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The Wendigo
The Wendigo
What is this nasty cannibalistic spirit? Where do they come from and how to they come about? Here I take a look at this weird spirit that you wouldn't want to cross on a dark night. In fact you wouldn't want to cross them on any night...
The Wendigo, one of cryptozoology's lesser-known entities. However, unlike recently reported cryptids; such as El Chupacabra and the Mothman, Wendigos have quite a long history, with roots held with the tribes of the Native Americans (especially the Algonquian tribes). Luckily for us here in the UK, most of the lore surrounding this wicked entity is based in the Northern US and in Canada. Although I guess we do have our own cryptids to deal with here!
So what is a Wendigo? Originating from a human being, a Wendigo is a humanoid beast that usually lives solitarily in the forest. The one common theme with this beast is that it is cannibalistic – it feasts heartily on human flesh. "But cannibalism is eating your own kind, isn't it? How is this monster preying on us cannibalism?" I hear you cry. Ah, this is where the strange origins of this creature kick in. The Wendigo was never born as one – it was once a human. It was believed that if someone ate human flesh, they would transform into this horrid creature and be cast away to live the rest of its sorry life in solitude, if not executed.
This only covers half of the stories of how the Wendigo originates. The other popular belief is that the Wendigo is actually an evil spirit that can possess a human – causing them to crave the flesh of their fellow man. Once they consume the flesh, they will then become the thing that possessed them. There is also the theory that if bitten by one of these beasts, you become one yourself – although I for one believe that may be bordering along the line of zombies, werewolves and vampires!
The characteristics of the Wendigo do vary from which source you seek, but the most common features mentioned is that it is humanoid, tall, gaunt (to the extent that you can see the bones pushing tightly against its decimated skin) with ashen grey skin. The eyes are sullen and appear to be pushed deep inside its skull. The face is skeletal and bloodied by the amount of flesh it has consumed. However despite its skinny appearance, it is always hungry and will never satisfy its appetite. The other characteristic is that it stinks – something that eats a lot of flesh and with poor hygiene isn't going to be the most fragrant of entities!
So what could be the real reasons behind the Wendigo? I shall now go through what logical and natural reasons there could be to explain its existence, before delving into the other possible explanations.
Just a legend. The origins are held with Native American tribes – especially those in some of the colder and more remote parts of the US and Canada. I would imagine that before the invention of a gas heated homes and the convenience store, times would get tough for those tribes and food stocks would get low. Obviously, basic human instinct is to find food and feed. If the only food is the meat that is on a fellow person, I'm sure eventually people would give into the temptation to kill and eat them. Perhaps this myth of becoming a lonely, hideous creature that will always remain hungry was made up by tribal leaders to scare the tribesmen into not each other.
Other creature. Quite possibly it could be another animal. I am not overly familiar with the wildlife of the area with the sightings, but I guess wolves or other dangerous animals in the area could be to blame for any creature-related missing persons incidents. Likewise, although I have listed this as a non-supernatural occurrence, perhaps Bigfoot or an alien big cat could be to blame.
Mental Illness. There is a type of mental illness called Wendigo Psychosis. This illness is where the patient suffers from an insatiable desire to consume human flesh, even though other food sources are available. This illness is usually the result of famine-based trauma in where the famine has resorted in cannibalism. Of course, as described earlier this kind of thing was highly likely within the Native American tribes and perhaps this fuelled the legend.
Other natural reason. I'm fresh out of logical ideas here (other than the ones explained above). But just because I can't think of another logical reason, doesn't mean that there isn't one. If you have any ideas, please feel free to get in touch!
Of course, as this is a paranormal article, you don't just want to hear about the logical explanations. I semi-believe that this is one of a few creatures that actually exist (whether or not it is a man that has turned evil by eating people!).
Exactly as described. Following my main points from the article, perhaps the Wendigo is exactly how I have described it – a strange creature that has evolved from a man that has eaten human flesh. As with most entries within cryptozoology, this is rarely the case – but who knows without people researching into them?
Alien. Despite the lore and the fact I refer to aliens on most cryptozoological entities, it could well be an alien. For most of us, little is known about extraterrestrials – their form, their motives and more importantly, their existence. The fact of a man-eating humanoid in the woods could invoke fear and early Native Americans could have mixed this creature in with the lore of stopping people from eating each other.
Something else. I feel like I am cheating you a bit here. This is almost the same as for the logical explanations, just with a supernatural creature in place of the normal one. Maybe it could just be a werewolf, if they exist...
Whatever the Wendigo is, the story behind it is dark, interesting and quite morbid. It isn't too hard to believe that it has become something that has made its way into the limelight and featured in a few TV series. Charmed, Blood Ties and a great episode of Supernatural all feature the creature. And this is the part where I leave you to make your mind up... but until then, I wouldn't go eating your friends...
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