This was posted to the net.lycanthropy newsgroup in December, 1998. It was popular enough that I've put it up here.

• 1) Tell people you have some great mission. This works better if you claim to be some figure out of mythology or folklore, something that draws from the darker tales of wolves. (Norse stuff works really well.) Hint at some great future battle or conquest.
• 2) Claim you *already* have a huge pack or an army of werewolves -- of which you, of course, are the alpha -- and kindly invite potential followers to join.
• 3) Play on people's love of imagery. Drop hints, speak in vague terms and allusions, and refuse to answer questions directly.
• 4) Claim you really can p-shift, and you'll teach others to do it if they'll give you money, sex and power over their lives.

Now I know you're thinking, "What the hell brought this on?" I've been musing on the phenomenon of leaders, cults, and some past AHWW posters who proved themselves to be wanna-be alphas -- who wanted, not a pack but a herd.

We like to think of ourselves as more independent, more willing to question, and less easily led than non- weres, but the record isn't too comforting.

Lord Kelkemain used Number 2 above to great effect. Storm used Number 4 to even better effect. Both times, some weres got sucked in and some weres got hurt -- in Storm's case, pretty seriously.

Wannabe leaders, especially cult leaders, learn what imagery appeals to the people they're trying to lure, and how successful they are depends a lot on how well they do it.

Spiritual lycanthropes have our imagery and dreams and fantasies like everybody else, even if some of it is unusual. That's inspired some fine fiction and poetry here, but it's also a point of vulnerability.

Being really able to p-shift is undoubtedly high on the list of dreams and wishes here, but so is some other stuff I don't think we discuss enough.

One fantasy, I think, is the idea of a hidden conspiracy or culture of weres. It's the foundation for Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and for much of Ben Goodrich's writings. It's even more convincing on some level, because it's close to the truth: we're already a hidden subculture. How much more so we would be if we actually knew how to p-shift...

Another one, a darker one, is one we don't talk about much. It's the one of werewolves somehow taking revenge on the humans, whether it's for what they do to the wolves, or the planet, or us, or just due to some cosmic destiny decreed by the Fates. There've been conversations in the past on AHWW about the humans needing to be culled, about frustration at not being able to take animal form and exact vengeance on those who wantonly slaughter our phenotypes.

Tied into this is the fact that, no matter how firmly we insist they aren't the truth about spiritual lycanthropes, some of us are drawn to the darker myths and folklore about weres. Let's face it, there's something darkly exciting, something anarchic, even cathartic, about the myths of creatures like Fenris who helped to bring on the downfall of the gods, or even the hounds of the Wild Hunt.

Why? Maybe it's our own darkest urges being projected into these mighty but destructive beasts. Maybe it's our anger at the mistreatment and unfairness we see every day, or in our own lives. But even non-weres feel it - it's undoubtedly part of the appeal of such notions as Judgement Day and of fascism, including Naziism.

If we're honest with ourselves, there's something very appealing about the notion of forming some dark army of werewolves (and other were-creatures) that will bring down civilization. Instead of being a small minority who feel powerless to stop the destructive humans, we'd be a real threat to them, the very incarnation of their fears of the wolf, the wild, the beast.

But of course, an army needs a leader. There's also something exciting about the idea of being deadly henchmen of some savage leader, some commander, no matter how much we say we want our independence. Again, that's the kind of thing that makes a Hitler or another demagogue.

I think it may have been what made Kelkemain appealing to some weres; he claimed to already have a huge pack of weres controlling a large territory, and they wanted so badly to believe that, they let their urges override their common sense.

Of course, if some wannabe alpha were to come up to most weres and say, "I'm the incarnation of the Great Wolf Spirit, and I'm forming a great Pack, and I can teach you how to shapeshift for real if you'll join, and then we'll rule over a big territory and maybe even take over the world from the humans," he'd get a good laugh. It's like advertising: you don't come right out and tell your target audience that drinking your brand of cognac will get them a sexy willing woman in a low-cut dress.

A really dangerous potential cult leader, I think, is more likely to speak in hints and allusions, and to use a lot of imagery without explaining. He won't answer your more pointed questions outright, letting you puzzle over his hints.

If he has a touch of real psychism, he might even shock hell out of you by repeating back to you something from your own most private imagery, such as a dream or a recurring picture. You may think that if he's right about that, he's right about the future and the Truth and everything else.

Insisting that "It could never happen to me, I'm too smart," doesn't really prepare you for someone like this. It's better to know where your vulnerabilities are, so you can tell when someone's trying to appeal to them to get past your reason.

Thanks for reading through this core dump, and remember...Think for Yourself. ;-)