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Introduction to Lycanthropy
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
And the autum moon is bright.
†~Gypsy Rhyme~†
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term "Lycanthropy" I would like to explain that it is the scientific term for "werewolf". (Therianthropy is also a less commonly used name for lycanthropy)It is the medically diagnosable mental disease in the world of science, but in the world of fantasy and fiction it is a horrifying transformation of a man into beast. I have researched this subject in great depth and here I shall share with you all my findings. I hope my posts will help clear up any questions you have. If not, feel free to e-mail me or leave a note in the guestbook. If that still doesn't satisfy your craving for knowledge, I have many links to the left of this page for your viewing pleasure. (Many of which where this information originated.)
Here We have various definitions of the term "lycanthropy". I searched many dictionaries and few printed volumes from before 2000 have the definition. The only place I was able to locate and accurate definition was Merrium-Webster Dictionary online and a few other sites.
Ly-can-thro-py
1. In Folklore, the magical ability to assume the form and characteristic of a wolf.
2.A delusion that one has become or assumed the characteristics of a wolf or other animal
3.The supposed act of turning one's self or another person into a wolf
4.A kind of erratic melancholy, in which the patient imagines himself a wolf, and imitates the actions of that animal
I have taken the liberty of searching encyclopedia's for a more lengthy look at what lycanthropy is really like. I had much more luck locating this term there than in a dictionary. These date from back in the 1990's.
Lycanthropy/Therianthropy
Lycanthropy, in folklore, assumption by a human of the appearance and characteristics of an animal. Ancient belief in lycanthropy was wide spread, and it still exists in parts of the world. Certain african tribes have their "leopardman" and the like, and literatures all over the world have tales of men changing to animals. One of the most widely held of these superstitions is the belied in the werewolf (a person who either willingly or unwillingy changed into a wolf, eats human flesh or drinks human blood, then returns to its natural form.) The lycanthrope, akin to the vampire, is thought to undergo his change by withcraft or magic. In the middle ages the church condemned lycanthropy as a form of sorcery and often ruthlessly punushed the supposed offenders. The term is also applies to a form of insanity in which a person believed himself to be an animal and behaves accordingly
-The New Columbia Encyclopedia
Werewolf
According to the superstition, is a person who changes into a wolf. The word comes from the old english term werewolf, meaning man-wolf. Werewolves appear in many old stories. In some tales, they turn themselves into wolves by putting on a wolf skin, by drinking water from a wolfs paw print, or by rubbing a magic ointment on their bodies. In other stories, they are transformed by someone elses magic power. The werewolves in most stories try to eat people. The people in the stories who are threatened by werewolves use various methods to bring them back to human form. These methods include saying the werewolfs name, hitting the werewolf three times on the forehead and making the sign of the cross. According to the stories one way to find out a werewolfs identity is to wound it and later look for a human with similar wounds. Stories about werewolves have been most common in Europe. Tales from other parts of the world tell about people who turn into various other kinds of animals. The technical word for werewolf is lycanthrope. This word comes from lycaon, the name of a king in Greek mythology who was turned into a wolf by the god Zeus. Lycanthropy is a form of mental illness in which a person imagines he or she is a wolf.
-the World Book Encyclopedia 1992 wxyz
Some werewolf terms from other cultures
Italian = Vrykolakas. However, it also means 'vampire'
Russian = 'Vlkodlak', from 'vulko' (wolf) and 'dlaka' (hair).
Brittany = "bisclaveret"
German = "weerwolf"
French = "loup-garou"
Spanish = lobo hombre (lobo = wolf, hombre = man)
Latin = versipellis (turn-skin)
mentioned in "Lai du Bisclaveret", by Marie de France = louweerou
Byelorussian = wawkalak (specific type of werewolf)
Lycanthropy
according to 'THE TIME-LIFE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THINGS THAT NEVER WERE'
(From the Greek lukos = wolf, anthropos = man.) The phenomenon in which a human turns into a beast during the night and reverts to human form at sunrise. The were-beast may be as harmless as a rabbit or as dangerous as a wolf, crocodile, or tiger. In Africa, where whole tribes may be affected by lycanthropy, a white hunter once shot hyaenas wearing golden earrings.
Lycanthropy occurs internationally and always follows the same course. An apparently normal human, usually quite inoffensive in everyday life, changes at sunset into some kind of wild animal. During the night the were-person indulges a taste for human flesh or for the raw flesh and blood of other animals. Were-persons are appallingly dangerousin their own bestial form and may even eat their own human children or other relations.
The only exception to this rule is that of were-persons who change into vegetarian creatures such as squirrels, rabbits, or hares. Probably these are witches or wizards who wish to spy on people for the purpose of blackmail.
The causes of lycanthropy are obscure. It may be that a human deliberately learns the necessary magical powers, or he may be under a spell cast by a magician (St. Patrick of Ireland changed Veretius, King of Wales, into a wolf). Or he may become infected with lycanthropy by physical contact with a were-beast in human or bestial form. Some researchers believe that even the consumption of food prepared by a lycanthropist is enough to carry the infection. Lycanthropologists are still uncertain whether a were-person makes an involuntary transformation at nightfall, or whether he/she aids the process by smearing the body with ointment made from the fat of the relevent animal.
Sometimes a were-person reveals himself or herself involuntarily, as in the case of the Indian were-tigress caught in a trap. At sunrise, the villagers found the trap contained a naked woman. On other occasions a hunter shoots at some beast spotted during the night, and on the following day a villager is seen limping from a wound.
Apart from such obvious revelations, a were-person is easily detected when there have been night-time attacks in a neighbourhood. He or she has no appetite, because of the feasts of raw meat taken during the night; and is always tired and stiff in the daytime because of the vigorous nocturnal activities. If the lycanthropist co-operates then the condition may be cured by any accomplished witch or wizard. If not, then the were-person should be shot with a silver bullet.
Lycanthropy & Therianthropy
Lycanthropy...What is it?
Lycanthropy from Greek lykoi, "wolf" anthropos, "man", a psychiatric state in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some other nonhuman animal. Undoubtedly stimulated by the once widespread superstition that lycanthropy is a supernatural condition in which men actually assume the physical form of other animals, the delusion has been most likely to occur among people who believe in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls.
Rarely does this condition surface. Examples of lycanthropy are only now being linked to schizophrenia - having very few cases to study in our present institutions makes this disease difficult to study in-depth.
Usually, a person is deemed to take the form of the most dangerous beast of prey of the region: the wolf or bear in Europe and northern Asia, the hyena or leopard in Africa, and the tiger in India, China, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia; but other animals are mentioned too. Both the superstition and the psychiatric disorder are linked to the belief in animal guardian spirits, vampires, totemism, witches, and werewolves. The folklore, fairy tales, and legends of many nations and peoples show evidence of lycanthropic belief.
Stories of men turning into beasts go back to antiquity. In parts of ancient Greece, werewolf myths, stemming from prehistoric times (based on new evidence), became linked with the Olympian religion. In Arcadia, a region plagued by wolves, there was a cult of the Wolf-Zeus. Mt. Lycaeus was the scene of a yearly gathering at which the priests were said to prepare a sacrificial feast that included meat mixed with human parts. According to legend, whoever tasted it became a wolf and could not turn into a man unless he abstained from human flesh for nine years.
The Romans also knew this superstition. Anyone who was supposed to have been turned into a wolf by means of magic spells or herbs was called versipellis "turnskin" by the Romans.
Stories about the werewolf were widely believed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Outlaws and bandits played on these superstitions by sometimes wearing wolfskins over their armour. At that time people were unusually prone to develop the delusion that they themselves were wolves; suspected lycanthropists were burned alive if convicted. Only rarely was their condition recognized as a psychological disturbance. Although the superstition is no longer common, traces still linger in some primitive and isolated areas.
The term werewolf isn't like the "classic" Hollywood-style ravenous beast stuff. The term lycanthropy as is used here can be found in some medical psychological books as being a disorder, a certain animal like behaveour as a result of an advanced psychosis. This is also not the way i like to use the term werewolf in relation to me. The way i use the term, is as in spiritual therianthropy.
Right, you are now probably a bit dazzled by the terms used by me here, so let me give a short description of them (borrowed from the AHWW FAQ):
Lycanthrope \'li-ken-throp\ n (NL lycanthropus, fr. GK lykanthropos werewolf, fr. lykos wolf + anthropos man) 1: a person displaying lycanthropy 2:a werewolf
Lycanthropy \'li-kan(t)-thra-pe\ n 1: a delusion that one has become a wolf. 2: the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft or magic - lycanthropic adj.
Theriomorphic \'thir-e-o-'mor-fik\ adj (GK theriomorphos, fr. therion beast + morphe form - more at treacle): having an animal form <~gods>
Mind you, these were taken from some dictionary, and provide a general discription of the terms, not an exact one. Read on to get a better understanding of what is meant.
A Theriomorph is a shapeshifter; a being who can assume an animal as well as a human form. A spiritual theriomorph is someone who at least sees aspects of animals in his or her personality and actions, and those aspects shape who he or she is. More so in the meaning of a spiritual shapeshifter, being able to assume animal as wel as human form in spirit (or a mix of the two). I feel an animal spirit that is an integral part of my being, affecting how i interact with others, what i do, where i go... and in that sense, i am a shapeshifter. I exist mentally and in spirit as both wolf and human (but not seperate, i am one person, one character, one being). When i shift, mentally, the outside world usually notices it... the change in thought produces a change in demeanor that's readily recognizable. Even without a shift though, there are several facets in my mind that are pure wolf thinking, and make me definately different than people around me.
Shifting itself is something that's almost impossible to explain to someone who isn't a shifter himself, but i'll try to give you some idea what this is about. My being is truly integrated, both human and wolf co-operating to do what i have to do, to say what i want to say, to live my life, trying to find one that best suits me as being part human, part non-human. Some other therianthropes feel this differently, have made a clear seperation between their human and animal forms, but for me, this is the way it is. Most of the time, to be able to go on mostly unnoticed, i have to let the main "line" of my life being led by my human side, to adapt to human civilisation, to "blend in" so to say. When shifting, i let the wolf side take more control, let the animal control my actions and thoughts more. Shifting can be triggered either by will, or (and it's a great advantage then) when the situation i'm in get's really dangerous, or life-threatening even, and the wolf gets me in a state of heightened awareness, being able to cope with whatever will come my way at that moment. Then, although my human side is still there, my thinking has gone almost purely predatorial.
- found at http://lycanthropology.blogspot.com