I agree with the above posts that it really is what you make of it.

For me, it is an entirely spiritual thing. Many people are very connected to animals. And it can be any animal really. I'm one of those granola eating people (though I wouldn't call what I practice New Age. It's practices and beliefs that have been passed down through my family for hundreds of years now.) But I do love granola and all of that health food stuff. =^.^=

Anyway. Yeah. Okay, so. Basically what I believe (and most of the people I hang out with in the community I belong to) is that those who are aware (that is, aware of their spiritual selves) have an astral self. In other words, a form we take while in the Astral realm. Often times, we believe that this form can manifest itself in our physical selves as well. This doesn't mean being able to actually turn into an animal or something like that, but being tied to the animal. Usually this is a personality thing. My personality for instance is very much like a wolf's personality. So is my mates and many of my friends. We even have a sort of pack...that is, our social group functions like a wolf pack, even to the point of taking titles and all of that sort of stuff. It sounds weird to some, but it works to us. Gives us the support system and the family that most of us didn't have growing up. Another way this tends to manifest itself physically is through slight changes of the body. Nothing like turning into a wolf or growing claws or anything like that. It's really just through eye changes. When that side is closer to the surface, my eyes go from a dark brown to a very bright amber colour. My boyfriend's go from a forest type green to a really pretty ice blue-ish silvery colour. Sometimes we howl to each other and when we get angry, snarls and growls tend to escape too.

Now, for some people, it's that their spirit IS wolf (that is how it is for me.) For others it's that they share their bodies with a wolf spirit, meaning that they have both themselves and the wolf. Also, some people believe that it is possible for you to be the two legged wolf, often referred to as a werewolf or a Lycan. For that though, many believe that your Astral self has to be bitten by another Lycan where as the being just a wolf (be it that your spirit is or that you have a wolf spirit with you) is something you are born as. Your spirit just is or the spirit is just there.

Since it's an astral thing, there are no pictures.

I wouldn't say that they are demons. But then again, my beliefs have their own versions of demons.

As for if there are urges or something like that...as I said above, our personalities tend to be a lot like that of wolf. So take the temperament and all of that of a wolf, and you get us. It ranges depending on how dominant someone is. I personally am not very aggressive or violent or anything like that, but that's because I'm not a dominant. I'm more...submissive in a way, though I'm not a submissive wolf. I've been described as an Alpha-Omega. Someone who doesn't have the normal aggression of a dominant, but still all of the protective tendencies and the dominance. Also you've got the Alpha (being the leader. Protective, very dominant, and usually fairly aggressive), the Beta (who is the second. Still protective, dominant, and aggressive, but not as much as the alpha, and usually the one in charge if the alpha isn't present), and everything in between.

I hope this answers your questions.

...dunno i tend not to read the larger portions of text...i get lazy

SherlawkDragon wrote:

What I'm saying is that life is what you make of it.
Wereism, real or fictional, is whatever you make of it.  Some might see it as a curse, others might see it as a gift.  Some might see is as a primal nature to be resisted, while others may see it as a way to get more in touch with the natural world.  Some see it as psychological and scientific, others see it as magical.  Being a were (real or fictional, again) can and will help you have a connection with the natural world, become a better martial artist, or give you an edge with magic, but only if that's how you choose to define it.  If you choose to see it as a burden to overcome then you go ahead and gain the experience of overcoming (or trying and failing to overcome) it.
It's all in the attitude.

i agree. well said ;-D