Phantom Shifting vs. Physical Shifting
I've been noticing some confusion in the non-human community regarding physical shifting vs. other types of shifting? I don't know how, but hopefully this can help clear things up.
A phantom shift is the non-physical, tactile presence of a limb, body part, or other appendage. A therian or otherkin phantom shifting may experience nonhuman body parts that can be felt but (typically) not seen overlaid onto their physical human body; it is not a physical transformation. Usually other people cannot see or react to these limbs, and anytime a person does see or interact with them it will be in a metaphysical (spiritual) sense; they have no physical impact upon this world.
(Occasionally a person may report a phantom limb on their body as being more of an absence than a presence, this is normal.)
In contrast, a physical shift is a physical transformation into another form. A shifter physically shifting into another form may experience their physical human body violently or gradually reforming into something else. In a physical shift every part of the physical body has the potential to change, from the organs to the skin of the shifter; it is not an etheric change and people can see you transforming if you shift in front of them.
(Spiritual physical shifters exist, but usually these physical shifts can still be seen/perceived by others and still have effects on the physical body.)
Does the difference matter?
Yes! They're two different experiences, and feel different. Someone experiencing a phantom shift is likely not seeing or experiencing physical changes that lead them to believe they are shifting, and may not find relevant experiences in the physical shifter community. Someone who is experiencing intense physical shifts (organs moving, senses changing, bones shifting) may struggle to relate to someone who is only ever having phantom shifts that they cannot see but feel. They are two different experiences, and conflating the two is likely to lead to errors and problems in how people communicate these experiences.
Phantom shifting has never referred to physical shifting. Even in old community resources you can see there was a clear difference between the two. Phantom shifters were widely accepted, physical shifters were not due to the "impossibilities" of physical shifting. It was never used as a synonym between the two, nor did people ever really conflate them. (The only exception to this would be when some people would use "p-shift" to refer to phantom shift; in those situations it was never intended to refer to a physical shift and was usually quickly corrected or clarified.)
When physical shifters say they shift, do they mean a really vivid phantom shift? Do they believe physical shifting is impossible?
No. Most physical shifters mean it exactly as intended - a physical body change. We're not using it to refer to a phantom shift and, since I've seen this misconception stated: no we never used it because we "know it’s an impossible feat, they just don’t want to admit it"; when we're talking about physical shifts it's entirely literal. How far may be a matter of debate, but we are talking about shifts in this world, not the metaphysical one.
Why do I see some people describe what appear to be phantom shifts as physical shifts?
I've noticed that in the past, some (such as some clinical zoanthropes) would talk about their shifts and complain that they couldn't be seen by others, which might have spurred confusion? However, these people were still claiming a physical shift, still felt they were physically or genetically nonhuman, and still treated their limbs and/or body as if they were physically there. It wasn't simply a phantom shift, but experientially a physical shift they or others couldn't see. They still believed 100% they were genetically nonhuman, and that they maybe retained some nonhuman traits or had their true physical nature hidden from humans but that it was physically there. They still had physical effects from their shifts, such as physiological effects (intolerances to foods their species couldn't eat, shifting pains, etc.) or somatic shifts. Some also claimed that their limbs while invisible still affected this world (such as scratching a wall with their unseen claws and leaving actual claw marks on said wall). This is different from a therian/otherkin phantom shift which is generally acknowledged to not be physically there.
Hopefully this helps clarify some things! Both are valid phenomena, but they're not interchangeable.