Re-Blog: Manwolf – Dominance Issues

Apologies to my readers for the string of re-blogs, I have been extremely busy with business travel and moving over the last weeks.  I am making my move to Charlotte this week and hope to have some new content up soon.  In the mean time, here is a post from 2013 that I think is appropriate given the upcoming Dogman Symposium.  

I was recently re-reading Linda Godfrey’s wonderful The Michigan Dogmanand one of the things that I noted, over and over through this book, was that many of the witness sightings seemed to be transient, roadside events. As with the Dallas Werewolf testimony, the percipient was driving along a quiet stretch of road when suddenly he or she saw the creature, either running along the side of the road, feasting on road kill or chasing prey across the road. The manwolf is there and then disappears into the dense undergrowth leaving the witness dumbfounded and, often, (I think justifiably) afraid.

As I have noted throughout these blog pages, I am convinced that many of the “monsters” that people report seeing are in actuality denizens of the Otherworld who have, in some way, extended through the etheric and manifested themselves in this world. Many of these manifestations (most famously Sasquatch) manifest in an extremely physical way and it seems to me that the manwolf falls firmly into this “hard” physical manifestation category unlike its cousin the Phantom Black Dog which often seems more spectral.

Its interesting to note that when people have had interaction with the manwolf in situations other than the “drive by” reports, the scenario changes and that the manwolf has very canid behavior patterns. The manwolf that is blundered upon in the woods can be quite aggressive, beginning with a level “I don’t care if you see me” stare and progressing to chasing people and even scratching them. Interestingly, though, there have been no reported bites despite the manwolf’s formidable dentition and almost supernatural speed. Those familiar with wolf social behavior will recognize this chasing behavior immediately.

Despite their fearsome reputation, wolves very seldom fight to the death in dominance or territorial disputes. Instead, the wolf will put on an escalating series of threat displays, running from hackles up, stiff legged circling and staring into the eyes of the opponent to bared fangs and chasing and/or shoulder butting a potential usurper or intruder. The interloper’s submissive or aggressive response to these behaviors determines whether the situation escalates into a fight where blood is drawn and more serious injury may occur.

Most humans, when confronted with a manwolf, have one thought apparently: run. It seems to me that some part of the human lower brain recognizes the difference between hunter and hunted and knows that the manwolf, in this case, is the hunter and that we are very likely to become prey. One might argue that fleeing should invoke a predator’s hunting response but I theorize that the manwolf may see a human in its territory as more of an intruder and less a prey animal. In a situation of dominance or territory, it is often the case that the challenged wolf will chase his or her opponent for a distance, causing them little harm, once the interloper has begun to retreat from the scene. It seems to me that we see precisely this behavior in the manwolf.

I have to wonder though, what might happen if some brazen individual stood his ground or decided to take a shot at a manwolf engaged in these threat displays. I am not an alarmist but I do know that people disappear in the wilderness all the time. Some of those disappeared may be people who were unlucky enough to tangle with a really aggressive manwolf or humans who tried to brazen out an encounter with one of these creatures. In addition, some of the disappeared might be folks who were unlucky enough to encounter a pack of these beings. When pack dynamics come into play the whole dominance issue takes on a completely different cast and an intruder is liable to be in for a bad time unless he or she can manage to exit the area very quickly.

Best advice: if you happen upon one or more of these creatures, keep your distance. This is not a creature you want to practice your martial arts skills on unless you have no other choice. If you are caught unawares, I still maintain that cold iron is your best defense since it will dissipate the physical manifestation but you have to get close enough to use it. Not a high percentage move – in this case, discretion really is the better part of valor.

Re-Blog: Creature Of Mud Creek Road

This is another blog that I wrote back in 2013 about a fascinating case involving a “shape shifter”.  I am on the road travelling for work this week but did not want to let Tuesday pass without an article appearing in the blog. 

As I mentioned in my last blog, I have had the opportunity to listen to some of the paranormal podcasts out there. I was looking, the other day, for an interview with veteran researcher Stan Gordon, a man who has been investigating the unexplained for over 50 years, I found a great interview with him over at Beyond the Edge Radio (you will need to dig through their archives on iTunes or other podcast software to find the show). I wanted to see what Mr. Gordon was up to these days and, during the course of the interview, he mentioned a case that I had heard of before but had not had a chance to review here.

You can find the incident report for this occurrence at Phantoms and Monsters, one of the paranormal sites I have dialed into my RSS reader. This particular set of reports came to him from the aforementioned Stan Gordon and I found the first report in the queue, entitled “The Creature of Mud Creek Road” to be particularly interesting since I have a strong interest in shape shifters.

I am not going to quote the entire report, which comes from November 2011, but I would like to note the following. As you read this, please remember that when the couple in this sighting first saw the creature, they mistook it for a naked man crawling along the side of the road.

As the couple watched in amazement, the creature began to stretch its body. The man said that at this point the animal started to stand up on its back legs while also falling over onto its front feet. The driver said that in this position, the creature seemed to be about 6-7 feet tall. The animal then fell over on all four legs. The witnesses observed that the front claws of the creature was now two feet across the center line of the highway, while the back feet remain one-two feet from the edge of the road . . .

The witnesses indicated that this creature appeared to be changing form. The driver said, “Its shape was nothing like when it was squatted”. The woman stated to me that it “shaped into another form.” She thought it was a dark brown color, and looked like a werewolf with a little back hair. She estimated that when it was leaping into the woods, she thought it stood about 9 feet tall. The woman while reluctant to say it said, “I think it was a man changing into a werewolf”. The man after the experience went onto the internet to try to figure out what he saw, and told me that the closest way he could describe the creature would be a gargoyle with no wings. The man commented, “I will never forget what we saw that night”.

This is an utterly fascinating case of what appears to be someone or something caught in the act of shape shifting and it is well worth taking a look at the link and reading the full report.

I have stated more than once in these pages that I find it highly unlikely that a person could make a physical world transformation from human to animal. The energy outlay for such an event would be such that I doubt that even a werewolf could consume the calories necessary to sustain the Change to wolf and then back to human. A physical transformation would require the complete “re-booting” of an individual’s internal organs, bones and sinew and then a change back through the whole process. I never say that anything is impossible – legend states that the gods were able to change humans from one form to another – but I think it would require the interference of a fully manifested god form to bring on such a physical transformation.

So, what did these terrified people actually see? The answer here lies, I think, in perception. Note that each witness concluded something different when faced with this strangeness. The female thought it looked like a werewolf transformation while the male leaned toward a gargoyle.

Our perception of events, especially events outside our ordinary day to day life, can be skewed by any number of factors. Even in the more mundane instance of witnessing a purse snatching, police officers know that three different witnesses may give three different descriptions of the perpetrator depending on where they were standing, what the light was like, whether the day was overcast or clear and a host of other physical and environmental factors. If we add in the witnesses biases, their perception may be even more colored, literally. If, for example, the witness notes that the perpetrator is wearing clothes associated with a local gang, he may “see” the perpetrator as being of the race associated with that gang, even if the criminal happens to be of another ethnicity altogether.

Given that our perceptions are so easy to skew, let’s add in another factor, the incursion of an Otherworld being into our physical world. Such incursions are accompanied by energy, EMF and other, more subtle forces that are going to tend to cause perceptual issues in humans. The male witness noted that the creature seemed perturbed about being observed. It may be that the creature, whatever it was, was actually exerting an influence on the witness’ minds so that they did not see its true form. Its entirely possible that the couple encountered something benign along the side of the road that adopted protective camouflage when it realized it was being observed. My astral/etheric experiences have shown me that a lot of the nasty looking creatures out there are simply parasites that are either trying to get some emotion going so they can feed or are trying to scare you off so you don’t hurt them.

Somehow, I think that, if the thing really had been a werewolf or some other shape shifting monster, this couple might never have made it home to report this strange event.

Thoughts on Relocation

Well, the only thing in life that is constant is change.  After living in the Atlanta area for some time now, and establishing herself in her industry, my wife has been offered her dream job in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we will be moving at the end of this month.

I will try to get far enough ahead with blog posts not to cause an interruption in my weekly schedule but circumstances with my work may prevent that.  It seems that, after 12 years of service, my day job is being outsourced to India and I am expected to train those who will replace me.  Since I am not the sort of person who leaves cohorts in a lurch, I will be travelling a good bit this month as I prepare for my departure at the end of September.  I apologize in advance if this causes me to miss a post.

While I will be sad to leave some of the colleagues that I have worked with for so long, I am viewing this outsourcing as an opportunity to explore new revenue streams.  As I mentioned when I came back to the blog after being out for a while, I have been taking my writing seriously and the energy I have poured into it is beginning to pay off.  One of my short stories was accepted for publication in the anthology Into the Abyss by Darkerwood Publishing.  I have a second anthology submission in that I should find out about soon and the publisher of that anthology will also be publishing my first novel but there is no release date for that as yet.  I am over 30,000 words into the second book of that fiction series.

I will also be looking at “day job” opportunities in the Charlotte area.  Since we happen to be moving to a financial center, I suspect that my 12 years of banking will help me find something suitable and I will, of course, be working with my spirits to find just the right thing.

In the mean time, though, I am packing the house a little at a time and getting prepared for the aforementioned travel.  I am not one who flies well; it is not a mode of travel that I prefer.  I feel that human beings are not meant to be packed into flying cigar tubes, hurled through the air at ridiculous speeds and then dumped on the ground in a place that they often have no connection to.  Such travel, in my view, disjoints the spirit and puts a person in a position of literally having to catch up with themselves both coming and going.  I find car or train travel much easier, but alas, I do not have that luxury in this instance.

So, I will focus on something more positive instead.  As we have had more time to prepare for this move than for our move to Atlanta (we moved from Columbus, GA, to Atlanta in about three weeks), we have actually been to Charlotte and set aside an apartment.  Our new place actually backs onto a greenway and, as I explored the complex, I found that shaded walkway to be quite active with land spirits.  I think that, once I am in and settled, I shall have an interesting time getting to know the curious ones of this new place and welcoming the spirits that follow me to their new home.

I have been getting indications, from, the ‘friends’ that walk with me, that they would like something more permanent to live in here in my home, so I will be looking into the construction of what some call a spirit pot but I prefer to call simply a spirit vessel.  As you might imagine, such a vessel represents a home for a spirit or spirits who follow you.  For example, one might make a spirit vessel for the guardians who protect the home so that they make the move without any disruption of their protection.

I will also, as I get my feet on the ground in Charlotte, be communing with those who walk with me to secure just the right position – a job that will provide support for my household and still allow me time to develop my writing career.  I am fortunate to have such a long time to my release so that I have time to move and get settled and I also have access to not one but two employment assistance programs, one from my wife’s new company, assisting with spousal relocation, and the other from the company where I am presently working.  I will take full advantage of those services and give them both a magical poke in the rear to put me on the track of the above-mentioned job.

So, it is a time of stress for me.  I have experienced some  of Selye’s top stressors since the beginning of the year: loss of a beloved pet, loss of a job and relocation to a new place.  I am striving to maintain my equanimity by continuing my daily meditation practice, work with my ancestors and other spirits and energy work.

May this year of change settle soon so that I may get a good view of my life and the direction it is going.