Ancient History

Werewolves have been feared throughout history. In recent years, they’ve made their presence known via the big screen. However, the idea of humans turning into wolves is one of the oldest traditions in the world. Since the dawn of time, man has feared the idea of being mauled by a large beast that is a human in disguise.

Experts believe that the origins of werewolves stems from the earliest humans. From paintings on cave walls, we see that people were known to wear the hides of various animals in order to gain their strength or to commune with the animals themselves. Many Native American tales speak of shape shifters that can change into almost any animal they choose.

The ancient Greeks told the story of Lycaon, who was turned into a wolf after trying to serve Zeus, the king of the gods, a meal made from human flesh and blood. Because of this, the term lycanthrope was coined, which is now used as the term meaning werewolf. However, according to the story, Lycaon remained a wolf until he was killed by villagers. How the idea of changing from wolf to man is debated to this day.

However, there is some evidence that the idea for werewolves comes from a medical condition called Hypertrichosis. Basically, this is a condition where facial and body hair grows at an alarming rate. Some time around the 1550’s, a child was taken from his home in the Canary Islands and sent to the king of France. The child, Petras Gonzales, was covered in hair from top to bottom and looked like a werewolf. Fortunately, the child was well cared for and highly educated.

Werewolves have frightened humans for thousands of years, and were a good way to keep children from wandering too far away from home after dark. They were seen as being the reason behind many problems, and are thought to have even found their way into children’s fairy tales, (The Big Bad Wolf).

Spiders have become synonymous with Halloween due to their creepy nature and the elaborate webs they weave. Millions of people have a fear of spiders and have had for thousands of years. Ironically, many cultures had legends that surrounded these arachnids.

The ancient Greeks told the story of Arachne, a woman from the region of Lydia who was said to be the greatest weaver and spinner in all the lands. Many people believed that she received her gifts from the Goddess Athena, but Arachne scoffed at these allegations and claimed to have learned the trade on her own.

Arachne even claimed to be better at the craft than the Goddess herself, which caused Athena to accept the girl’s challenge and the two of them set out to see who was the best at spinning and weaving. Each created elaborate designs, depicting the Gods in a wide variety of scenes. In the end, it seems that Arachne’s work was better than Athena’s. This so outraged the Goddess that she destroyed the girls work, then turned the girl into a spider to forever spin her webs in the darkest corners of the world.

Many Native American tribes retell legends about spiders in a more favorable light. The Pueblo tribe tells of the Spider Woman who helped create the world we know today. In the beginning, she created the line that connected North, South, East, and West. Then, from the various clays of the Earth, she created all living beings.

Spider Woman also had two daughters. One was thought to be the mother of all the Pueblo peoples and was thought to have formed the sun as a gift to her people. The other daughter was thought to be the mother of all other humans and formed the moon. Her gift to her people was the prayer stick.

Spider Woman was said to have given each person on Earth a silken thread that came out of her head, so that they might have creative wisdom, thus creating the legend that all humans are connected to each other, through the threads of the Spider Woman.

So, next time you see a spider crawling down the wall, or hanging from a silky thread from the ceiling, know that these creatures have been the subjects of myths and legends throughout time. And you never know who might be lurking inside that 8-legged shell of a form.