How to turn into a wolf and how to return to human form, the cursed wedding train and werewolf children
The reports in the Vitebsk press about the attacks of wolves revive in the people's memory the fears associated with belief in werewolves - a vivid relic of ancient beliefs that arose long before the adoption of Christianity.
The book by ethnographer Nikolai Yakovlevich Nikiforovsky "Common signs and beliefs, superstitious rituals and customs, legendary legends about personalities and places", published in 1897, contains rich material about the belief in werewolves in the Vitebsk region. Using it, we will try to recall the mystical ideas and rituals of our ancestors.
How to turn into a wolf
According to Nikolai Nikiforovsky, the conversion of a person into a wolf is of two types: voluntary and violent. In the first case, the sorcerer (usually a powerful one) assumes an animal form for the only magical purposes known to him. In the second case (the most common), the sorcerer turns a wedding train into wild animals - a procession of newlyweds and guests heading to the temple or the groom's house.
The transformation could only be performed over a train of twelve persons. The evil sorcerer would cast a spell and throw a pea seed taken from a pod with twelve grains (usually no more than eight grains in a pod) through the procession, or pulled a thread across the road.
No matter how strong the sorcerer was, his power over people was not unlimited. It was impossible to turn a man into a wolf for the rest of his life, as well as for an even number of years.
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Newlyweds in the guise of animals
As soon as the transformation was completed, the werewolves jumped from the carriages and with a plaintive howl left the road. The magic did not spread to domestic animals, and the horses calmly returned to their stalls.
The fate of the unfortunate is to stray into a flock and never for a minute leave each other to wander with their heads down near the villages, not entering them, like ordinary wolves. The werewolves were extremely careful and wary of encounters with hunters. If this happened, then the wolf-man tried to substitute his sides under the blows of the stick (obviously, in the hope of getting rid of the animal skin).
Werewolves do not die a natural death and do not get sick, although they suffer from hunger and the burden of their situation. The only thing that can kill them is a shot from a gun. When the hunter removed the skin from the prey, he found a decayed dress, underneath crosses, and the newlyweds had wedding rings under it.
How to tell a werewolf from an ordinary wolf
Unlike simple wolves, werewolves feed exclusively on plant food, as well as the remains of human food. Only on the first day after the end of Lent, a man turned into a wolf could afford to eat meat. Werewolves tried to do this in remote places, away from human habitation, while the prey was divided equally.
Hunters and their prey - wolves. Photo from the magazine "Hunter of Belarus", No. 9, 1932.
Werewolves, even at the time of transformation and lose their mind, nevertheless, do not forget human customs and habits. When they go to sleep and wake up, they “pray”, howling to the east or towards their native villages. Werewolves sleep not on bare ground, but on beds made of moss, brushwood, grass and stones, in the mornings they "wash", sweeping their muzzles through the dew, in the spring they rake the ground - trying to plow.
The main difference between a werewolf and a wild wolf is its submissiveness when meeting a person and the complete absence of aggression.
How to return to human form
Neither the sorcerer himself, who sent a curse on the wedding procession, nor a stronger sorcerer, is able to shorten the period of stay of unfortunate people in animal guise.
But people with a good heart can help a werewolf become human again. This can be done in different ways.
Wolves. Museum of Nature and Ecology of Belarus (Minsk). Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
Sometimes, in order to remove the spell, it is necessary to play a wedding song on the violin, addressing the wolves: “Don't you have enough walking, making people laugh, teasing dogs? Better go home! As soon as the werewolf hears the part of the song where he became a wolf, he will immediately take on a human form.
You can throw at the werewolf with a cloth belt, rake or pitchfork so that this object flies from the head to the tail of the animal and be sure to touch it with its rear end.
If you take off your shirt or pants, rip them in half and throw them over your head to the werewolf's paws, then the beast will become a man as soon as it touches the rags. Finally, when meeting a wolf on the road, it was necessary to pull a thread in front of it, and then break it.
In some cases, werewolves managed to unintentionally throw off witchcraft. They could regain their former appearance, passing under the arc of the first carriage on the train, eating a piece of the wedding loaf, engaging in a fight with real wolves and being gnawed by them, or, fleeing from wolves, jumping into running water.
Werewolf after removing witchcraft
At the expiration of the period on which the spell was imposed, the werewolves happily jumped up and threw off their wolf skins. Most often, the transformation into people took place on the current, in the pune or threshing floor of their home.
A stuffed wolf in the Lepel District Museum. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
Relatives gladly greeted the newlyweds and guests who had regained their appearance, took them to the house, where they ended the interrupted wedding celebration.
Werewolf children
Traditionally, in the Vitebsk region, pregnant women were not allowed to the wedding train - for their own good. But if, through an oversight, the expectant mother still went to church with the guests, and a transformation took place on the way, then a man was born from the she-wolf.
Having seen such an unusual sight, a casual passer-by could help the unfortunate mother to regain her original appearance. To do this, it was necessary to spread a belt, towel or scarf on the ground, while pronouncing female names. As soon as the werewolf heard his own, he immediately shed the wolf skin.
Forest predator. Photo: Sergey Martinovich.
However, such witchcraft, performed for the good of a woman, could turn herself into a wolf, especially if her name coincided with that of a werewolf.
Children, nailed down by werewolves, were born by wolves, and then, together with everyone, took on a human form. However, until the end of his days, such a person was not "pestered" by Christian baptism.
Werewolf scammers
Nikolai Nikiforovsky noted that the fear of our ancestors to kill a man in wolf guise in many places saved wolves from total extermination by hunters.
At the same time, the belief of peasants in werewolves was often used by various crooks. They came to the village and pretended to be guests from an enchanted wedding train, while tearfully asked to find loved ones who had not had time to regain their appearance, offered various magical means. Gullible villagers collected alms from all over the village and gave them to swindlers. And those, in turn, went to beg further.