from almost every corner of the globe.
They appear in the folklore and mythology of almost every culture. The
Inuit tribespeople have a legend about the Adlet, a race of dog people that were the result of a mating between an Inuit tribeswoman and a great red dog. These weredogs are said to stil haunt northern Iceland in search of human flesh. You'l see this theme of human animal couplings resulting in monsters repeated over and over across cultures.
'These could have evolved as a way to warn against what would have been seen as aberrant sex acts involving animals. The Slavic people have a legend that beautiful women who misuse their physical gifts to seduce men and cause mischief may return from the grave as sultry shape-shifters cal ed rusalki who, like the legends of mermaids and sirens, lure men out to sea to watery graves. It's easy to see the warning here. Most legends are based on fear and the fear of the power of a woman's sexuality is very powerful even to this day.
'Then there are people who are said to have become monsters by making pacts with Satan. The Portuguese have the legend of the Bruxsa, a woman who turns into a gigantic birdlike harpy and sucks the blood of her own children.
Germans have the boxenwolf, which is more like our traditional werewolf and is likewise believed to be a person who has made a pact with Satan for the power of the wolf. The warning there is again quite obvious: Stay in the church. Don't stray from the religion of your culture.
'The term ghoul comes from a mythical shapeshifting creature from the Arabian desert that transforms endlessly from an ox to a camel to a horse and has a voracious appetite for human flesh. In
Ghana there's a demon cal ed the dodo that often appears as a snake and is rumored to be another ravenous devourer of humans. In Japan there's a fox demon cal ed the kitsune that is said to possess humans and deplete the energy of its victims, draining them dry. Some of them are humans that have turned into werecreatures and others are demons that can simply appear as humans.'
'How do they turn themselves back?' Joseph didn't care what the other students thought of him now. He had questions to which he desperately needed answers.
Professor Douglas turned toward Joe with obvious annoyance at having his lecture interrupted.
'Yes, Joseph? You had a question?'
'The werewolves that are just humans who have turned into monsters. How do they turn themselves back into humans?
How do they get rid of the curse?' The professor scratched his ratty overgrown goatee and pondered
Joseph a moment, perhaps trying to decide if the boy was genuinely curious or just trying to make some kind of joke. He'd had Joseph in the previous semester and knew that the serious young man was not genuinely the comedic type.
'Wel, let's see. There are many different theories on how to rid yourself of the curse, according to various legends, though none of them seem to have a very high success rate. General y, once you invite these demonic animal spirits inside they are nearly impossible to get rid of.'
'But-'
Joe wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to steady his voice. He could feel himself growing more and more agitated, his desperation evident in the way he fidgeted in his chair and rang out his hands constantly.
'But you said there were many theories about different cures. What are the theories? What's the cure?'
'Wel, we'l get to that, Joseph. I don't want to get off track. First I want to discuss the different myths themselves and their similarities,' the professor said, trying to keep from losing control of the discussion.
But you know, right?' Joe rose from his chair. He was sweating again and he had a look of desperation in his eyes.
'Uh-oh. Here we go again,' one of the other students mumbled. Joe was pretty sure it was his roommate. He ignored him.
'I mean, you know what the cure is?
Right?'
'Joseph. These are just myths. Now take your seat, please.'
Joe looked around and, realizing that he was once again making a fool of himself, slipped back into his chair.
'I-I'm sorry, Professor.'
Professor Douglas peered curiously at
Joe over his glasses.
'That's quite al right, Joseph, and I promise we wil get to your question. It's just difficult to real y understand the cure without understanding the disease.
'You mean how they became werewolves in the first place?'
'Yes, the theories on that vary from culture to culture and even within cultures. There are a number of different ways to evoke the animal spirits. The most common way as in the shamanic
`skin walkers,' the French loup-garou, and the vicious leopard men of West
Africa, is to don the skin of a wolf. Some don ful skins and some, as in the loupgarou or the berserkers, wear only a belt or a vest fashioned from the hide of the animal they wish to become in order to invoke the transformation. Others rub their skin in salves and ointments made of animal fat or even human fat. The leopard men drank a magical concoction brewed from the intestines of their human victims, which they believed gave them their lycanthropic abilities. Some believe you need only drink water from a werewolf's tracks in order to become one yourself.
'There are magical texts, which prescribe complex rituals for the invoking of the werewolf spirit. One recommends removing al of your clothing and rubbing your skin in a magical ointment made from the fat of a wolf and mixed with anise, camphor, and opium, then donning a wolf pelt and drinking beer mixed with wolf's blood.
You can see how such a complex ritual, particularly with the imbibing of alcohol and opium, coupled with the person's desire to become a wolf could easily lead one to believe he had indeed transformed.
'There are likewise many cults and sects that have wild drunken orgies in which live animals and even humans are consumed and animal hides are worn.
During these rituals many of these initiates believe that they have become animals. The Maenads, who worshipped the wine god Dionysus and the horned god of the forest Pan, had wild drunken bacchanals in which they consumed live animals and humans and let wolf pups suckle at their breasts. The Is-sawiya, a shape-shifting cult from northern and western Africa, likewise engaged in these wild organized rituals in order to gain their powers. During their ceremonies they would dress a calf or a bul in human clothing and then rip it to shreds and devour its flesh raw.'
'But that's for people who wanted to become werewolves. What about those who were cursed, who became monsters against their wil?'
A round of snickers circled the classroom. Joe turned around to glare at them and the room fel silent. He turned back to the professor.
'Wel… there's usual y only a few causes for that and that's either by being scratched or bitten by someone who is already a werewolf or by involuntarily drinking their blood, or by being cursed by a witch or sorcerer.'
Joe paused for a moment in deep thought.
'So, let's say someone is bitten and gets infected with this virus. How do they cure themselves?'
'You mean for those who have become lycanthropes involuntarily, I assume?
There are some who believe that if you sever the lineage at its source, the original shape-shifter that spawned that particular line, then you wil release al those wolves he created from the curse. That original werewolf would be the one who acquired his abilities voluntarily. He may stil don a wolf's skin when he hunts and he'd probably be envious of his offspring who manage the transformation without any trinkets or rituals. But most agree that the only surefire way is a silver bul et through the heart, severing of the head, or burning them alive.'
Joe shuddered and fel silent. If what he suspected was correct then the man who'd abducted him over a decade ago, stabbed, mutilated, and nearly kil ed him, was the werewolf he needed to kil in order to be free. Joe stared at the professor in shock, not hearing another word the man said.
He was thinking about confronting
Damon Trent again.
