◉ references: werewolves I
REFERENCES: WEREWOLVES
Okay, so, I'm going to start this off with a short introduction. Ever since I was young (say, 7 or 8 years) I have been interested in werewolves. To the point of obsessing over them forever (at least until I was about 13--I'm definitely picking it back up now!).
Anyway, because of the quantity of books I read about werewolves as a kid--my all-time favourite being "Het Weerwolfhandboek" ("the Werewolfhandbook"; orig. Dutch by Jack Didden and Paul van Loon)--I decided to put together a ref list of generally accepted myths about werewolves. How they come to be, and also how they can be cured. (You might recognise some stuff from TW, actually).
As you are seeing the list now, it is in its most basic form, all of the information was found in the aforementioned werewolfhandbook (Stiles would be so jealous of me lol). I will add more as I go along. If you know anything that isn't on here, please do be so kind to share! Humankind and werekind shall be grateful :D
Also, I am calling the werewolf "he" for consistency. Plus, you know, Derek.
Other resources: general | films & books | physique | allies & enemies | behaviour [unavailable; to be added soon]
How to become a werewolf.
Natural werewolf
As we all know, some people are born as werewolf (Derek and Peter, obviously).
An English reverend, Sabine Baring-Gould, wrote a book called The Book of Werewolves in which he claimed that he knew why lycanthropy runs in some families. He thought one of the ancestors of the werewolf had been in contact with an evil ghost of nature. These ghosts are always jealous of our physical existence, and in turn of some actual life power they'll gladly give you a magic power. In the case of this particular ancestor that would mean lycanthropy.
This forefather might have been a total loony (pun intended) but according to Baring-Gould the ancestry of this person might be a wonderful person as human and only be dangerous as a werewolf.
Of course, one of the ancestors might also just have recieved the bite and passed hir altered genes on to hir children.
Created werewolf
Of course it is easiest to be born a werewolf, but there are several ways to become one during your life--and not all of these have to involve the bite of an actual werewolf. Here is a list--with some of them I listed a specific country or area as they are local myths (but I suppose they might still be usable in fic anyway).
Easy ways:
- - Get a bite from a werewolf. Dangerous--if it doesn't turn you, you're dead meat (unless your name is Lydia or Jackson).
- Eat the brains from a wolf, drink the water that's fallen into a wolf track, or drink from a stream of water from which three or more wolves have drunk.
- Wear a shirt that's been made of the skin of a wolf (the transformation will last for nine days).
- During a full moon, strip to full nudity and roll around in a puddle of mud.
- Become a witch. You'll be able to transform yourself into any given animal, including a wolf. (According to my book, witches and werewolves have been allies for centuries--some fic states otherwise).
- [Italy] Everyone who was born during the Christmas night changes into a werewolf each year during the hour of birth. On the Italian countryside you'll find crosses by the side of the road--the farmers believe that this way, a werewolf cannot harm them.
- [Sicily] Sleep outside on a Friday with a full moon.
- [Ireland] Some people in Ireland claim they change into a werewolf each time they bite into something.
- [Denmark] In Denmark, it is believed that a woman will have a painless birth if she crawls through the membrane of a newborn foal that's been stretched over two sticks. However, if she gets a boy he will become a werewolf. If it is a girl, she turns into a "Mara". She can change herself in any animal and does so at free will. In earlier times, people believed that a Mara would sit on people when they were asleep and give them nightmares. This is where the word "nightmare" derives from!
- [Portugal] When a person feels the urge at night, he will go to a crossroads and spin around five times. He'll be dizzy then and fall down. After this he'll roll around in mud, and change into a werewolf that only shows up in Portugal: a lobis-homem. They tend to be sad and shy rather than mean (though there are of course exceptions). You can recognise a lobis-homem by its short and yellow tail.
Less easy ways (aka fucking difficult):
ONE) You'll have to meet some requirements. You have to believe in the supernatural and don't see what you're about to do as a joke. You will be summoning ghosts and they do not have a sense of humor.
- 1) You'll have to wait until it is night. One person will tell you to perform the ritual during a full moon, another will tell you new moon. It's not clear which of the two it really is (so just try both, I guess).
2) Find a lonely place, far from other humans. The earthghosts you are about to summon do not cope well in crowded places. They prefer deserted places such as icy mountain peaks, thick forests and empty desserts.
3) You find a place where the ground is completely even. Then you use chalk or rope to mark two circles with the same center. The inner circle has a radius of at least 3.2ft/1m and the outer circles has a radius of at least 6.5ft/2m. In the middle of the inner circle you place an iron tripod over a fire. On top of the tripod, you place a kettle with water that has to start boiling.
4) Once the water is boiling you have to add:
- 56 gram of asafoetida (also known as devil's dung)
as much as you want] parsley
7 grams of opium
56 to 84 grams of rough chervil
28 to 42 grams of stinking nightshade (also known as black henbane)
84 grams of saffron
19 grams of aloë (doesn't specify a type)
as much as you want] poppy/papaver seeds
7 to 10 grams of nightshade
5) The most important part: the recital of the spell.
- "Spirits from the deep, who never sleep, be kind to me.
Spirits from the grave, without a soul to save , be kind to me.
Spirits of the trees, that grow upon the leas, be kind to me.
Spirits of the air, foul and black, not fair, be kind to me.
Spirits of the dead, that glide with noiseless tread, be kind to me
Spirits of heat and fire, destruction in your ire, be kind to me.
Spirits of cold and ice, phantoms of crime and vice, be kind to me.
Wolves, Vampires, Satyrs, Ghosts!
Elect of all the devilish hosts!
I pray you send hither, send hither, send hither
The great grey shape that makes men shiver!
Shiver, shiver, shiver!
Come, come, come!"
6) After reciting the spell, you have to undress and rub yourself in with a salve or ointment made of the grease of an animal, preferably a cat. This fat has to be mixed with aniseed, camphor and opium.
7) Now tie the skin of a wolf or a human around your waist. If you're using human skin, make sure to use the skin of a murderer, or else the transformation will not work. After this, you step outside of the inner circle, but you stay inside the outer circle.
If the fire turns to blue, this means the ghost has arrived and you will change into a werewolf.
TWO) [Russia]
- Go into a forest and look for a tree that has recently been chopped, preferably a European ash tree. You stick a little copper knife into the tree and you walk around the tree trunk while you are reciting the following spell (it is an old Russian charm that is to be spoken by someone who wants to invoke the moon-goddess and become a werewolf):
On the sea, on the ocean, on the island, on Bujan,
on the empty pasture gleams the moon,
on an ashstock lying
in a green wood, in a gloomy vale.
Toward the stock wandereth a shaggy wolf,
horned cattle seeking for his sharp white fangs;
but the wolf enters not the forest,
but the wolf dives not into the shadowy vale.
Moon, moon, gold-horned moon,
check the flights of bullets,
blunt the hunters' knifes,
break the shepherds' cudgels,
cast wild fear upon all cattle,
on men, on all creeping things,
that they may not catch the gray wolf,
that they may not rend his warm skin!
My word is binding, more binding than sleep,
more binding than the promise of a hero.
How to kill/cure/turn a werewolf
NOTE: Wolfsbane isn't on here yet because I haven't read anything about it being harmful, ever. I'll go look into it later (come week, if I'm not too busy crying over the finale ep), but this is the list for now.
It's also a little difficult to say whether the action will kill the wolf, cure the wolf, or simply transform him back into his human form without curing him.
- - Werewolves do not like crosses. It's said that a small cross is enough to make a werewolf run. He will definitely try to avoid a statue of a cross. It's not sure, but he is probably not overly fond of other religious symbols.
- A werewolf does not like Holy Water. Don't use stolen Water, because it won't work as to steal is a sin. If you do manage to grab a hold of Holy Water, fill up a water gun and carry it with you when you go hunting for wolves. (It is unclear whether this method is deathly or not!)
- Call the werewolf by its Christian name (thank you, Peter Hale, for mentioning this one *g*). And uh yeah, that's really everything that is to it. One theory is that the wolf will be so ashamed of his form when he hears his real name, that it will change back. Another is that he will remember he isn't actually a wolf, and then transform back.
- Slice a cut across the werewolf's chest. Wait until the blood comes out and then throw three drops of blood across the werewolf. (It is unclear whether this method is deathly or not!)
- You can hit a werewolf on the head trice with the blade of a knife (any knife will do).
- If a werewolf changes with the use of a skin, like in the process that was described before, you can change his skin.
- ...In addition to this, you might want to burn this skin. The werewolf will suffer immensely while the skin is burning, and he will try to jump into the fire with the skin. If he does, you can guess how it ends. If he doesn't and the skin burns completely, the curse is forever lifted.
- This is an odd one but I don't know, maybe it inspires some nice crack!fic? There are stories that mention how a werewolf has to stay in his wolf form when you hide his clothes. He'll be confused at where his clothes are gone and return regularly to the place where he left them.
- Supposedly, if you inflict a wound upon a werewolf with any silver object, he will die because of the consequences. In Scotland, the silver object has to be blessed by a priest first. Of every cure mentioned, this one is the least canonical in Teen Wolf--the werewolves in TW seem to be immune to silver. Whatever though, chucking it in anyway!
- Cremation is the most effective way to get rid of a werewolf, obviously. It's painful, it's meant to be permanent--uh, well. Just look at Peter? (I'll get back to the 'permanent' later on though).
- [Ireland and Scotland] You can keep a werewolf away from yourself with a branch of an ash tree, taxus or (common) mistletoe. And in Ireland people will put branches of rowan above their front doors to keep out werewolves (and vampires).
- [Sicily] You can hit the werewolf on his head with a knife, cut away the backs of his paws or touch him with a specially crafted key.
- [Denmark] If a werewolf is advancing upon you, you can simply tell him, I know you are a werewolf and that is terrible. He will feel so hurt that he changes back into his human form.
- [Portugal] When you find yourself face-to-face with a lobis-homem, you'll only have to strike a match. The lobis-homem is so afraid of light he will turn and run away from you immediately.
IF YOU MANAGE TO KILL A WEREWOLF: You can never, ever bury a werewolf. Instead, you must burn the body. If as much as one tiny bone is left over, the spirit of the werewolf will be chained to earth and haunt you.
Additional note: In Greece, Slovakia and Serbia, the werewolf will change into a vampire after his death. So maybe a wooden stick through a werewolf's heart and some garlic in his mouth are not a superfluous need.
Aaaaand that was it! As I have mentioned before I shall probably add more methods later on, though I intend on first adding lists of films, books, physical recognition, and maybe later on mythical allies & enemies.
I hope you think the list is useful--if you do, please let me know! Overall feedback is awesome as well, as is any kind of addition to the list. My purpose here is to gather all information I can find, rather than filtering out just what is working in Teen Wolf and what is not. Everyone can do that for themselves, I reckon... Or maybe I'll add a page for it later on.
- Quodpersortem