Boanthropy – the werecow!

We’ve all heard of lycanthropy, but have you heard of boanthropy?

Boanthropy is when someone believes that they are a bovine (cow, bison, buffalo, ox).  In other words –  if you were to ever meet a were-cow – you’d be meeting someone afflicted with boanthropy!  These types of individuals are extremely uncommon – much more uncommon than werewolves.  But even though there aren’t too many of them, there are some known facts about them.

• they say that the most typical sufferers of boanthropy are males.
• the most common characteristic of an afflicted person would be that they walk on all fours (as a cow would)
• most boanthropes are vegetarians, eating mostly grass (again, just as a cow would)
• the fingernails of people with boanthropy become thick and long
• they have thick, coarse hair on their bodies
• they do not like to be indoors, but prefer to be outdoors

Although the community of boanthropes / were-cows is extremely small, there was one very well-known member – King Nebuchadnessar – a King of Babylon from 605 BC to 562 BC who had great military successes, and is credited as having conquered Judah and Jursalem..  If the name King Nebuchadnessar sounds familiar, it is because he – and his bovine affliction – are discussed in the Bible!  The story in the Bible alludes to the notion that the King’s affliction of boanthropy was a “punishment” by God.  Is it indeed a curse from God?  True or not?  We don’t know.  But supposedly, the King learned his lesson and God took away the curse.