by: Robert J. Escandon MA, C.Ht. Miami Dade College
Introduction
The Werewolf and its long history of symbolic purpose is found within various Mythologies and Folklores throughout the world. This beast of the night transforms from its human form and hunts its prey without prejudice, follows no human law and is free from the constraints of the political nature of complex human civilization. The Werewolf is not just one of the many denizens of the night, but is truly a version of man, bestial in nature that is hidden deep within our unconsciousness. The Werewolf archetype serves not only as a mythological reference point, but as a reminder of the wild beast that we have lost within the structural interface of our society. This hidden beast is both protector and hunter, killer and lover, hiding within a labyrinth of shadows, far from the ridicule of humanity’s socio-political construct.
This piece explores the Werewolf as a symbolic reminder of the hidden beast within. It explores the Werewolf as an archetype found throughout Mythology and Folklore. The Werewolf’s symbolic gesture exists within us all, unconsciously pushing the contemporary human back into the wilds of nature, reminding us of the ever growing disconnect that we have with the organic world around us.
The Lost Beast
There is a curiosity adopted by human kind that far extends itself into a formalized obsession. The need to understand the world around us, and ourselves within that world is almost as much as a necessity as breathing, eating and surviving. We weave our interpretation of the world around us into our creation accounts and into the tales of our Escandon – 3
everyday lives. Myths ultimately provide, what comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell observes, as an insight into the spiritual potential of humanity and a general understanding for the world that surrounds us. 1 Mythology and folklores both describe beliefs about the origins and creation of humans, as well as providing an understanding into foundational patterns of human behavior. These patterns, referred more formally as “archetypes” by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, serve as fundamental building blocks for people. According to Jung, archetypes are psychological frameworks, which are universal in nature and are also an innate part of a person’s foundational structure. 2 These foundational structures are thematic in nature and can be identified throughout Mythological structures and themes, all the way to civilizations complex origin. These frameworks provide an understanding of the nature of people, albeit symbolic in nature. From the Warrior, the King all the way to the darker counterparts like the Werewolf or Vampire, these mythological constructs provide a psychological window of observation into the heart of humanity.
We are not simply intrigued by these aforementioned forms because we believe them to be characters within a story or a myth within a tale. But it is because a part of us identifies with these forms so deeply, that the archetypes themselves intertwine with our very own life stories. One such character that is not only barbarically enticing, but seductive within its actions, is the Werewolf. The Werewolf is the archetype that represents the beast that lays dormant within each and every one of us. The beast that has been subdued by the creation of complex society, disconnected from our Mother Earth, which forever seeks an escape from the prison of laws, politics, social hierarchy and religion.
1 2 Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth. (New York: Anchor, 1991) Carl Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981). Escandon – 4
The Werewolf archetype is both protector and hunter, hidden in the shadows of the night hoping to one-day push us back into the wilds of nature, where we came from and undeniably are being disconnected from through the technological construct of our modern civilization.
Since the conception of the first complex civilization within Southern Mesopotamian’s Sumer, 3 human kind transitioned from a nomadic life of the perpetual hunter, into a civilized sedentary one. From here, humans could observe the world differently and highlight such understandings as the very archetypes we acknowledge within this piece. It can be observed that from the creation of the first cities, humans, along with the animals and plants they adopted into the ever growing society became domesticated as well. This highlighted idea of human domestication is not just limited to one’s behavior, but far extends into the taming of the mind, body and spirit. This very idea of domestication in many ways, has become an invisible prison of sorts. As we advance in many different areas within the complexity of society as mentioned earlier, the question comes to mind, as to what the trade off truly is? Or perhaps, what is human nature truly about?
Human nature has a base correspondence within the simplicities of survival, which for the most part correlates with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 4 At the very bottom of this hierarchy of needs, are the components of food and water, which in turn is the cyclical existence of any undomesticated animal still in the wilds of the world.
3 4 Gwendolyn Leick, Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City (New York: Penguin Books, 2010). Abraham Maslow: the hierarchy of needs. (Corby: Institute of Management Foundation, 1998). Escandon – 5
The need to eat, to drink and to find shelter is the instinct of all animals and humans alike. While the animals of the wild still live within this cycle as hunters, the humans of the domesticated world do not. The domesticated humans, which albeit sounds inclined towards a negative attribute, hunt in a completely different manner. They hunt at the local supermarket, using the money they’ve earned, from the checks they’ve collected throughout the week. There is no thrill of the hunt and the biggest accomplishment here, other than a full belly, is the ability to pay for the food itself and/or perhaps the gratitude of ones family. This by far is a declawed version of the hunter gatherers that we once were before the Neolithic Revolution. 5 Needless to say, that our world has vastly changed from our nomadic roots into a safer and more accommodating environment. However, though we may have partially lost this connection to our more animal side, we are reminded of this inner beast through the most unlikely of denizens, the archetype of the Werewolf, the hidden beast within our call back to the wilds of mother nature.
An Observation of the Wolf
Is it not the Werewolf that is at first human, and under the darkness of the full moon transforms into a lawless beast of the night? As perhaps one of the most recognized shape shifters within mythological constructs, the Werewolf is unarguably the most well known. Though the actual origin of where the tale first came to be is an unclear point, author and clergyman Montague Summers observes that the Greek’s had initially borrowed the concept of lycanthropy from the Phoenicians. 6
5 Marija Gimbutas, The Living Goddesses, (California: University of California Press, 2001). Escandon – 6
Though it could be a point of contention, we can observe that the Werewolf symbolizes the transformation of man into beast. The term lycanthrope derives from the Greeks, which is also associated with the Greek tale of King Lycaon, which upon having Zeus sit at his table to eat, served him the flesh of a man, in order to test whether or not this person claiming to be Zeus, was truly him. As punishment, King Lycaon was transformed into a wolf because of his savagery and supposed lust for the flesh of men, much like a wolf. 7 Lycaon’s actions towards the gods were considered uncivilized and barbaric in nature. Therefore, the punishment of Lycaon was to take a form that was as savage and as evil as his actions. This form, was that of the beast hidden within, the Werewolf. In a sense, it’s as if Lycaon’s own actions came from a very deep seeded place within him. He did not trust the nature of God’s as perhaps any other animal would. Furthermore, we can also observe that the Native Indian tribes of North America, told the tales of the Skin Walkers, which were men and women that transformed into Werewolves through the malevolence of witchcraft. Although not limited to the form of a wolf, the Skin Walkers could transform into other beasts and would inflict harm upon others. The Skin Walkers were feared as they walked among citizens and only transformed within the cover of night. This they did to conceal their identity when shape shifting, so no one would know who they were. However, this transformation from man to
6 Summers, Montague. The werewolf in lore and legend. (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003).
7 Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. (New York City: Grand Central Publishing, 2011). Escandon – 7
beast was considered unnatural, for beast had no place in society. To unleash the beast within, was to eventually die from it. 8
The aforementioned depict the Werewolf as evil, something that is beyond what is considered normal in society. However, the two stories share the theme of the hidden beast inside the human. The actions of Lycaon were indeed violent and barbaric, but in a very basic analysis, he was testing the abilities of Zeus’s godliness. Zeus, passed because he did not eat it. However, in return, Zeus bestowed upon him the form of the wolf because his actions were savage and uncivilized. If anything, the story tells us that by revealing the existence of the inner beast, a punishment of unimaginable circumstance can and will occur. We can see a similar punishment with the German folklore of Peter Stumpp, better known as the Werewolf of Bedburg, which upon being revealed as a Werewolf, was executed and tortured. 9 Stumpp was accused of cannibalism and rape among other actions. It is said that he acted without concern for consequence, much like an animal would and as observed in the other accounts as well.
Within this understanding, it appears that the human within the civilized world suppresses the beast within and those who reveal it, are punished for such actions. In a sense, the inner beast, in this case the wolf, is trapped within a cage of flesh dressed within the politics, ethics, law and religion of civilization. For the most part, it appears that the Werewolf is a symbol of evil. However, is it truly evil or a reminder of a more basic and appropriated human past?
8 Bierhorst, John. Latin American folktales: stories from Hispanic and Indian traditions. (New York: Pantheon Books, 2003).
9 Summers, Montague. The werewolf in lore and legend. (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003). Escandon – 8
For you see, the natural world, which is that of animals and the nomadic humans that preceded complex civilization, had a deeper connection to Mother Earth. Archaeologist, Marija Gimbutas observes that before Sumer, the Neolithic tribes worshipped the goddess as a representation and reminder of the power of both women and of the Earth. 10 The only law that truly exists within the natural world is survival, and that is optional. The natural world is not entrenched within the politics of the civilized, nor is it force fed a variety of ideas that ultimately help to better sell a product. It is absorbed with a sense of freedom, that for the most part was traded in for a construct that has taken us away from the natural world.
The Beast of Today
A child’s instinct is to grab food with their hands, say what’s on their minds without being filtered and do as they please. This of course happens throughout their initiation into the world by their parents. Which in turn, the parents pass down to them the restraints of society. Slowly, the freedom of simply existing, fades away and the child becomes an adult within a structure and system that has no room for the freedom they once held in childhood. The lore of the Werewolf is that of violence, pain and evil. However, I don’t believe that the stories are simple depictions of this violent premise because the wolf or beast itself is evil. I believe that the beast, like anything that has been caged for a long period of time is angry, unsatisfied and ready to break past the skin at a moments notice.
10 Marija Gimbutas, The Living Goddesses, (California: University of California Press, 2001). Escandon – 9
When complex civilization was created, gender equality was also lost. Ancient man, according to Merlin Stone worshipped the fertility goddess and in turn women were idolized as well. This led to a gender equality, that has yet to reappear in the world since.11 This of course is when men and women were nomadic in nature, and concerned themselves with the basic of necessities, food, water and survival. The Werewolf or the beast within its general observation is not an archetype of evil, but a reminder of the beast we originated from. It is a reminder of our abandoned nomadic origins and the nature that is and has been inviting us back into the fray. Mythology and folklore have somewhat mangled this concept of the inner beast, perpetuating the idea that the further we get away from nature, the better we are. Perhaps, the Werewolf in its depiction within folklore and mythology, is simply an angry reminder of what we left behind in our nomadic roots. A reminder that for as much as we build away from nature, we will never be able to run away from the beast inside.
11 Merlin Stone, When God was a Woman, (New York: Mariner Books, 1978). Escandon – 10
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