Our history in the west seems to be inundated with visitations from the supernatural. Whether it be mistaken identity over matters of superstition or the absence of scientific analysis, some corroborating evidence seems to accompany reports and sightings. At the end of the “Dark Ages” just about the time of the “Renaissance” there was a recorded outbreak of Vampirism in, what we now call, the Eastern Bloc region of Europe. It was here that wide spread infections of rabies had occurred. Although Vampires were supposedly reclusive masters over their castle mansions who discretely preyed upon local townspeople for fresh blood, the outbreak of rabies was due to exposure to bites from rodents that were rabid, infecting many common people.

Real Vampires?

The symptoms of rabies, inflamed eyes, hydrophobia, hostile behavior, and seeming demonic actions was due to the effects of rabies virus entering the brain of the victims rendering them insane until they died of the illness. Of course, many were probably tortured as warlocks or witches rather than being treated for an ailment. Such is the response of human nature when ignorance is involved. This all happened during the reign of “Vlad the Impaler”, ruler of Romania, also known as Dracula.

American Vampires?

An outbreak of Vampirism was suspected among the first settlers who landed ashore at Plymouth Rock when archaeologists uncovered graves where the corpses have been beheaded after death and a stake had been driven through the chest. Pilgrims reported that whenever a family member died it was suspected that they came back from the dead to haunt the dreams of the surviving family with the intention of taking members to the grave with the already deceased. A family left a recorded passage of diary that read like a horror movie story where a daughter who had passed away at the age of a teenager kept coming back to haunt her family through dreams and was subsequently unearthed and her body dismembered to prevent her from further nocturnal visitations. An apparent rash of these incidents occurred throughout a village.

True modern day monsters?

Yet, these are not examples limited to the ancient past full of folklore and mysticism. Today we have even better evidence of unholy creatures walking the face of the earth at the darkened hours before dawn in forest hiking trails and even randomly in the wilderness. Trail cam footage has caught several what are called “Dog Men” prowling about in areas where hunters will set motion activated cameras to check for game. Instead of deer, cougars, or coyotes, they find bi-pedal creatures looking like werewolves stalking the darkness. The American Indians are familiar with these beings calling them “Shape Shifters” human spirits that can take on the form of animals like wolves, cats, or other bizarre manifestations they call “Skin Walkers”. Are these demonic manifestations, in some cases, most assuredly, but in other cases, the visual evidence speaks for itself.

A psychiatric condition

There is an actual medical condition called “Lycanthropy” that modern science categorizes as a mental disorder where the patient through an imbalance in brain chemistry or other emotional reasons believes they are a wolf. They make animal howls, are extremely hostile, and do not want to be in the presence of other people. This condition is treated with the typical tools of psychiatry. Why this occurs is still unknown. The human brain is extremely complex and a number of different stimuli or tissue damage can affect behavior such as tumors, head trauma, or even extreme duress due to child abuse. The condition remains unsolved.

A rare but real condition

Yet, through medical science we have another form of human physical transformation due to the effects of an animal virus creating a bizarre and horrific condition known as Lycanthropic Parvo Virus. Although Parvo Virus is usually fatal to dogs and wolves, it is well tolerated and fought off by the human immune system but still there are individuals who are vulnerable. For them, it’s not some super natural werewolf transformation that occurs during the full moon cycle as we have seen in horror movies. The condition is characterized by a long and gradual change in biology and the psyche of the victim.

True werewolfism?

Over the course of months perhaps even longer the individual changes socially, emotionally, and physically into a literal wolf man who becomes aggressive toward people and remains disconnected from society. This we know from the discovery of corpses out in the woods that display these characteristic transformations of part Canis Lupus (Wolves) and human biology. The bodies literally appear like some creature from a horror flick. As I stated earlier, the condition is not borne of a spontaneous transformation as the mitochondrial infiltration of the body’s cells goes on until the completed cellular level invasion. The victim or patient, displays hair covering the entire body, claws, facial features altered, even the bone structure is transformed. This appears to be a genetic type of viral ailment. We already know of diseases that can cause the human body to take on drastic deformation such as leprosy.

Conclusion

There seems to be a fine line between myth, folklore, and scientific reality, and sometimes all elements can converge to form disturbing contradictions to what our normal perceptions would tell us. We must also be aware of the fact that our reality is not just one of dimensions that can be geometrically measured but that we exist in a spiritual realm of good and evil, and under the present condition of the world, never could there be so much tension and suffering along with the potential for enlightenment and progress for mankind.