Concluding Remarks – Whilst The Wolf Still Howls, There Is Hope [ IX ]

We have covered a truly remarkable swathe of territory in this piece. Far more than I had initially intended – and with quite some ground yet left for a mostly-written follow-up.

I had originally intended the ninth section to look at the specific phenomena of the Wolf at the foundation of Civilization (rather than its terminus or reduced merely to its peripheral extremities); the sort of processes whereby the wolf becomes relegated not merely to the ‘edges’ of the human sphere, but transmogrified into the seeming dark inversion of what it is to be human and an active contributor to the community; and a rather tantalizing potential co-occurrence between the Hellenic, Hindu (and, yes, Zoroastrian) and even Nordic spheres that might point towards a sort of a ‘Wolf Priest’ typology.

Yet that was going to massively expand the length of this piece, and we have already arguably endeavoured to encompass far too much within the bounds of a single contribution. And so to the sequel, it all goes !

However there is one element that I cannot bring myself to leave unaccounted for within this first volume. And that is the curious case of the so-called ‘Livonian Werewolf’ – Thiess of Kaltenbrun.

This was a man, of the Swedish Baltic sphere, who found himself on trial in 1691 for the crime of being a werewolf. Interestingly, the manner in which he had come to the attention of authorities was due to his role as a witness called to testify in court against another man accused of stealing from a church. That is to say – the ‘Werewolf’ was, here, acting it should seem, to bring the violator of a house of worship to justice. An unexpected point of ‘resonancy’ with some matters of which we have discussed capaciously above herein.

Now, this case of Thiess the wahrwolff is often remarked upon in ‘esoterica’ adjacent circles for another fact: that what Thiess described as to his role and purpose as a werewolf bears precious little resemblance to the downright demonic trope we so frequently encounter in pop-culture today. And, for that matter, the expected behavior (and allegiances!) of werewolves even (or perhaps – especially) back then during the heavily Christian 17th century.

Instead of being some sort of blood-mad beast that rampaged rapaciously through the community, murdering innocents and otherwise undermining if not outright destroying the civilizational sphere of his fellow man … Thies presented as the exact opposite. This was no malevolent nor marginalized figure, either actively, willfully doing the Devil’s bidding or suffering from a terrible curse placed upon him which caused an uncontrollable transmutation. This was a self-declared “Hound of God”. One held in higher esteem by his people precisely because he would dare to go down to Hell upon their behalf to personally do battle ‘gainst those who actually were amongst them and served that most trenchant of terrible evils. He even had the (alleged) scars to prove it – a broken nose from a previous encounter with a Satanist active in a nearby community.

So Thiess’ testimony to the Court went, it was his sacred and solemn duty to embark thrice a year upon what we might term ‘katabatic’ crusades of righteous fury – storming forth across the sea to Hell in order to fight the soul-damned sorcerously enabled agents of the Devil, in order to steal back that which had been so wrongfully taken from him and his (pious) community. Rather than being aligned with those warlocks – he fought directly against them; including, it should seem, through the utilization of certain ‘charms’ such as that he reproduced for the Court of enlisting the aid of both Sun and Moon to venture across the sea and return a stolen Cow to he.

It is, as we say, quite a fascinating account – and there are several pertinent details that we are leaving unmentioned here so as to more fulsomely discuss them in due course later.

But suffice to say, it seems to me that the situation of the ‘Livonian Werewolf’ is, in truth, that of the Indo-European Werewolf – both in terms of the clear concordancy between the conduct reported by Thiess and what we ought expect for such a figure within the realms of the Indo-European mythos … but also in terms of the manner in which he, likely amidst the last of his kind, found himself demonized and quite literally driven out (into exile) by the post-Indo-European culturo-religious institutions which had become dominant.

And so therefore – just as the Wolf has become relegated to the status of an ‘outlaw’ and a ‘criminal’, the ‘Werewolf’ tantamount to one either insane or demonically enabled and aligned … so, too, have our modern perspectives anachronistically ‘reached back’ across the firmament and sought to cast this, all to often, as all there is for the Wolf to be.

Yet even though we may have condemned him and sought to forget about him outright – just as with our Gods, so too does the Indo-European Divine Wolf still remain. Perhaps just out of sight, quietly keeping watch for us from beneath the trees.

And with the right kinds of ears, ones which ‘prick up’ at the mention of that justly ‘Famed Wolf’ – you may still catch a glimpse of His Eyes there, glitterously shining within the darkness and reflecting the Moonlight.

It is time to Call Forth the Wolves again.

Just as we opened with a Prayer to Bhava and Sarva – the Wolf-Forms or Wolf-Sons of Rudra – so, too, shall we close with one.

This is from AtharvaVeda Śaunakīya X 1 – aptly entitled, within the Griffith translation, as “A charm against witchcraft”:

“Bhava and Sarva cast the flash of lightning, the weapon of the Gods, against the sinner who made the evil thing [kṛtyākṛ́te – ‘maker of the spell’], who deals in witchcraft!”

In fact, we shall go for one more. This time, from the concluding lines [again, in Griffith translation] of AtharvaVeda Śaunakīya XI 2 – a Hymnal to Rudra as Bhava and Sarva, aptly enough. And one which, intriguingly, presents a suite of epithets therein that at once seemingly refer to the Wolves – yet may also refer to the RUDRAGANIKA clade that is the Female Retinue of the Indo-European Sky Father. We do rather think it eminently fitting that the hailed Wolf in service to Rudra should find His Female Counterpart, a Rudraganika, towards the conclusion of this piece …

“This lowly reverence have I paid to Rudra’s dogs with mighty mouths,
Hounds terrible with bark and howl, who gorge unmasticated food.
Homage to thy loud-shouting hosts and thy long-haired followers!
Homage to hosts that are adored, homage to armies that enjoy
Homage to all thy troops, O God. Security and bliss be ours!”

ॐ नमः शिवाय