Home›Shapeshifters›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups mythical creatures by the wider artistic and religious tradition that pictures them. Wikipedia notes that "in medieval art, animals, both real and mythical, played important roles." Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every creature from one cultural tradition together.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedBeings that change shape at will, or between human and animal form. Transformation is one of the largest motif classes in comparative folklore and cuts across every other group here rather than naming a kind of creature. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedMythical Creatures 1Learn MoreThe shapeshifters This small group gathers a shapeshifter, a being able to change its form at will, whether between human and animal or among many shapes, a widespread type in world folklore that blurs the boundary between kinds. The browser will find the figure the atlas classes here. The entry describes its nature and mythological role.TraditionFilter Results7 entriesCreature kindAllAswang-Type Viscera-Sucker Shapeshifters (1)Skin-Shedding Animal Bride Shapeshifters (2)Region of OriginAllEastern Europe (1)Indian Subcontinent (1)Attested In RegionAllBritish Isles (1)British Isles and Gaul (1)North America (1)Scandinavia (1)Southeast Asia (1)HistoricityAllLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (4)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (2)Adherents Today MaximumAll1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll1,200,000,000 (1)2,000,000,000 (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllIndependent Survey (3)National Census (1)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (3)Era of Decline End YearAll700 (1)1200 (2)Era of Decline Start YearAll300 (1)863 (1)1000 (1)Era of Modern Revival End YearAll1990 (1)Era of Modern Revival Start YearAll1930 (1)Establishment StatusAllVaries by Province (2)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCodified Obligation With Consequences (1)Customary Norm (1)Membership Figure As OfAll2005-01-01 (1)2006-01-01 (1)2010-01-01 (2)2011-01-27 (1)2012-01-01 (1)2012-12-18 (1)2020-01-01 (2)2025-01-01 (1)Origin Period End YearAll500 BCE (1)100 BCE (1)632 (1)800 (1)988 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll1500 BCE (1)500 BCE (2)500 (1)610 (1)Position on MarriageAllMarriage may licitly be polygynous (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation (1)Position on UsuryAllInterest of any kind on a loan is forbidden (1)Practice StatusAllDiscontinued as a state religion (2)Living, and in active revival (1)Partly restricted: some elements are closed to outsiders (2)Standard Rate ExpectedAllTwo and a half percent. (1)Status TodayAllHistorical; not practised continuously (2)Living tradition, practised today (5)Revived or reconstructed in the modern era (1)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (1)Animist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (1)Henotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities (1)Monistic: one ultimate reality behind all appearance (1)Monotheistic: one God (1)Panentheistic: the divine both within the world and beyond it (1)Polytheistic: many gods (5)Show ResultsBrowseCompareCeltic PaganismTradition2 entriesDiné (Navajo) ReligionTradition1 entryHinduismTradition1 entryIslamTradition1 entryNorse PaganismTradition1 entryPhilippine Indigenous Religion (Anitism)Tradition2 entriesSlavic Native Faith (Rodnovery)Tradition1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Category: Mythical Creatures2. Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-Books and Local Legendstier 1Stith Thompson, Indiana University Press, 1958D0-D699, TransformationDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.