by Graeme Davis
Salius also notes that lycanthropes avoid water at all costs; another name for rabies is hydrophobia, Greek for fear of water. However, modern werewolf researchers have not observed any aversion to water among their test subjects, and the other similarities are broadly agreed to be coincidental.
In 1563, Dutch physician Johann Weyer wrote that werewolves suffered from an imbalance in their melancholic humor and listed the physical symptoms as paleness, a dry tongue and a great thirst, and sunken, dry eyes. In his book Daemonologie published in 1597, King James I of England (VI of Scotland) regards lycanthropy as a mundane ailment without any supernatural cause, blaming instead “an excess of melancholy … which causes some men to believe that they are wolves and to counterfeit the actions of these animals.”
Today, clinical lycanthropy can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as “a cultural manifestation of schizophrenia” because of four key symptoms: delusions (the belief that the patient is an animal); hallucinations (the false sensation of being in animal form); disorganized speech (making animal sounds); and “grossly disorganized behavior” (acting as an animal rather than a human being).
While it is true that some forms of mental illness can manifest as obsessive lycanthropy, there is a long and detailed historical tradition that suggests it is not the only cause of this condition.
Case Studies
Clermont, France, 12th century
The English writer Gervase of Tilbury writes of an outlawed French soldier named Raimbaud de Poinet, who seems to have fallen into a depressed state during the course of his wanderings until falling prey to “a sore amaze, and he grew frantic being changed into a wolf, under which shape he marauded his own native village, so that the farmers and franklins in terror abandoned their cottages and manors, leaving them empty and tenantless. This fearsome wolf devoured children, and even older persons were attacked by the beast, which tore their flesh grievously with its keen and savage teeth.”
Gervase gives us nothing from which we can tell what kind of werewolf Poinet was. The “sore amaze” suggests an obsessive werewolf, but the physical transformation rules this out.
Pavia, Italy, 1541
The 16th-century physician Job Fincelius records a classic case of obsessive lycanthropy which took place in Pavia, northern Italy, in 1541. When caught following a series of violent murders, the accused werewolf “assured his captors that the only difference… between himself and a natural wolf, was that in the true wolf the hair grew outward, while in him it struck inward.” In both Germany and France, more than one accused werewolf suffered partial flaying as the authorities tried to test the truth of similar assertions.
Creation
Obsessive lycanthropy can arise from a number of causes, both hereditary and otherwise. This has led many werewolf scholars to suggest that obsessive lycanthropy is nothing more than an umbrella term for a wide range of conditions that only manifest themselves in similar ways because of chance or cultural psychological stereotypes.
Genetic causes include neurological predisposition to obsessive and dysmorphic disorders, schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders, and generalized psychosis. However, obsessive lycanthropy is only one of several conditions that can result from these predispositions. In almost all cases that have been analyzed by modern psychology, there is also something in the patient’s early life that tips the balance toward lycanthropy and away from the others.
It is well documented that physical abuse in early childhood can lead to multiple personality disorders. While animal “alters” are not common, they are not unknown either, and a wolf makes a very effective defender of the fractured self. Dysmorphic disorders can lead to obsession with the strength, speed, beauty, and all-round capability of wolves, which in turn can lead to obsessive lycanthropy as a form of wish fulfillment.
A werewolf gargoyle from La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation de Moulins. While the Catholic Church officially denies the existence of werewolves, gargoyles such as this argue otherwise.
This German woodcut from the 16th century is thought to be the oldest depiction of an obsessive werewolf. (Mary Evans)
Serious anger management issues, regardless of their cause, can become identified with an animal power in the sufferer’s mind, and this too can develop into a lycanthropic obsession. Some therapists believe that the animal self is a psychological construct; an alter ego, created to externalize the rage and to take the blame for the violence and destruction it causes away from the patient. In most Western cultures, the wolf has long been used as a symbol for animal ferocity and malevolence, so it is not surprising that this construct should take the form of a wolf.
Most controversial, though, is the proposition that some forms of obsessive lycanthropy occur when a human is possessed by an animal spirit, in a process that mirrors the normal course of shamanic lycanthropy. Some shamans can call upon animal powers at will, and it has been suggested that latent talents can do so spontaneously and unwittingly.
A few scholars of shamanism have also suggested that certain animals are born with a latent shamanic talent just as some humans are, but there is no general agreement on this. In order to confirm or rule out this proposition, it would be necessary to identify such an animal and gain its cooperation, and this has not yet been accomplished.
Identification and Threat
Obsessive werewolves are among the easiest lycanthropes to identify in the field. Because they do not transform, it is usually possible to identify them even in the midst of a lycanthropic episode. The face does distort a little under the accompanying emotional strain, but not sufficiently to defeat facial recognition software.
Eyewitnesses are also valuable in cases of obsessive lycanthropy. Acquaintances can readily identify the lycanthrope even in the midst of an episode, and even the most reclusive of obsessive lycanthropes cannot avoid developing a reputation in the local community. In developed countries, an obsessive lycanthrope will usually be known to local police and social services.
Obsessive werewolves don’t really resemble wolves, but they often believe they do. (Mary Evans)
The uncontrolled violence of obsessive werewolves can make them a threat to local livestock and the local civilian population, especially the very young and the very old. However, a lone individual seldom poses a serious threat to well-prepared hunters.
Obsessive werewolves are most dangerous in groups, which can take the form of criminal gangs, “packs” that form spontaneously under a shared delusion, or organized cults. In these cases, the condition of each individual is strengthened by reinforcement from the rest of the group and can become as strong as any other form of psychological conditioning; group loyalty is usually very strong, and a group that has been together for any length of time will normally develop some level of tactical ability.
Elimination and Prevention
In dealing with a violent obsessive werewolf in the field, the most effective tools are the same as for subduing any violent suspect. Tasers will incapacitate the subject at close range so that handcuffs, straitjackets, or other restraints can be applied. At longer ranges and in dense cover, tranquilizing darts with a normal human dose will render the subject unconscious within a few minutes.
Where obsessive lycanthropy is purely psychological, it can be controlled by a combination of anti-psychotic medication and cognitive therapy. Where the individual has been part of a werewolf pack or cult, normal deprogramming techniques may also be required. The process can take months or years to complete and lifelong medication may be required.
If animal-spirit possession has been established, a course of instruction under an experienced shaman can help the individual come to terms with their predisposition to possession, control spontaneous accessing of animal spirits, and build mental defenses against outside possession. Basic training can be accomplished in a few weeks, but lifelong practice is required to keep the threat at bay. Many spontaneous lycanthropes have develop
ed into very capable shamans in this way.
BERSERKERS
Many descriptions of the Norse berserkers and ulfhednar mention howling, foaming at the mouth, and shield-biting without actual physical transformation, followed by exhaustion and weakness once the episode of berserksgangr has passed. These descriptions are completely consistent with obsessive lycanthropy, although other descriptions of berserksgangr vary. As will be discussed in later pages, the berserkers were clearly lycanthropes of various types who banded together, perhaps as members of a secret or forgotten wolf-cult.
Norse berserkers will be covered in greater detail in a later chapter.
A depiction of an 18th-century obsessive werewolf from Sweden. Since stories of werewolves were often used in centuries past to justify the actions of cannibals and serial killers, it is often difficult to determine actual accounts of an obsessive werewolf. (Mary Evans)
Lone Werewolves
Like wolves, werewolves are instinctively social beings, and the lone werewolf of horror literature and films reflects a small minority of actual cases of lycanthropy.
When a lone werewolf is encountered in the field, it is usually a newly infected viral werewolf. The individual was usually infected by accident, having survived an attack that was intended to be fatal, and has received no post-infection care or training. Ignorant, confused, and frightened, the werewolf becomes a solitary drifter, living on the move in order to avoid detection.
These untrained werewolves are usually a danger to themselves and others, transforming uncontrollably at the time of the full moon and unable to resist the instinct to attack humans and livestock. While they can be extremely dangerous when cornered, they pose a far greater threat by leaving human survivors who become werewolves in their turn. An outbreak can spiral out of control very rapidly if left unchecked.
A few shamanic werewolves live alone through choice, normally choosing remote locations in sparsely inhabited forests or mountains. These individuals are usually more shaman than werewolf, using a number of animal avatars and with no particular preference for wolves. Shamans who favor the wolf form tend to form packs of their own, or associate with wild wolf packs, preferring remote locations in both cases. In recent decades, though, some urban shamans have formed packs in a few of the larger cities, including San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon.
Wandering Packs
Wandering packs are often based on human groups like biker gangs and mercenary groups. A few bands of New Age travelers have included werewolves, including some who claim descent from the ancient Irish Kingdom of Ossory.
The use of wolf imagery on unit and club badges is common among wandering packs, but is not exclusive to werewolf groups; a number of purely human motorcycle clubs and paramilitary units have adopted wolf – and werewolf – related names and iconography.
A moody depiction of the isolation often experienced by werewolves, especially those recently infected with the virus. (Mary Evans)
Most wandering packs started as human groups who came into accidental contact with lycanthropy and now treat their condition as another tool in their repertoire. It is not uncommon for the werewolves to form the elite inner circle of a group that is mainly human, and to expose human members to lycanthropy as part of a promotion ritual. Levels of post-infection care and training can be high, with an emphasis on pack loyalty.
The threat posed by wandering packs depends on their chosen lifestyle. Biker gangs can be rowdy and disputes frequently turn violent; paramilitaries are deadly by nature and sometimes ignore rules of engagement and chain of command; even normally peaceful travelers are well able to stand up against a society that is often hostile toward them. These human tendencies are often amplified in werewolves. When confronted by hunters or law enforcement, wandering packs can be among the most dangerous werewolf groups.
Urban Werewolves
Urban werewolves have existed since Roman times, but they have become a phenomenon over the last 50 years. They are often groups of young urban professionals who hunt in city parks and nearby wilderness areas. Most are viral lycanthropes, but there are mixed packs whose members include urban shamans, neo-pagan wolf-dreamers, and other types. There have also been reports of werewolf packs operating as street gangs, and of criminal gangs using werewolves as enforcers.
Territory is very important to urban werewolves, and most urban packs operate within a well-defined area. Territorial disputes with other packs are usually resolved by negotiation, but they can escalate into a full-blown turf war like the Chicago incident of 2006, when a platoon of the 34th was sent to support and advise Chicago SWAT and the Illinois National Guard.
Barring territorial disputes, an urban werewolf pack can be a good thing. The Talbot Group and the Tyana Institute have both reported that crime drops significantly when a werewolf pack moves into a territory, and anecdotal evidence also suggests that local populations of rats, coyotes, and strays are also reduced, with a corresponding boost to public health.
Urban werewolf packs generally take great pains to train and support new members, limit their hunting to less-frequented areas, and avoid interaction with humans. They also deal effectively with outside werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural threats that wander into their territory. Although the number and size of urban packs increases year on year, the majority are still categorized as a low threat.
Most urban werewolves actually do their best to blend into society, though there are a few who seem to flaunt their lycanthropy by either appearing in public in their wolf man form, performing on stage, or even joining their high-school basketball team. (INTERFOTO / Alamy)
Many regard “urban werewolf” as too much of a generalization to be useful. Even in mixed packs, werewolves distinguish between viral, shamanic, and other types of lycanthrope, tolerating the differences but remaining aware of them. Urban-professional packs see themselves as having nothing in common with gang-related “werebangers” – who, in their turn, frequently express their contempt in terms like “LAWYs” (“Law-abiding werewolf yuppies”), “Fidos,” “Baltos” (a reference to the half-wolf sled dog immortalized in a 1995 animated movie), and “White Fangs.”
Law enforcement officials tend to agree, lumping werebangers and other lycanthropic criminals in with werewolf motorcycle gangs and the more antisocial wolf-cultists under the term “Charlie Sierra” (criminal shapeshifter). They generally fall under the purview of gang and organized crime units, which are gradually receiving specialized anti-werewolf training. When I was at Fort Bragg interviewing members of the 34th for this book, a group of SWAT officers from various midwestern police departments was on base for a one-week course in Lycanthrope Identification, Classification, and Countermeasures, known informally as “Pooches for Pigs.”
Rural and Wilderness Packs
The earliest reports of lycanthropy always came from remote areas, and even today a great many werewolf packs prefer to live far from human habitations. There are many good reasons for doing so: urban werewolves run a constant risk of discovery which can lead to hysteria and mob violence; newly infected lycanthropes are less able to control their condition, and may injure or kill innocent bystanders; and many werewolves have an instinctive love of the wild and are uncomfortable in an urban or suburban environment.
Not surprisingly, rural and wilderness packs are more likely than others to have close ties with neighboring packs of wild wolves. A few individuals, usually accidental lycanthropes, integrate into wild packs, often rising to high rank on account of their size, strength, and intelligence.
Rumors of wolf-werewolf hybrids, often with shapeshifting abilities of their own, go back for millennia but have never been scientifically proven. This has not stopped some members of the environmental movement calling for the extermination of all werewolves on the grounds that interbreeding will “pollute” the wild wolf population with “invasive human DNA.”
Opinion on rural and wilderness packs is sharply divided. The FBI, the Tyana Inst
itute and the Nightmen all regard them as the least harmful of all lycanthropes because they seldom stray outside their home range and pose little or no threat to humans. Local farmers and Department of Fish and Wildlife officials take a different view because of their predation on livestock and wildlife. For the most part, though, organized werewolf hunts are rare.
Like their wild counterparts, werewolves preferred remote forest and mountain areas until a few decades ago. Since the late 1980s, however, there has been a significant rise in the urban werewolf population.
Some urban werewolves try to avoid detection, hunting in nearby parks and wilderness areas and living normal human lives between full moons. Others are more aggressive, often embracing a criminal lifestyle and working as enforcers for gangs and organized crime syndicates. A few become vigilantes, like the so-called “Wolf Girl of Seattle” who has been credited with several attacks on drug and human trafficking operations in the city since 2011. A local crime family has reportedly placed a million-dollar bounty on the Wolf Girl’s head.
Werewolf Cults
The vast majority of European wolf-cults were destroyed during the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries. A few have resurfaced since then, and some have survived in other parts of the world. However, most currently-active wolf-cults are much younger. Some were founded in the early 20th century, which saw a resurgence of mystical thinking across the west. Others have sprung up alongside the growth of New Age and neo-pagan groups in the last few decades.