Now I see where the problem was. Thank you for clarifying, Ritva. Your usage of "animal powers" in the previous threads were confusing me. Thank you for explaining what you meant here. When I wrote the abilities thread, I was trying to explain the most notable abilities of a classic skinwalker as well as showing instances where these things have occurred in non-Navajo, non-witchcraft circumstances. Alot of people have trouble with believing that they even run on all fours, no less at great speeds and there is alot of confusion in regards to the reports of "red glowing eyes". Considering that skinwalkers are almost entirely viewed in utter darkness, it is quite easy to mistake them for being animals. I was under the impression that what you were meaning was that they used animal powers to somehow transform themselves physically. What we do have is intensive training that a skinwalker undergoes, just like a medicine men. I thought I made it clear that they are very much like medicine men and I see now that I failed to clarify how they are similiar. Just as a medicine man will use his own medicines and ceremonies to get into a proper mindstate, so it would be probable for a skinwalker.

As I have said, I have tried to mimic the movement of a skinwalker myself and it is really uncomfortable even though, as a baby, I never crawled on hands and knees. I was on all fours as a baby. I would well imagine that they would have to be in some sort of mindstate in order to run in this manner without observation of discomfort. If I were to speculate, I'm certain that they would have the ability to run on all fours without an animal-like mindstate. However, it would not nearly be the same. It would be without the feeling of embodying something far greater.

As an animal shaman (a term I have often repeated in these threads), they would have to be in this kind of mindstate in order to fulfill their functions for the tribe. They would have to think not just as a man but put themselves in the mindset of the animal that they wish to mimic.

Stephanie


In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson