Mental Shifts...

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

This is for the Therians.

Do you ever happen to have any uninduced mental shifts? And what are they like? This has happened to me a few times...some were quite strong. I managed to gain control...barely. Anyway, just trying to start something.

[ThrasherCub]

I have only ever had one random mental shift. I was running through a forrest area where, according to certain myths, there is a werewolf spirit.

No, I am not saying that there is really a werewolf spirit anywhere in the area, but rather that this may have put me into the right mindset. I was there because I was attracted to the myth.

The fact that I had not set out for an M-shift may explain why it just swallowed me - I wasn't prepared. I was going up a steep hill at the time, and had leaned forward to use my hand as a support so I could dedicate more of my leg energy towards moving forward, and the next fully human thought I have is half way up the hill, me frozen in mid step (or mid romp - whatever you want to call it) and me wondering what the hell was going on. I thought about it for a moment, mostly about the physical sensations I was feeling currently and had felt going up the hill. Evidently, I had stayed on all fours. It was steep enough that it posed no strain on my body, and as far as my mind was concerned, that was the most comfortably possition there was.

So I actually just gave in and went with the flow of it. What was interesting is that this M-Shift faded much slower than those I set out to have. It felt much more organic.

[Nick_Rodriguez]

I dont understand it but a few years ago...(to this day)i had a dream of me turning into a wolf but i dont think it was serious though 'cause i was in my house.....and
I also(2005)had a dream that i was running in a forest to (i live in a forest 'till tomarro...nothing to do with that)It was weird...i enjoyed it.

[VHD_Rabbit]

I believe dreams fall into another category.

[ThrasherCub]

(i live in a forest 'till tomarro...nothing to do with that)
Then why is that in the last post of yours I read you were complaining that you are nowhere near a forest?

And exactly how many internet connections are there in the average forest, anyway?

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

While dreams are sometimes mental, I don't think it exactly counts as a mental shift. You are probably a case of a dream shift.

[Tiamot]

Why wouldn't dreams fall into the mental category? Are not dreams of the mental realm? I would dare say, that if one were to categorize, the 'mental' shifts would be broken into conscious m-shifts (be they self induced or not) and subconscious dream-shifting.

[ThrasherCub]

Why wouldn't dreams fall into the mental category?
Same reason we don't call dreams AP-ing, even though the Astral is where we go when we dream. The two shifts behave differently because one is largely the conscious mind, and the other is largely the unconscious. Additionally, a dream shift tends to be entirely in the mind, whereas the body and the organs of sense are quite functional and have a tendency to be used during a Mental Shift. A Mental Shift is an experience while a Dream Shift is more of a memory.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

That's right, Thrasher. But sometimes you can have dreams where you mental shift, which would be an even more confusing subject. I just call them mental dream shifts. Are they mental shifts or are they dream shifts in which you go mental? I have no idea and to be honest, it makes no sense to me.

[ThrasherCub]

I say that qualifies as a dream shift. Let's see how clear I can make this...

Mental Shift
* Subject is awake and may or may not be aware of surroundings
* Human mind takes a back seat while animal mind takes the lead, and may or may not be aware of what is happening
* Animal mind tends to make use of human body for animal ends (ex: using hands to pull clothes off of racks in order to make a nesting area)

Dream Shift
* Subject is asleep or in a very deep state of trance/relaxation, effectivly sleeping
* Animal mind takes lead, and human mind often remembers what happens
* Animal mind exists in one's dream as said animal species, acting accordingly.

Note: 'Animal' is used as a generic. Angels and dragons and all other assorted exotic kin apply here as well.

So, if it's an animal in your head, it's an M-Shift.
If you're an animal, but it's all in your head, it's a D-Shift.

:D :D :D

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

Yes, I figured that. It is basically just a mental shift while you are dreaming. I just like to make things sound so long and complicated when they really aren't.

Mental shifts during dreams are really weird. It feels odd to be running around on all fours and such, yet you feel totally like a wolf and you know you should be looking like one, but you don't. I guess I could throw in a bit of a ph-shift in there with the mental shifts I have when I dream.

[Tundra-cub]

This is for the Therians.

Do you ever happen to have any uninduced mental shifts? And what are they like? This has happened to me a few times...some were quite strong. I managed to gain control...barely. Anyway, just trying to start something.yes it usaully happens when i get angry then the wolf in me just slips out and starts growling and doing negative things from swearing to biting at people especially people that don't have a religon. it's weird. oh and i never manage to get control.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

the wolf in me just slips out and starts... swearing...

I can't help it...*twitch*

Your wolf swears? Hahahaha!! Sorry...I just couldn't hold it back...

I never find the swearing part happen to myself, but the growling, snarling and the baring of teeth...unmistakable .

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

My parents refuse to call it Therianthropy when I do it...they just call it immaturity. :shrug:
My parents think that I am crazy when I do things like that. But seeing that don't know anything about Therianthropy, yeah, I would expect that.

[Nick_Rodriguez]

The weirdist thing happend to me when i was about 5 ....my mom was coming up the stairs and I could SWARE that i had a tail and it was wagging odd huh. fist it was real then when i went to sleep the tail thing happend.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

The weirdist thing happend to me when i was about 5 ....my mom was coming up the stairs and I could SWARE that i had a tail and it was wagging odd huh. fist it was real then when i went to sleep the tail thing happend.
And that would be light playing tricks on your phantom shifts.

[ThrasherCub]

My thoughts exactly. Besides, most phantom shifts feel very natural, and because of this I've had to do a double-take to see if I really had a tail. I felt I had a tail, I was moving the tail, I expected to see a tail, so my mind added that up together with a random shadow to my right and said "Oh, that must be my tail!"

It was made by the reflected light of a car driving by casting a moving shadow of a folding chair that was behind me. While it freaked me out for a moment, it was in no way spectacular or special.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

Myself, I've never really "seen" my phantom shifts. I know they are they though. Last night, my phantom wings suddenly came to me before I feel asleep. Not the most pleasent feeling when you're about to roll onto your back. I hope lights reflects off of my ph-shifts one day. That would be SO sweet.

[ThrasherCub]

I once got things to look sort of funny if you looked through my phantom tail. I'm not sure how to describe it - it wasn't really blurry, and the colors weren't really dull, it was just indescribably different. Perhaps everyone was imagining it, but I like to think that this lends some credibility the theory that ph-shifts are caused by one's energy flow being diverted to include the form of the were-side or whatever you wish to call it.

And as fascinating as this is, this is not exactly on topic. Maybe if we're lucky, some nice moderator will split this topic for us.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

I'll get back on track to the point of uncontrolled mental shifts. Last night, I had the urge to go out and run on all fours, which I reluctantly did. I have been letting my wolf side go a lot lately and it seems like it takes over more often. I'm getting the urges just to go wolf. I don't know if you'd call that an uncontrolled mental shift, but last night sure felt like it...

[ThrasherCub]

o_O I always just find compromises; I sleep stretched out or curled up however Coyote wants, I'll bite itches, move my ears, pay very close attention to smell (and then cataloge the scent-based knowledge for future use)... small things.

While others would disagree, I don't classify that as a mental shift. I qualify that more as not listening to your were-side's whispers until it gets so fed up it starts shouting and you do something strange like run around on all fours.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

Yeah, that's basically the animal in you coming out. Those kind of things are things that happen everyday. I don't think they are nessecarily a part of any kind of shift, to be honest.

[ThrasherCub]

Not a shift in the way we tend to think of it. It's more like the tides going in and out. There is a human side of me, and a fluffy side of me. Which one has the greater influence shifts slowly and gently over time, unless I put an effort into making it otherwise.

In which case I buy myself some time, and then whichever side I suppressed flips out and when the tide shifts, it shifts way out of balance.

I really do suggest looking for compromises for the sake of internal harmony.

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

I usually don't even consider myself to be two anymore. I just feel like that I am a civilized wolf who sometimes turns wild. I do have my human moments, but I am usually acting as a wolf.

[ThrasherCub]

I don't consider them two seperate sides or minds, but two seperate aspects of Me. It's really no different than the nice side and bitter side to a person.

Except much more noticable.

So, how do you go about "usually acting as a wolf"?

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

I don't know. I'm always growling and stuff. I can't ever seem to just act like a human.

[ThrasherCub]

Well you can obviously act somewhat human - you're typing. ;)

But I get the idea. This is because the animal side is usually stronger in the subconcious than in the concious - most people shove it out of the concious side of things, which causes it to 'build up' in a way in the subconcious.

And that happens to be the reactionary part of your brain. That's the part of the brain that instinctively makes you look over your right shoulder when someone taps it. If it's full of wolf, it then becomes the part that instinctively makes you snap at your right shoulder when someone taps it.

If you can, get a friend to just take notes on all the lupine actions or habits you show for a week, odds are you'll be interested to see how your wereside has adapted to your human instincts and situations. I, for example, am a martial artist. When I grapple, I end up using this weird combination of Judo and canids fighting. Particularly lupine actions are the way I squirm/roll out from under a mount, and how I pin others. What's really interesting is that the class has never been taught anything remotely like the tactics I just spoke of.

Nifty, ne?

[TheBlueWolfW.W.]

That sounds like a good idea. I'll do it.