Main articles: Telepathy, Memory Erasure, Possession

 

It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas, since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice. One slip, and you could paralyze someone. Or kill them. - Peter Hale

Werewolves can meld their minds with those of others by inserting their claws into the recipients at the base of their skull. It is hinted, but not  confirmed that other were-animals can perform this advanced technique.

 

This talent allows for direct mind-to-mind communication. By use of this ritual, one can read a recipient's memories,  share memories with them, mentally enter their subconscious, or wipe memories from the recipient's mind.

 

Mind melding is used exclusively by the most experienced of shapeshifters, or alphas, as it is a dangerous act to perform. If not performed properly, the ritual could kill the recipient, paralyze them, or render them catatonic. If the process, the mental bond was broken by an outsider, it could kill both the user and recipient.

 

When taking memories from a victim, the wiped memories are virtually stored inside the claws as Peter's memory of his fathering Malia were locked inside the claws of his sister, Talia Hale.

 

In 1x04 - Magic Bullet, Derek Hale accidentally shared his memories of the Hale House with Jackson Whittemore. Consequently, Jackson had nightmares of the house.

 

In 1x10 - Co-Captain, Peter Hale shared his memories of the Hale Fire and his coma with his werewolf progeny Scott McCall. Later in 3x02 - Chaos Rising he was able to partially uncover some of Isaac Lahey's memories that had been wiped by the Alpha Pack.

 

In 3x22 - De-Void, Scott McCall, with Peter's instruction, performed this ritual with his claws in both Stiles and Lydia, and so he and Lydia were able to both enter Stiles' subconscious, with the intention of splitting Stiles from the Nogitsune. In 5x08 - Ouroboros, Scott tapped into Corey's memories in an attempt to find the Dread Doctors' lair.