Thursday, September 26, 2013

More Fun From the Archives: 6 Ways to Become a Werewolf by Tricia Schneider

Veronica Scott sez: Went searching through the Archives for something that sounded fun and loved this post by Guest Contributor Tricia Schneider. I've adapted it a bit because the blog was running a contest back in 2011 and since we have no time machines, it's too late to let anyone enter to win LOL! But here's her post:

Even the man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the Moon is pure and bright...

-Famous lines in "The Wolf Man," 1941

The word werewolf is most likely derived from two old-Saxon words, wer (meaning man) and wulf (meaning wolf). As I researched legends and myths of the werewolf for my novella, The Witch and the Wolf, I discovered there’s more than one way to cause the transformation from man into beast. Here are a few:

Birth

Being the seventh son of the seventh son, such a person could be born with the ability to change into a werewolf. This also applies to the seventh son with six girls as older siblings. The werewolf ‘gene’ could also be passed to children whose parents turn into werewolves. Other methods include being a child conceived under a new moon; being born on a new moon; being born on a full moon Friday; being born on the winter solstice or Christmas Eve; and being born on Friday the 13th
Curse

The curse of the werewolf, also known as the Lycaeonia Curse, can be bestowed by a person who is wronged in some way, using witchcraft, sorcery, evil spirits, or divine punishment. This would cause the person cursed to involuntarily change into a werewolf. The earliest story of such a curse can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses where the Greek God, Zeus, is angered by King Lycaon of Arcadia and dooms him to turn into a werewolf. 

Bitten

Another method for turning into a werewolf is to be bitten by one. Bacteria in the saliva of the werewolf find its way into the blood stream. Alternately, a person could also be infected by a scratch. This is more commonly found in fiction, being rare in legend for there was seldom much left of a victim to become a werewolf.

Wolf-skin

A person desiring to become a werewolf could easily remove their clothes and put on a belt or girdle made of a wolf-skin. Skinwalkers are also found in Native American Indian lore where the person wears the pelt of the wolf to complete the transformation.  

Magic Salve

Another voluntary method is for the person to rub their bodies with magic salve or ointment to transform into a werewolf. The ingredients of the salve vary, but generally contained plant ingredients like nightshade, belladonna root and henbane. Sometimes other ingredients were included, such as bat’s blood, aconite, celery, soot, calamus, parsley, poplar leaves, and opium. For solvent, they used pig fat, turpentine and olive oil and then after the distillation of spirits was perfected alcohol served the purpose. This method was often combined with the wolf-skin to become a werewolf.

Rituals

There are ceremonies and rituals that can be performed to achieve the desired results of transforming into a werewolf. These could include devil worship or asking evil spirits to assist in the change. Performing a ritual to invoke the spirit of the wolf or if the spirit of the wolf calls to the person are other methods.  


~For more information about paranormal romance author Tricia Schneider and her books check out her website http://www.triciaschneider.com.

Veronica sez: Tricia's current series The Merriweather Witches:
The Witch and the Wolf begins with Lillian Merriweather as she's on the run from an unwanted suitor. Read more...

The Witch and the Vampire finds Melora Merriweather searching for a witch she is convinced will help her in her cause. Read more...

In The Witch's Thief, Basil Merriweather returns to discover his childhood sweetheart in danger. (To Be Released in 2014)

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