{"product_id":"2940015708752","title":"HUMAN ANIMALS","description":"PREFACE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the abundant records and traditions dealing with the curious\u003cbr\u003ebelief that certain men and women can transform themselves into\u003cbr\u003eanimals I have collected a number of instances and examples which\u003cbr\u003ethrow fresh light on the subject both from the point of view of\u003cbr\u003efolk-lore and occultism. The causes of transformation are various:\u003cbr\u003econtact with a wer-animal, touching what he has touched, wearing an\u003cbr\u003eanimal skin, rubbing the body with ointment, slipping on a girdle,\u003cbr\u003ebuckling on a strap, and many other expedients, magical and otherwise,\u003cbr\u003emay bring about the metamorphosis. Removing the skin, burning it, or\u003cbr\u003epiercing it with the stab of a knife, or the shot from a gun, so that\u003cbr\u003eblood is drawn, are among the best-known methods for causing the human\u003cbr\u003eshape to be resumed, but the stab should be on the brow or between the\u003cbr\u003eeyes, and the bullet should be made of silver and is all the better\u003cbr\u003efor having been blessed in a chapel of St. Hubert, otherwise the\u003cbr\u003eattempt to break the enchantment may fail. The penalty for being a\u003cbr\u003ewer-animal is death, but sentence is not passed until after some\u003cbr\u003eordeal has been gone through, such as dipping the finger into boiling\u003cbr\u003eresin, innocence being established if the finger be drawn out unhurt.\u003cbr\u003eAny wound inflicted on the transformed animal is simultaneously\u003cbr\u003einflicted on the human body, and in many other characteristics the\u003cbr\u003enature of the wer-animal is similar to that of the witch or wizard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \"Balder the Beautiful\" Dr. J. G. Frazer, after telling many typical\u003cbr\u003estories, endeavours to establish a parallelism between witches and\u003cbr\u003ewer-animals, the analogy appearing to confirm the view that the reason\u003cbr\u003efor burning a bewitched animal alive is a belief that the human being\u003cbr\u003eis in the animal, and that by burning you compel him to assume another\u003cbr\u003eshape. Since the sum of energy in the universe is held to be constant\u003cbr\u003eand invariable, the chain of transformation is thus continued, and\u003cbr\u003eform follows form, endlessly linked together. By some such theory the\u003cbr\u003ephenomena of life and death may be explained and the doctrine of\u003cbr\u003eimmortality, usually applied only to the soul of man, can be\u003cbr\u003ereasonably extended to animals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe belief that human and animal souls possess power and entity when\u003cbr\u003eexternalised and apart from the living body is less widely held than\u003cbr\u003ethat of persistence after death. It is one that bears strongly on the\u003cbr\u003esubject of animal transformation, as well as on the affinity which\u003cbr\u003ecertain animals possess for some families, an affinity that is akin to\u003cbr\u003etotemism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese preliminary suggestions will enable readers to grasp the scope\u003cbr\u003eof my book, which is intended to provide a comprehensive view of the\u003cbr\u003esubject and to familiarise them with the nature of the phenomena, even\u003cbr\u003ethough it has been well-nigh impossible to classify and tabulate them\u003cbr\u003efully, or to explain them satisfactorily.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI wish to express my thanks to Miss J. A. Middleton, author of \"The\u003cbr\u003eGrey Ghost Book,\" for her kindness in reading my work in MS., and to\u003cbr\u003eher and others for suggesting interesting material.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                       FRANK HAMEL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  _London_, 1915\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                  TO\u003cbr\u003e                               C. A. W.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                               CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  CHAPTER                                                      PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e           PREFACE                                              vii\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      I.   INTRODUCTORY                                           1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     II.   TRANSFORMATION                                         5\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    III.   THE BUSH-SOUL                                         15\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     IV.   HUMAN SOULS IN ANIMAL BODIES                          23\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      V.   ANIMAL DANCES                                         28\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     VI.   MAN-ANIMAL AND ANIMAL-MAN                             39\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    VII.   SCAPEGOAT AND SAINT                                   45\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   VIII.   THE WER-WOLF TRIALS                                   54\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     IX.   THE WER-WOLF IN MYTH AND LEGEND                       65\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      X.   LION- AND TIGER-MEN                                   78\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XI.   WER-FOX AND WER-VIXEN                                 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XII.   WITCHES                                              103\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XIII.   FAMILIARS                                            120\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XIV.   TRANSFORMATION IN FOLK-LORE AND FAIRY-TALE           131\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XV.   TRANSFORMATION IN FOLK-LORE AND FAIRY-TALE\u003cbr\u003e              (_continued_)                                     143\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XVI.   FABULOUS ANIMALS AND MONSTERS                        159\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   XVII.   HUMAN SERPENTS","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147780178160,"sku":"2940015708752","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015708752","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}