical conditions associated with werewolves:

• Congenital Porphyria (symptoms are photosensitivity, reddish teeth and psychosis)
• Hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth - hereditary condition)
• Downs Syndrome (I didn't find much info here, just that some scholars have linked the two together) 
• Rabies (remarkable similarities - supports idea of being bitten by a wolf and becoming a werewolf)

Just as with myths of vampires, a person could go on for days - or longer - explaining all there is to know of werewolves.  The above are just a few of the things that stood out to me.  Do you know of any other information that you think is interesting and wasn't mentioned in this blog?

Exorcisms

In preparation for this post, I watched a documentary called The Rite of Exorcism: Myths, Mystery and Hope.  For the Catholic-centered program, various men were interviewed on their beliefs.

The video stated that possession is when the Devil takes temporary control over a body.  There were four ways discussed that will lead to a person being possessed:

• the occult
• hardened sin
• a curse
• signing a pact

Of the above, the only path of destruction discussed in detail was the occult.  One of the men being interviewed described the occult to be when people turn away from God.  He also stated that examples of such practices would be Ouija boards, tarot cards, palm reading and the like.

The signs of possession were listed as follows:

• abnormal strength
• ability to speak in an unknown foreign language
• knowledge of unknown things (clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc.)

A few more points broached in the documentary were that giving man free will was a risk God decided to take.  It is up to all people whether they will chose good or evil.  It was stated that God desires for everyone to go to heaven and that it is not He that sends people to hell, but people chose to walk there themselves.  One of the men interviewed said that it is Satan's goal to lead people to destruction and that he wants to keep people from heaven.  According to the documentary, before an exorcism is conducted, a full psychological evaluation needs to be conducted.  One person interviewed stated that the person conducting the exorcism should be the last person to suspect that a possession is present.

I'm not going to lie, it was very hard for me to watch this documentary in its entirety.  Being from a path that finds it unsettling to preach to others, it sounded to me like that was the only objective of this program.  By the descriptions given in the video, most of the practices of my faith have been demonized.

Studies have been conducted with findings suggesting that people who believe in a higher being  are more happy.  One must not believe in the Christian God in order to benefit from this.  A person simply has to believe in a higher power than themselves.

The gods and goddesses from Pagan faiths have both light and dark qualities.  There is no one supremely evil being.  But, since both light and dark sides of deities can be called upon, it is up to the  individual practitioner to chose between good and evil.  With that being said, Pagans have rules that state they are not allowed to harm anyone (including themselves) and they are not to take away the free will of another being.  The above points don't sound all that different to me than the ones stated in the documentary.

How about you?  What's your take on it?