Read Online The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves by Brown Robert - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brown Robert
Tags: General
Ads: Link
missing belt, provided by the presiding German authorities? Well … they decided that the devil must have taken it back.
The Seventh Sons (Argentina)
In the countries of Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil, there was once a firmly held belief that if one’s seventh child turned out to be male (especially if preceded by six female offspring), he would be cursed with lycanthropy and referred to as El Lobizon (spelled lobis-homen in Portuguese). In Argentina, this belief was so ingrained in the culture that these “seventh sons” were almost always abandoned (or, at best, given up for adoption or sold) by their parents soon after they were born.
Beastly Words
The term Lobizon is actually a Spanish transliteration of the Portuguese term lobis-homen, from which it originated. The word is a combination of the terms lobos, meaning “wolves,” and homen, which is most commonly translated as “men/males” but can also be read as meaning “son.” So the term could be considered to mean something like “sons of the wolves.”
Just giving birth to a Lobizon often caused a family to be stigmatized by the village community (causing social expulsion and financial hardships). In such cases, these newborn babies would be immediately abandoned, “discarded” into a river (meaning murdered by drowning), thrown off of a cliff, or suffocated before the truth of the child’s sex could be discovered by anyone outside the family. This grew into such a widespread practice that Argentinean orphanages were often overcrowded, and acts of infanticide were becoming frighteningly commonplace.
The Savage Truth
Seventh sons were not as uncommon as one might initially expect. At this time in Argentina, especially in rural or agricultural communities, it was often beneficial for couples to have as many children as they could. More children meant more hands to help with the large amount of work farming required. More work meant more income, and this often meant a better standard of living for the entire family.
In 1920, Dr. Juan Hipolito Yrigoyen, the president of Argentina, came up with a most ingenious plan to bring an end to the superstitious stigma of evil that had long been associated with his country’s outcast seventh sons. He officially declared that he would now be the legal god-father of any seventh son born in Argentina. In addition, Yrigoyen also decreed that a gold medal would be awarded to parents at the baptisms of all seventh sons in Argentina.
Furthering his generosity, Yrigoyen also put into law that all seventh sons would receive full educational scholarships until they reached 21 years of age. As one might imagine, the occurrences of abandonments and infanticides soon decreased dramatically. As a result of President Yrigoyen’s brilliant plan, the birth of a seventh son now came to be seen by parents as a blessing instead of a curse. Having a seventh son now provided unprecedented opportunities to many rural and lower-class families, giving them a chance to have well-educated children, which in turn enabled them to improve the conditions of their families’ lives.
The Burning of Gilles Garnier
Something terrible was happening to the children of Dole, France, in the summer of 1573. The children of the area were vanishing one by one and with astonishing frequency, never to be seen alive again. Sadly, many of these missing little ones would later be found in the woods … dead. Their bodies were often mutilated beyond recognition, and large sections of their flesh appeared to have been torn from their limbs as if by some powerful animal. It didn’t take long for the people of Dole to realize that their children were not just being murdered by this bloodthirsty creature. They were also being eaten by it. With every passing week, the terrible situation only grew more and more desperate.
As the seasons changed, the situation did not. In early November, a boy inexplicably disappeared from the area. Shortly
The Seventh Sons (Argentina)
In the countries of Argentina, Portugal, and Brazil, there was once a firmly held belief that if one’s seventh child turned out to be male (especially if preceded by six female offspring), he would be cursed with lycanthropy and referred to as El Lobizon (spelled lobis-homen in Portuguese). In Argentina, this belief was so ingrained in the culture that these “seventh sons” were almost always abandoned (or, at best, given up for adoption or sold) by their parents soon after they were born.
Beastly Words
The term Lobizon is actually a Spanish transliteration of the Portuguese term lobis-homen, from which it originated. The word is a combination of the terms lobos, meaning “wolves,” and homen, which is most commonly translated as “men/males” but can also be read as meaning “son.” So the term could be considered to mean something like “sons of the wolves.”
Just giving birth to a Lobizon often caused a family to be stigmatized by the village community (causing social expulsion and financial hardships). In such cases, these newborn babies would be immediately abandoned, “discarded” into a river (meaning murdered by drowning), thrown off of a cliff, or suffocated before the truth of the child’s sex could be discovered by anyone outside the family. This grew into such a widespread practice that Argentinean orphanages were often overcrowded, and acts of infanticide were becoming frighteningly commonplace.
The Savage Truth
Seventh sons were not as uncommon as one might initially expect. At this time in Argentina, especially in rural or agricultural communities, it was often beneficial for couples to have as many children as they could. More children meant more hands to help with the large amount of work farming required. More work meant more income, and this often meant a better standard of living for the entire family.
In 1920, Dr. Juan Hipolito Yrigoyen, the president of Argentina, came up with a most ingenious plan to bring an end to the superstitious stigma of evil that had long been associated with his country’s outcast seventh sons. He officially declared that he would now be the legal god-father of any seventh son born in Argentina. In addition, Yrigoyen also decreed that a gold medal would be awarded to parents at the baptisms of all seventh sons in Argentina.
Furthering his generosity, Yrigoyen also put into law that all seventh sons would receive full educational scholarships until they reached 21 years of age. As one might imagine, the occurrences of abandonments and infanticides soon decreased dramatically. As a result of President Yrigoyen’s brilliant plan, the birth of a seventh son now came to be seen by parents as a blessing instead of a curse. Having a seventh son now provided unprecedented opportunities to many rural and lower-class families, giving them a chance to have well-educated children, which in turn enabled them to improve the conditions of their families’ lives.
The Burning of Gilles Garnier
Something terrible was happening to the children of Dole, France, in the summer of 1573. The children of the area were vanishing one by one and with astonishing frequency, never to be seen alive again. Sadly, many of these missing little ones would later be found in the woods … dead. Their bodies were often mutilated beyond recognition, and large sections of their flesh appeared to have been torn from their limbs as if by some powerful animal. It didn’t take long for the people of Dole to realize that their children were not just being murdered by this bloodthirsty creature. They were also being eaten by it. With every passing week, the terrible situation only grew more and more desperate.
As the seasons changed, the situation did not. In early November, a boy inexplicably disappeared from the area. Shortly
Similar Books
