How to know what a phantom shift is and when you're experiencing one?

[Ambrose]

I'd love it if someone could explain what a phantom shift feels like as I'm currently not sure if I actually get them or not.

 

[LunastreDraconis]

Henlo! A phantom shift usually is a type of shift where phantom limbs or one’s energy is more prominent. They can come at random, and they can help someone be more in tune with their kintype. Usually phantom limbs are felt by others with wings, tails, ears, and horns, however the energy part of a phantom shift can be more prominent when one had no extra limbs in their true life. The energy one can radiate in a phantom shift would most likely be similar to the energy one had in their true life. You can probably tell a phantom shift from another one due to these feelings....

For me, a phantom shift is rare nowadays, however I am more in tune with my soul energy and I can feel my astral limbs more, however for me I consider that an astral shift, which is more complicated in of itself! Sometimes they can be easy to provoke, and sometimes not... They’re tricky after all!... ^.=.^

 

[Ambrose]

Great, thank you @LunastreDraconis! When you talk about energy, does that also work for presence? Because I often have periods where I feel like I radiate the presence of a vampire more. 

Also, I sometime feel like I have longer fingerlike claws (or should have) even though I obviously don't. As in, they're completely just in my head but I can move them like I can other appendages and then it's very frustrating having real life not reflect that and nothing happen. It's like how when you consciously move your arm muscles, you expect your arm to move except obviously my claws can't move since they don't exist  My fingers also feel all weird and tingly when this happens.
 

 

[LunastreDraconis]

@Ambrose Feeling the presence of your kintype is also a part of a phantom shift as well! Though it can also applied to other types of shifts as well! That’s valid however! My astral wings are so big that is hard to feel them at their fullest in a closed, indoor space! It can be frustrating sometimes....

 

[KnightFenrirWulfhart]

I am of a different type of shifting. I'm always shifting, so I don't know what it's like to not be shifting at any given time, which is what made it hard for me as well to realize what it was. 

It's definitely harder to identity if you don't really see it spiritual, I believe, because if you view your kin-ness as spiritual, your mind is already geared towards visualizing that sort of alteration in awareness. Whereas if you are psychological, you tend to just brush it off as a random sensation, or errant thought.

For me, the strongest phantom shifts I get as when my Truth supersedes any other mask I'm wearing, and I essentially get giant finger claws and foot claws, that, being honest are quite unwieldy, and rather impractical for actual physical combat. Thank myself that my Truth doesn't let it get that far when it's upset, but then again, it uses them perfectly fine, physics be damned, I guess. Haha.

But for me, each of my fingers from the first finger joint above the knuckle to past the tip of the finger feel like solid metal claws, going up about an inch and a half from the joint then sharpening to a point about an inch from the fingertip. It's the same generally for the feet. I tend to get the urge to dig them into everything and drag them to leave claw marks, probably a sign that I was here, but who knows. It's annoying because it never works, like how rude.

I used to disregard it, but I now now that's what I'm feeling. The next time you feel your vampire fingers, try imagining what they would feel like. How would your wall feel different if you had those fingers instead. If that thought is distinct enough to conjure actual feelings then you just might be feeling a phantom shift.

At least, that's how it is for me. *Shrugs* 

 

[Shezep]

Also, I sometime feel like I have longer fingerlike claws (or should have) even though I obviously don't. As in, they're completely just in my head but I can move them like I can other appendages and then it's very frustrating having real life not reflect that and nothing happen. It's like how when you consciously move your arm muscles, you expect your arm to move except obviously my claws can't move since they don't exist  My fingers also feel all weird and tingly when this happens.

That does sound like a phantom shift. It's a matter of feeling it, even if it's just in your mind. They don't feel exactly the same as physical features, but your brain tries to fill in the gaps for you. They're usually a bit insubstantial, but noticeable.

 

[Ambrose]

Ah thanks @LunastreDraconis, good to know! 

I am of a different type of shifting. I'm always shifting, so I don't know what it's like to not be shifting at any given time, which is what made it hard for me as well to realize what it was. 

That's really interesting as I feel like I'm kind of both. I feel like my more vampiric mind for lack of a better term is always integrated into mine and that my vampiric nature is always present. But that sometimes it is far more than others (usually corresponding with Thirst and strong emotions) which I guess would constitute shifts.

It's definitely harder to identity if you don't really see it spiritual, I believe, because if you view your kin-ness as spiritual, your mind is already geared towards visualizing that sort of alteration in awareness. Whereas if you are psychological, you tend to just brush it off as a random sensation, or errant thought.

That's a brilliant point. I do tend to brush it off as just tricks of the mind which I guess doesn't help things. I will make a point of being more open to it.

I used to disregard it, but I now now that's what I'm feeling. The next time you feel your vampire fingers, try imagining what they would feel like. How would your wall feel different if you had those fingers instead. If that thought is distinct enough to conjure actual feelings then you just might be feeling a phantom shift.

At least, that's how it is for me. *Shrugs* 

Okay so I spent the past ten minutes trying this. I haven't fed in over a week now so my nature has been leaning more towards the vampiric side lately and I've been feeling my weird fingers like that I'll day. It is like I mentally on some level feel surfaces, or at least that my brain expects to feel something in a certain way and so fills in the blanks. Like when I run my hand against the wall without actually touching it, I feel a sense of roughness, feeling all the individual bumps, and almost hearing the scraping noise as my nails run against it.

That does sound like a phantom shift. It's a matter of feeling it, even if it's just in your mind. They don't feel exactly the same as physical features, but your brain tries to fill in the gaps for you. They're usually a bit insubstantial, but noticeable.

Oh, I see. I guess I was taking it a bit too literally and expecting it to be every bit as real as actual physical limbs rather than like an after impression or a feeling.

 

[Red-in-Tooth]

It should be noted, drawing from the purely psychological and neurological perspective, that phantom experiences are at least partially guided by the nervous system sending impulses to specific portions of the body to behave in a particular way. Famously this tends to transpire in patients missing limbs, amputees, where impulses will stimulate those remaining fibers to perform some sort of function the missing limb would have been requested to do. This is why modern robotic prosthetics can engage to a large extent in the range of motion the missing limb was capable of and on some cases, new capabilities previously impossible to perform with human anatomy.

In relation to phantom changes of state, it is reasonable to associate similar expectations although, as we are all aware, this is poorly studied. It appears that because mental, sensory, and phantom shifting are all closely related and interwoven - as they would be if they manifest in reality - a similar experience of supernumerary attributes to an individual should appear. The self should, consequently, reasonably perceive a sensory mode or general addition to their person in the psyche but feel some amount of control or influence of it; conscious awareness. There is also strong grounds to propose that this experience should also be "off" and dysphoric, given the best analogy in amputees often describe the experience in tremendous and precise detail; capable of repeating the exact spacial placement of the limb or sensation and able to do things as "picture it holding a ball" or "clapping with their other hand" or "wiggling their toes in a specific pattern", but with an undertone of disbelief because they are not receiving the proper responses from impulse returns. The type of motor skills described or sensations experienced, such as with formerly sighted people who become blind as well, are as seemingly real to a trained observer as any other description minus the obvious of a physical addition.

In the case of dysphoric persons, as some psychology cases review, this appears to be part of a pervasive "offness" about their person they experience. The reports seem to propose that while the experiences are similar, they tend to be strongly perceptive - the person mostly describing what they believe it to be rather than what it is proposed to be - and that the are much less clear. It appears, or at least I will suggest it does, that the interpolation of this information, its deviation, stems from the reality that the dysphoric content adds a haziness and buffer that interferes with the interpretation and conveying of it precisely.

So for those of various typology, this is where the contention arises in relation to the claims of phantom supernumerary additions or modes. Because there is no studied model, the validity of being in this change of state, this "shift", must be measured similarly but assuming some amount of inconsistency will be present. A safe measure to make the least amount of assumptions possible, thus with the least amount of error, is to compare it as closely as to what is indeed known as described above and for the individual to test it. In theory the more accurate one is in how they feel and express it, the more plausible it is.

 

[Ambrose]

Fascinating, thank you for the detailed write-up @Red-in-Tooth! I'm curious--do you experience phantom shifts yourself?

 

[Red-in-Tooth]

I certainly do have phantom experiences although they are very rare in comparison to other sensations, @Ambrose. The most notable are those that are say, protractile claws, in which I can picture and feel the distal phalanx "properly" articulate and extend, "acting" on the tendon of each digit to extend the claws by flexing the hand. However, as one imagine, it creates a very dysphoric experience to see and visualize, recognize and acknowledge, a hand but be feeling as if the anatomy of something else is layered over it simultaneously and is also being fed the nervous impulses. Between this and even a slight amount of concentration in these interludes, I can manifest and even describe - as well as visualize if I intentionally close my eyes - the exact relative spacial positioning of the digits and their terminals. I can "interact" with them in the same way I can in an astral state or mental state - pure internal visualization - but the difference is that rather than them being ethereal and with no sensation or apparent tangibility, this case is different. Likewise, unlike the other two modes, phantom manifestations appear purely under their own accord and disappear on their own.

The sole reason I know as much as I do as a non-professional in this regard is singularly because I went to investigate the phenomena. I knew of phantom limbs well before, the concept was not new or startling, but I needed to assess how true it was for myself and to scrutinize what I was experiencing. As a result, I can say in the context of "phantom shifting" it is something I do indeed know for myself and in the context of what we know supernumerary additions to be, it is at least plausible. In total I have experienced paws in full, the ability to rotate and orient ears, deep nervous impulses from whiskers, and the manifestation of a stereotypically short tail; the only questionable one is the teeth themselves, as it is very difficult to decipher if it is the root filament sensation I was experiencing to be legitimate - this is the mechanism all felids use to gauge bite proximity and pressure - or if it was merely believed to be in a heightened state of sensory and mental alternative.

 

[Ambrose]

That's very interesting, thank you @Red-in-Tooth. I so far have only felt claws and longer, sharper teeth. Like you though, those are very rare compared to other shifts. I usually just experience sensory and mental shifts although my vampiric nature is always integrated into my human one--it just waxes and wanes based on my mind state and environmental pressures.