(What makes one aware that he/she may be a werewolf?)

I can only speak for myself here, but what alerted me was not so much the knowledge of "being different", as many feel at a young age who are Were and/or Vamp (or even ordinary people just going through life's changes), but more the realization of shifting. Although I'd never even heard the term "Were" until I came online last June, I was aware of my specific type of difference. I called it, "having Shaman's blood" to those I attempted to explain things to. It was as close as I could come to explaining that specific aspect of myself which was WAY different from the norm. It was the moment when I looked back and said, "WHOA! That wasn't me, but... it was... but it wasn't... but... etc." and then had the people around me back up that confusion with, "Well it was you... but it wasn't you... but it was... etc., etc." All I really knew was that I'd gone from human to other and then back again. It took quite a long time to actually give what I was experiencing any sort of a name.

From reading the words of others here, the label of "Polywere" seemed to fit. True, there are days when I read the posts of others that I swear to myself that there's no way in HELL that I'm a Were, but those are the bad days... the days when I doubt my own sanity... the days when I read the wrong posts by the wrong people at the wrong time.

To me, the main "symptoms" of being a Were are shifting (mental, emotional, and/or physical) and a specific type of heightened awareness... which I find difficult to describe. I usually rely on "it takes one to know one" and I seem to do just fine.

(How does it (shifting) feel?)

It feels like I'm being catapulted into a tunnel. After that, it varies according to how intense the shift is. Sometimes it's like being pounded into the ground, other times it's like floating on a cloud. Often, it does seem like I'm viewing the world from somewhere under water.

(Rhain again)

E-mailing the story of how St. Patrick Christianized Ireland to a Pagan on St. Patrick's Day is about as offensive as mailing the story of the Beer Hall Putsch to a Jew on Hitler's birthday.

Has the concept of being a considerate person ever crossed your mind, or did your God skip you while giving out that grace?

(Just a thought...)

I don't think that we are Real Vampires because we all have bad stomachs, or anything else for that matter, in common. It is possible that Real Vampires do share some common physical and mental traits with one another and with other non-Vampires, but I think that what makes a Real Vampire a Real Vampire is a combination of physical, mental, and spiritual aspects that are different from the majority of the rest of the human population, yet common to others who deem themselves "Real Vampires". I agree that when one has a physical problem, the local doc or healer is the first place to go. I think that calling oneself a Vampire should not be something one does until all other avenues are explored. In the Were community, there is a similar occurrence which is referred to as "Shifter's Disease". (An example - "Oh! I drop my pencil a lot too! I must be a Were!" or "Oh look! There's a new hair on my toe! I must be shifting!")

In short, I'm not a Vampire because I have a sensitive stomach, or because I have a mental illness, or because I like the taste of blood. They are just parts of my character. I'm a Vampire - more specifically, a Real Vampire, because of a combination of mental, physical, and spiritual characteristics which cause me to be able to identify closely to others who also label themselves such. We chose this label in order to define ourselves to others in an attempt to cause them to understand us better (hence treating us without prejudice), and in an attempt to find others like ourselves (hence eliminating some of the resulting loneliness which comes with our uniqueness.)