Notes on Shape-shifting
I decided to do a sort of “Werewolf for Dummies” video that could explain the basics of werewolf lore. I’ve arranged this video for easy consumption, and have tried to make it easy to understand.
Part 1: Werewolves and Astral Bodies
The classic werewolf story always features some poor soul that’s been cursed to physically transform into a half-man half-wolf under the light of the full moon.
But this is a recent introduction to the werewolf lore. In the old European stories there often isn’t a physical transformation at all. Rather, the stories tell of certain individuals who have the power to spiritually possess the bodies of wolves. This is done essentially through a sort of astral projection. The individual will force his quote-unquote spirit out of his physical body, and the spirit will then find a wolf in the forest and slip into its body.
Anyone familiar with astral projection will recognize that the skill of pushing your quote unquote spirit body out of your physical body is something that can be learned.
Anyone familiar with astral projection will recognize that the skill of pushing your quote unquote spirit body out of your physical body is something that can be learned.
Now in the stories this is usually done with a malevolent aim, such as slaughtering an enemy in the guise of a wolf.
These men who lie down and seem to be asleep, but they weren’t. Their spirits were being sent into wolves, and the wolves would be used to murder their enemies. Then spirits would then return to their physical bodies and no one would have an idea of their crime.
With the spread of Christianity, these sorts of practices were deemed to be of the devil. But Christianity was not introduced into the New World until recently. And this practice of shape-shifting seems to have been cultivated by certain shamans.
That brings me to the Native American skin walker, which is a Navajo shaman who is able to change his shape. I say “Navajo” because that’s the name everyone knows, but their actual name is the Diné.
Unlike most Christians, the Diné make a distinction between a shaman and a witch, and there is a world of difference between the two. A witch is someone who knows how to place a curse, who engages in placing curses on people, and who is characterized by an intent to do harm to others.
So if you resent your father for abusing your mother, for example, you would go to a witch to curse him. But you would go to a shaman if you hoped to heal your father’s evil deeds.
A shaman I s someone whose intent is to remove evil spirits. But more generally he is connected with the transcendent nature of reality. He is mythically-minded, and sees the Great Spirit in every action, and in every moment. For this reason, you might go to a shaman to remove a curse from a witch. Or you might go because you feel disheartened or discouraged, and are in need of support and strength.
So then what is a skin walker? It is something between a shaman and a witch, though certainly, more a witch than a shaman. It is, you might say, an evil shaman.
It has been said that skin walkers were once good, an helpful to the community. They could change their shape, but never to do harm. After the Europeans arrived, they took many of the Diné people as prisoners. Among these were some skin walkers. Eventually they were released but the skin walker shamans had become disillusioned and lost touch with their faith. They no longer felt connected to their people, and began to use their powers for selfish, sometimes evil, reasons. Although how much truth there is to this history it’s hard to say.
Regardless, skin walker are now much feared. It is bad luck even to speak of them. I won’t even try and pronounce the Diné word for Skinwalker, but I’ll post it in the description below.
It is said that you shouldn’t use this word at a funeral. Because skin walker, like witches, are known to dig up the dead soon after they are buried.
Witches and Skinwalkers both use organs and body parts to make their curses. They are even known to remove the urine from the dead bodies. The urine of person makes a very strong curse.
With this in mind, it should make sense that when a skin walker dies, other skin walkers come from miles around to pick at the body. The urine, and the body parts, and the organs of a skin walker make very excellent and potent curses.
This shape-shifting practice is also found in Mexico, with a group of shamans called Nahuales.
When the Spanish came to Mexico, they disapproved of what they considered pagan beliefs, and they especially disapproved of the Nagual medicine men, whom they called witches and devil-worshippers. These medicine men went underground and continued passing on their ancient traditions from generation to generation. Among these was the practice of lucid dreaming which allowed them to control their dreams, as well as the practice astral projection
Some say that these practices have given the Nahual medicine men special powers such as power to transform into animals.
Modern practitioners of Nagualism claim to be able to traverse the dream world and to change the nature of our reality here from there.
Part 2: Serial Killers
But of course, Christianity didn’t spread into the new world until relatively recently. When the Spanish arrived in Mexico they discovered the Nahual.
A type of shaman found throughout Mexico responsible for carrying and passing on the ancient traditions of the Olmec culture. Two interesting traditions that these shamans were especially concerned with were the practice of astral projection and of lucid dreaming.
Through these practices the Nahual shamans were able to become specific animals in the dream world, and it was believed that by doing this in dreams they could cure diseases and protect against witchcraft here in waking life. In other words, by performing certain acts in a dream, they could effect some deliberate change here in the QUOTE UNQUOTE real world.
Some believe now that through these practices, the Nahuales learned how to physically shape-shift into animals like panthers and coyotes.