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Werewolves and Witchcraft, by Denny Sargent

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

A large number of those accused by the Inquisition of being witches were also accused of being werewolves. Surprised? There is a reason: Shapeshifting. It is shocking how common it was that people persecuted for witchcraft by the Church in old Europe were also often accused of being werewolves. Either accusation could get you burned alive, of course. When researching my book Werewolf Magick, this really surprised me. Further digging revealed that the surviving and suppressed ancient Pagan and Animist practices and beliefs embedded in old European folk magic were clearly remnants of pre-Christian sorcery from Norse, Roman, Greek, and Celtic practices. It seems that these Pagan beliefs merged and overlapped and many included shapeshifting craft. To show how entwined were-wolf (human-wolf) shapeshifting and witchcraft practices likely were, here is a quote from the witchcraft trial of Jean Grenieron from 1592 telling of how he entered a coven of werewolf shapeshifters:

"When I was 10 or 11 years old, my neighbor Duthillaire introduced me to the depths of the forest, to the 'Master of the Forest,' a black man, who signed me with a nail and then gave me and him a salve and a wolf skin. From that time I have run about the country as a wolf."—BaringGould, The Book of Werewolves, page 92

Those in the Craft may actually have werewolfery their tradition's lineage! Many accused (and real) witches, in their accounts, offered clues that helped me understand how werewolf magick and shapeshifting was part of my traditional Craft roots. In Medieval Europe, werewolves and witches were often linked together by the Church, and being accused of one often led to being accused of the other, shapeshifting to wolf form being one of the many gifts from the Devil! As I researched and wrote about werewolf magick, I unexpectedly discovered much that threw new light on ancient Craft practices, like using Fetches or familiars, also techniques used by ancient sorcerers like the Norse Seidr with their Flygia (fetches.) I believe that anyone interested in these old traditional Craft practices will find this research, and possibly my book, of great interest. So witches, no matter what, were often accused of being able to "turn into" toads, cats, ravens, rabbits, and wolves with the help of a spell from a demon or from "the horned one" or the "Devil," often called the Lord of the Forest. How far back does this idea of shapeshifting go? Cave paintings show "theriomorphs" (people changing into part animals) and there is one that is clearly a werewolf found in a cave in Portugal that is dated 40,000 years old. Surviving indigenous Shamans describe and craft similar images today. (If you are interested in further informationa bout this, I wrote an article on the Ulchi Shamans I met, did workshops with, and interviewed.)

Animistic and Pagan shapeshifting practices were very common in the ancient world in Norse, Celtic, and classical cultures. Greek historians like Herodatus and Roman historians such as Livy firmly believed in werewolf shapeshifters and claimed to have witnessed such rites. After the fall of the Roman empire, these traditions and practices went underground along with the "old religions" within surviving folk magick traditions and folk festivals that honored magickal powers, often connected with the wolf. Such Pagan shape-shifting rites may have continued in family and clan groups like "covens," which were destroyed by the Church when this heresy was discovered. I spent several years reading witchcraft trial documents, and even with the horrible forced confessions, werewolf shapeshifting appears multiple times; often the accused witches received their initiations and powers from the mysterious "Lord of the Forest," the horned and hoofed image of what the Church called the "Devil," but there were many wild, feral shapeshifting gods who were called "the Lord of the Forest" and who were associated with wolves, like the horned Faunus, the Celtic Herne, and many more.

What was called witchcraft in early Christian Europe was called Satanism by the clergy; and aside from the trial documents, we have many folkloric references to wild "werewolf" gatherings and festivals, often at Midwinter, that even now still continue in rural feral festivals that include horned gods and werewolves.

These sorts of wild, feral festivals and rituals along with the werewolf shapeshifting magic were seen as all part of the great evil that the Church set out to destroy with intense fervor, and their goal was clearly to eradicate all witches, heathens, and shapeshifting "werewolves," all being evildoers doing the Devil's work. By the early Medieval period, the clergy, bishops, and even the Pope wrote fiery sermons about the scourge of werewolfery and Witchcraft and the need to exterminate such evil. Here is an example from a trial in the 1600s of one "werewolf witch:"

"The fate of Peter Stubbe, a German man, was not so fortunate. After flat-out confessing to having made a deal with the devil, in which Stubbe was gifted a belt allowing him to shape-shift for the sake of killing …. he was publicly executed in 1589."—BaringGould, The Book of Werewolves, page 8

Such persecutions resulted in both voluminous records from trials but also essays by clerics full of an amazing amount of references that indicate their belief in the survival of pre-Christian magickal traditions and that contain a surprising amount about werewolves and shapeshifting. Yet some persecuted "werewolf witches" defended their magic as good, not evil! During his trial, a self-admitted sorcerer named Thiess insisted that werewolves were not evil but were working for good against "the devil" as "wolves of god." He testified that he would leave his body in werewolf form and journey to Hell to steal back precious things that the devils of hell had stolen. As "hounds" or "wolves" of god, they defended society by shedding human skin and taking up spirit bodies of wolves for the good of the whole community. They saw themselves as "spiritual wolf warriors" like so many "werewolf warriors’"of the ancient Pagan world were said to do. (From Witches, Werewolves and Faeries, Lecouteaux page 168)

The more common witchcraft trial transcripts are, of course, filled with litanies of crazy sins elicited from poor torture peasents who were then often executed. Reading these, you realize that the populace and inquisitors all deeply believed in the real existence of witches, demons, and werewolf cults. The question for me when researching was this: Did surviving remnants of "shapeshifting" werewolf shapeshifting witches really exist? In retrospect, I do believe there is enough evidence to say yes, and in the mind of the Medieval Church, there were a whole lot of these witch werewolves! Olaus Magnus, a cleric of the Church involved in such trials, wrote:

"On the feast of the Nativity of Christ, at night a multitude of werewolves gather at a certain spot then spread to attack animals and humans, they eat livestock, [and] drink beer in taverns they raid..."—Baring-Gould, The Book of Werewolves, page 53

I love that they all went drinking together, a tradition I assume still continues among witches and werewolves! There are many such accounts like this, but amidst the Satanic panic of the Inquisition, there were also tales that showed a surprising tolerance of werewolves. A nobleman and his servants were travelling in Lithonia (the Baltics) with and had to camp deep in the woods without food. One of the servants then revealed to him that he was a werewolf and could help. He transformed in the woods and returned as a wolf with a sheep in his jaws to feed them all, he then ducked back into the woods and emerged as a man again. One assumes they all ate well and forgave the werewolf for his affliction. What a great friend to have!

The Church declared that werewolfism was real in the 1400s, and up through the 1800s it was not uncommon to see such beliefs still discussed by learned men. The writer Rhanaeus, who in the 1700s studied much older witchcraft trial documents, had some important comments about the werewolf cults that echo comments in the Sagas about Norse shapeshifting sorcerers. One line states:

"They imagine in deep sleep or dream that they injure the cattle and this without leaving their couch."—, The Book of Werewolves, page 60

This type of trance-state and "astral projection" shapeshifting may refer to the etheric "Double,"dFetch or Fylgia, the possible mode of true shapeshifting and I discuss this in depth in Werewolf Magick.

Another important piece of the puzzle in these witchcraft trial documents concerns the actions of the coven leader, the "Dark Man of the Woods" or "The Lord of the Forest," who offered werewolf shifting powers to witches seeking initiation. The interrogators forced those being tortured to agree that this mysterious figure was "The Devil," but that was not a term they originally used. The mysterious and powerful "Lord of the Forest" in these documents often tests the one seeking initiation, marks them with a nail or sharp fingernail, then, after a potent ritual in the deep woods with the coven, this "dark man" gave the new witch a magickal wolf skin or wolf skin belt along with a special "werewolf" salve to rub on the body. Rubbing their bodies with the salve, doing a ritual, and wearing the skin or belt all together turned them into werewolves or wolves and this "Dark Man" then trained the new witches how to master shapeshifting. Even though these tales were recounted during torture, in a number of different times and places, they are numerous and fairly consistant. Here is one example:

In 1521 an Inquisitor named Boin elicited a confession from a "witch-werewolf" in rural France and this story. The "witch" had been in the forest seeking lost sheep when he was approached by a "black horseman" who asked him if he needed help. He told his story of his lost sheep. "The Master" offered to help him and gave him some money. They met in the forest days later at an agreed-upon time and to the man's surprise, his sheep were there! He was in awe and agreed to follow this "Dark Lord." At their next meeting, he renounced Christianity and agreed to "bind himself" to "Moyset," the Master's name. They met again in these woods another day and this time many other witches were present and he joined their ritual. They all danced "a special dance while holding green tapers burning blue flames," then stripped and rubbed the special salve on their bodies and "quickly changed into wolves."—BaringGould, The Book of Werewolves, page 70

Here is one specific part of the story that I believe indicates ancient shamanic shapeshifting practices were involved. The man who transformed into a werewolf noted in testimony that he was "horrified at his four wolf's feet, and the fur which he was covered with," but that he oddly found that could travel with the"speed of wind," something modern shamans say as well about "spirit" or astral travels.

Though this transformation was done with the help of the "Master," oddly he then added that: he couldn't perceive him [the Master] until he returned to human form. Again, this may indicate an awakening from a spirit or astral journey because he would not have been able to see the "Master" while "out of body."

Such werewolf "shapeshifting salves" were likely psychoactive ointments and are often mentioned in trial documents as also being used by witches to "fly to the sabbat" and the ingredients mentioned were often the same. Most of the ingredients in these ointments were powerful psychotropic herbs such as belladonna, henbane, and aconite and would certainly be able to launch any witch into astral journeys, just as similar spirit travel is still induced by shamans today with amanita, psilocybin, and peyote. Shamans with whom I spoke mentioned being exhausted after such "spirit journeys," and this matches a number of accounts of witch-shapeshifters being exhausted for days after such astral adventures. This exhaustion is also noted in the Viking Eddas regarding Norse Eigi Einhamir or "Skin Changers." You likely know of the warrior sorcerer-shapeshifters called "Berserkers," which means Ber (bear) Sark (skin) because such they "put on the bear skin," meaning shapeshifted, before battle. Less known are the dreaded UlfSark—those who shapeshifted into werewolves in battle. Such werewolf-warriors were also well known and honored in many places in the ancient world. The infusion of Norse Paganism and magick throughout Europe likely contributed to the "werewolf magic" of the European witches.

Accused witches were also said to"ride to the sabbat" on the back of wolves or werewolves! Of course, to the priests of the "new religion," such spirits were demons sent by Satan and were sometimes referred as "Fetches" or "Familiars" or, in Northern lands, "Flygia" and were also condemned by the Church, of course.

This has been but a short description of what I feel was a major infusion of Pagan and Animistic rituals and occult practices in the folkloric and "craft" beliefs and magic in a chaotic and transforming Medieval Europe, some of which continues with us today. While our current Craft traditions are most likely not continuations of extant "covens" from this time, I know the book of shadows of the witchcraft tradition I was initiated into contains bits and pieces of lore and spells that clearly are older than much of the rest. Some are Welsh, some are archaic runes, and others are practices used for "visionary" shapeshifting. It is both logical and, at least from what I've found, clear that most all Craft traditions I know of have things lurking somewhere in the shadowy pages of their Books of Shadows! May you have many powerful wild and wolfish full moons and don't forget to howl for our shapeshifting witch ancestors!

Much more on this topic can be found in Werewolf Magick and in the Werewolf Pack Magick: A Shapeshifter Book of Shadows, available September 2022. You can also check out werewolfmagick.com.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I have been told that I have healing hands. The Universe seems to be opening doorways to make the study of kinesiology easily accessible to me, but I hesitate to begin this course because I feel there must be more I need to do to become a competent healer. Do you have any suggestions regarding what all I need to study and master in order to be an energy healer? I am really tuned in to dowsing, and my pendulum gives very accurate readings. Thank you!

Patti

Susyn:

Sometimes it's hard for us to trust in our gifts. Your hesitation to begin a course of study in kinesiology reflects this lack of trust.

I recall when I first stumbled upon the idea of becoming an astrologer and psychic. I had very little information but boundless passion to move into this line of work. I felt a bit defeated when a respected colleague quickly pointed out that I was operating with very limited information.

I signed up for an astrology class, but the first teacher I chose was more interested in the degrees and aspects of an astrology chart than in taking that information and making it valuable for living a better life. I moved on to a second mentor who understood what I wanted to do with astrology and was patient with my Gemini-based learning style. (I tend to jump all over the map and don't do well with linear learning.)

What I'm trying to tell you is if you start a class and find it unfulfilling, you should question the teacher and venue, not your goals. It's always helpful to build a foundation for the path you want to follow, so keep looking for the instruction or mentor who can help you bring your healing gifts to life.

There are all sorts of ways we are led to our perfect careers. Because you were born on the cusp between Sagittarius and Capricorn, it's easy to see why you are hesitant to move in any one direction. The Sagittarius in you can hold you at bay while you worry about competency and qualifications, while the Capricorn in you would probably like to skip over any studies and preparation and dive right into the practice of energy healing or whatever it is you are destined to do.

I recommend you address the fears your Sagittarius nature is bringing up by going ahead and signing up for a class in kinesiology. The information and skills you get in class will help you build a stronger foundation of trust and confidence. As you move through these studies, your desire will grow stronger and you may discover other talents you want to develop and use as a healer one day.

At times the Universe will open a door to us but we refuse to walk through it. In my experience, if we ignore the obvious, Spirit will continue to open doors and send messages our way until we are ready to act on them. When you take the first step by signing up for a class, you are letting the Divine know that you are ready to move forward to fulfill your destiny. When you tell the Universe this, you can trust that a clear path will take shape and take you where you want to go.

*****

Oceania:

Look at that birthdate, 12/21: it's a perfect mirror image. The number 1 represents your ability to stand strong as an individual and to vertically bridge heaven and earth as a channel for divine energy. The number 2 is your ability to relate to and horizontally connect with others here on earth, and to connect THEM to spirit.

You have 1 spine, branching into 2 hands. In the mirror stands your client, seeing their own potential in your reflection. Your inspiration, guidance and role-modeling will help your clients become strong individuals who are also capable of relating. That's the 1-2 punch!

It is wise and wonderful that you are open to continued learning and education. Humbleness is a virtue! However, I invite you to balance your modesty with confidence based upon your strengths and experience, and also upon your connection to a higher power. Take a leap of faith and begin the course! See yourself as an energy healer NOW. Your pendulum is accurate because YOU are accurate and because Truth is accurate and you are allowing it to flow through you.

As you go along in your studies, you will be guided to other opportunities to receive knowledge and wisdom through books, radio (especially public radio), television (especially public television,) movies, websites and direct channeling. Trust your intuition as you dabble with various modalities and sources of information, and invest your time where you feel the best fit.

Once you start looking, serendipity will lead you to many websites jam-packed with treasures to assist you. Your intuition will tell you when to stop and spend time and when to move on. (Some of my own favorite spiritual websites are those of Abraham-Hicks, Byron Katie, Rob Brezsny, and Juicy Living Tour.)

Your journey is underway; it's too late to turn back! You will step through the doorway and begin the course that has become readily available to you with grace, ease and gratitude. To turn your back on such an opportunity would be like rejecting a personalized gift from Spirit. It's as if the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes crew is knocking on your door, and you won't answer because you're not sure you're ready. Open the door! Receive and welcome the gift!

Of course, it's an abundant universe, so if you choose to wait, that's okay too. Just don't wait because you think you're not ready. You're way past ready - that's why you attracted and manifested this opportunity in the first place. The course is a reflection of your readiness!

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.