Shape-Shifting
The ability of druids, gods, and heroes to transform between human and animal forms.
Celtic tradition abounds with shape-shifters - druids becoming animals, gods taking various forms, and magicians transforming others. Shape-shifting represents the fluid boundaries between species and the deep kinship between humans and animals.
The one who knows the salmon's way, the eagle's path, the hare's fear, knows truth.
Shape-shifting traditions reveal Celtic beliefs about the unity of all life and magical transformation.
Lebor Gabála Érenn
Written about in
- What Celtic tradition says about knowing yourself
The shape-shifting tales assume the boundary between what you are and what else you might be is thin. It is a strange idea to modern ears and a consistent one in these stories.