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Monkey Monsters?
Ancient and modern reports from around the world indicate that a species, reportedly 5 – 8 feet tall with a mix of canine and humanoid features, was once widespread throughout the world. As a flesh and blood creature, the werewolf or Dogman makes little biological sense. Canines, when standing, are incapable of continued bipedal locomotion and the likelihood of such a species existing in our present-day without appearing anywhere in the fossil record is slim. However, if we assume that the werewolf sightings of the old world were folk'ish interpretations given by superstitious witnesses upon encountering a species of large, unknown monkey with a dog-like muzzle and a long tail; then they begin to make sense. Perhaps, our ancestors were some of the last people to see in Europe, a species of giant monkey that may have inhabited many areas of the world, including Europe, up until the medieval period, a species that is now functionally extinct, although it still sporadically witnessed in remote regions in the present day?
Shamanic Shape-Shifters and Cults of the Wolf!
There is some evidence that a Greco-Roman cult of the wolf existed and was even present in Britain in the first century AD. The roman emperor Nero, too, was reputed to carry out the most brutal atrocities against sacrificial victims in the skin of a wolf, likely in part, as an offering to this abominable religion! There are rumoured to be, modern cults that carry out similar practices and whose devotees believe themselves to be the embodiment of or possessed by a wolf! In literature, accounts of lycanthropy – humans transforming into werewolves – can be traced back to the epic of Gilgamesh in 2100BC, whereas wolf fables begin with Aesop’s The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which was written at some point between 620 and 520 BC. Voluntary lycanthropy does appear from time to time – Virgil’s Eclogues are thought to be the first such account (42-39 BC), but becoming a werewolf is more commonly seen as “a curse” or a sign of bestiality, or at worst of cannibalism Most people have heard of witchcraft trials but werewolf trials are less well known – and those who were executed in werewolf trials in 16th and 17th-century France were believed to have a taste for human flesh. But these cannibalistic fears died down with the rise of psychoanalysis in the 19th century when lycanthropy came to more commonly represent the “beast within” or everything animal that we have repressed in terms of our human nature.
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| Lycaon. From Ovid's Metamorphoses Book I, 209 ff |
Lycanthropy Delirium
Lycanthropy is recognised as a psychopathological disease, in which the sufferer imagines that he or she is a wild beast and may even develop a taste for raw flesh or rancid meat. They may howl like a wolf, run naked through the woods, and even become violent, nay, homicidal, if left untreated. The causes of this illness are not well understood but have been attributed to drug abuse, plague, and war, in the past. However, what causes this illness is not readily understood.
“Ergo, Ergot!”
In the not so distant past, entire towns were accidentally intoxicated with hallucinogenic bread, that had been tainted by ergot fungus in tainted rye (and other grains)... but if you’re thinking that this unfortunate experience was akin maybe to a church aunt getting half-baked, after accidentally imbibing one too many of your special brownies at the family cookout, then think again... Ergot fungus caused those who consumed it to suffer psychotic episodes, which included: uncontrollable rage, constriction of the vocal cords – causing barking or howling, a feeling of tremendous excitement, a burning sensation in the skin and transformational (shape-shifting) hallucinations! This strange phenomenon named: ignis sacer (Holy Fire) or St. Anthony’s Fire, after the holy order formed to care for ergot victims, would have been an extremely traumatising experience on those towns affected by it, and would certainly go a long way to explain past werewolf hysterias and perceived encounters!
In my book – Beasts of the World (vol.1) I investigate the fantastical facts and theories behind these mysterious Dogmen and other Hairy Humanoids, around the world!
Written by Andy McGrath
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