Werewolves n vampires?

[Hastrman]

It was a belief in Europe at one time that a witch could shapeshift and become a werebeast, and then die, and return as a vampire.

It’s more complex than that, since sometimes therianthropes are witches, sometimes they’re cursed, sometimes they’re warrior secret societies. It may well be possible to change one’s shape with certain spiritual powers, not even necessarily requiring the assistance of demons or God–humans are spirits too, it’s important to remember.

I can’t be too skeptical about werewolves, really. Meet a few people who’ve been attacked by skinwalkers out on the Navajo rez, and you won’t be, either. Those, by the way, go into the category of “witch” shapeshifters.

As for vampires, I’d have to say they were what Japanese parapsychology (which has been around for three hundred years) would call an onryou or hate-ghost, a spirit kept in this world by hate (the ghosts in the Grudge would be classed as onryou). Some of the most powerful of them can reanimate their own or other dead bodies, or make bodies out of things like dust.

Considering vampires frequently are said to have commited suicide, I’d say they’re kept around by hatred of the world itself, that’s why they’re more malicious and less focused than other onryou.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Actually there may be a rational basis for a belief in werewolves: rabies.

Healthy wolves almost never attack a human unprovoked, but a sick wolf, such as one with rabies may do so. A person bitten by such a wolf who on becoming infected with rabies begins to manifest many of the same symptoms and behaviors of the sick wolf, may be thought to be changing into such a wolf by fearful people who do not understand this disease.

There may be similar bases for beliefs in vampirism.

AFAICS, a vampire is simply a Christ-in-reverse​

• Christ gave us His Blood to drink - vampires drink blood
• He is risen from the dead “very early” - vampired have to be in their crypts, or they perish
• He gives Life by His Cross - vampires die from stake-poisoning
• He gives Life & blessedness - they make undead & accursed
• He is strong to save from evil - they are strong to do harm
• He took life from a virgin - so do they, but differently
  All their activities are paridies of that of Christ. Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel is an erotic figure, because (IMO) this is a perversion of the purifying & holy love of Christ. He even has his own “forerunner” & “disciples”, & seeks to spread his undeath as widely, “catholically”, as possible.

And the biggest difference:

• Jesus Christ is absolutely real - they are phantoms of the imagination.
  They are as unreal as leprechauns, pixies, giants, dragons, incubi, succubi, werewolves, shape-shifters, & the rest - though these ideas usually start from something real enough (see the thread) If they existed, why dopeople no longer see them, but UFOs intead ? Because our superstitions are culturally conditioned. We live in an age of complex technology - so we no longer “see” the elven-folk, changelings, or brownies or vampires our ancestors did: we see aliens with antennae & grey-green skin, instead.

The same is true of mystical experience - not so long ago, nuns had ecstasies - now, they (& everyone else) sees visions of the Blessed Virgin: it’s the fashion. And one day, something else will be the fashion: multiplying food, perhaps. Non-Christians see aliens, Catholics have visions; because they are culturally conditioned to do so. What atheists & Catholics never see, is the god Ganesh drinking milk; Hindus, for whom Ganesh is an important god,did see that. If these things were real in the external world, why do people never see what is outside their own culture ? If a Hindu had a vision of a Buddhist holy man helping a Muslim rescue a Catholic nun from the clutches of a Martian werewolf, that might be worth writing home about

 

[strngrnrth]

I know incubi exist.