The following is a research paper for academic and educational use only. Do not attempt any of the activities mentioned herein. Severe bodily and/or mental harm may be incurred. The procurement of certain articles, plants and herbs as well as the enactment of the pertaining rites may be considered unlawful in certain areas. You may be subject to legal penalties and imprisonment. Check with local authorities before attempting any such rite as outlined below. The writer assumes no responsibility for persons attempting to enact the acts set forth in this article.
I have pieced together the following rite from many different manuscripts and old books. Of all the rites that I found, belief in them working was the paramount key to success. First off, a person wanting to become a werewolf must pick a powerful night to enact the ceremony. Walpurgis Night was often chosen as a night very conducive to shifting into a werewolf. This night is made even more special since Saint Walburga (710-779AD), for whom the day is named, is the patron saint of werewolves. This night fall on May Day Eve. Some other nights to try this rite would be SamHain (Halloween), the night of a lunar eclipse, or even just a full moon. The subject must first construct a belt or girdle made from a strip of wolf hide. This strip has to be at least three fingers width wide. It must have a buckle with seven tangs or seven tongues. In the middle of the back is affixed five iron nail heads into a pattern forming the points of a pentagram. Do not used nails that have be galvanized (treated with zinc). This may adversely affect the power of the girdle. While constructing this belt, the subject must say the following passage:
On the sea, on the ocean, on the island, on Bujan,
On the empty pasture gleams the moon, on an ashstock
lying
In a green wood, in a gloomy vale.
Toward the stock wandereth a shaggy wolf,
Horned cattle seeking for his sharp white fangs;
But the wolf enters not the forest,
But the wolf dives not into the shadowy vale,
Moon, moon, gold-horned moon,
Check the flights of bullets, blunt the hunter's
knives,
Break the shepherd's cudgels,
Cast wild fear upon all cattle,
On men. On all creeping things, That they may not catch the gray wolf, That they may not rend his warm skin! My word is binding, more binding than sleep, more binding than the promise of a hero! (Baring-Gould, p. 117)
Then the following formal declaration was made:
I (insert name here) offer to thee, Great Spirit of the
Unknown, this night (insert date here), my body and
soul, on condition that thou grantest me, from this
night to the hour of my death, the power of
metamorphosing, nocturnally, into a wolf. I beg, I
pray, I implore thee - thee, unparalleled Phantom of
Darkness - to make me a werewolf ... a werewolf!
(Woodward, p. 120)
The hopeful werewolf must then obtain some pure spring water for use in the ceremony. This should be done at night, under the moon. If at all possible, the water should be carried in an iron vessel. While procuring the water, the following incantation must be said.
'Tis night! Itis night! and the moon shines white Over pine and snow-capped hill; The shadows stray through burn and brae And dance in the sparkling rill.
'Tis night! 'tis night! and the Devil's light Casts glimmering beams around. The maras dance, the nisses prance On the flowerenameled ground.
'Tis night! 'tis night! and the werewolf's might Makes man and nature shiver. Yet its fierce gray head and stealthy tread Are naught to thee, oh river! River, river, river.
Oh water strong, that swirls along, I prithee a werewolf make me. Of all the things dear, my soul, I swear, In death shall not forsake thee.
(Woodward, p. 120)