In Mythology werewolves are entites that are human but shape shift into animal form during certain lunar aspects which affect their DNA.
DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS
(In folklore and superstition) a human being that has changed or been changed into a wolf, or is capable of assuming the form of a wolf, while retaining human intelligence.
Lycanthropy:
Lycanthropy from Greek lykoi, "wolf" anthropos, "man" - a delusion that one has become a wolf. The assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft or magic
At the Center of Biomedical Research in Guadalajara, Mexico geneticist Dr. Luis Figuera is studying a Mexican family with a rare genetic mutation that causes fur like hair to grow all over their bodies. This werewolf disorder has mysterious resurfaced for the first time since the middle ages. The gene that causes the mutation lay dormant for centuries. It can be passed through either parent in the "X" chromosone. This is known as the "Werewolf Disorder".
In the Aceves family...32 members...all have this disease. They live in a mountain town named Zacatecas in Mexico. The hair covers much of their body...even in females. Some members of the family have more hair than others. One of them performs as a wolfman in a traveling circus. They are discriminated against by the local people.
Dr. Figuera may not be able to cure their affliction but he is hoping to isolate the gene and help others. He is also hoping to help others with hair loss.
The Ways of the Wolf: By Nate Wolfe
There are two categories of werewolf cases; 'false' or Lycanthropic Disorder cases and genuine werewolf cases.
LYCANTHROPIC DISORDER :
Lycanthropic Disorder - is a mental condition in which the subject (called a Lycanthrope) believes that he or she is a werewolf. The subject does not actually change shape, but is nevertheless capable of being as dangerous as an actual werewolf. Most cases of supposed werewolfry are really the works of Lycanthropic Disorder victims.
MAN TO BEAST:
In real werewolves a physical change to wolf form does occur. The change can be voluntary (at will), or can be forced by certain cycles of the moon and certain sounds (such as howling).
WEREWOLVES & IMMORTALITY:
Werewolves are immune from aging and from most physical diseases due to the constant regeneration of their physical tissue. They can, therefore, be virtually immortal. However, they can be killed by any wound that destroys the heart or the brain, or any form of death that causes brain or heart damage (such as hanging or other oxygen-deprivation methods).
THE MIND OF A WEREWOLF :
Though primarily a true wolf while in wolf form, there is some proof that the werewolf retains enough knowledge to assist his killing; recognition of victims, evation of traps, and human cunning have all been seen on werewolf cases.
BECOMING A WEREWOLF:
There are several ways to become a werewolf. They include being givin the power of shape shifting through sorcery, being cursed by someone who you have wronged in some way (called Lycaeonia curse), being bitten by a werewolf, and being born to a werewolf. In each case, the blood becomes tainted or cursed.
DAMNATION:
A person who becomes a werewolf against his will (birth, curse, or bite) is not completely damned until he tastes of human blood. Once he does, his soul is eternally damned and nothing may redeem him. Even without tasting of human blood, however, as long as the taint lays upon the immortal soul, it cannot enter Heaven, and will remain chained to the mortal plane upon death.
WEREWOLF PACKS:
Like real wolves, werewolves can live alone for many years, yet the instinct for a pack often leads them away from their secretive lifestyle, into revealing their nature to a priest or close associate, or converting another to werewolfry for companionship. This is when the otherwise cagey werewolf opens himself to dection! Werewolf packs cause immense destruction. A pack consists of one werewolf who became a werewolf through sorcery, birth, or curse - in other words, his is the original tainted blood. This werewolf is called the Alpha werewolf. The remaining werewolves in the pack are called Beta werewolves because they became werewolves through the bite of the Alpha and carry the Alpha's tainted blood.
ALPHA & BETA WEREWOLVES:
The relationship between Alpha and Beta werewolves is a complex one. Once a subject is bitten by a werewolf, his or her life and death are doomed to the werewolf curse. The victim does, however, have some hope - as long as they themselves do not taste of human blood, the curse is reversible. If the Alpha werewolf is killed - through some action of the Beta - the Beta's curse is broken. It is important to note that whether the Beta werewolf was bitten by the Alpha werewolf himself or by another Beta, it is the Alpha who must be destroyed - the source of the original tainted blood. It is also an interesting note that since Betas and Alphas share common blood, an Alpha cannot physically harm a Beta of his own bloodline by his own hans without inflicting the same injury upon himself. However, if a Beta is harmed or killed by another, it does not affect the Alpha.
SYMPTOMS OF WEREWOLFRY:
When hunting for a werewolf it is important to remember that your biggest clues will come through your suspects personalities. Becoming a werewolf is not transparent, no matter how the victim tries to hide it. The tainted, sub-human blood appearence. Therefore, look for symptoms in your human suspects that include increasing violence, increasing aggression, unprovoked rages, insomnia, restlessness, and other bizarre behavior. Unfortunately, over time these symptoms can be brought under control, so do not rely on them exclusively.
PURPORTED WEREWOLF SIGHTINGS IN HISTORY
75,000 BC
Earliest human altars, including evidence of prehistoric bear-cult.
10,000 BC
Domestication of dog
6,000 BC
Catal Huyuk cave-drawings depict leopard men hunting
2,000 BC
Epic of Gilamesh written down (first literary evidence of werewolves)
850 BC
Odyssey written down (includes many traces of werewolf beliefs)
500 BC
Scythians recorded as believing the Neuri to be werewolves.
400 BC
Damarchus, Arcadian werewolf, said to have won boxing medal at Olympics
100 - 75 BC
Virgil's eighth ecologue (first voluntary transformation of werewolf)
55 AD
Petronius, Satyricon
150 AD
Apuleius, Metamorphosis composed
170 AD
Pausanias visits Arcadia and hears of Lykanian werewolf rites
432 AD
St. Patrick arrives in Ireland
600 AD
Saint Albeus (Irish) said to have been suckled by wolves
617 AD
Wolves said to have attacked heretical monks
650 AD
Paulus Aegineta describes "melancholic lycanthropia"
900 AD
Hrafnsmal mentions "wolf coats" among the Norwegian Army
Canon Episcopi condems the belief in reality of witches as heretical
1020
First use of the word "werewulf" recorded in English
1101
Death of Prince Vseslav of Polock, alleged Ukrainian werewolf
1182 - 1183
Giraldus claims to have discovered Irish werewolf couple
1194 - 1197
Guillaume de Palerne composed
1198
Marie de France composes Bisclavret
1250
Lai de Melion composed
1275 - 1300
Volsungasaga, Germanic werewolf saga, written down
1344
Wolf child of Hesse discovered
1347 - 1351
First major outbreak of the Black Death
1407
Werewolves mentioned during witchcraft trial at Basel
1450
Else of Meerburg accused of riding a wolf
1486
Malleus Maleficarum published
1494
Swiss woman tried for riding a wolf
1495
Woman tried for riding a wolf at Lucerne
1521
Werewolves of Poligny burnt
1541
Paduan werewolf dies after having arms and legs cut off
1550
Witekind interviews self-confessed werewolf at Riga Johann Weyer
takes up post of doctor at Cleve
1552
Modern French version of Guillaume published at Lyon
1555
Olaus Magnus records strange behavior of Baltic werewolves
1560
First publication of Della Porta, Magiae naturalis
1563
First publication of Weyer, De praestigus daemonum
1572
St. Bartholomew's Day of Massacre, intensification of French civil war
1573
Gilles Garnier burnt as werewolf
1575
Trials of the benandanti begin in the Friuili (and will continue for a century)
1580
Rebellion at Romans with cannibalistic overtones
1584
Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft published
1588
Alleged date of Auvergne female werewolf (Boguet)
1589
Peter Stubb executed as werewolf at Cologne
1598
Roulet tried as werewolf, his sentence commuted
"Werewolf of Chalons" executed at Paris
Gandillon family burnt as werewolves in the Jura
1602
2nd edition of Bouget, Discours des sorciers
1603
Jean Grenier tried as werewolf and is sentenced to life imprisonment
1610
Two women condemned as werewolves at Liege Jean Grenier dies
1614
Webster's Duchess of Malfi published
1637
Famine in Franche-Comte: cannibalism reported
1652
Cromwellian law forbids export of Irish wolfhounds
1692
The Livonian werewolf Theiss interrogated
1697
Perrault's Contes includes "Little Red Riding Hood"
1701
De Tournefort sees vampire exhumation
1764
Bete de Gevaudon starts werewolf scare in Auvergne
1796 - 1799
Widespread fear of wolves reported in France
1797
Victor of Aveyron first seen
1806
French population falls below 2000
1812
Grimm Brothers publish their version of "Little Red Riding Hood"
1824
Antoine Leger tried for werewolf crimes and sentenced to lunatic asylum
1828
Death of Victor of Averyon
1830
Souix warriors reported hunting in wolfskins
1857
Accusation of being "wolf leader" ends in court in St. Gervais
G. W. M. Reynolds, Wagner the Wehr-Wolf published
1880
Folklorist collects werewolf tale in Picardy
1885
Johann Weyer's book reprinted at Paris
1886
Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde published
1906
Freud lists Weyer's book as among ten most significant ever published
1913
The Werewolf (film) using real wolf in transformation scene
1914
Freud publishes "wolf man" paper
1920
Kamala and Amala, the Orissa wolf children, discovered
Right-wing terror group "Operation Werewolf" established in Germany
1932
Jekyll & Hyde (film) starring Frederic March
1935
Werewolf of London (film)
1941
Wolf Man (film) starring Lon Chaney Jr.
1943 - 1944
Childhood autism first described LSD discovered
1944
House of Frankenstein (film) includes mention of silver bullet
1951
Outbreak of ergotism at Pont-Saint-Esprit
1952
Ogburn & Bose, On the trail of the Wolf-Children published
1957
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (film)
1972
Shamdeo discovered living among wolves in India
1975
Surawicz & Banta publish first two modern cases of lycanthopy
1979
"An American Werewolf in London" (film) includes first four-footed werewolf
1985
"Death of Shamdeo"
"Teen Wolf" (film)
1988
Monsieur X arrested
"McLean Hospital" survey published
1990
"Werewolf rapist" jailed
McLean Case 8 full report published
1991
"The Wolfman" escapes from Broadmoor
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