Spirit Shift (S): occurs when the spirit takes on the form or shape of the therioside while the physical body remains unchanged. The experience has been described as "A spirit shift is also the merging of the two (or more) "sides" of a therian's own spiritual makeup. For example, if a therian is a human and a wolf, the merging into an "anthro-wolf" form would be a spirit shift." This is also described as being similar to astral or aura shifting, but some people may feel this shift occur naturally within or around themselves in the physical plane without needing to visit the astral plane.
Spiritual shifts can be experienced along with other types of shifts such as mental and phantom. They seem to be an uncommon type of shift. This could be due to the belief that the soul or spirit is always in the shape or form of the animal. Discussions about this type of shift clearly appear in Alt.horror.werewolves in 1996 or earlier.
A similar experience can occur due to having a bond with a spirit guide. Guides can also make us feel shifty or lend animalistic traits to the person they are communicating with, so always take that into consideration as well.
References
https://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Spiritual_Shift
Shifters.org Encyclopedia (2006 web archive) - http://web.archive.org/web/20060517083327/http://www.therianthropy.org:80/SO/shifting-s.htm
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The Types of Therian Shifts
Non-FictionThis book goes in depth into describing and explaining Therianthropic Shifts including the history of the shifts and references for each.
