But is this image accurate? When did this idea of the shapeshifting werewolf become common? Although the classic Western idea of the werewolf could be mostly derived from the Greek legend of Lycaeon, there are Werebeast legends from all parts of the world. In other cultures, instead of werewolves, shapeshifters could transform into bears, foxes, cats of all sizes but especially jaguars or tigers, or birds of prey. Shamans were often believed to possess the ability to transform themselves into animals. The berserker legends of Scandinavia no doubt contributed to the Western European were legends, as the berserker warriors often wore bear skins during battle, and must have been terrifying when the heat of battle was upon them.
Legend and Lore
Yet there have been people who have claimed the ability to become werewolves.
In the past, many selfproclaimed werewolves were insane individuals, and sometimes violent psychopaths. Two wellknown examples of criminally insane Weres include Stubbe Peeter of Germany and Jacques Roulet of France. Stubbe Peeter was a German man who went on trial in 1589 for the murders of 25 people, including his own son. Peeter claimed he became a werewolf after making a pact with Satan, and also claimed acts of cannibalism and mutilation. Accusations of being a werewolf were used as political weapons; King John of England was rumored to be a werewolf, as was the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.
During the Middle Ages, many of the people accused of witchcraft were also accused of being werewolves. It was believed that entering into a pact with the Devil could cause one to become a werewolf, and some of the people who admitted to being werewolves told tales of meeting a stranger on a dark horse who helped them to either enter the pact or to become the werewolf. According to traditional werewolf lore, a person could become a werewolf through the use of a wolf skin or a belt made from one, an ointment, or though being bitten by a wolf. Infants born with body hair, a caul, or an unusual birthmark were viewed as potential werewolves.
There are many stories of beasts believed to be werewolves attacking and killing people. The Beast of Gevaudan terrorized the countryside of southern France between June 1764 and June 1767, and was called a werewolf at the time. The panic created by the attacks attributed to this beast prompted King Louis XV to send two separate expeditions to the area to hunt the creature down and restore order. Two exceptionally large wolves were eventually shot and killed in the area, but researchers of the creature have theorized it to have been anything from a wolf that developed a taste for human flesh to a hyena escaped from a private menagerie. In more recent times, in Wisconsin a creature known as the Beast of Bray Road was spotted many times by people considered reliable witnesses. The Bray Road creature was described as having a muscular fur-covered body about six feet in height, with the face and snout of a dog or wolf. This particular beast has inspired several books and movies.
Lycanthropy and Modern Werewolves
In modern times, some people have embraced the idea of being a werewolf while casting off the stereotype of the bloodthirsty beast. These people call themselves Weres or Therians, and consider themselves linked to wolves or other animals. There is also a medical condition known as lycanthropy, a mental disorder which causes its sufferers to behave like animals.
People suffering from lycanthropy will often go about on all fours, growling and barking. They refuse to wear clothing or eat cooked foods, preferring to eat raw meat. Since they neglect their personal hygiene, their hair becomes wild and dirty, and with their long nails and wild faces it is easy to imagine the fear they might have provoked. Lycanthropy is believed to have a physiological basis and is not merely a psychosis.
One of the earliest medical descriptions of lycanthropy was written by Paulus Aegineta. Paulus was a welltraveled Greek physician who is best known for compiling a sevenvolume tone on the extent of Roman medical knowledge, written sometime around the year 660AD.
The people who call themselves Therians or Weres are real people who feel that their personality is entwined with that of the animal they feel connected to. These people have very little in common with the werewolf image portrayed by movies and horror literature. Some of these people prefer the term spiritual theriomorphs, implying that their soul can transform between that of a human and that of an animal. Most of these people are deeply involved with environmental causes, and believe that their animal nature acts as a balancing point between the natural world and their human nature.
But despite the similarity in believing themselves to be animals in some form, there is a world of difference between people who suffer from clinical lycanthropy and those who call themselves therians. In clinical lycanthropy, the sufferer undergoes a complete change of personality. Therians do not loose their human personality, it exists alongside that of the Were persona. Some Therians claim they can switch to the animal personality or instincts at will, but this switch is not the physical transformation we see in movies. This is merely a mental or spiritual switch, where the person keeps their human form. When a Therian goes through a shift, the experience is not unpleasant or frightening to them, because they view this as just another aspect of themselves. Also, the lycanthrope cannot control the personality shift, it merely happens. Some Therians can not only control the shift from human to animal, but can stop it if the shift happens at a time they feel is inappropriate. The lycanthrope is often dangerous to the people around them because they are reacting like a frightened animal, where the therian is no danger, unless they have to defend themselves.
Modern Ideas on Therians and the Link to Psychology
Modern psychology has made efforts to define and understand Therians. There are many ideas about how and why some people feel they have the animal personality that exists along with their human side. Researchers have suggested that Therians could be a form of multiple personality disorder. Sometimes when abused children are trying to cope with the horrors of what they have experienced, they will create a separate personality or personalities which believe that they are separate people from the core personality. It has been suggested in some literature that some therians could be survivors of abuse who, instead of creating a different human personality, created an animal to help them express their feelings. This again has links to the theory of WalkIns in that it has been theorized that a soul under duress may choose to leave, and another might step in to the body and mind left vacant.
There is a theoretical link to the amygdala section of the brain, which is sometimes called the reptilian or primitive brain. The amygdala is a small almondshaped structure in the brain which is believed to control in some way our emotions and mental state. It has been suggested that this structure is biologically very old, and was developed to help early organisms to sense and move away from danger. The feelings produced by a frightening event are stored in the amygdala. The amygdala also seems to play a role in the flight or fight instinct, which could be related to the shifts therians seem to undergo. Some researchers, such as Dr. Neil Slade, believe that understanding how to switch on the amygdala could hold the key to understanding how mystics are able to reach higher states of awareness.
Shifting from Human to Animal
There is more than one type of shift in personality and awareness experienced by Therians. While the definitions of the shifts will be different from person to person, and the nature of the shifts will vary too, there are four main types. Mental shifts may involve the amygdala section of the brain, the part nicknamed the ?reptilian brain' because it involves deep instinctual behavior. In a mental shift, a Therian?s dominant personality changes from human to the animal side, so any actions and reactions become more that of the animal than the human. This can happen when the person is under stress, and could be an extreme fight or flight reaction. Some Therians claim that during a mental shift, their senses sharpen and they sometimes display behaviors like those of their animal nature.
Dream shifts occur when, during a dream, the Therian experiences a change from human to that of their animal side. In dreams, some therians undergo a complete shift to animal, and experience things not as a human mind observing an animal, but as the actual animal would. Smells and sounds become sharper, and animal instincts control the whole persona.
Spirit shifts could be related to spirit guides or totems, in that the totem spirit takes over the Therian?s physical body. This is perhaps related to the WalkIn phenomena, which some people have described as being when one soul leaves a body either voluntarily or involuntarily. After the first soul leaves, another soul chooses to move in to the vacant space, and assumes the life and memories of the individual to whom the body belongs. People who believe they are walkins often feel disconnected from their own pasts; although they can recall events, they have a clinical detachment from it. This is referred to by some as phantom shifting also.
Physical shifts are the dreaded transformation so loved by horror movies, where under the full moon the werewolf rips off his or her clothing and becomes a wolf in body and mind. Not all Therians believe this shift is possible, and in fact this could be a memory of people suffering from lycanthropy in an age where the disorder was not understood. In a physical shift, a person would transform themselves totally into their animal persona. The human brain might be aware and directing, but the person would be to all outer purposes an animal. There are an extremely small number of people who claim to have accomplished this transformation, and when someone does step forward, they are met with ridicule and disbelief. Many Therians themselves have discredited the idea that the physical shift is possible
Seeing Things from a Therian?s Point of View
In order to best understand who these people who call themselves Therians are, I sought out and interviewed several people. These folks are not roleplayers; this is who they believe themselves to be. They are averageseeming people, the kind you pass on the street every day, who hold jobs and go to school. But they are different in that they consider themselves Weres, and merely human. After talking to these people, I found several common threads running through their lives; a deep love of and connection to animals and nature, a desire for tolerance from other people, and a desire for privacy. The people I interviewed are not criminally insane, nor are they bloodthirsty beasts. Because of the negative image connected to Weres, like many other subcultures they have embraced the Internet as a way to socialize with other Weres while not sacrificing privacy.
I would like to present here the interview questions and the answers I received from four Therians. I will not give their real names, because they value their privacy, so we?ll call them Steven, Brad, Cyrus, and Nicole. They are of different ages and backgrounds; Brad is deeply involved with martial arts, while Nicole is still a student. Steven, Brad, and Cyrus are male, while Nicole is female. Brad is not a wolf Therian but a feline one, while the others feel a connection to wolves. But they have much in common in that they all are Weres, and would like for the rest of us to know about who they truly are.
Caroline Asher: When did you first suspect you might be a Were or Therian?
Cyrus: Let?s put it this way, there are things that happen in life that nobody but you will ever know about or experience. I guess this would be THE defining question and for some people there is no definite answer, but for me I suspected that I might be a therian about 1 ½ to 2 years ago.
Nicole: It first hit me when I started thinking; I love running, hiking, (being) outside. My ears go up when I?m happy, I love having my head touched, I play rough with my dogs???.I also have a great sense of smell, I can smell something and tell you what it is and where it is.
C.A.: When you think back over past events in your life, do you feel now that there were signs or clues you might have missed?
Brad: Most definitely. There have been many ?clues? in the past?..My attraction to animals and theirs to me??being able to understand what they are thinking. For my ?Cat? side??.the fact that all my workouts on martial arts were cat oriented, that my favorite car was the Cougar, that my hair curled over my ears like an angry Cat with its ears lowered back?..that I moved catlike, had a catlike attitude?..I felt uneasy on two legs and thought I could get around better if I had four?..and probably more that I haven?t mentioned. All this came before my own ?awakening?.
C.A.: When you define yourself as a Were or Therian, what does that mean to you personally?
Steven: It means that I am both human and wolf. I?m not sure what else to say. It?s simply an innate part of who I am.
Brad: A deep connection/closeness to nature and animals?more so that ?regular? humans?.and the fact that we can access the primal brain more easily than ?regular? humans. That there seems to be the shadow of an animal over our lives, guiding us and influencing our thoughts to the point of giving us animal characteristics and personalities.
C.A.: How many people in your life know, and how have they handled the information?
Steven: Offline, only three. One seemed a little confused at first, but had no other reaction. The other two reacted with mild curiosity and continued mild interest.
Brad: Many know, and their reactions are different. I?ve lost many good jobs by telling the wrong people?resulting in the usual scorn and ridicule, laughter behind my back and even jerks who like to make howling noises while I work on machines. I do, however, have a wife who is sympathetic to the cause, and very tolerant about it. One has to be careful which ?Outsiders? get this information about you?.the wrong ones can make you feel miserable and do much damage.
Cyrus: No one, but a few people online and I will probably never meet them, so what does it matter?
C.A.: How did you become a Were, or how did you discover that you were one?
Brad: From what I understand, I always was one, I just needed to be ?awakened??..I feel that any and all humans can be Therian, they just need to be awakened to that fact and find their true nature within themselves.
Cyrus: You know, I don?t know, I can?t say that people are changed or transformed, if they are I don?t know about it, I feel I have always had the connection but perhaps it was just dormant until I realized that maybe this was indeed a part of me.
C.A.: How does being a Were affect your daily life, i.e. jobs, relationships, etc.?
Steven: No more or less than any other aspects of my personality or characteristics. It?s just part of who I am, and it isn?t a single, simple issue. It doesn?t get in the way of my life in any way. It?s just something that I can?t exactly reveal to the world without causing problems.
Brad: In my particular case, it?s had an adverse effect. My personality is Catlike, and that independence doesn?t go well in regular Human social order. It often makes me an outcast, and the fact that I have animal speed, power, and coordination creates fear among them as well. And what Humans fear, they hate?.and what they hate, they want to destroy. Like I said?.I lost everything because of this about three times, including good Union jobs, and working in Aerospace.
Cyrus: All in all, it doesn?t, I am still a little distant from people. I have never been able to connect with others as well as I have wanted to, I don?t let go of the fact that there is a part of me (that is) different go to my head to where I might have a complex about it.
C.A.: What aspects of yourself do you feel make you a Were?
Steven: Being a Were isn?t something based on any sort of symptoms or anything external. It is a matter of being both human and animal (in my case wolf) at the deepest level, which generally manifests itself to some degree or another in an individual?s personality, behavior, and traits etc. A werewolf simply thinks and acts more like a wolf based on their inner nature, and the same is true for other types of Therians.
Brad: (Being able to access) the primal brain almost at will and in times of stress and danger, according to the work of Dr. Neil Slade. My deep connection to animals and nature. The way I move, the way I act, the way I think?all with an animal ?flavor to it. Also Dreamshifting, Mentalshifting, and Phantomshifting.
Nicole: My wanting to live in the woods, my sense, smell, sight, hearing. When I?m happy my ears go up. My wanting to be alone, being up all night, growling, jumping, tackling, biting??.
C.A.: Do you associate with other Weres in real life? And if no, why not?
Steven:No. I simply do not know any others offline.
Brad: I did on my last job, and I must say I enjoyed the fellowship and having at least one person around with views similar to my own. Off work and offline, I have none that I hang around with.
Nicole: No, because no one is near me. But I would love to.
C.A.: How does being a Were affect aspects of your life such as spirituality, or any religious feelings you might have?
Steven: As a Were, I certainly feel more of a connection to nature than most people, but that is not new since my awakening. I also feel a deeper connection to animals, especially though not limited to the wolf. As for religion, I am a Christian, and that has not changed. Knowing what I am has only further opened my eyes to the variety that exists within God?s Creation.
Brad: I?ve expanded my own spirituality from just between walls in a church to becoming a Seeker. I feel there is more out there that I haven?t been exposed to yet?higher realms, the Spirit World, energy working, Psionics, the power of the brain and mind. I?m still a bornagain Christian, and this is just another aspect of it, not affecting my faith in any way.
Cyrus: I do feel connected to wolves a lot and I have always liked animals?I want to make something very clear, I am considered a Christian, however many people use the term way too broadly. I will let you know I am Pentacostal and I am Christian?I say this because being a Christian to me is a way of life and the Therian does not conflict my soul.
Nicole: I am more open to myself. I do what I want and I am not scared to do it.
C.A.: Have you ever experienced a physical transformation, either in the flesh or in dreams? Are you able to make either a physical or mental shift at will, or is it more of a reflex reaction?
Steven: I myself have not pshifted. In the eyes of many, its very existence is still theory and open to debate. I have however become a wolf in my dreams before. Mshifting can be either willed or reflexive, depending upon the situation, and it can vary in intensity.
Brad: I have not physically shifted yet. It requires more energy than is present in the human body. Those who know how to access Earth energy or energy from another source can Pshift with the proper guidance by flooding their phantom limbs with it. I?m currently working on opening my Chakras to aid me in this. I have dream shifted many times though, and have run around in animal bodies as well as being in the classic ?werewolf? form?I can Mshift at will, and used it daily to handle the excessive workload I had at work. I can also Mshift in times of stress or danger, and that part is automatic and not controlled by me.
C.A.: What is one thing you would like other people to know about Weres?
Steven: That we are not vicious beasts, crazy people, or followers of some strange religion. We are regular people of various faiths and backgrounds, who attend jobs and school, vote and have political opinions, and normally have otherwise very normal lives. We just happen to believe that we have a unique internal connection with some sort of animal.
Cyrus: One major thing is that we aren?t some monster who changes on the full moon or will strip clothes and eat you alive, we are humans just like everybody else and we can fit in anywhere.
Nicole: That they are real, and mean no harm like the ones in movies. We walk around, have jobs, go to school, all that stuff. We mean no harm and only want to live a life without hate or threats or killing.
Brad: We only want peaceful coexistence?not to be spurned because of our different way of thinking. They are actually safer around us themselves, because we mind our own business and never attack unless attacked first. We have the capacity to be their best friends, if they would only accept us, being full of compassion, kind, considerate and usually polite and wellmannered. We are pack oriented and therefore social creatures. Mankind is our pack also, and we want to be accepted by them as well.
I would very much like to express my gratitude to the people who took the time to answer my questions. I personally found these people to be genuinely kind, and interested in sharing their own experiences in the interest of changing how Therians are perceived. I learned much more than I expected too, and I feel I have come to understand these people more through their own words than I ever could have through mere descriptions of their psychology.
Society and attitudes have changed drastically since the days when the howl of a wolf in the forest could send chills of terror down the spines of humans. With the rise of science over superstition, many old ideas are being reexamined, and tolerance for different lifestyles and beliefs has made it safe for people to express views that five hundred years ago might have gotten them killed. Perhaps when we have learned even more about how the human mind works, we will find that there was a basis in fact for the existence of the Werewolf.
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