well we have all heard about vampires and werewolves but i am wondering to myself... is there anything else like them? allow me to explain.

those of us who are interested in mythical creatures have probably heard of such things as a unicorn, a pegasus etc. but i am interested in mythical beings which pass for human such as a vampire or a lycanthrope.

if anyone has any information on such beings please share!

As for werewolves, there are a whole variety of were-creatures if you search google.

Originally posted by Jonna
As for werewolves, there are a whole variety of were-creatures if you search google.

But most of them comes from diffrent Dungeons & Dragons related game-worlds.

Wereslugs forexample...

Well, maybe not skinwalkers per se, but there are many cultural occurances where humans transform into other things. (I'm doing some research on the topic for both a student film and for publication on this topic, by the way.)

Probably the closest concept would be the "spirit helpers" of the American Indian shamans. The shamans could, when needed, go into a trance and transform (in the "dreamtime") as their helper. There were all kinds of these animals; some were evil (the kushtaka -- "giant land otters" of Alaska) but most were neutral. They seemed to have specific roles (rattlesnake was a messenger to the underworld.)

I was particularly fascinated by those who had cougars as their spirit animal.

Now... I'm glossing over a LOT of cultural/ethnographic material here. Much of it is poorly understood because of the way Indians were treated (forced civilization, forced Christianization.) Much of what they did and knew has been lost. We don't have much material from one culture, but we do have quite a bit from many different cultures.

In the *real* shamanism from Siberia (which we do have good documentation on... and please don't go by what New Age books say!), there are somewhat similar associations with animals. We do have a decent amount of material on this, thankfully (Piers Vitebsky's "Shamanism" is a reasonable start, though not perhaps the best.)

(g) I'll avoid all the legend and legendary things (you could go on endlessly about that, and there are many stories such as that of the Mother Whose Daughter Became A Wolf (a story of how far a mother's love will go to rescue her child.))

So, yes, lots of things in certain areas. And then there's the "bear-sarkers" (berserkers)

[edit on 16-8-2004 by Byrd]

Agreed Jonna, I was looking for more sources of where werewolfism origionated. (really could use the photos of that mexican family)

if my memory serves me correctly, i can remember reading many tales of ancient druids who would drape themselves in wolf skins and take halucogenic mushrooms...they would actually think that they were wolves
and so would the rest of the tribes who employed there services.
the american indians had the same views i think.
maybe this is where the legends started.

sometimes when my hair grows i put chicago bulls vest on and that makes me feel like micheal j fox so i know it works....lol

Originally posted by Heratix
if my memory serves me correctly, i can remember reading many tales of ancient druids who would drape themselves in wolf skins and take halucogenic mushrooms...they would actually think that they were wolves

The viking berserkers did a similar thing. The name 'Berserker' comes from the Norse words for 'Bear shirt'. Apparently they would become almost insane on rage and/or drink and it would make them feel virtually impervious in battle - they feared nothing.

Originally posted by Daystar
...well we have all heard about vampires and werewolves but i am wondering to myself... is there anything else like them?....

Yes! Me in the morning before I brush my hair and have caffeine - I look like Cousin It and I'll rip your head off in one bite

Originally posted by Daystar
well we have all heard about vampires and werewolves but i am wondering to myself... is there anything else like them? allow me to explain.

those of us who are interested in mythical creatures have probably heard of such things as a unicorn, a pegasus etc. but i am interested in mythical beings which pass for human such as a vampire or a lycanthrope.

if anyone has any information on such beings please share!

Try Kitsune ...

She takes a number of different vulpine forms (sometimes with a number of tails [not tales]), and shifts 'twixt human and fox, mostly at will.

Her stories seem to go back a while, and appears to have had a bit of a difficult relationship with humans by and large (so she is true to the rest of the natural world, sadly). She seems more misunderstood than anything, which leads to bad situations, rather than being just malicious for the sake of it.

I wouldn't say she could be descried as a lycan tho' - ('lykos' = 'wolf') - but would fit with the definition of Theriomorphic

On a whole ethnographically different, but etymological similar track - what about the early run of Egyptian deities ?

There would appear to be plenty of scope there - although I *think* these were fixed forms, not shifting ones, but I'm a bit sketchy on Egypt ...

yeah theres something else out there, its alot like a werewolf though... its called a teenager.. you know... big, hairy, frenzy for food, gets angry super easily, smells really bad, etc. these creatures exist everywhere they live among us and steal our intelligence and our food waiting for the day that they can take over our world.

there are also a whole heap of demons that take the form of a human

there is one that i have read something about that takes the form of a woman and at night the head floats around to eat souls

or a woman with a mouth on the back of her head and stuff like that you should check monstropedia there are definitively more on that site

[color=Teal]werecat as son's spirit guide?
my son, AJ, is only 2 years old and is one of the most sensitive individuals I have ever met. lately i have been seeing a cat humanoid slinking around his bedroom. i'm posting this only a few hours after it's last sighting which frightened me to the point of almost needing a change of underwear. it's face was pale, cat like, but familiarly human, and only2 ft away from the door as I entered his room. Being easily scared to begin with I closed the door, only to find it had disappeared upon opening it up again. I've done my research and have wound it down to either a werecat or either the Egyptian goddess Bastet or the Hindu god Narasimha. I don't feel threatened by it, would just like to understand it more. any help would be wonderful.[/color]