Jacques Roulet

This is a very weird werewolf case from the Middle Ages, France. During the 16th century, near Angers by the Loire Valley, a pack of wolves caught the attention of men. The wolves fled as the men approached, and to their horror, found the body of a deceased teenaged boy. The men ran after the wolves, and managed to follow one of them off into the woods, keeping track. They pursued the slower wolf deep into the bushes until they came upon it, but to their astonishment, it was not a wolf anymore but a man. 

The man was half dressed and covered in blood. He was dragged off into the village, and then later he was arrested. This man was named Jcques Roulet and he admitted killing the teenager. The authorities discovered human flesh under his fingernails, which confirmed what he'd said. He was questioned under torture but it took some time before he told them anything, and it was strange and horrific details. He said that he transformed into a wolf, describing that he used a salve to transform. The salve was given to him by his parents. He also wasn't alone! 

His brother Jean and his cousin Julien also turned into wolves so they could all go out hunting at night. They were entertained by chasing down people and killing them. He also said he'd eaten human flesh while in the form of a wolf. He was sentenced to death for cannibalism, murder and for being a werewolf. Later he appealed to the Parliament of Paris, and they revoked his sentence on grounds he was simply mad and sent him away to an asylum. After serving two years in there, he left and simply vanished! Some would say he ran off with the pack.

She Wolf Night     

Basket of dire wolves!

The most fascinating news recently is the birth of dire wolf pups! It's almost symbolic of Easter with new beginnings and hatching of new life from eggs. These dire wolf pups have taken centre stage as popular cute bundles of joy. 

If no one knows what a dire wolf is, then here goes: A dire wolf is a prehistoric animal that lived in North America during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene periods. They belong to the list of "megafauna" list of animals that lived during this time. The dire wolf became extinct 12,000 years ago, along with other megafauna that died off including Woolly Mammoths, Smilodon sabre-toothed cats, Megalodon sharks, Terror Birds, Hell Pigs and much more. Associated with the Ice Age, these enormous beasts died out at a similar time during climate change.

So the dire wolf has been made popular in recent times because of "Game of Thrones" that features several of them, which made people interested in the real world species that comes from the Ice Age. Dire wolves are very different to modern wolves. While modern wolves are from the genus Canis Lupus (and so are domestic dogs), the dire wolf is from Canis Dirus genus. 

Many are afraid this has unlocked a Pandora's Box. Bringing back extinct animals from the Ice Age period when there are many modern animals on the verge of extinction is off. While Daenerys managed to bring back dragons to life from extinction using magic, science bringing back dire wolves from thousands of years into today's world feels wrong. There might be plans to help restore recent species that came close to extinction and even those that have suffered, such as the endangered Red Wolf. This is helpful. I do love these dire wolf puppies, aptly named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. But should they live in the wild? Well the scientists have said "no". I'm a nature lover, and not into Frankenstein science unless this research can help species on the planet.

She Wolf Night

Pink moon

This month the full moon will rise as a micromoon. It's considered a micromoon because it appears to be the smallest moon of the year. This is when the moon is furthest away from the Earth. The full moon for April 2025 is in constellation Virgo near the Spica star or Alpha Virginis. 

The April moon is called a "pink moon" mainly because of the pink blossoms that flower on many trees. It's considered a moon that represents Spring. It's also called Paschal Moon as it symbolises Easter and determines the date for the holiday. This is about when it appears on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, so this year's Easter will be on 20th April. 

Other names for April's full moon are Egg Moon, Budding Moon, Shoots Moon, Seeds Moon, Growing Moon, Awakening Moon, Breaking Ice Moon and Red Grass Moon. These names are mostly traditionally named by various tribes of North America and Europe, except the name Awakening Moon that is a Wiccan name for April's Moon. The Egg Moon was named by Anglo-Saxons if the full moon appeared during the week of Easter. 

Pink Moon of April is regarded as a "safe moon", as it's when there are less darker paranormal energies happening. Some folklore and superstitions suggest its when it's safe from demons, witches and werewolves! It's less likely when werewolves are active because of the gentle influence of the pink Easter micomoon!

She Wolf Night 

Magic turtles

 

There is a turtle ghost in Japan called Suppon no Yurei, which is a Yokai. The name is probably based on food during the Edo period, when people liked turtle soft shells called suppon. They believed in healing abilities from eating it. In one legend, three lads enjoyed eating suppon while going out drinking in taverns, in the Nagoya city. Their hunger for anything turtle was greedy and obsessive. One night they went out and discovered a new restaurant, and were in for a surprise. After they went in for a feast, they noticed that a man working there looked strange with green scales and a face like a turtle. It scared the men so much they ran away and never wanted any suppon again. 

Turtle yokai in Japan have been told about a lot. There are many of them. Some are benign while others can be violent. There is Kamme-onna the turtle woman who warn of disasters but can tell good fortunes. Their other name is Honengame, meaning "good harvest woman". Talismans of Yuki-onna were used for protection. 

There is a favourite concept of the universe being held upright on the shell of a giant cosmic turtle. In pop culture there is the Great A'Tuin, which is a vast turtle star floating through space carrying the earth like planet called Discworld on the backs of four giant elephants. This is from the high fantasy book series about Discworld by author Terry Pratchett. The idea comes from actual ancient beliefs. 

Mythical stories of huge turtles holding the universe appear in many world legends. The Sanskrit idea of a world turtle being an avatar of the god Vishnu. In Hindu, the world turtle is called Kurma, a preserver deity in the trinity. Also in Chinese mythology, Ao is a turtle god who held the sky. In Native American mythology, a huge turtle is carrying an island and travels across sea and sky, where a goddess appeared and gave birth to twin boys. Animals helped recreate the turtle's back with mud, expanding it as a continent while the two boys grew up as rivals, who made domestic animals, crops and seasons, but when they squabbled it was felt as earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions.  

For more on the Creation myth of the Iroquois visit William computer science.

For Elephants and Turtles visit the Jolly Contrarian 

Read more on turtle women at Yokai

She Wolf Night

Spooky quicks April 2025

The last month has been busy for me, and so I didn't update much on She Wolf Night blog as I wanted to. Still I plan to post this ready for the new month. There is a number of things to mention here on Spooky quicks April though. 

There have been numerous sightings of blue spirals in the sky appearing over Europe on 24th March 2025. While the mass media and Met Office have "explained" it off as leftover fuel from a Space X rocket launch. The rocket launched in Florida, at 1.48 pm ET (Eastern Time Zone). This was about 6.48pm BST (British Standard Time). It took until 8pm for the mysterious glowing blue spiral to appear in the sky above Wales.  

There's talk about a hidden underground city beneath the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. While the idea of a lost hidden city is very exciting, it's caused much arguments about it among scientists. Researchers from Scotland and Italy used a radar technology that found these buildings. After making the discovery, it was described as structures hundreds of feet below the ground. However many others have not liked it and this includes archaeologist Zahi Hawass who is described as a type of real life Indiana Jones. 

Monsters now, sightings of the legendary Mokele-mbembe have increased. The Mokele-mbembe is a strange unknown creature that resembles a dinosaur with a long neck. Often seen in the forests of the Congo Basin, while a plant eater, the monster has been blamed for killing people. 

Bigfoot has been accused of photobombing a weather forecast news report! This happened in Fayette County in Pennsylvania. The National Weather Service was there to make a story about storm damage when Bigfoot appeared in the background, observing. A local man was clearing leaves and caught the attention of Bigfoot, which was all captured on camera. Some sceptics believe the Bigfoot entity was really "garden decoration" but that was not in the garden but further away in the woods!

For the story on photobombing Bigfoot visit Fox Weather article Here.

By the way, Wolf likes to drink caramel latte and watch "Emmerdale" on Tv... LOL No not really! Happy April Fool's Day!

She Wolf Night