Re: Different Types of Shapeshifters
Hmmmmm......there are so many latin prefixes out there that we can make up our own words and coin new kintypes. Like 'polywere', 'pantherian', etc. But kintype labels are fleeting and relative.
You mentioned the Djinn though. I find this interesting. The ghul from pre-islamic arabic myth is a form of shapeshifting djinn. I think its really important to liken the djinn to the idea of a 'demon' for that is how they were represented; the temptation of magic and the lesson 'beware what you wish for' are all appropreated and subsequentially forgotten. The role of 'demon' has become a predominately judeo-christian belief while, even as we speak, the term 'djinn' is the word for foreign possession by melevolent spirits in the islam faith.
Standing nominclature and biblical mythos aside, we're left with the possibility of a complex race of creatures with unknown origins and obsolete text. In my studies of Babylonian astronomy, I have run across the legend of the Djinn and an unnamed 'sister' race that once vied for earthly domain. Sure the legend is steeped in the usual trappings of fiction, i.e antagonists/protagonists, the aspects of good and evil. But if we shove away the simantics, we are left with two races that are said to have the ability to take the form of any creature they encounter. One, the Djinn, are said to use the energy of self to achieve this while their 'sister' race, are said to use the energy of the earth (other than self) to change forms.
*shrugs* I dunno, I just read a lot.
"Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity." -Arthur Schopenhauer
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