Eldritch: Lineage 019

*Heaves a sigh* Man, what a week, guys. It was really polarized… like, when things were good, they were GOOD, but the opposite was true too.  However, in between fun times and serious annoyances, I did manage to get the comic done! (Also, for those of you waiting on comment replies, I’m trying, I swear!)

And oh hey, look.  All of that crap Seamus was talking about regarding genetics and stuff turned out to be of some importance… who’d have guessed?

But there’s more here than just that.  Faith here has just learned stuff about her family history that she didn’t know, but would have been good to know.  It’s important to talk to your family, to learn where you came from and what your family has done.  Take it from me.  I didn’t, and neither did my folks for the most part.  I no longer have any grandparents… I can’t ask them now.  I’ll never know many of the war stories of my grandfather on one side.  Likewise, on the other side of my family, I’ll never know where the massive burn on my other grandpa’s back came from.  Was it from when he was a hobo? Or a carny?  What were my grandmothers’ favorite recipes?  What were their grandmothers like?  I’ll probably never know.  So… don’t be dumb like me.  Ask while you have the opportunity.

Er… that got kind of heavy, so, um… oh! Yes.  Folklore. So, about Saint Natalis...  Yeah, he was a real guy, and he cursed several folks to lycanthropy (not so sure that last part is real though ;3). This is what resulted in the “Werewolves of Ossory.” In this tale, the werewolves weren’t the ravening beasts you expect to hear about, but were quite pleasant, and able to retain human speech. In the story, one werewolf seeks out the assistance of a holy man in order to have the last rights performed for his dying wife, also a werewolf. The story caused quite a stir, since the story blurred the lines of man and beast, and performing last rights for a beast would have been frowned upon. But of course, such tales of werewolves are to be expected from such a place as Ireland, which was so well known for its wolf population that at one time it was also called Wolf Land.

I could go on, but, well, I have to get ready for festivities!  Thanks for reading, and have a happy and safe Halloween, Samhain, etcetera!

More reading:

Survivals in Belief Among the Celts -- George Henderson
Werewolves: A Field Guide to Shapeshifters, Lycanthropes, and Man-Beasts -- Bob Curran
The werewolf book: the encyclopedia of shape-shifting beings -- Brad Steiger
The Book of Werewolves -- Sabine Baring-Gould
The beast within -- Adam Douglas
Werewolves: The Occult Truth -- Konstantinos