Post anything you've found out about historical sightings of blah blah blah. Can be examples of specific sightings, information about how they were dealt with, what caused them, etc. Whatever you know.
So, today I learned what might have been the major cause of sightings of these beings in long ago times. Ergot Poisoining. Ergot, a bacteria that can grow on wheat in damp, wet climates, causes hallucinations and extreme paranoia, when consumed over a long period of time (i.e. the several months following a harvest). In effect, it could potentially drive an entire village to become extremely paranoid of other members of their village being evil creatures. Researchers located the climates most likely to foster growth of Ergot in olden days, and discovered that these areas had a subsantially higher number of sightings than did other areas.
Historical Sightings of Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, etc.
Ever wondered why werewolves are sometimes considered to fear water?
Probably not -- I've only seen it in a few different stories. It used to be a common enough belief, though (or so I've heard).
There are a couple different possible reasons:
Something that may have contributed to the development of the werewolf myth is rabies. Rabies victims would undergo fits of restlessness and violent behavior. Later, they would develop a persistent dry cough, which could be taken as the bark of the dog that bit them. This was accompanied by the inability to swallow. It was this last point that likely helped establish the idea that werewolves fear water.
Another possibility is the (very common at the time) belief that water (and running water in particular) had the ability to break spells. Thus, it seems natural that that belief would be applied to supernatural creatures such as werewolves and vampires.
Anyway, I'm not 100% sure about these claims, but I seem to remember reading this somewhere.
Whatever the case, one of the first werewolf books I ever read had werewolves that could not cross water, so it holds a special place in my heart (even if I wouldn't make my werewolves that way).
-- Vilkacis
Probably not -- I've only seen it in a few different stories. It used to be a common enough belief, though (or so I've heard).
There are a couple different possible reasons:
Something that may have contributed to the development of the werewolf myth is rabies. Rabies victims would undergo fits of restlessness and violent behavior. Later, they would develop a persistent dry cough, which could be taken as the bark of the dog that bit them. This was accompanied by the inability to swallow. It was this last point that likely helped establish the idea that werewolves fear water.
Another possibility is the (very common at the time) belief that water (and running water in particular) had the ability to break spells. Thus, it seems natural that that belief would be applied to supernatural creatures such as werewolves and vampires.
Anyway, I'm not 100% sure about these claims, but I seem to remember reading this somewhere.
Whatever the case, one of the first werewolf books I ever read had werewolves that could not cross water, so it holds a special place in my heart (even if I wouldn't make my werewolves that way).
-- Vilkacis
