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Werewolf Night
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms
And the autumn moon is bright.”
~ The Wolf Man (1941)
Howl! October’s Full Moon, traditionally known as the Hunter’s Moon, reaches peak illumination on Monday, October 26, 2026. Around moonrise, it may appear especially large and orange as it hangs low on the horizon. To the naked eye, the Moon will look full for several nights, roughly October 25–27.
If you—or someone you know—has lycanthropic tendencies, this would be a good time to take the necessary precautions! This tartan, with colors contrasting the dark fur of the wolf and its piercing yellow eyes, was inspired by the designer’s real-life encounter with a Grey Wolf.
Grey wolves range across Alaska and western Canada and into parts of the northwestern United States. Their relationship with humans has always been complicated. Pastoral communities often feared and hunted wolves because of attacks on livestock, while other cultures admired their intelligence, endurance, hunting ability, and powerful social bonds. With their haunting howls and ability to seemingly materialize from the wilderness, wolves naturally found their way into centuries of myth and folklore.
Among the most enduring legends is that of the werewolf—a human cursed or otherwise compelled to transform into a wolf, popularly associated with the light of the full moon. Supposed remedies for lycanthropy varied considerably, from exorcism and physical exhaustion to the use of wolfsbane, a highly toxic plant.
Fortunately, some cures were considerably easier. In Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, folklore held that calling a werewolf by its Christian name three times could break the enchantment, while one Danish tradition claimed that simply scolding the werewolf might restore its human form.
Bad werewolf! Bad!
Howwwwwwwl! 🖤 💛 🖤 🐺 🐺 🐺 🌑 🌙 🌓 🌖 🌕
A werewolf is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or a wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (e.g. by a bite or scratch from another werewolf).
The magical ability to assume the form and characteristics of a wolf is known as lycanthropism, or lycanthropy.
A common belief throughout all folklore and myth is that all werewolves are forced to shift during the cycle of the full moon, to some this is a gift, others a curse.
There was no widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe before the 14th century, though the belief in the ability to transform into a wolf goes back much further.
Werewolves were said to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included the meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, to see if fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition maintains that werewolves in human form can be recognised by bristles under the tongue!
Traditionally, there were three medieval preferred methods to cure a victim of lycanthropism: medicinally (usually via the use of the herb wolfsbane), surgically, or by exorcism. Unsurprisingly, many of these cures proved fatal to the patients. However, In the German lowlands of Schleswig-Holstein, a werewolf could be cured if one simply addressed it three times by its Christian name, while a Danish belief held that simply scolding a werewolf would cure it!
Along with a vulnerability to the silver objects (usually a silver bullet), the association of the full moon as a cause of transformation from human to werewolf became part of the canon of werewolf lore only fairly recently in the twentieth century, mostly reinforced by 20th century movies.
The Dark Grey Wolf tartan, by designer Carol A.L. Martin, was created after an encounter with a wolf somewhere between Calgary and Banff, Canada.
For more on the very extensive werewolf lore, click the yellow eyes!