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#1 2012-09-23 03:10:12

walkingintheshadows
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From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
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I just wanted to say thank you.

Yeah, sorry about the possible waste of a topic.
I came here well, it must have been a few years ago now. And what I found here helped shape me, and made me learn so much, and I just honestly wanted to say thank you to all of you guys, who taught me so much. I never posted much, I just watched. A special shout out to Sherlawk, for teaching me that people being rude on the internet is something to laugh at rather than make a drama out of, and to WolfVanZandt, for being logical and honest, worlds apart from others I've since met.

So what happened to me after I left? I um, well, weirdly ended up inheriting Blaze's old pack site. I'm still not quite sure how that happened.

But I couldn't have done it without this site. It was the first place I found, concerning therianthropy.

Thanks

Last edited by walkingintheshadows (2012-09-23 05:00:11)

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#2 2012-09-23 14:33:07

WolfVanZandt
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From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

LOL. I can certainly identify with that. When I entered the Were community in 1999, I had no idea that I would be inheriting one of the largest and the longest continuously running Howl in the US. Life has plenty of surprises in store for us. We shouldn't underestimate ourselves or the rightness of what we are.

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#3 2012-09-24 01:37:00

walkingintheshadows
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From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
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Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Out of curiosity, how many people attend the SEHowl normally?

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#4 2012-09-24 18:49:43

WolfVanZandt
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From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Currently, around 8. 8 to 12 is about the best range. I can handle up to, say, 25 without to much trouble (that used to be around the average), and we've had around 40 at one Howl.

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#5 2012-09-25 01:40:08

walkingintheshadows
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From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
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Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

That sounds fun smile What do you normally do at a Howl? How do you accomodate 15-40 people?

Last edited by walkingintheshadows (2012-09-25 13:58:57)

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#6 2012-09-25 19:58:53

WolfVanZandt
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From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
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Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Most of the SEHowlers like outdoor activities. The one Howl I had at a laid-back, peaceful campground didn't go over too well. They like mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, boulder fields, and other risky terrain. We also make side trips. At the last Howl, one group took a trip down to Rickwood Caverns and, on the way back, we stopped at a natural History Museum and ate at Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue. The regulars also like to sit around the campfire and reminisce. Weres seem to like tales at night. We also eat pretty good.

The one huge group we had, we were lucky to have an expedition cook who brought his out fit and lots of food. I wouldn't be able to handle communal eating for that size group. My best guess is that we would break up into smaller groups, sorta like Boy Scout campborees.

I don't really expect any more huge Howls. Weres are a lot more mobile than they used to be and they don't mind spreading themselves out more. Although there aren't more Howls than there used to be, there are more Weres to visit on home range. And as Weres form local groups, there's less motivation to travel to find exposure to other Weres.

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#7 2012-09-26 02:34:49

walkingintheshadows
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From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
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Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Is it almost always only wolves? Or do other theriotypes often turn up?

They sound great, really interesting. Has anybody ever filmed a Howl? (The Boy Scout analogy made me laugh XD)

It'd be nice to have one large annual gathering, just to keep up with what's going on in the community. But I guess other Weres are opposed to the idea, or just don't like it. I'd be willing to travel to an event like that, no matter how far away.

It's a shame about the lack of gatherings. Although it's nice to have Weres around you, it'd always be interesting to meet Weres from other cultures and places, see what their lives are like.

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#8 2012-09-26 03:00:48

WolfVanZandt
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From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

It varies. I've had some Howls where, although wolves have always been the majority, there was a real mix. Most of the SEHowlers right now are wolves but one regular is a very dominant fox and another is a jaguar.

As far as I know, no one has ever filmed a complete Howl. Discover's How to Meet a Werewolf (available on the How Stuff Works site:

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/werewol … ideo-30609  )

showed a small (and rather extreme) cut from a Howl.

This film has been criticized a good bit. Thing is, it's pretty factual - just maybe a little too much information for the general population right now.

The more recent History Channel show on the Beast of GĂ©vaudan had a segment from a Howl that was rather uncharacteristic and (hrumph!) embarrassing.

"It'd be nice to have one large annual gathering, just to keep up with what's going on in the community. But I guess other Weres are opposed to the idea, or just don't like it. I'd be willing to travel to an event like that, no matter how far away. "

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that's where things are heading.

I'm not unhappy about how things are developing. I've always seen Howls as a transitory period. They're to brief to be solid community although they were a good step in the right direction. I like seeing these stable communities forming as long as they stay connected, and they seem to be doing that.

Weres continue to be a very mobile population. Even in the stable communities, there's usually a stable core with quite a lot of movement in and out of the group. There are plenty of Weres (and I suspect it's the typical Were) who isn't comfortable unless they're moving around. I'm like that. The only reason I'm sitting still is that I can do more good for the community here than I can on the road. Hopefully that will change when I retire.

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#9 2012-09-26 12:06:01

walkingintheshadows
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From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

I think it would be fascinating to see clips of a Howl, but then again, you're right in the fact that I don't think some people are quite ready for the full extent of that. That clip was interesting, and I guess partly what I expected. I think it didn't present an entirely accurate view, but then that's rare in itself.

Embarrassing? How so? I haven't seen that, we don't really get a version of the History channel here, although I'm pretty sure I could find it on youtube.

I know the feeling. Being stationary isn't the most enjoyable concept to me. What do you plan to do when you retire? Just . . . wander?

Do you think.. hmm *thinks of analogy* Could the Were community be compared to a spiderweb? Lots of groups, most keeping in contact but still fairly isolated from each other?

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#10 2012-09-27 02:02:28

WolfVanZandt
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From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Embarrassing because they found some guy in the woods that said he could p-shift. He looked rather stoned and he kept saying he couldn't do it with people watching.

The same things I'm doing now, except more and with other Weres. Meet with other Weres, promote Howls, advocate for the Were community, continue my shamanic practice, manage my website........

I've used the spider analogy a lot to describe how people connect with their environment. Each strand of the web is a conduit of information that connects a person with other people and elements of their surroundings. The typical Were has a much denser web than most Mainstreamers.

I think your analogy is exactly what I'm looking for in the Were community. The internet is useful for that but there are so many mobile Weres in the community, I expect they'll be our primary means of connecting local groups (what I call "constellations").

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#11 2012-09-27 02:18:27

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Ah. Not the best representitive for us.

Then how do you feel you benefit the community more by staying where you are? It would be difficult to host a Howl on the move, understandably.

I like the idea of constellations, and messengers in between. Can we really communicate effectively that way though? I'd imagine news doesn't always travel fast, and that making use of modern technology could also help - although that doesn't allow for those who don't have access to it.

So Weres are mostly hyper-aware of their surroundings?

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#12 2012-09-27 02:19:55

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

(oops, you answered my first question in the other thread)

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#13 2012-09-27 19:53:41

WolfVanZandt
Member
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

"I like the idea of constellations, and messengers in between. Can we really communicate effectively that way though? I'd imagine news doesn't always travel fast, and that making use of modern technology could also help - although that doesn't allow for those who don't have access to it. "

I don't advocate abandoning the Internet. It's invaluable for information sharing. I just want us to get away from it as a basis for community. Most Weres I know consider themselves to be particularly close to nature, but how can anyone be close to nature when they live on the Internet?

"So Weres are mostly hyper-aware of their surroundings?"

About 80% of them, yes. Most people can filter what they take in. I sometimes wish I could because I pick up a lot that I really, really wish I'd never been exposed to. Most o the Weres I've been around are very sensitive to motion. Personally, if something isn't moving, I can be looking straight at it and not see it. I have a terrible time trying to find canned milk in an unfamiliar grocery store. It can be anywhere - in the canned goods section, with the coffee, near the diary aisle, etc.

But if a blade of grass jiggles, it draws my attention. If the lights flicker, it draws my attention to the sound of the fluorescents and that drives me nuts. I can't, not eaves-drop. If someone is talking, whispering even, I can't help but hear it. It can be aggravating.

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#14 2012-09-28 02:26:21

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

I'd never even considered that my inability to find things right in front of me had anything to do with therianthropy XD.

I think that the internet is good for advocating and promoting the community, if used properly, and you can reach a much wider audience of people. But you can't really ever replace a real, live community with an online version.

I guess you've often over heard things you'd rather not? I know how that is.

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#15 2012-09-28 15:16:01

BlackWolfMarwood
Member
Registered: 2008-02-18
Posts: 484

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

I like being able to smell if the banquet fried chicken in the microwave is still cold or fully heated throughout but I'm sure thats a regular human trait gained through years of microwave cooking experience wink

I have occasionally been active on here but usually only browse. I am 25 years old and have been registered on here since 2008. I first figured out my overall beliefs at the age of 17 and have been semi private, mostly only through hinting that I like wolves to the public, about what I have thought.

Here in Cary, North Carolina, I don't get much of a chance to travel much with working full time in IT and taking classes online for a bachelors degree but my fiance and I do try at least once a month to go camping - now that the summer heat has ceased. We have a lake about a half hour away from civilization where the light pollution is low and the night sky is easier to see. This is pretty close to how it looked the last time we went camping. I set the camera on a tripod around midnight and snapped this:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maeht0DSxo1rg9w1jo3_1280.jpg



My fiance and I both identify as wolves, although she is more recently interested and it could very well all be due to my influence upon her as she was very into faeries before she met me.

I have thought about attending SEHowl before but did not have the means when I was a teenager. These days I usually stop by this forum to check on things every so often but overall forum activity does appear to be slowing down from what it was years ago. It looks like I just missed the one in August. I frequently have had the desire for escapism. When younger and living on my own, I thought I could follow this want to escape using video games and online communities but over time discovered the fleeting, never permanent relationships were not meaningful enough. I reorganized my hobbies and social life to look at the physical world and now do as many outdoor activities as my checking account will permit. I would suggest this lifestyle change to the younger weres that may be reading this post who may be following my first escapist path into the internet. My fiance and I both have independently come to the conclusion that we are an elderly couple with the bodies of young adults. Going with the advice of my recently retired grandpa, I want to live my life to the fullest and enjoy every minute of my free time without stress of what the future might hold. Living in the moment has been the most important change. I was always planning for better days in the future and now I am living those plans. I could see us going to SEHowl next year if it was only a state or two away but my fiance is very cautious with strangers over the internet and with good reason.

While I enjoy other's company, it is only in the form of small groups the size of a family or pack. I would not consider myself socially lacking or shy and can become "just one of the guys" when the situation calls for it. When large multi-family gatherings occur, I find it becomes too loud, to hot, claustrophobic, and too scrutinizing. An example of this has always been Thanksgiving dinner. After some time, I have to get up and leave the room to cool off. I usually visualize myself sitting on a hill in the snow, watching from afar at a safe distance with the quiet company of one or two others. The smaller SEHowls of late seem more reasonable as far as loud crowds of strangers go. I always have had a very hard time being around contractors at work who suddenly show up one day and are gone a few weeks later. It takes sometimes a month before I will speak to them and introduce myself because my gut feeling is that I don't like or trust them. I just do not trust complete strangers right off the bat and yet in other situations can be caught off guard and nieve to what they are trying to sell me. Recently this past summer, I was able to encourage a close friend of mine and her boyfriend to find an apartment nearby where I live after they graduated from college and have been hoping to get them more active. I suspect her boyfriend to be either knowingly or unknowingly be a therian. From what I understand, he asked for help from a wolf spirit to see that their dog lived through a serious medical condition and since has carried a wolf totem around with him in his pocket. He certainly strikes me as being a wolf. She has always been interested in faeries in the same way my fiance has - and not the Tinkerbell types but the sharp teeth and mean tricks type. They are very busy with their lives and so far have not gone camping with us but I hope to eventually get them to go as they are interested. I sometimes think that between the two of them, my fiance, and I, we have our own little pack starting to grow where I live with kids(pups) coming in a few years from both couples.


I agree that the extreme footage of a howl from post #8 did make me want to laugh out of sheer awkwardness but I agree that it is accurate for the most part and has too much information given for the public to consume. I liked his statement about reincarnating with mistakes causing birth as a human. I have instead leaned towards the idea of alternating / random reincarnation between human and wolf form with glimpses of either actual memories or false memories from previous lives with so far six instances as a human and three instances as a wolf.

I too have thought of the constellation analogy. That was what came to mind when I was first awakened by a friend of mine in 2004 who described there being over a thousand of us in North Carolina alone. She had some less traditional views about ghosts and similar topics but never revealed any sources for this information so I had to limit what I paid attention to.


Anyway, those are my views on how things have been and what has happened to me. I have some more photography on my Tumblr if anyone is interested: http://marwolfgaming.com/

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#16 2012-09-28 18:09:09

WolfVanZandt
Member
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Beautiful shot!

The NCHowl in August was great - it's too bad there were only three of us there. But we had a great time. Maybe the next time more people will show up. I probably won't be there next year - I have a really long trip I have to plan for so the SEHowl will likely be my only other outing, but I plan to be there for 2014. Siver's a great guy and host. I sorta expect him to be at the SEHowl next year.

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#17 2012-09-28 18:49:52

BlackWolfMarwood
Member
Registered: 2008-02-18
Posts: 484

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Thanks. I don't know how many years I will have until kids are born, maybe only two and after that point, it won't be feasible to attend any for some time. Would hope to eventually get to meet you in person.

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#18 2012-09-29 02:24:24

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

The picture is stunning.

I understand the desire for escapism. At first, I found it in books, then online. But you're right, it's never quite enough. Not quite as good as the real thing.

Also, I'm ridiculously jealous over the fact that you have the oppurtunity to get to a Howl XD

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#19 2012-09-29 09:59:31

WolfVanZandt
Member
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Don't wait too long. I'd like to see kids exposed more to the outdoors and I'd also see Were parents expose their kids to the community.

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#20 2012-10-01 15:09:52

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Are Were families common? With children that are fully aware of their parents.. were-ness? XD

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#21 2012-10-01 19:38:27

WolfVanZandt
Member
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Were families are fairly common. Common enough that I know a few of them. The ones I know with children mostly have kids that are still infants. I only know one Were with teenaged children (they actually should be getting on toward college age now but the last time I saw them, the older one was a teenager.) Those two came to a howl so they obviously know that their mother is a Werewolf.

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#22 2012-10-03 14:02:50

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

That's nice smile

Sorry for the ridiculous number of questions, but, what would be the best way for me to keep up to date with new on which Howls are taking place where and when? I get asked about meetups quite a bit, and I can never give much more than a rough point in the right direction.

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#23 2012-10-03 22:50:17

WolfVanZandt
Member
From: Broomfield, Colorado
Registered: 2004-09-01
Posts: 4717
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Well, the Werelist has a section on Howls. I also offer to let Howl organizers in the southeastern US use  the SEHowl YahooGroup, so that will keep you up to date on some Howls. If you're interested in that, send me an email and I will send you an invite.

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#24 2012-10-04 01:32:41

walkingintheshadows
Member
From: England
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 91
Website

Re: I just wanted to say thank you.

Ta, I'll look at Werelist plus email you.

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