P. Sufenas Virius Lupus (his spiritual name) is a practicing polytheist and scholar. He is author of A Serpent Path Primer, Ephesia Grammata: Ancient History and Modern Practice, The Phillupic Hymns, The Syncretisms of Antinous, and other devotional books. Under his legal name of Phillip Bernhardt-House, he is author of Werewolves, Magical Hounds, and Dog-Headed Men in Celtic Literature. He is on the social science faculty at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Here he notes that, while the idea of the werewolf may seem spooky, it entails shamanistic practices similar to those found in Native American wolf clans. The Egyptians worshipped the god, Anubis, who had a human form and a canine head. He was a psychopomp, or initiator into the depths of the psyche. In different, ancient traditions ritual practices associated with the wolf and certain other animals were relegated to young men who lived on the margins of their societies. They often served as an early warning system to protect those societies from invaders. Their werewolf cult rituals were a rite of passage as they became reintegrated into their societies.

(Recorded on July 2, 2016)

Published on October 3, 2016