Footprints are important in the supernatural world.
Footprints prints are believed to have some essence of who ever created the print. In Africa, people make sure their footprints are destroyed so witches cannot use the dirt from the print for evil magic against them.
More so for people who want to be a werewolf.
Drinking water collected in the footprints of wolf’s -extra power for footprints left in Clay- gave people the power to shape shift into a werewolf.
Yep pigs are what I’m going to talk about today.
Killing a pig on October 17 -the feast day of St. Ignacius- and smearing the pigs blood on your body will keep vampires away from you.
Smearing pig lard on the corpse is believed to keep it from becoming a vampire.
Why?
Wallachian lore says vampires prefer to shape-shift into a pig.
In Russia becoming a werewolf is easy. All that’s needed to shape-shift into an Oborot “one transformed” is a magic incantation and to find a cut down tree in the forest.
The tree stump would be stabbed with the copper knife and circled as the person said the spell. Once the spell was said the person had to jump over the stabbed stump three times. He then ran further into the forest and wolf form.
Image from Pinterest
Ruvaush
The Ruvaush is Romany term for wolf-man. Ruv equals wolf and manush equals man.
Romani lore tells of a werewolf creatures created by a vampire which who can suck the blood of men during the waxing moon. The man becomes a werewolf. Even when in human form he can only eat raw flesh and blood.
In the 19th-century Hungarian gypsy named Kropan lived with his wife in Torres. He suspected his wife of having an affair because she’d wait every night for him to fall asleep and leave. She also had choice cuts of meat even though his salary could not afford meet.
One night he decided to spy on her. She came back the following morning in wolf form and shape-shifted into human form. He was horrified but kept silent. Soon they had enough meat for him to travel to the next village and sell it.
He made enough money to open and inn, where he and his wife sold cheap plates of food.
The villagers became suspicious. They took him and his wife to the priest for next versus him when the wife was sprinkled with holy water she shrieked in pain and disappeared. The mob killed Kropan. The two responsible for the murder were convicted and sentenced by a six-year prison term. They were released in 1881.
Image from Pinterest
Phi-Phi
The Shan tribe of Thailand has a powerful spirit that permanently lives within the person, transforming them into witch.
The witch has many powers including shape-shifting into animals.
Phi Phu is passed down through family. Its also contagious, if you share too many meals with a phi-phi, you can be infected. Marrying outside the tribe will bring a Phi Phu into the family.
Phi Phi can send human doubles away. As long as a phi-phi obeys social expectations and laws, it will be accepted. The phi phy is unfortuanate, but not malevolent. The only way to exorcise a phi-phi from a person is that person becoming an ordained Buddhist monk.
Werewolf and vampire myths were common in Hungary. It’s not surprising that they these myths would cross.
If a werewolf ever consumed the flesh of and executed person when he died he’d raise as a vampire revenant called Farkaskoldus.
It rises from it grave at night, it can shape-shift into a cat, dog or goat, which allows it to move through town discreetly. While it looks for a victim.
When he finds his victim he lays on top of the victim, drains his blood and returns to the grave before sunrise. If a deceased person is suspected of being a Farkaskoldus, its grave is exhumed. If there’s merit in the suspicion the corpse won’t be decomposed, the scent of death or decay, the body will also be full of fresh blood.
There are a few ways to destroy a Farkaskoldus. The simplest is to burn the body to ash or soak it in holy water.
The next level if it’s felt a more severe method is needed, a stake must be driven through the heart or a nail through the head, then burn the body to ashes.
The most extreme is to remove the heart through the vampire’s back then burn everything. The ashes must be gathered in a sack and thrown into a deep river.
Since this month is dedicated to Werewolves. All of my columns will be about Werewolves. If you’ve been reading my blog for some time now, you’ve already seen that vampires and werewolves have more in common that just a hatred for each other (usually portrayed in movies and fiction). I really need to work on an article about that….
So here are a few vampire-werewolves, or Werewolf-vampires…
Priccolitsch
Romanian lore has a man, usually a shepherd that is a type of vampire werewolf called “Priccolitsh” (pray-co-litch). He shape-shifts into a wolf. The blood thirsty creature then attacks his own flock.
Pricolic Wolf
This Romanian creature is born through an incestuous relationship. Its born with a tail. The Pricolic wolf’s ability to shape-shift into a dog has been questioned.
It’s unknown whether it’s a natural talented or a gift from the devil.
In dog form The Pricolic mingles with other wolves.
Soon the human from realizes that it’s spending large amounts of time in the company of wolves. Until it shape-shifts one final time and joins the pack.
Leaving food offering will keep the pricolic from attacking family and livestock.
The Adze is the vampire spirit of the Ewe people of Southeastern Ghana and Southern Togo of Africa.
It looks like a corpse candle a constant light of a firefly or shining betel when it’s not possessing the tribe’s sorcerer.
Adze means ax like tool is attracted to hunts. It drinks for the blood of the village’s prettiest kids. If you offer it enough coconut milk or palm oil, you can keep it from drinking blood.
How to kill this strange vampire. When you catch it, even if it’s in the corpse candle form it shape shifts to its human form. Killing it in its human for is easy anything that kills a regular human would kill it.
Photo Credit: http://www.lightpublic.com/lighting-articles/can-fireflies-help-to-create-a-breakthrough-in-led-technology/
There’s this thing called a Corpse Candle.
Yeah, Corpse Candle…
It’s a spectral light (vampiric light) that’s origins are probably German.
It appears to those who travel at night and lures them into danger. Vampires often take the form of a ball of light while flying.
There are many sources that say a Corpse Candle is created when a child dies un-baptized and acts as a death omen. Some say Corpse Candles guard a treasure.
Many types of vampires who can shape-shift into a corpse Candle. We’ll look into some of them in the following weeks.
Photo Credit:
http://avalonyearning.blogspot.com
http://thorntonausten.com/2011/04/
Mari Wells 