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And such is the Tales of all that is paranormal in the World.
"Even
a man who is pure in heart and
says his prayers by night, may
become a wolf when the wolfbane
blooms. And the autumn moon
is bright."
Many
Native cultures feature skin-walkers
or a similar concept, wherein a shaman
or warrior may, according to cultural
tradition, take on an animal form. Animal
forms vary accordingly with cultures
and local species (including bears and
wolves), for example, a coyote is more
likely to be found as a skinwalker's
alternate form in the Great Plains region.
Skinwalkers tend to be totemic.
In modern
folklore and fiction the Wendigo found
in the stories of many Algonquian peoples
is sometimes considered to be similar
to lycanthropes, in that humans could
transform into them. The original legends
varied significantly, however, and the
fit may not be very close.
The
Cajuns of Louisiana also believed in
a similar creature with the variant
name of Rougarou.
Stories
of humans descending from animals are
common explanations for tribal and clan
origins. Sometimes the animals assumed
human forms in order to ensure their
descendants retained their human shapes,
other times the origin story is of a
human marrying a normal animal.
North
American indigeneous traditions particularly
mingle the idea of bear ancestors and
ursine shapeshifters, with bears often
being able to shed their skins to assume
human form, marrying human women in
this guise. The offspring may be monsters
with combined anatomy, they might be
very beautiful children with uncanny
strength, or they could be shapeshifters
themselves (Pijoan, 79). Pijoan, T.
(1992). White Wolf Woman & Other
Native American Transformation Myths.
Little Rock: August House. ISBN 0-87483-200-4.
FOLLOWING
THE TRACKS OF
THE
LOUISIANA WEREWOLF
Lycanthropy is often confused with transmigration;
but the essential feature of the were-animal
is that it is the alternative form or
the double of a living human being,
while the soul-animal is the vehicle,
temporary or permanent, of the spirit
of a dead human being. Nevertheless,
instances in legend of humans reincarnated
as wolves are often classed with lycanthropy,
as well as these instances being labeled
werewolves in local folklore. The Rougarou
(alternately spelled as Roux-Ga-Roux,
Rugaroo, or Rugaru), is a legendary
creature in Laurentian French communities
linked to European notions of the werewolf.
The stories of the creature known as
a rougarou are as diverse as the spelling
of its name, though they are all connected
to francophone cultures through a common
derived belief in the Loup-garou (pronounced
[lu ga' Ru] in French and [lu gER Ru]
in English). Loup is French for wolf,
and garou (from Frankish garulf, cognate
with English werewolf) is a man who
transforms into an animal.
Rougarou
represents a variant pronunciation and
spelling of the original French loup-garou.
[1] According to Barry Jean Ancelet,
an academic expert on Cajun folklore
and professor at the University of Louisiana
at Lafayette, the tale of the rougarou
is a common legend across French Louisiana.
Both words are used interchangeably
in southern Louisiana. Some people call
the monster rougarou;
others refer to it as the loup garou.
The rougarou
legend has been spread for many generations,
either directly from French settlers
to Louisiana (New France) or via the
French Canadian immigrants centuries
ago.
In the
Cajun legend, the creature is said to
prowl the swamps around Acadiana and
Greater New Orleans, and possibly the
fields or forests of the regions. The
rougarou most often is noted as a creature
with a human body and the head of a
wolf or dog, similar to the werewolf
legend.
Often
the story-telling was used for fear.
One example is stories were told by
elders to persuade Cajun children to
behave. Another example relates that
the wolf-like beast will hunt down and
kill Catholics who do not follow the
rules of Lent. This coincides with the
French Catholic loup garou stories,
where the method for turning into a
werewolf was to break Lent seven years
in a row.
A common
blood sucking legend speculated that
the rougarou was under the spell for
101 days. After that time, the curse
was transferred from person to person
when the rougarou drew another human’s
blood. During the day the creature returned
to human form. Although acting sickly,
the human refrained to tell others of
the situation for fear of being killed.
Other
stories range from the rougarou as a
headless horseman to the rougarou derived
from witchcraft. In the latter claim,
only a witch could make a rougarou -
either by turning themselves into wolves
or cursing others with lycanthropy.
One
of the country’s top-ranked zoos,
Audubon Zoo blends the exotic excitement
of animals from around the globe with
the serenity of its lush gardens, It
is also home to New Orleans' own Loup
Garou.
Many
tales of Voodoo Queens turning peole
into this wild beast have surfaced over
the years. The Voodoo Hoodoo curse to
turn a man into a Loup Garou are said
to be done to exact revenge on a family.
Many Voodooist believe this creature
will kill off it's family members one
by one until they are the only survivers
of the line.
The Famous
Marie Laveau was said to have freed
a bayou woman of her curse in the 1870's.
Many in New Orleans will tell the story
of how she locked the woman up chained
in a cemetery crypt for the three nights
of the full moon. As many who practice
the anciant arts of black magic in Louisiana
will tell you a Loupe Garou can change
shape at will. But during the nights
and days of the full moon they are trapped
in the shape of the creature unable
to transform at will.
Marie
Laveau was said to have the power to
shape shift herself. Also some say she
is still alive and is a Loupe Garou.
it is believed that a man's "inside"
can take the form of a cat, dog, wild
pig, ape, deer or other animal, and
afterwards resume human form; it is
termed Garouou.
According
to some the power of transformation
is a gift of the gods, but others hold
that lycanthropy is contagious and may
be acquired by eating food left by a
lycanthrope or even by leaning one's
head against the same pillar. The Todjoers
hold that any one who touches blood
becomes a shapeshifter. In accordance
with this view is the belief that lycanthropy
can be cured; the breast and stomach
of the shapeshifter must be rubbed and
pinched, just as when any other witch
object has to be extracted. The patient
drinks medicine, and the contagion leaves
the body in the form of snakes and worms.
There are certain marks by which a shapeshifter
can be recognized.
His eyes
are unsteady and sometimes green with
dark shadows underneath. He does not
sleep soundly and fireflies come out
of his mouth. His lips remain red in
spite of betel chewing, and he has a
long tongue. The Todjoers add that his
hair stands on end.
Some
of the forms of the Garouou are distinguishable
from ordinary animals by the fact that
they run about among the houses; the
were-buffalo has only one horn, and
the were-pig transforms itself into
an ants' nest, such as hangs from trees.
Some say that the lycanthrope does not
really take the form of an animal himself,
but, like the sorcerer, only sends out
a messenger. The Garouou attacks by
preference solitary individuals, for
he does not like to be observed. The
victim feels sleepy and loses consciousness;
the lamboyo then assumes human form
(his body being, however, still at home)
and cuts up his victim, scattering the
fragments all about. He then takes the
liver and eats it, puts the body together
again, licks it with his long tongue
and joins it together. When the victim
comes to himself again he has no idea
that anything unusual has happened to
him. He goes home, but soon begins to
feel unwell. In a few days he dies,
but before his death he is able sometimes
to name the shapeshifter to whom he
has fallen a victim.
Native
American folklore
The creature,
spelled as a Rugaru, has been associated
with Native American legends with some
dispute. The folklore stories vary from
mild bigfoot (sasquatch) creatures to
cannibal-like Native American wendigos.
Neither connections are confirmed.
As with
legends passed by oral tradition, stories
often contradict one another. The stories
of the wendigo vary by tribe and region,
but the most common cause of the change
is typically related to cannibalism.
A modified
example, not in the original wendigo
legends, is that of a motif of harmful
sensation story -- if a person saw a
rugaru, that person would be transformed
into one. Thereafter, the unfortunate
victim would be doomed to wander in
the form of this monster. That rugaru
story bears some resemblance to a Native
American version of the wendigo legend
related in a short story by Algernon
Blackwood. In Blackwood's fictional
adaptation of the legend, seeing a wendigo
caused one to turn into a wendigo.
It is
important to note that rugaru is not
a native Ojibwa word, nor is it derived
from the languages of neighboring Native
American peoples. However, it has a
striking similarity to the French word
for werewolf, loup garou.
It's
possible the Turtle Mountain Ojibwa
in North Dakota picked up the French
name for "hairy human-like being"
from the influence of French Canadian
trappers and missionaries with whom
they had extensive dealings. Somehow
that term also had been referenced to
their neighbors' stories of bigfoot.
Author
Peter Matthiessen determined that rugaru
is a separate legend from that of the
cannibal-like giant wendigo. While the
wendigo was feared, he noted that the
rugaru was seen as sacred and in tune
with Mother Earth, in the same character
of the bigfoot legends of today.
Though
identified with bigfoot, there is little
evidence in the indigenous folklore
for it being the same or a similar creature.
Claude Rains as Sir John Talbot
Ralph Bellamy as Col. Paul Montford
(chief constable)
Bela Lugosi as Bela
Evelyn Ankers as Gwen Conliffe
Fay Helm as Jenny Williams
Jessie Arnold as Gypsy woman
Harry Cording as Wykes
Gibson Gowland as Villager
Olaf Hytten as Villager
La Riana as Gypsy dancer
Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Williams (Jenny's
mother)
Eddie Polo as Churchgoer
Tom Stevenson as Richardson (the gravedigger)
Eric Wilton as Chauffeur
Warren William as Dr. Lloyd
Patric Knowles as Frank Andrews (Talbot
gamekeeper)
Maria Ouspenskaya as Maleva
J.M. Kerrigan as Charles Conliffe
Forrester Harvey as Victor Twiddle (Montford's
assistant)
Caroline Cooke as Woman
Margaret Fealy as Woman
Leyland Hodgson as Kendall (Talbot butler)
Kurt Katch as Gypsy with bear
Connie Leon as Mrs. Wykes
Ottola Nesmith as Mrs. Bally
Ernie Stanton as Phillips (member of
search party)
Harry Stubbs as Rev. Norman
A practical man returns to his homeland,
is attacked by a creature of folklore,
and imbued with a malady his disciplined
mind tells him can not possibly exist.
Plot Synopsis: Upon the death of his
brother, Larry Talbot returns from America
to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits
a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny
Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a
gypsy who has turned into a werewolf.
Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten
during the fight. Bela's mother tells
him that this will cause him to become
a werewolf at each full moon. Larry
confesses his plight to his unbelieving
father, Sir John, who then joins the
villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Larry,
transformed by the full moon, heads
for the forest and a fateful meeting
with both Sir John and Gwen.
Description
Werwolf/Werewolf, Holzschnitt/Woodcut,
162 × 126 mm
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