The Book of the

Lycanthrope
By Haruka Tsuyoi
 Lycanthrope
The Lycanthrope AKA Were-wolf has been in this world for many centu-
ries. It is said until the 20th century, wolf attacks were occasional. The attacks were
mostly heard of in Europe. Some scholars have put it that people in Europe, pro-
jected their fear of wolves being a fearful predator, into a fierce and evil shapeshifter.

How did the werewolf get its name? The term is thought to have been de-
rived from the Old English words of Wer–meaning man– and wulf which
is Old English for the today's wolf. Other countries have developed their
own name such as Verr in Old Norse, Vira in Sanskrit, Vir in Latin, etc.

Some say that it has been derived from weir-wulf meaning “wearer of wolf
skin.” Or that it has been derived from warg-wolf meaning “Rogue wolf. ”

So what is a werewolf exactly? This is a human being who has the ability to
shape-shift into a wolf, or a wolf like creature. One becomes a were-wolf through
being bitten by another werewolf or having a curse cast upon them. It has been
known that transformation of the werewolf is associated with the full moon.

A werewolf often has shown extra abilities then the mere human. One can have
supernatural human strength and the five senses have been known to be more acute.
 Becoming a Were-Wolf

As stated earlier, one can become a were by being bitten by another were, or hav-
ing a curse cast upon them. However, there have been other ways to become a were-
wolf. The simplest is to remove all human clothing and doning a belt or entire wolf-
skin.
Other cases have been found such that a magic salve was rubbed upon the body,
or by drinking rain water out of the footprint of an animal, or from an enchanted
stream. Livonian were-wolves were transformed by downing a cup of a specific spe-
cially prepared beer.

During the period from 1520 to 1630 there were over 30,000 werewolf trials in
France alone. Most of the people who were tried as being werewolves were poor,
and came from lowlands with elevations less than 500 feet above sea level. vA recent
theory is that many of the werewolf accusations were a result of a fungus found in
their rye crop. Rye bread was a staple for the poorer people of France, and after cold
winters the rye developed the Ergot fungus. Unbeknownst to them, the fungus was
a strong hallucinogenic. This theory contests that the werewolf hysteria was a result
of mass hallucination since most of the accusers and the accused were poor. The
wealthy staple was the more expensive wheat, which was immune to the Ergot fungus.
This explains why the wealthy were immune from the werewolf hysteria.

Another explanation of werewolves comes from within the human brain. Tem-
poral lobes in the brain control sensations in the human body, and any irritation of
the temporal lobes can cause hallucinations. Also, if a person has shrunken temporal
lobes, they can be subject to complex partial seizures. These seizures can lead to fixed
delusions. Such delusions can include a person thinking that they are a wolf. Also, a
lack of nutrition or a hit on the head can cause complex partial seizures.

There have been myths that one could turn into a were-wolf on a certain Wedes-
day or Friday, if they slept outside on a summer night while the full moon shone
down upon his face.
 The SheWolf

In the mountains of Auvergne, a story dating back to 1588 was told of a royal female
werewolf. In the story, a nobleman was gazing out of his window and upon seeing a
hunter he knew he told him to check back with details of the hunt. While in the forest,
despite still being in sight of his master’s chateau, the hunter stumbled upon a wolf. In
the ensuing struggle, he severed one of the wolf’s paws and placed the it in a pouch.

Upon returning to the chateau with his gruesome prize, he opened the pouch to show
the nobleman evidence of his encounter. What they discovered was not paw at all, in
fact, it the pouch now contained what looked to be a feminine hand bearing an elegant
gold ring. The gentleman recognized the ring, sent the huntsman away, and sought for
his wife. When he went came upon her in the kitchen, he found her nursing a wounded
arm in the kitchen he removed the bandage only to find that her hand had been cut off.

Upon questioning her she finally admitted to being the wolf with
whom the hunter encountered, and by her confession, she marked her-
self for certain execution -- in a matter of days she was burned at the stake.
 The Bersekers
In the Folklore of Norseman, there are many legends of warriors called Berserkers. They
are band of ancient Norse warriors that are legendary for their savagery and reckless frenzy in
battle. Fearing no one, feeling no pain, having superhuman strength and never surrendering are
common characteristics.

Preparing for battle these warriors would attire themselves in skins from bears or wolfs. The
term Berserker translates from old Norse to be “bear skin”. There were also warriors who donned
the wolf skins known as “ulfheobar” or “ulfhedinn” (wolf-coats) but they were eventually lumped
together to be known as Berserkers.

The feeling was that once dressed with the skins of an animval, the warrior would take on
the characteristics of that animal. Ynglingasaga records this tradition, saying of the warriors of
Óðinn that “they went without coats of mail, and acted like mad dogs and wolves”. A Byzantine
emperor described the Berserkers in battle as being possessed by a ferocity and madness seen
only in wild beasts. The term “berserk” was derived from the Beserkers.
 Shifting Types of a Were-Wolf

W e have heard of werewolves in legends, movies, and even books, but did
you ever stop and think about if there actually live werewolves.. now? There
aren’t as much people who claim to be werewolves now as there was back when they
were hunted down, but there have been many who claim that they are the actual
thing. Some of the people who claim to be don’t always shapeshift physically, but
claim there are other various ways...

A
stral Shifting

Astral Shifting is where the Shifter goes into the spirit world (astral plane)
and Shifts there. It can take awhile to work yourself into the right frame of mind for
this, so it’s not as easy as aura shifting, which you can do anywhere and get away with.
Dreaming, of shifting into your animal or being your animal, or even dreaming about
it, counts as Astral Shifting.

A
ura Shiftingz
Aura Shifting is the most common type of Shift, in fact, many Shifters never
have any other kind of Shift. In an Aura Shift, the Shifter will immerse him/
herself in the animal’s energy, resulting in a Wolf-like mood. The Shifter will feel
somewhat animalish, alert, very aware, with an often-pleasurable heightened sense of
their physical body. This is very like the mindset that people playing a sport and really
mentally absorbed in playing get into. If you’ve ever gotten into a different mode of
awareness/concentration/feeling when deep in a Hockey game and having lots of fun,
you know pretty much what this is like. Hence the phrase, “I’m in the Zone!” The only
big difference is the Shifter has a definite sense of Wolfness (or whatever their totem
is) to their mood. The body temp may go up a bit and the behavior will seem more
lupine in general.
B
ilocation Shifting

Bilocation Shift is a combination of the paranormal phenomena of Bilocation

with the paranormal phenomena of ShapeShifting. Although I haven’t personally
heard of any Bilocation Shifters in AHWW, folklore and collections of paranormal
sightings have many Shifters of this type, as well as fairly detailed studies of both
the phenomena of Bilocation in general and, to a lesser extent, Bilocation Shifting.
An interested person is encouraged to read up on Bilocation. Bilocation Shifting is
when the Shifter goes into a deep trance, sometimes drug-induced, but often not.
(Besides, the drug-induced trances have the quality that the Shifter is trapped in the
Shift until the drug wears off, which could be deadly if they get caught in a deadly
situation.) While in the trance, all the familiar Bilocation phenomena happens, except
that the PHYSICAL, REAL Body that they materialize, and are in during the Shift, is
not a carbon copy of their own, but instead a Wolf (or whatever type of animal they
are). They are not in their body during the Shift, but in the body of the Wolf. This is
not a real Wolf they have “possessed”, but a body they themselves have materialized.
Their human body will often get very cold or become rigid (like regular Bilocation),
and there are frequent reports that, although it looks the same, it has lost weight (also
like regular Bilocation), sometimes more than half of it’s original weight (but will
recover this weight when they shift back). Their Wolf body is in every way the body
of a real Wolf, it gets tired, it can (and does) hunt and eat (and digest), it is solid and
real-feeling if touched, it can be wounded (and corresponding wounds will appear on
their human body at the same instant) and it can die (which causes the Shifter’s hu-
man form to die), and be dissected, and still appear exactly like a real Wolf...The cor-
responding injury thing stops, though, at the moment of death, so the Shifter who is
injured, killed and dissected will only shown the injuries up to the point of death, he/
she won’t also be dissected in human form. Accounts of Bilocation Shifting indicate
that the Shifter usually has excellent memory of what they did as a Wolf. The Biloca-
tion shifter can be confused with the classical/molecular shifter if they are never wit-
nessed dematerializing (or materializing), or if their unconscious human body is never
witnessed while their animal body is out “romping”. The Bilocation Shift is related
to other types of Shift. It is generally accomplished by the Astral Shifter or Spirit
Shifter who has gained enough expertise and ability. Bilocation Shifting has some
advantages over the other kinds of ShapeShifting because the Shifter will never be
“dropped” somewhere inconvenient, while naked, and the Shifter never has to worry
how they will get into the woods and back. On the other hand, there are indications
that Bilocation Shifters often can’t control where they end up, just that it tends to be
within a few miles of their human body and in a wild place. And that helpless human
body has got to be a disadvantage. There are also indications that the Shift back to
human (dematerialization of the animal body) cannot be easily done at will. A Biloca-
tion Shifter who is good enough at it can learn how to materialize their Wolf body in
the same place as their human body, using their human body as fuel, and thus per-
forming a Molecular Shift or a Classical Shift, or something in between.
C
lassical Shifting
A Classical Shift is called that because it is the “classical” kind encoun-
tered in most WereWolf folklore and WereWolf Sightings. It is the gradual
metamorphosis from man or woman to beast, taking up to ten minutes for the change
to become complete. The human cognition is retained and control is easier to main-
tain. Thus this sort will attain the body of a Wolf but not the mindset. Although, of
course, being in a Wolf body, with a Wolf’s brain, hormones, senses, and instincts will
still have some effect. Just not the “complete animal” in thinking and behavior that
the Molecular Shifter is. Classical Shifting is much less painful, actually bordering on
the sinfully pleasurable, and accompanied by odd physical feelings. It is a lot easier to
trigger, and is also reversible (i.e. the Shifter could partially change, then change back
to full humid form without reaching full Wolf form), and they also might have the
ability (or the involuntary problem) of remaining for an extended period in a median
form that is between Wolf and human. Since most accounts of WereWolves stuck in
a median form, from all over the world, agree very well on exactly what the WereWolf
looks like that, it is probably hard to remain anywhere but that particular point in the
Shift, or (assuming it was controlled) it is probably inconvenient to remain anywhere
other than that particular point. That point resembles a human body (albeit a furry
human body with other noticeable differences, such as somewhat changed shapes
and proportions of limbs and torso, and paw-hands) with a Wolf head, complete with
long muzzle, and pointed Wolf ears on top of the head. Although I have found ac-
counts of WereWolves lurking in a form where they were furry, but so little changed
they could still talk, and using this form to rob passers-by without their identity be-
ing known, with the threat (and sometimes demonstration) of more fully changing
to help convince the victims to give up their money. the Wolf that a Classical Shifter
transforms herself or himself into could be any color of Wolf, not just black-coloured
Wolves. In accounts of eyewitnesses of both Classical and Molecular Shifts, gray col-
ored Wolves, like in nature, are the most common kind.
D
ream Shifting
A Dream Shift is where the Shifter is a Wolf (or whatever animal) in
their dreams, or where the Shifter changes physically in their dreams.
This kind of shift is very common among people. Many Shifters who shift in their
dreams have reported they go after their fears and destroy them in Wolf or half-
wolf shape and gain much self-confidence and inner peace that way.

M
agickal Shifting
Magickal Shifting is when the Shifter has to perform a formal magickal
ritual to cause the Shift every time they Shift. This kind may largely be a
fictional kind of Shifter, but there are indications that it was more common in the
past and that it often was a precursor to learning how to Shift without the ritual
as another kind of Physical Shifter. This is the kind that the inquisition during
the Middle Ages tried to claim all WereWolves were. Suspected WereWolves were
often tortured until they confessed, in a way that fit with the official theology, that
they were a Magickal Shifter with a magic belt or something. Except in the case of
Bilocation Shifters who owned a drug-salve, the “magic” object used to cause the
Shift was practically never recovered, evidence that the object likely never existed.
Magickal Shifting is also sometimes used to refer to other types of Shifts that the
Shifter believes had something to do with magick, even though no formal ritual
is needed to cause the Shift. This may refer to magick as the natural energy that
flows through everything (which some Shifters believe is involved in every type of
Shift) or it may refer to a formal ritual or informal encounter with a magickal force
that the Shifter believes to have caused them to become a Shifter. Many Shifters
look down on attempts to become Physical Shifters via magick, as a kind of accel-
eration of a natural process that would result in Physical Shifting eventually any-
way, and thus “cheating”. These Shifters see the long, hard road to Physical Shift-
ing as a mechanism to make sure those who become Physical Shifters are really
ready to handle it.
M
ental Shifting
A Mental Shift is an aura shift that is much deeper and with much more
animalness. Mental Shifting is also used to mean any Non-Physical Shift, so
someone claiming to have mentally shifted may be talking about any kind of Non-
Physical Shift. Actually, there is no clear boundary between an aura shift and a men-
tal shift. Aura shifts are often called “light mental shifts” and one Shifter’s experience
of mental shifting may be much deeper than another Shifter’s experience of mental
shifting. And the depth of Mental Shift in one individual Shifter can, and often does,
vary at different times. In the deeper mental shifts, the shifter achieves a state the
army calls “Condition Orange”, a much deeper version of the hockey state described
in aura shifting. Condition Orange is a state of heightened awareness and concentra-
tion in which the coordination is likely to be very precise in an unconscious, easy,
effortless kind of way, it is like the state a healthy Wild animal is in most of the time.
The Shifter will likely have trouble with words, making little sense or losing speech
altogether. The Shifter will tend to engage in behavior that is definitely animal-like,
and might forget how to get around on two legs. The Shifter may be able to run
around on all fours (not hands and knees, but hands and feet) in a very agile, natural-
looking way. The Shifter might or might not have memory holes, or memory fuzziness,
or no memory at all of what they did while mentally shifted. You might want to look at
this for more info.On average, lighter mental shifts are remembered much better than
deeper mental shifts. Mental Shifts often cause a deep desire to drink lots of ice-cold
water after or during the shift. Mental Shifts sometimes cause “Wolf spit” to form in
the mouth, “Wolf spit” being Shifter slang for that kind of gunky spit you sometimes
have in your mouth when you first wake up in the morning. Mental Shifts can cause
the skin to become very pale or even “gray”, like a person in shock.
M
olecular Shifting
A Molecular Shift is when the Wolf spirit (or potential Wolf blueprint
held within, or whatever) takes the raw matter of the human’s body and as-
sembles itself out of it, resulting in a physical change which is the least subtle of all
Shifts. Molecular Shifting is notable for the extreme suddenness of the Shift, there
is no gradual metamorphosis. Molecular Shifting is an almost instantaneous Shift
from full human form to full Wolf form. It can be so quick it creates a miniature sonic
boom, which means either the surfaces of the body must be moving into their new
positions faster than the speed of sound (600 something miles per hour) or a rush of
highly energized air happens, like when lightning strikes and produces thunder. (It
kind of proves the Big Bang theory )Molecular Shifting produces a “Mind of an Ani-
mal” mentality. The Shifter will feel pains leading up to the Shift (for as long as a day)
they intensify as the Shift comes closer. Around three minutes before the Shift is to
take place, they feel an overwhelming urge - much like vomiting - to run where there
is ‘safety’. The actual Shift is painless. The Molecular Shifter seems to run on an ener-
gy cycle. Their Shifting energy builds up until it produces a Shift, then keeps them in
Wolf form until it burns itself and It often “dumps” the WereWolf wherever he or she
happens to be at the time it burns out, which may or may not be a convenient place
to be.

N
on-Shifting
Non-Shifting is not a type of shift, but rather a condition. There are many
werebeings who have never experienced any kind of Shift. Then why do they
think they are werewolves? Simple, their connection with their animal is a way of
life. In a way that is very real to them, they are both human and Wolf. Their animal is
intertwined with all they do, what they like, how they interact to the world. They do
realize that they aren’t a Wolf by the world’s definition, yet that nevertheless is what
they are. They often experience some of the symptoms of being a werewolf other than
Shifting. And many (perhaps some time or another all??) of them eventually experi-
ence Shifts.
P
ersona Shifting
A Persona Shift is somewhere between assuming a mood and the radical
“mental shifts” of a person with Multiple Personality Disorder. Some WereC-
reatures have a separate persona for their “wereside”, yet persona shifts exist in the
real world in people who are not WereCreatures. In more radical instances {but still
less radical than multiple personality} of persona shifting, the different personas may
even have memories attached to them that other personas don’t have (i.e. other per-
sonas can’t remember that event). Different personas often have different outlooks
on the world, different skills, and other things like that. Learning to recognize differ-
ent personas that you shift into (if you are a persona shifter) can be very beneficial in
learning to extricate yourself from the mess and confusion that persona shifting can
easily cause, and knowledgeable persona shifting can be beneficial, such as shifting
into a persona that is calm and level-headed in a dangerous situation or shifting into
a persona, at the right time, that knows how to write very well to ensure straight A’s in
English.

P
osession Shifting
A Posession Shift is when the Shifter sends their soul, or mind, or spirit, or
astral body or whatever into an animal body in such a way that they are in the
animal’s body, see and perceive through it’s senses, and can at least partially control
what it does (depending on how far they have ousted the original resident soul of
the animal). This type of Shifting is very hard to do, very hard to keep doing once it
is done, and fairly dangerous. There are many protection mechanisms that keep the
proper soul in possession of the body it was born in, and the Posession Shifter may
be injured by them and will often have to fight with the animal’s soul for possession
of it’s body. In addition, the channel that the Posession Shifter opens up between his
or her body and the animal’s body tends to cause big problems for the Shifter when
the animal dies, regardless of whether he or she is in the animal’s body at the time.
But Posession Shifters will not receive corresponding injuries when the animal is
injured, whether they are in the body or not, yet they may feel pain and become sick
when the animal is injured. Basically, Posession Shifters can rarely keep it up for long
without serious consequences, and if they had any real power they would choose one
of the other types of Shift to perform. Since it takes a certain amount of power to po-
sess any living thing, the number of potential possession shifters is small. Bilocation
Shifters are commonly mistaken for Posession Shifters.
S
ense Shifting
Sense Shifting is something of an enigma. It doesn’t seem to be very com-
mon, and yet many Shifters have experienced what might be partial, or com-
plete, sense Shifting. It may be physical shifting, or it may be mental shifting, it is
difficult to classify. And proof it really happened is much harder for the shifter, or
anyone else, to gather evidence on. It is similar to Posession shifting in that the
Shifter receives the same, or some of the same, information (sense information, see-
ing, hearing, ect.) as the real animal they are connecting with. Yet no Posession or the
things associated with it takes place. Sometimes the Shifter may even be aware of
the animal’s thoughts too. But the Shifter has no control over what the animal does,
indeed the animal often appears unaware of the Shifter. Occasionally, proof that it
really happened and wasn’t just a vision is forthcoming, but usually not. In practice,
often no difference can be told between Sense Shifting and a Shifter having a vision
or dream of being an animal. I did hear of one shifter who could (both at will or ac-
cidentally) get “pulled around” so she was looking out of the eyes of animals she was
near. This would count as a sense shift. Sometimes sense shifting of various kinds is
also called astral shifting.

S
hape Shifting
And now ShapeShifting (Physical Shifting), the most rare and interesting
type of Shift. There are actually several types of ShapeShifting also, and they do
have some overlap. A Shifter can experience more than one kind of ShapeShifting,
or a kind of ShapeShift between two well-defined categories. ShapeShifting may or
may not be accompanied by a simultaneous Aura Shift or Mental Shift or Spirit Shift.
Some Shifters use the term “ShapeShifting” to refer to Non-Physical Shifting, which
can make some people angry.

S
pirit Shifting
A Spirit Shift has more than one meaning. Those for whom being a Shifter
is a very spiritual thing may call mental shifting spirit shifting. The other thing
is that some werewolves mentally shift by channeling a Wolf Spirit or a Shifting
Spirit into their body in much the same way that a regular channeler can channel a
guardian angel, an astral entity, or someone’s dead relative. Thus the second meaning
of Spirit Shifting refers to a Mental Shift in which a Wolf Spirit was channeled into
the body. Of course, many Shifters don’t believe in spirits, and many Shifters do be-
lieve in spirits but are sure none are being channeled into their body. While yet other
Shifters are sure that all Mental Shifts result from a spirit being channeled into the
body.