Undoubtedly, everyone heard stories and legends about a creature that looks like an ordinary person in the light of the sun, and turns into a monster with a full moon.
Werewolf, werewolf, lycan, changeling - he has many names. But it doesn’t matter what the wolf man is called, the question is different: does it really exist or is it all the fruit of someone’s sick imagination?
The animal inside us
Each nation has its own traditions, beliefs, as well as mystical creatures: wolf people, coyotes, hyenas, and even bear people. Some worshiped the snake man, others worshiped the lion man, and some were afraid of leopard humans. Even at the dawn of civilization, warriors dressed in the skins of dead animals in order to gain their strength. However, it seems that it was the werewolf (the human wolf) that became the perfect synthesis of human transformation into an animal. Why a wolf?
This wild beast has long been considered a mysterious and unknown creature. The wolf is dangerous, gluttonous and unusually strong. Man has always been scared by the ability of the beast to sneak up quietly and imperceptibly. In addition, the wolf has an incredible ability to turn around to sound at once with the whole body, which adds to his intimidation.
When the wolf people first appeared, history is silent. Experts conclude that here we are talking about primitive magic of shamans and totem rituals. Herodotus mentioned that the Scythians and Greeks considered the inhabitants of the Black Sea coast magicians, able to turn into wolves on certain days of the year. But is it really so?
Wolves and sorcerers
Lycanthropy (the so-called ability to turn into a wolf) began to gain popularity in the 15th century. People believed that village shamans made deals with the devil and evil spirits during the full moon and in exchange for a sold soul received a “wolf essence”.
One of the most famous demonologists in the world, Lancre argued that "a person who has turned into a wolf is none other than the devil himself, who, in the guise of a fierce beast, roams the earth to cause pain and suffering." In addition, the wolf is the sworn enemy of the lamb, which symbolized and portrayed Jesus.
The church declared the same werewolf hunt as the witch. And even the rulers of the largest countries in Europe believed that there was a so-called “wolf disease”. For example, the Hungarian king Sigismund made considerable efforts to ensure that the Church Ecumenical Council in 1414 recognized that wolf people really exist. This recognition marked the beginning of the true persecution of werewolves throughout Europe. In France alone, from 1520 to 1630, more than 30 thousand cases of collision with lycanthropes were recorded. It is worth recalling the most terrible cases of that time.
Garnier the Eater
In 1573, Gilles Garnier was arrested for numerous murders of children, who admitted that he was a lone wolf man. According to him, one night while hunting, a spirit appeared to him and offered his help. The ghost gave Zhil a miraculous balm, with which you could turn into a wolf. But to do this was only worth the full moon and at night with a growing moon. Only at that time was the whole rage and power of the beast felt. Garnier told the court that he committed the killing of four children under the age of 14 years. In the shoes of a wolf, he not only killed, but also ate the flesh of his victims. The killer's story was full of the most terrible and vile details.
Gilles Garnier was found guilty of "criminal acts that he committed after becoming a wolf, as well as witchcraft." The killer was burned at the stake in January 1573.
Gandillon - werewolf family
In 1584, a werewolf attacked a little girl in a small mountain village near the city of Saint-Claude. Her sixteen-year-old brother, rushing to her aid, was torn to pieces. Villagers ran to the cries of children and threw stones at the beast to death. What was the general amazement when the dead monster turned into a naked young girl. It was Perenette Gandillon.
As a result, the entire Gandillon family was arrested. They were probably using some kind of self-hypnosis technique to introduce themselves into a werewolf psychosis state. The city judge, God, who examined this case, personally observed the family in prison and conducted an inquiry. In his work, entitled “Witches' Tales,” he wrote that the Gandillon family are real wolf people. They crawled on their hands and feet, howled at the moon and generally lost their human appearance: their eyes were bloodshot, their bodies were covered with thick hair, and instead of nails - coarsened claws. By the way, the lawyer God was not one of gullibility. And his observations are confirmed by other official records of lycanthropes that invaded France.
Rolle - a man who turned into a wolf
This incident occurred in 1598. In a sown field, the peasants found the corpse of a young man, near which a wolf wandered. People chased the beast, trying to escape into the thicket of the forest. They chased him to the huge thickets of juniper. The hunters decided that the beast was a trap. But instead of a wolf, a completely naked man sat in the bushes, all covered with fresh blood, with a piece of human meat in his hands. It was Jacques Rollet.
During interrogation, he stated that he could turn into a wolf with the help of a witch's balm. Rolle also confessed to the many murders that he committed with his brother and sister in the guise of wolves. He was saved from execution only by the fact that the court declared him crazy.
Man with a wolf head
Thirteen-year-old Jean Grenier was mentally retarded. But that's not the point. And in his face. Dog features were pronounced in it: strongly defined cheekbones, pointed fangs and bloodshot eyes. Jean believed that he was a real wolf man.
Once he admitted to the girls that he wants to eat them more than anything, and when the sun goes down, he will do it. Of course, they did not believe Jean and even laughed at him. But, when the sun went down, the boy fulfilled his promise. He attacked the girl and bit him very hard, but she managed to escape. Grenier was arrested. During the trial of him, the boy said that a wolf lives in him, and he can release him when the sun sets. According to the young lycanthropist, he received his capabilities from the devil himself.
Pathology
All these cases are undoubtedly terrible. Bloodthirsty murders, torn children ... But if you look closely, it will become clear that all crimes were committed by people, to put it mildly, emotionally unstable.
So, in psychology there is the concept of “zootropia”. And this is not at all the ability of a person to turn into an animal with the help of magic, but a real pathology. And it consists in the fact that people consider themselves animals and think that if they behave in the same way, they will receive their abilities.
There is even a separate type of this pathology - werewolf psychosis (lycanthropy or lupinomania). When a person with a mental disorder can really believe that during the full moon he turns into a werewolf. The patient actually feels how the hair grows on it, sees how the nails are sharpened and lengthened, how his jaws grow and the fangs grow. Such a “wolf-man”, burning with impatience to shed blood, roams the streets in search of his victim and can actually seriously bite, scratch, cripple and even kill.
Power of thought
Some psychologists believe that werewolf psychosis can cause dramatic changes in the appearance of patients. Of course, the loss of human qualities will not happen: the tail will not grow, hands, though with claws, will not turn into paws, and the face will look more like a monkey face or Neanderthal, but not a wolf.
Scientists are simply amazed at the metamorphoses that can occur in somatic cells as a result of self-hypnosis and willpower. Wounds heal, burns are blown away. So why can't one become like a wolf through intense auto-suggestion?
In addition, if you listen to people who turned themselves into wolves, you can learn about certain rituals - a prelude to metamorphosis. For example, drink water from a wolf’s footprint, eat the brain of an animal or spend the night in its hole.