Why are werewolves vulnerable to silver?
Silver is traditionally known as one of the materials to which werewolves are vulnerable. The question that is often asked though is – why silver? Why not some other precious metal? What is so special about silver that it effects werewolves?
What is very interesting is that silver actually has a strong association with the moon!
The clearest place to see this is if you take a look at alchemy. In alchemy, you’ll see a correlation between the two…alchemical symbols which date back to the 1700s associate metals with planets – gold is associated with the sun, copper with venus, mars with iron, and SILVER with LUNA (the moon)….so, the alchemical symbol for silver is a symbol of the crescent moon! What’s incredibly interesting about this is that werewolves are strongly influenced by the moon…many feel strongest during full moons, transform during full moons, and feel the pull of the moon…the moon is essentially an intricate part of many (though not all) werewolves’ lives. It is very interesting therefore that of all metals a werewolf could be known to be vulnerable to, it would be a “moon metal”.
Werewolf967 has pointed out previously that not necessarily all werewolves are vulnerable to silver – and this makes sense…it could be that perhaps those werewolves that are less influenced by the moon are also less prone to the effects of silver!