Lycanthropy...What is it?

Lycanthropy from Greek lykoi, "wolf" anthropos, "man", a psychiatric state in which the patient believes he is a wolf or some other nonhuman animal. Undoubtedly stimulated by the once widespread superstition that lycanthropy is a supernatural condition in which men actually assume the physical form of other animals, the delusion has been most likely to occur among people who believe in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls.

Rarely does this condition surface. Examples of lycanthropy are only now being linked to schizophrenia - having very few cases to study in our present institutions makes this disease difficult to study in-depth.

Usually, a person is deemed to take the form of the most dangerous beast of prey of the region: the wolf or bear in Europe and northern Asia, the hyena or leopard in Africa, and the tiger in India, China, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia; but other animals are mentioned too. Both the superstition and the psychiatric disorder are linked to the belief in animal guardian spirits, vampires, totemism, witches, and werewolves. The folklore, fairy tales, and legends of many nations and peoples show evidence of lycanthropic belief.

Stories of men turning into beasts go back to antiquity. In parts of ancient Greece, werewolf myths, stemming from prehistoric times (based on new evidence), became linked with the Olympian religion. In Arcadia, a region plagued by wolves, there was a cult of the Wolf-Zeus. Mt. Lycaeus was the scene of a yearly gathering at which the priests were said to prepare a sacrificial feast that included meat mixed with human parts. According to legend, whoever tasted it became a wolf and could not turn into a man unless he abstained from human flesh for nine years.

The Romans also knew this superstition. Anyone who was supposed to have been turned into a wolf by means of magic spells or herbs was called versipellis "turnskin" by the Romans.

Stories about the werewolf were widely believed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Outlaws and bandits played on these superstitions by sometimes wearing wolfskins over their armour. At that time people were unusually prone to develop the delusion that they themselves were wolves; suspected lycanthropists were burned alive if convicted. Only rarely was their condition recognized as a psychological disturbance. Although the superstition is no longer common, traces still linger in some primitive and isolated areas.

The term werewolf isn't like the "classic" Hollywood-style ravenous beast stuff. The term lycanthropy as is used here can be found in some medical psychological books as being a disorder, a certain animal like behaveour as a result of an advanced psychosis. This is also not the way i like to use the term werewolf in relation to me. The way i use the term, is as in spiritual therianthropy.

Right, you are now probably a bit dazzled by the terms used by me here, so let me give a short description of them (borrowed from the AHWW FAQ):

Lycanthrope \'li-ken-throp\ n (NL lycanthropus, fr. GK lykanthropos werewolf, fr. lykos wolf + anthropos man) 1: a person displaying lycanthropy 2:a werewolf

Lycanthropy \'li-kan(t)-thra-pe\ n 1: a delusion that one has become a wolf. 2: the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft or magic - lycanthropic adj.

Theriomorphic \'thir-e-o-'mor-fik\ adj (GK theriomorphos, fr. therion beast + morphe form - more at treacle): having an animal form <~gods>

Mind you, these were taken from some dictionary, and provide a general discription of the terms, not an exact one. Read on to get a better understanding of what is meant.

A Theriomorph is a shapeshifter; a being who can assume an animal as well as a human form. A spiritual theriomorph is someone who at least sees aspects of animals in his or her personality and actions, and those aspects shape who he or she is. More so in the meaning of a spiritual shapeshifter, being able to assume animal as wel as human form in spirit (or a mix of the two). I feel an animal spirit that is an integral part of my being, affecting how i interact with others, what i do, where i go... and in that sense, i am a shapeshifter. I exist mentally and in spirit as both wolf and human (but not seperate, i am one person, one character, one being). When i shift, mentally, the outside world usually notices it... the change in thought produces a change in demeanor that's readily recognizable. Even without a shift though, there are several facets in my mind that are pure wolf thinking, and make me definately different than people around me.

Shifting itself is something that's almost impossible to explain to someone who isn't a shifter himself, but i'll try to give you some idea what this is about. My being is truly integrated, both human and wolf co-operating to do what i have to do, to say what i want to say, to live my life, trying to find one that best suits me as being part human, part non-human. Some other therianthropes feel this differently, have made a clear seperation between their human and animal forms, but for me, this is the way it is. Most of the time, to be able to go on mostly unnoticed, i have to let the main "line" of my life being led by my human side, to adapt to human civilisation, to "blend in" so to say. When shifting, i let the wolf side take more control, let the animal control my actions and thoughts more. Shifting can be triggered either by will, or (and it's a great advantage then) when the situation i'm in get's really dangerous, or life-threatening even, and the wolf gets me in a state of heightened awareness, being able to cope with whatever will come my way at that moment. Then, although my human side is still there, my thinking has gone almost purely predatorial.