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In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad.
Bak (Assamese aqueous creature); Bakeneko and Nekomata (cat); Boto Encantado (river dolphin); Itachi (weasel or marten); Jorōgumo and Tsuchigumo (spider); Kitsune, Huli Jing, hồ ly tinh and Kumiho (fox)
The word nagual derives from the Nahuatl word nāhualli [naˈwaːlːi], an indigenous religious practitioner, identified by the Spanish as a 'magician'.. In English, the word is often translated as "transforming witch," but translations without negative connotations include "transforming trickster," "shape shifter," "pure spirit," or "pure being."
Literally, the terms mean a thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as "ghost", but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these bakemono are distinct from the spirits of the dead. [1]
Stories of shapeshifting within Greek context are old, having been part of the mythological corpus as far back as the Iliad of Homer. Usually those legends include mortals being changed as punishment from a god, or as a reward for their good deeds. In other tales, gods take different forms in order to test or deceive some mortal.
Painting of a nine-tailed fox spirit from Yanju's tomb, Gansu Province. The earliest mention of the nine-tailed fox is the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), compiled from the Warring States period (475 BC–221 BC) to the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD; 25 AD –220 AD) period.
Rakshasas were most often depicted as shape-shifting, fierce-looking, enormous monstrous-looking creatures, with two fangs protruding from the top of the mouth and having sharp, claw-like fingernails. They were shown as being mean, growling beasts, and as insatiable man-eaters that could smell the scent of
The etymology of the Scots word kelpie is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Gaelic calpa or cailpeach, meaning "heifer" or "colt".The first recorded use of the term to describe a mythological creature, then spelled kaelpie, appears in the manuscript of an ode by William Collins, composed some time before 1759 [2] and reproduced in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh of ...