werewolves: do you believe in them.....?

Personally I love the whole werewolf thing as I think wolfs are the most beautiful animals and the idea of man and wolf having some sort of affinity is not beyond the realms of possibility. There is something about a full moon that gives a whole different aura than any other night of the month. I sometimes have looked at the moon on an especially clear night and felt my heart beat a little faster (you're going to think I'm a complete psycho now!) The silver bullet thing I think has come into modern fiction and isn't there in the older folklore, so if there is a reality in the werewolf I think they would be exceptionally strong, wild and free and because of this it would take more than normal to bring 'em down if they needed to!

Here's some theories as to their possible origins that might interest you:

Many authors have put forward the idea that stories of werewolves (and vampires) may have been used to explain serial killings in less enlightened ages. This theory is given credence by the tendency of some modern serial killers to indulge in practices (such as cannibalism, mutilation and cyclic attacks) commonly associated with the attack of a werewolf.

A recent theory has been proposed to explain werewolf episodes in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ergot, which causes a form of foodborne illness, is a fungus that grows in place of rye grains in wet growing seasons after very cold winters. Ergot poisoning usually affects whole towns or at least poor areas of towns and results in hallucinations, mass hysteria and paranoia, as well as convulsions and sometimes death. (LSD can be derived from ergot.) Ergot poisoning has been proposed as both a cause of an individual believing that he or she is a werewolf and of a whole town believing that they had seen a werewolf.

However, this theory is controversial and not well accepted.

Some modern researchers have tried to use conditions such as rabies, hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth over the entire body) or porphyria (an enzyme disorder with symptoms including hallucinations and paranoia) as an explanation for werewolf beliefs. Congenital erythropoietic porphyria has clinical features which include photosensitivity (so sufferers only go out at night), hairy hands and face, poorly healing skin, pink urine, and reddish colour to the teeth.

There is also a rare mental disorder called clinical lycanthropy, in which an affected person has a delusional belief that he or she is transforming into another animal, although not always a wolf or werewolf.

Others believe werewolf legends arose as a part of shamanism and totem animals in primitive and nature-based cultures. The term therianthropy has been adopted to describe a spiritual concept in which the individual believes he or she has the spirit or soul, in whole or in part, of a non-human animal.

I firmly believe in the existance of werewolves, as well as other forms of similar creatures. While I have not encountered a werewolf as such, I HAVE, in the course of my travels encountered during a journey in South America someone who was able to PROVE thier being a were-Jaguar, a creature common to the lore of the region. This experience was such that, since THAT creature existed, then it was certain that other such creatures existed as well...

An interesting take on the susbject of werewolfism and other forms of shapeshifting is..The Magic of Shapeshifting by Rosalyn Greene. She gives not only some traditional mystidcal insights, but also some more modern scientific takes on the why and how of various forms of shapeshifting in several cultures across the globe.

Personally, I am still looking for a means of becoming one myself...but...no luck as yet...

No but in Cleveland there is a hospital for insane people called the Hanna Pavelion/ Hanna was one of Cleveland's top millionaires and he built the pavillion to house one of his daughters who was not all there. The place where she was put in were all padded walls and they clain that every full moon she howled all night like a wolf and she had no windows ever.

I have friends who claim to be werewolves. But they prefer to go by the name Lycan. As to if I believe them or not...I think it is probable. I have never seen on, though. If Vampires can exist, why wouldn't Lycans be able to exist as well. But if you think that way...where does one draw the line of "mythical" creatures? (I do not like to call them monsters...I have my reasons).

Honestly...I think it's a very big possibility. But, who knows, I may be wrong.

I dont beleive in theior existance.. coz i dont beleive something except when i see it...i've heard that they r existed.... in romania and the indian during the war between white and indian in USA..

And also i heard that its kind of Black magic...

My uncle when he went to Sudan he heard that there r some of the ghroups there have kind of magic to transfer in to crocodile and they swim in the nile...(My uncle doesnt beleive it and me 2) but also i think thats its existance maybe right but also i ned n evidence..

Werewolves are not what you imagine them to be. They originally evolved on a south pacific island as surfers. Man, can they ride a wave!

I believe in them whole-heartedly. I don't see why they couldn't exist, and yes, I believe that I have seen one, and I have my friend to back me up. And for anyone who says I couldn't have seen one because they don't exist, well, you can only see these things if you believe in them.

I think it's a myth. I don't really know if anyone's seen it before. There maybe a possibility.

i saw some before around where i use to live big hairy guys who came out at night howling they hung with these drunken neighbors i had lol

i think they do exist it's just a matter of atually seeing/finding one