by Tom Crawford
Michael
put his arm around his girlfriend as he slowly pulled his car to
a stop in the dark, secluded forest. Soon after parking, Michael's
girlfriend began talking. But he was too nervous to pay attention.
He knew he had to tell her. "I'm not like the other guys," he began
to explain. But he was too late.
As the moonlight escaped from the thick, sluggish
clouds, he began to convulse. He covered his face. Startled, his
girlfriend asked what was wrong. He looked at her with deep, yellow
eyes and ivory fangs, and screamed, "GO!" Terrified, his girlfriend
realized the horrid truth.
Those of you who are familiar with the 1980s
will quickly recognize this as the opening sequence from Michael
Jackson's "Thriller." And, yes, while Michael is famous for transforming
into strange beings, on this particular night he became a creature
that has been the subject of hundreds of Hollywood movies and countless
childhood nightmares. On this night, Michael became a werewolf.
But what exactly is a werewolf? They have been
portrayed in Hollywood films for more than 50 years, but do we really
know the true story behind the werewolf? Sure, a werewolf is a man
or woman that has turned into a wolf and, yes, they often come out
during the full moon and, of course, they usually fall victim to
the silver bullet. But that is just one aspect of a larger collection
of rich werewolf legends.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the
werewolf legend is that it exists in almost every culture. That
is, the idea of a man turning into a feared beast is common throughout
the world. The beast is not always a wolf though. Instead, it is
usually whatever animals are feared in that particular region. For
example, there are legends in India that involve men who turn into
tigers and in Africa the legends tell of men transforming into ferocious
hyenas. In Europe, where wolves are the predominantly feared animals,
the legends are of men transforming into wolves. This European belief
eventually made its way to our American culture, which is largely
dominated by European influence.
While
there are hundreds of variations to the European legends of men
turning into wolves, all of these legends share some common elements.
Among the most prominent, is the belief that a werewolf is a servant
of the Devil. In Medieval Europe, it was believed that a man became
a werewolf by making an unholy pact with Satan himself. The Devil
would grant a man the power to transform into a wolf in exchange
for doing the Devil's bidding and terrorizing churchgoing villagers.
Additional powers would be granted if he recruited others to become
werewolves.
Because of the werewolf's believed association
with the Devil, the Medieval Catholic Church condemned these creatures.
Anyone suspected of being a werewolf was promptly burnt at the stake.
This belief led to the unfortunate deaths of countless innocents
who, much like in the Salem witch trials, were executed for being
something they were not.
Another
common element of the traditional legends that differ a bit from
our modern understanding is the physical appearance of the werewolf.
In modern folklore, a werewolf generally transforms into a half-man,
half-wolf beast during a full moon. This creature is usually extremely
monstrous looking and is very distinguishable from a common wolf.
But, in traditional legends, werewolves looked like other wolves.
The only physical trait that separated them was their human eyes.
The transformation of a man into a wolf is probably
one of the most interesting aspects of the legends. Those of you
who have seen popular movies such as "An American Werewolf in London"
or "Silver Bullet" will immediately recognize the full moon as a
key factor in this change. That's no surprise since there are very
few Hollywood movies today that don't portray the full moon as the
trigger for a man's metamorphosis into a wolf.
Surprisingly though, the full moon is rarely
mentioned in traditional tales. Certainly, some of the ancient stories
do depict the werewolf transforming during a full moon, but most
legends offer different means for changing into a wolf. In the majority
of legends, to turn into a werewolf a man had to strip naked and
put on a belt made of human skin given to him by the Devil. Next,
he would rub wolf bane and deadly nightshade all over his body.
Finally, the man would stand in a magic circle and chant a spell.
This series of events would result in one mean and vicious werewolf.
Equally as important as transforming into
a werewolf is the ability to change back into to a man. For example,
let's say you're walking back home late one night and a werewolf
comes across your path. What do you do? In most movies, a silver
bullet would do the trick. However, many of the legends predate
guns, thus resulting in a variety of solutions. The easiest would
be for the werewolf to break the buckle on his belt. Doing so would
immediately change him back. Chances are, though, you won't be that
lucky.
Fortunately,
the legends have some additional recommendations for stopping a
werewolf. First, you should make a crucifix. Because the werewolf
is a servant to the Devil, the sight of the crucifix should immediately
transform him back into a man. If that doesn't work and you know
who the werewolf is, saying his baptismal name three times might
also cause him to transform. If that fails, another option would
be to wound the werewolf. Usually, this causes him to return to
his human form. If, after trying all of these methods, the werewolf
still has not transformed, run for your life!
Now that we have taken a look at some of the more
predominant elements of the traditional werewolf legends, we can
compare them to today's idea of a werewolf. In doing so, it is easy
to deduce that our modern werewolf myth is a unique and distinct
blending of the vast regional stories and folklore surrounding these
beasts. In a way, it is a symbolic mixture that seems to embody
the popular metaphor of America as a melting pot.
Although many of these legends greatly vary
and sometimes seem to contradict one another, something that they
all have in common is their unique influence on a fascinating and
frightening folklore. They are an interesting blend of stories,
legends, and tradition that have existed for hundreds of years and
will continue to exist for hundreds more. While werewolves, in a
physical sense, may not exist, their tales are likely to exist for
as long as man does.
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