Alright, here we go! Time to tackle these big questions!
Gilneans and Druidic Shapeshifting
This one’s a topic of debate, as I’m sure you know. Ordinarily, in a debate, I’d humor both ideas. But since my goal is to write an RP guide, accurate to the best of my knowledge, I’ll have to decide. If someone in my guild asked me, or if someone asked me personally, I’d say no. Harvest Witches were not able to shapeshift, before being enhanced with the worgen curse. I say this for a few reasons, which I’ll explain in the drop-down menus below.
1. Harvest Witch teachings do not include shapeshifting.
- Gilnean harvest witches follow “the old ways”, basically a term for their traditional pagan heritage. This belief is described in various quest text from NPCs, and is explained as a form of paganism, but centered on mother earth itself. Think real-world druidism in medieval era, or Neopaganism in modern day. The fact is, this Gilnean pagan heritage is culturally and fundamentally different than the Night Elf druidism. It does not teach shapeshifting.
2. A Wild God has not taught them druidism
- Looking at the other druidic races, each involves shapeshifting in their quest text and in their culture. Their druidic ways can be traced back to a single wild god, that taught them druidism in the first place. For the Kaldorei and Tauren, that is the god of druidism himself, Cenarius. For the darkspear trolls, that is Gonk, the crafty Raptor god. The Gilnean pagans have no such gods in their culture, much less one that has approached them to teach druidism.
3. There are no animal gods in Gilneas.
- That’s not to say druidism has to be taught. Perhaps it can be learned on your own. But even then, druidic forms are not simple polymorphs like mages use. These are gifts from the corresponding gods. Worship the cat god, you earn the cat form. Worship the bird god, you earn the bird form. Harvest Witches do not mention the existence of wild gods, nor do they seem focused on animal life at all. Not a single animal spirit is seen, mentioned, or suggested to be in Gilneas.
4. Gilnean Shapeshifting is not seen.
- The only lore we have on Harvest Witches is from the starter zone. They are mentioned only briefly in later quests, and only briefly in the Genn short story. In the starter zone, we do not see shapeshifting. We see it from the player character, yes, because that is how the ingame druid class unlocks its abilities as you level. But while shapeshifting is seen time and again in the questlines of other races, not once does Celestine of the Harvest or other Harvest Witches use a bear form to fight the worgen, or the forsaken. Celestine is seen in Hyjal much later using ravern form, after having been bitten and thus enhanced by the worgen curse, but never once uses this shapeshifting during the Gilnean experience.
Addressing Kul Tiran Druids
Again, Gilnean druidism is a topic of debate, and I do expect the Kul Tiran druidism to be used as an argument against this, supporting Gilnean human shapeshifting. However, looking at the Kul Tiras, they have much more when it comes to shapeshifting in this aspect of their culture. Things Gilnean human harvest witches do not.
- Thornspeaker teachings include shapeshifting.
This is seen in their questlines, which include seeing them taking on various different forms. Even their teacher, the last living and friendly Drust, seems to stay in a druid form. Celestine and the Harvest Witches cannot say the same, in the Gilnean stater zone.
- An ancient being has taught them druidism.
Unlike the Gilneans who simply have granny Celestine, the Thornspeakers are actually taught by the last living good Drust, who is over 2,700 years old by now, and was part of a race that was spirutal, mysterious, and the original inhabitants of the land. While he’s a far cry from a wild god, he still has far more teachings to offer than any Harvest Witch had access to in Gilneas.
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There are Wild Gods in Kul Tiras.
Unlike Gilneas, where the sky is choked with industrial smog and the hills are reaped of trees, the land of Kul Tiras has many animal spirits, and is overall in far better condition. Once an ally of the Thornspeakers, the wolf spirit “Greenstalker” is addressed in a questline, where he’s been controlled by the Heartsbane, and you have to kill him to restore his spirit. What is more, the stag spirit “Athair” has been present in Kul Tiras since its founding, and Athainne is even confirmed to bless Thornspeaker druids.More have been seen in Kul Tiras as well. Where Gilneas has nothing more than a giant spider, Kul Tiras has several wild god spirits, including a stag, doe, wolf, turtle, and even a unicorn.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Greenstalker
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Athair
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Athainne
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=137480/aitwen
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=130350/guardian-of-the-spring
- And finally, addressing the last point, the shapeshifting ability is seen time and time again in the game. Where Gilnean NPCs are never seen using druid forms in their starter zone, Kul Tiras is full of those nasty Thornspeaker druid forms, from zone questlines or world quests.
Harvestwitches become Worgen
This is where the Worgen Curse comes into play, for the Harvestwitches. These Gilnean pagans were already intimate with nature, and were capable of “simple nature magic”. Once bitten by the worgen curse, a worgen is spiritual connected to both Goldrinn and Elune, and thus capable of far more druidic potential. The Harvestwitches already had an intimacy with pagan practices, and so took to shapeshifting like fish to water. In fact, it is after they are bitten and then taught by the Kaldorei that the Harvestwitches return to the spotlight in the Horde Silverpine Forest questline, as the Inconspicuous Bears. If they were capable of this before, they would have done so.
In conclusion, human Harvestwitches did not use druidic shapeshifting. The new Thornspeaker druidism actually helps support this. For each reason the Gilneans can’t, the Thornspeakers have a reason they can. The Thornspeakers may be humans, but they have multiple wild gods and thousands of years of knowledge at their disposal. Harvestwitches were capable of far less, until enhanced by the worgen curse.
Thankyou for this question! I ended up having to do a lot more digging into Thornspeakers, and thinking on druidism itself. Which is a good thing! I’ll have to include all this in the “Soul” section of the guide… maybe some of it in Culture too… but I’ll definitely have to include this in some kind of additional Worgen Classes RP guide. Here’s your free bacon, in case I forgot 
