The source for the idea of selling your soul to the devil for a werewolf belt may be this story:
Another unfortunate werewolf was Peter Stubb of Cologne, tortured until he confessed having transformed himself into a wolf by a magic girdle given him by the devil. The judges couldn’t find the girdle where Stubb said he hid it, but they explained this by saying it had “gone to the Devil whence it came, so that it was not to be found.” Though his case was unproved, Stubb was nastily executed for the crime of lycanthropy: he was sentenced to have the flesh pulled off his bones in ten places with red-hot pincers, then to have his legs and arms broken with a wooden axe; finally to be beheaded and burned.
From: alt.horror.werewolves FAQ.
April 7, 2006 at 6:38 pm
The wikipedia entry on werewolves has this to say on the subject:
“Historical legends describe a wide variety of methods for becoming a werewolf. One of the simplest was the removal of clothing and putting on a belt made of wolf skin, probably a substitute for the assumption of an entire animal skin which also is frequently described. In other cases the body is rubbed with a magic salve.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolves
The thing is, I specifically remember this book giving instructions on how to sell your soul to the devil, including materials you’d need.
April 7, 2006 at 10:21 pm
I’m a bit fuzzy – this is a fourth-grade memory for me. Do you remember anything about it being at a beach? Liminal space, where earth meets water. Crossroads, where the skin of the World thins. Fire, nighttime, circles drawn also come up, but that’s pretty common for any old-school ritual, particularly dialing up Lucifer.
August 10, 2006 at 4:13 am
(Where in the tarnation can I find a werewolf belt?)