I do not believe that the art of shapeshifting has vanished completely of the face of the earth but heroheidR (April) and Romana are right it can be very dangerous without the proper support and protection.
One can lose their mind if not prepped.

I DON'T THINK THAT THE ART OF SHAPESHIFTING IS COMPLETLY GONE NEITHER BUT WHOEVER IS ABLE TO DO IT KEEPS IT TO THEMSELVES.

Hi Romana, I reckon I had a partial once. I had some friends over and we were doing a cleansing (among other things). The candle (any flame is good) was in the middle of the room and we were circled around it. We were concentrating on the flame quite intensely and speaking softly together and to each other, sometimes in unison and we were doing this for awhile (don't ask me what the words were as I can't remember, my male buddy was the one who was doing most of the chanting). I sensed that I was drifting, becoming more spirit than body which I thought was a bit weird as I normally don't do that with others around. I thought there were four of us now instead of three. My mind was still very lucid, I saw the others glance at each other briefly then I felt myself being drawn back. It was only after I blinked that quietly, I was told by one of my pals that my face had changed and that it was not me they saw. He seemed a bit awe struck by the look on his face. He reckoned that he saw a wolf's head kinda superimposed over mine just a glimpse maybe or something like that, he did not explain it to any great length and seemed a bit spooked by it all so we changed the subject and carried on with more light hearted trivialities but it always intrigued me as to what he actually saw. I have done a mental one before that, funny enough it was a wolf too. 3 months after that I was given a Silver Alaskan Malamute for my birthday out of the blue. I named him Odin and he grew to be a very big dog about kitchen table height from his back. Everyone told me he looked just like a wolf. I will try to upload a photo of him for you. As to the shapeshifting who knows. I have only had mental ones after that and we never had another gathering with the same people and situation since.

THANKS, KINDRED, FOR THAT POST. THE TOPIC HAS BEEN UP FOR A WHILE BUT SO FAR YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS SHARED SUCH A EXPPIRIENCE. MOST EVERYBODY HAS HEARD OF IT BUT SOFAR IT IS STILL A BIG MYSTERY.

I'm trying to make it easier to find this thread for those who might be interested. i hope this will move the tread back to the top.

hopefully this works.

If someone wants to explore this subject, there's some stuff in Peter Carroll's "Psychonaut" in the anecdotes section.

www.amazon.com/Liber-Null-Psychonaut-Int...260142687&sr=8-4