Walker or Skinwalker?

[Wulfn1]

personal opinion here, (yes I know it's an old thread... but I'm new so I'll probably have to be smacked into submission every now and again till I understand the rules of the place.)

Walkers, from what I've gleaned from these books as well as what I've read over the course of my life elsewhere, appear to have the ability to shift (sometimes without consciously trying to) they can interact with the spirit world(ghost , spirit , entity) as well as control the actions of some of these. Walkers lives are fraught with danger , and because of this not many survive childhood. Those who do  and embrace their gift can live a very long life (the walker taken by the vampire for sustenance only lasted 63 years due in part to the fact that he was someone's lunch for an extended period of time and he was also in captivity, something that goes against every fiber of a walker's wild being) Walkers are a threat to several of the paranormal creatures of the world (not just vampires). Walkers are empathetic, and can feel the pain/joy/anger etc of others if they open themselves up to such. One of the reasons they are called "walkers" is because they can exist in both the natural world as well as the spirit world "walking" from one to the other with no difficulty or obvious transition.

Anyone out there that has considered these things while reading the Mercy series? or am I alone here?

[Tearadria]

Yeah, I've always been into werewolves, lycanthropy, Native American's Skinwalkers and what not. So each time I read a book on anything of the such I always consider those matters of the lore and legends of them and apply them to the book. So far I love Patricia's insight onto these things. Even though some things do not match what the legends and lore say...those are mainly stories from story tellers themselves so that when another person tells a story about them they are telling it from their point of view and how they see it in their minds, just like they did back in time only the stories have carried on and eventually ended up being myth, legends, and lore ; )

[Ellyll]

Where do you get the idea that walkers are empathetic?

[ironkitten]

Well, I wish I could remember more on the Navajo, but my parents know a whole lot about them and could tell you guys all about em. We lived on their reservation for a while and even then they are the indian tribe down in New Mexico and Arizona of course they could tell you about the Hopeji too. Not sure I spelled that last one right. Interesting take on here.

[little gray wolf]

It is cool that you grew up on a reservation