Paranormal expert and investigator Rosemary Ellen Guiley delved into werewolves and Dogmen, covering the history, folklore, and cases from ancient times to the present, and how the real creatures may differ from their fictional counterparts in films and novels. In ancient times, she explained, the lore of the werewolf didn't necessarily mean the afflicted person turned into a bloodthirsty killer-- they may have transformed into a wolf due to magic, a curse, or to atone for a sin, and it could just be a temporary situation until they were redeemed.

A particular myth of the Greeks involved a King Lycaon, who tested Zeus by serving him human flesh, and Zeus was said to turn him into a wolf, along with his offspring. In the 1760s in France, there was an unusual creature called the Beast of Gévaudan, a kind of huge supernatural wolf that rampaged the countryside, killing many people, Guiley detailed. According to reports, a man eventually slayed the beast using a silver bullet, and this became adapted into werewolf and vampire lore.

Dogmen seem to be creatures that embody characteristics of both dogs or wolves, and humans, she continued. Cannibalistic dog-headed men were said to live in India, and Marco Polo even wrote about them. "I do believe [such creatures] have a basis in reality," Guiley remarked, and "Dogmen especially probably belong to other dimensions, along with other kinds of cryptids" existing partially in our world, and partially in a different realm-- this explains their ability to seemingly vanish out of thin air, and exhibit super normal speed and strength. She also noted that such creatures may be created out of human thought forms, as well as magical practices that allow someone to inhabit a temporary astral form.

Magical Practices

First hour guest, Stephen E. Flowers, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Germanic languages and medieval studies from the University of Texas at Austin and studied the history of occultism at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He discussed his recent work on the magical practices of the Persian Maji, who came to visit the baby Jesus. Followers of the Prophet Zaruthustra, these priests were sought after for their secret wisdom and knowledge of the stars (it's currently believed that the star of Bethlehem may have been the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, or Saturn and Jupiter, Flowers noted). He shared some of the beliefs of the Mazdan magical system, founded by Zaruthustra, as well spoke about more modern practices of magic, such as by Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan.

News segment guests: John Curtis, Steve Kates

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