“The same story was told of a certain Irish Tribe in Ossory, who became wolf-people when attending their Yuletide feast, devouring the flesh of cattle as wolves, and afterward regaining their human shape.” Pg. 1069
Myths, fairy tales, children stories and scary stories seem to be just that. Yet if we pull the colorful ribbon to open these gifts, they share and reveal depth and revelations unimaginable and so “pow” exciting. History, wisdom and ancient festivals move through the words condensed at a time when ‘the Church’ and ‘modern science’ did not own us. A time when customs where not patriarchal. This knowledge revealed is often through the process of initiation or other worldly investigation. Sometimes taking the fire of passion to awaken these stories of truth. All the emotions come to play and in the process we can be enlightened. When we begin to see the truths hidden within them. It can be political or historically colored in the destruction of a world where festivals celebrated by native people are alive again. Where our unconscious holds the needed keys to open the truth. Legends can be upside down or reversed where evil is not evil and where righteousness contains the core of perversion, lies and powerful untruths. We can skip lightly through these myths, fairy tales, children stories and scary stories or we can dive into them.
The evil Werewolf is partly a creation of the Inquisition and the word lycanthropy was used then to describe it, which influences our modern perspective of a werewolf being something evil. This lie was created by the Inquisition when a local villager, dressed in the pelt or skin of a wolf, stole an animal from a rich man’s live stock. Captured and branded as a thief and declared possessed by the devil. He was tortured and declared evil. The term used was lycanthropy. A person who transforms into a wolf.
Dressing in the skin of a wolf was an ancient custom and part of many peasant festivals. It is the celebration of the hunt, nature and the Goddess.
The poor peasant thief is transformed into someone evil only by a period of history when an Inquisition was on a mission to transform and destroy old peasant customs, especially those holding dear the mysteries of nature and the Goddess.
“The She-Wolf was another aspect of the Triple Goddess, as shown by her triadic motherhood.” Pg. 1069
Festivals embrace this continuity from ancient times by way of oral tradition, dance, rites and rituals. Known as the “wolf-clan tradition.” Pg. 1070″
“Grandmother, what big arms you have!”
“All the better to hug you with, my dear.”
“Grandmother, what big legs you have!”
“All the better to run with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big ears you have!”
“All the better to hear with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”
“All the better to see with, my child.”
“Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!”
“All the better to eat you up with.
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.” ~Charles Perrault `
Little Red Riding Hood is a story that contains an ancient tradition.
“The Red woven hood was the distinguishing mark of a prophetess or priestess…was part of a Virgin-Mother-Crone Trinity.” Pg. 1070.
In conclusion this has been a general look, a laywoman’s study, of ribbons pulled; a look at the she-wolf clan and red hoods and poor peasants. Life is a mystery and I find that these stories of antiquity show us a great deal more about the mystery of life then we know. The only thing evil presented here is the Roman Catholic Inquisition.
Notes and quotes taken from Barbara G. Walker, The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets.