Therianthropy

Therianthropy is the mythological ability of human beings to metamorphose into other animals by means of shapeshifting. It is possible that cave drawings found at Les Trois Frères, in France, depict ancient beliefs in the concept. The most well known form of therianthropy is found in stories concerning werewolves.

The term "therianthropy" comes from the Greek theríon [θηρίον], meaning "wild animal" or "beast" (implicitly mammalian); and anthrōpos [ἄνθρωπος], meaning "human being." It was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Europe as early as 1901. Sometimes the term "zoanthropy" is used instead. Therianthropy was used to describe spiritual beliefs in animal transformation in a 1915 Japanese publication, "A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era." One source, "The Human Predator," raises the possibility the term may have been used as early as the 16th century in criminal trials of suspected werewolves.

Therianthropy refers to the fantastical, or mythological, ability of some humans to change into animals. Therianthropes are said to change forms via shapeshifting. Therianthropy has long existed in mythology, and seems to be depicted in ancient cave drawings such as The Sorcerer, a pictograph executed at the neolithic cave drawings found in the Pyrénées at the Les Trois Frères, France, archeological site.

'Theriocephaly' (Gr. "animal headedness") refers to beings which have an animal head attached to an anthropomorphic, or human, body. For example, the animal-headed forms of gods depicted in ancient Egyptian religion (such as Ra, Sobek, Anubis).

Shapeshifting in folklore, mythology and anthropology generally refers to the alteration of physical appearance from that of a human to that of another species. Lycanthropy, the transformation of a human into a wolf (or werewolf), is probably the best known form of therianthropy, followed by cynanthropy (transformation into a dog) and ailuranthropy (transformation into a cat).Werehyenas are present in the stories of several African and Eurasian cultures. Ancient Turkic legends from Asia talk of form-changing shamans known as kurtadams, which translates to "wolfman". Ancient Greeks wrote of kynanthropy, from κύων kyōn (or "dog"), which applied to mythological beings able to alternate between dog form and human form, or who possessed combined dog and human anatomical features.

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