Lycanthropy and the Martial Arts

[Kiasyd]

Awesome post, Wiley, as usual

Continuing the subject: I think that the main goal of Martial Arts is to acquire control of the reptile brain... Perhaps "control" is the wrong word, i think there is a better expression to this, something like "riding with the wolf".

Heh, I love lycanthropy

--Kiasyd

[phantom]

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Peace.

[Sam Wiley]

Yeah, I'm not sure about "control" of it, but definitely learning to tap into its power and utilize it in the best possible way. I think that's where martial arts training helps. We might learn to tap into it otherwise, but not learn what to do with it, and the techniques, methods, and philosophies of the martial arts give us a guideline as to how to use it. Also, I think the martial arts, being what they are, help us to keep this part of ourselves instead of losing it. I don't think that we could ever actually "lose" the reptile brain, just the ways to access and utilize it. I understand that some schools of meditation teach how to acces it, but do not present any methods of utilization.

I read a really good book a few years ago called The Wolf's Hour , by Robert R McCammon, about an underground agent in World War II who was a werewolf. Once he left his pack, he had to reintegrate himself into society and find ways of integrating what he was into his daily life. He served as a British agent (if I remember), and changed into a wolf to fulfill his missions while keeping his identity a secret. That part of him was always just under the surface, never forgotten.

I think it's important to keep our primitive parts of our conciousness close to us. Not only are they important for our survival, like the backups for a hard drive, or an early warning and self-defense mechanism, but they are also the doorways to important lessons for life and our key to unlocking our potential.

[apoweyn]

sam,

funnily enough, i just finished reading that book.


stuart b.

[Kiasyd]

Heh, I know this book but never actually had the opportunity to read it. Maybe this is a good time to do this!

-- Kiasyd

[Sam Wiley]

That's one of my favorite werewolf books, at least as far as fiction goes. Another one, not quite as good, but interesting nonetheless, is WerewolveSS , about a modern day SS consipracy. I believe it's by Jerry and Sharon Ahern, though I could be mistaken. I can't find my copy of it.

You may be able to find at your public library, a book called The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer . I don't know how many translations there are, but the one I have is translated by Professor Jesse L. Byock. There's a section in it detailing how a couple of the characters became werewolves. The account is closer to actual historical records of werewolves, involving wolf skins and magic. This is one of my favorite books of all times. I highly recommend this one. (Why do I feel like LeVar Burton is going to introduce the next post now?)

For those really interested in historical accounts of werewolves, there are several good books available that discuss a man named Peter Stumpf. There is one, the title and author of which I can't for the life of me remember, almost totally dedicated to him, and even reprints old woodcuts detailing his crimes, how he became a werewolf, how he was captured, tried, and tortured to death. I haven't seen a copy in about 15 years or so, but it is a good book. Stumpf is one of the only actual historically documented cases. If you do a subject search in your library's card catalog (or whatever the modern equivalent is), you should be able to find information about him.

[Kiasyd]

Yes, I read WerewolveSS, a long time ago. Great book!

I stumbled on a review of this norse saga, but I haven´t found it yet, it looked ver interesting... And also, if I´m not mistaken, Joseph Campbell has some nice ( not very deep, though ) works on werewolf folklore.

-- Kiasyd