Greetings Creatures!
Just as there are many varieties of therian and otherkin in species and shape, there are also certain types of shifts accepted in the community. The term shifting is used to explain the phenomenon of one’s kin type—that is animal or otherkin creature such as a dragon for instance—to be expressed through a spiritual, Psychological and perceptual level. Most people experience one version of a shift, which Is what follows.
Most common of shifting is the mental shift, which is what I, dear friends, first experienced when I discovered my therianthropy. This is a change in mental thinking to that of one’s theriotype, in my case, a timber wolf. It seems to border on being more psychological in nature, as a mental shift tells my mind my ahndsa re paws, my body is someting other than human and Im on all fours, unable to use human speech—-and trust me, I tried, and failed. Though I can understand human speech, it’s impossible for me to form it. Instead, i I growl and produce other sounds to communicate as best I can in way of a canine. This is my personal experience in shifting and not everyone perceives it the same. Some meditate to induce a shift, while some, as myself, fall into it voluntarily while others I know will have it involuntarily.
Voluntary shifting, like what i have, is when certain things trigger it. For men, it’s certain natural smells, like when in ethe woods that excites my inner wolf to express himself and deep relaxation or even being drunk for me are other trigggers that prompts me to shift. Others who involuntarily shift dno’t seem to have an explanation of why they feel they’re mentally going into their animal or otherkin mindset, bust that is overcomes them. Sometimes, however, this can happen to newer s therians, as with myself years ago when I wasn’ t used to my kintype’s presence within myself at the beginning.. However, some therian and otherkin will remain involuntary, and this is fine.Still, there are some who are in a constant state of partial shifting, known as vassalators. They are aware of their Kintype in harmony with their human self on a daily basis.
Dream shifting is another common shift, where one lucidly dreams of being in their ctherian or otherkin form. It usually can be controlled. I also have dreams quite a bit, where I change into my wolf or simply am my wolf self and am acutely aware of my dream-body as my animal in a very real way. It’s so strong at times, I sometimes wake up in a mental shift, disoriented before realizing what’s going on. Oh, and if you’re wondering, you can’t get stuck in a shift like I used to think. You always return to your human self naturally in time. My shifts last about ten to fifteen minutes the most, but like I said, everyobne’s different, so for some it could be much longer or much shorter.
Other types of shifting fall into the spiritual realm known as aura shifting. This means one’s aura takes on the shape of one’s kintype. AS this is a shift in one’s energy, II’m may possible for one to perceive it visually with such perception and others.
Astral shifting is another accepted way for shifting for some, involving the astral body to leave the corporal body in the form of one’s kintype, usually while asleep. This is debated as to how v valid such a shift isamung the community but for some this is a real experience for them, one neither proven nor disproven in any way.
Shadow shifting is where One’s shadow changes into their kintype, but is a speculated idea for some in the community, perhaps more as an auric shift to explain this.
Bilocating shifting involves one’s kintype to travel outside of the human body much like astral projection , but it is another speculated type of shifting.
Phantom shifting. Has nothing to do with ghosts. It is the experience of sensing an unseen, yet seemingly physical sensed limb characteristic to one’s kintype. This could mean feeling as if one has a tail, wings on one’s back or muzzle or tall ears, for instance. Some find this somewhat confusing but it is not unpleasant, just described as being an odd sensation as real as one feeling their actual hair blowing in the wind. It may be, for example, one feeling whiskers--for all you cat people out there--tickling their cheeks.
Sensory-shifting, or an S-shift, is where one’s senses perceive more detail as smells, vision and hearing. Note this isn’t a shift in the physical senses heightening but a perception with one’s senses the world e.g experiencing particular smells in a room or noticing more sharply certain sounds in one’s environment normally filtered out by the brain.
The final shift, the physical shift, I’m sorry to say, does not exist. AS much as me and many others would wish to, the laws of physics does not allow anyone, no matter how hard you imagine, to physically shift. Some people claim their eyes change colors or their teeth may grow sharper like fangs, but this is clearly against the natural way of things. For now, jumping into a fursuit or virtual reality is the best we’re goin to get.
To conclude, the more time you Explore your kintype, the more you’ll understand your own type of shifting. Doing so will bring you closer to who you are In your own innerwild.
Autumn Wolf
