Shapeshifting dominates myths, legends, folklore, and fairy tales as far back as we can trace. Some even believe Jesus was a shapeshifter. They believe this is why Judas betrayed him with a kiss. Otherwise he could have just described Jesus to the soldiers. But, since Jesus could change his shape, Judas used a kiss.
Even though shapeshifters have been an intricate part of literature forever, if you do a google search, little relevant information can be found on the topic. And according to my shapeshifting friend, Shifty, much of the information is incorrect. He points to the inclusion of werewolves and vampires into the shapeshifting species. He claims this is a big mistake. My werewolf friend, Cimarron, agrees.
“Two separate entities entirely,” they shout with much conviction. They don’t acknowledge vampires as actual creatures of the night. They get mad being lumped together with them. I don’t have any vampire friends to ask. Never met one, so until I do, I won’t believe in them except as an interesting subject matter for movies and novels.
As a child prone to supernatural friends, I found it best at a young age not to argue with my monsters, but listen instead. And learn. This summer, in the heat of a such a disagreement, Shifty and Cimarron presented compelling differences between shapeshifters and werewolves.
Differences Between Shapeshifters and Werewolves
Cimarron: We Weres have to wait on the moon to change. A shifter just sets his mind to it and changes. Anytime. Anywhere.
Shifty: Weres can only transform into a wolf. I can be anything. If you are going to incorporate werewolves into the shapeshifting species, you might as well include a caterpillar. It changes into a butterfly, but only a butterfly.
Cimarron: Except for the originals, a person has to be bitten by a werewolf to become a one.
Shifty: This is a big difference because all of early mankind was born with the ability to shapeshift. Before people evolved and became grounded to their bodies, they could transform into another shape. Shapeshifting was natural to all mankind early in their development. How could man have survived the Paleolithic Age had they not possessed this ability?
Me: But why did we lose this power to shapeshift?
Shifter: Not all of us did.
Me: Why did most of us lose it?
Shifter: Superstitions. Religions. How can you control mankind if he/she can transform their physical form into anything they want. Those in power, in order to dominate their subjects, preached shapeshifting was evil. Fear in what came naturally overpowered instinct, intuition, and magic. An extremely intelligent human, Chief Dan George, once said: What one fears one destroys. As time erased the memories of shapeshifting, the powerful believed their own lies and shapeshifting became a forgotten art. Except for a few of us.
Me: Can we relearn this art? Is it buried in our DNA somewhere?
Shifter: It would be difficult if not impossible. You might be able to mimic the process through ceremonies like Native Americans and aboriginals once performed. But only your mind would transform not your body. It wouldn’t be the way it was in the beginning of times.
Me: Well, this is a real downer.
Cimarron: Think about it this way. Earth has become so populated what if everyone could shapeshift? You would never know who was who, or what was what.
Me: That thought does kinda blow.
Shifty: Please change the topic. This is depressing.
Me: Why? I find it interesting.
Shifty: Because it can’t be fixed. Man has evolved too far. And I’m lonely.
This is when the conversation switched to best pick-up lines for my monsters to use to find a mate. In my last blog post, Grey’s lines were presented. The lines came fast and furious all night. I thought I was in a car with Vin Diesel. I tried to get them down, but missed a few. So add your own in the comment section below.

Svipdag Transformed was painted December 31, 1910 by John Bauer, a Swedish painter and illustrator.
Pick-Up Lines for Shapeshifters
“I can change. Really I can.”
“I can be anything you want me to be.”
“I’m a perfect date for a costume party.”
“I’ll be your puppy on the street and your wolf in the sheets.”
“I’ll be your rock. Literally. Or… Your rock.”
“I’ll not only give you the moon, I’ll be your moon.”
My zombie friend, Toxi, threw in his favorite. He called it his home run one-liner. “I like a girl with brains.” And Smoke, my ghost, says his best is: “I’m always transparent.”
Cimarron claims he doesn’t have to try too hard because of his rugged good looks. “Sometimes I say to a really hot individual, ‘Hey, wanna go grab a bite?’ That a always gets them,” he says.
***
It was a lot of fun meeting up with my childhood friends this summer. They have since returned to their roamings, hauntings, and researching here on Earth. Before they left, they gave me the idea for a new story. They encouraged me not to always use my blog for investigative reporting, but to do some free fiction. I decided to try it out. Join me next time for The RV Files. The story of Hell Town RV Park. A RV park like no other. Hope to see there.
The Probe’s Mission Statement
The Probe is a blog devoted to the exploration of the unexplainable, to finding the truth in occurrences that resemble science fiction, and to researching and reporting on topics that could be flung upon the wall of weird. New posts are featured as often as I can find WiFi, and as often as I have something I think you might find interesting.
Join me here for more close encounters of the alien kind, or ghost kind, or animal kind, or travel kind, and please share your own. Science Fiction or Fact? Doesn’t matter to me. I just like a story that gives me the chills, makes me laugh, makes me think, or makes me imagine.
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(BTW the animals pictures are my children’s animal totems. My daughter is Turtle. My son is Otter. My granddaughter is the Great Blue Heron. And Fox is my little grandson we lost in April 2016 but whose presence I feel every day.)
I’m adding a new animal totem for my little grandson who was born healthy and beautiful in June. He is the reason for my absence. On about his fourth day of life, he identified with the alligator’s magic. He was in the neonatal unit for lung development—he was a couple of weeks early. They kept him to a strict feeding schedule. Every three hours. No sooner! His feedings would come. He’d open his mouth wide and latch onto the bottle or his mom like a gator. An individual with gator magic has the ability to bring harmony into his life and the lives of those around him. And that our little gator has done.
- Lost City: Bay of Cambay — Victim of The Great Year? - January 17, 2021
- Plato’s The Great Year: An Argument for the Existence of Atlantis. - January 7, 2021
- Finding Fairies, Part III - December 10, 2020
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