In at least one traditional werewolf transformation ritual, the person seeking to become a werewolf chants, “Make me a werewolf. Make me a man eater.” This can have different meanings to different people. I personally prefer the erotic, oral connotation.
The stigma of cannibalism that is often associated with werewolves does not always need to be taken literally. The idea of devouring or being devoured by another can be metaphoric of sexual and erotic ecstasy or the all-encompassing oneness associated with love where two people are believed to merge into one soul. Cannibalism can also represent an obsession or fixation – positive or negative – that devours one’s time, energy, or soul. A positive manifestation would be an artist devoured by his work in creating something positive for the world. A negative manifestation would be an anger or resentment that eats one up inside. It can also take the form of a negative relationship where one person’s personality is devoured by the stronger personality another who is dominant, controlling, and selfish.
In many spiritual traditions, mock cannibalism – the eating of symbolic flesh and the drinking of symbolic blood – is believed to transfer the intrinsic or spiritual qualities of the eaten to the eater. In some cases, the “flesh” being eaten is symbolic of a deity and the mock cannibalism is supposed to transfer the god’s divine qualities to those partaking in the ceremony. One example of this is the Christian communion where participants symbolically eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood. Similar practices are seen in the worship of other gods including the Greek Dionysus and the Egyptian Osiris – among others. In some cases, the cannibalism wasn’t just symbolic. In some ancient cultures, it was commonplace for warriors to eat the hearts or other organs from their slain enemies after battle to gain their enemies’ warrior qualities. Animals are also eaten symbolically to gain their desired traits. For example, wolf meat or a wolf heart may be eaten to gain his cunning.
In some cultures, such as that of the ancient Greeks or among the Melenasians, the positive traits of older men were believed to transfer to younger men through rites of passage involving homosexual anal or oral sexual intercourse. Oral sex, at least, can take on the connotations of “eating” and “being eaten.” In fact, these terms are sometimes used in modern slang to refer to oral sex.
In less enlightened times, and even among some less enlightened people today, it was believed that the homosexual was a threat to children and that LGBTQ+ folks were out to seduce or corrupt children. Compare this to stories of the werewolf who was out to snatch and devour children who wandered away too far from the village, especially at night. Again, the term “devour” can have an added sexual meaning. In the past, both the werewolf and the homosexual have been used to scare children into keeping within accepted boundaries whether physical or social.