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Now seems like a good moment to say a few words about being otherkin.
I'm a dragon. From the most obvious point of view, that statement is false, given that I lack wings, scales, a tail, and the other things that you'll see in a picture of a dragon. However, from the point of view of Vietnamese folk-lore the 'dragon in human form' is a real thing that has social customs surrounding it. The Vietnamese are not the only people who have stories about dragons in human form.
I call myself a dragon partly because I take on the form of a dragon when I dream. I also do it because I have many stereotypical draconic traits - I like my sleep, I like caves and cave-like environments (I live in a somewhat dark ground-floor apartment which I love), I like to collect things, and I have a tendency to be either at rest or in intense activity. I also have a foul temper at times. You can look beyond those to the Chinese and Vietnamese mythology and observe my connection with the water element, with hoarding information and certain unusual cognitive traits.
I regard it as perfectly valid to identify as pretty much anything that can be imagined. One of the practitioners I admire identifies as a cybernetic meld of a dragon and a cat. I believe that a person's self-identification as being their own business.
That said, there is fluffiness in the people who are otherkin. I've encountered plenty of fluffy dragons - they're dragons all right, but they're fluffy and irresponsible with it, living in denial of important realities. Realities like "The world does not owe you a living" and "No matter how special and unique you are, it doesn't make you better than anyone else." Dragons who go around threatening people with their fire-breath or whatever are not being adult about things.
Like so many other unusual beliefs, it's not so much what you believe as the way you believe it. You can use your understanding of your identity as a way of hiding and assigning responsibility to everyone else for your actions, or you can use it as a springboard for greater self-knowledge and greater responsibility.
If there are any remaining questions about otherkin, feel free to ask. I have a busy few days coming up, but I'll do my best to answer as quickly as I can.
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January 19 2005, 12:56:38 UTC 7 years ago
To be Otherkin do you have to identify with an anmial that is mythical, or are any Otherkin more mundane animals? Do you think that in a symbolic sense all people would identify ('be', I guess) with a certain animal?
January 19 2005, 13:44:17 UTC 7 years ago
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January 19 2005, 13:02:59 UTC 7 years ago
I understood some people have certain physical or psychological features that becomes attached to their persona. And there is nothing wrong with that in my book. Heck, In Roman society most males had three names, and the third name was kind of a "nickname" indicative of some trait.
Caesar = Hairy
Cicero = Chickpea
Pulcher = Pretty Boy
Sometimes animals would be used for the "nickname" and hey, that's where I get my own Roman handle.
But I don't really think I'm a reincarnation of a bear, or that I turn into a bear when I'm dreaming, or that I have some kind of weird sexual fetish revolving around furry things. Nicknames are just that, nicknames. In Caesar's case, "hairy" was kind of ironic since he became famously bald.
So you like animals, and you and other people may even say you have a quality or two that can jokingly be personified as an animal. OK. Groovy. Cool. No problem. I can dig it. But I really don't think it means you are an incarnation of said entity, especially if said entity was a mythical creature. Dragons, elves, werewolves, vampires, little gray Roswell aliens. It's rather incredulous.
I just don't really get the whole otherkin phenomenon. Most of them seem like they were weird people beat up in high school, and in a desperate effort to explain their weirdness and abuse they've launched onto the idea they are somehow not human. It just doesn't really fly with me. Sorry.
Now you don't need my approval, obviously, to believe that you're a dragon or whatever. But I don't think you should really expect other people to take it with utmost seriousness.
To quote someone: "I am a man, and nothing that is human is alien to me." One's humanity has an incredible range of experiences and emotions. There is a manifold spectrum of reality springing out of one's humanity, offering so many choices, and I don;t understand why some people feel the need to be anything other than human to feel special. Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Einstein, Shakespeare - they were not gods or dragons or animals. They were just simple human beings who accomplished great things.
Rather than denying our own humanity, we should learn to live up to it.
January 19 2005, 13:23:23 UTC 7 years ago
Thank you.
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January 19 2005, 13:05:03 UTC 7 years ago
How similar is this association with a specific animal to the concept of a totem animal? Is it more of an extension of the totem concept or something else entirely? And finally, how is otherkin-ness typically incorporated into one's spirituality?
Thanks for being so open to questions. This is probably one of the most pragmatic spiritual communities I've seen on LJ. =)
January 19 2005, 20:24:35 UTC 7 years ago
Anyway, I think it's quite possible that two different people could have pretty much the same perception and experience of being connected with a particular type of animal and one would interpret this as being therian while the other interpreted it as a totem relationship, depending on their frame of reference and what ideas they each had been exposed to. There's a lot of common ground.
However, I also think there can be differences. To me, a totem animal relationship is fundamentally external to the self - a relationship with another being. Therianthropy is about your sense of self or identity; it's fundamentally internal. And my impression is the same is true of otherkin identity. But that's not an absolute distinction, and a particular individual's sense of connection with a particular animal, real or mythical, may not always fall neatly into one category or the other. I know some people who work closely with totem animals who do believe their totem is in some ways a reflection of themselves, or that they share some of its characteristics.
I think one of the important things to remember is that concepts like therian, otherkin, totem, and even for that matter pagan and related terms, are to a large extent conceptual maps, not hard and fast realities. They're ways that people try to analyze, explain or understand their experiences, but they aren't the experiences themselves. And I find that sometimes putting the labels aside and talking about what people actually perceive and experience makes it easier for everyone to understand each other.
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January 19 2005, 13:22:07 UTC 7 years ago
::applause:: I identify with a particular animal, not so much as that I'd call myself Otherkin, but identification nonetheless. Mainly what that does for me is that it helps me to rationalize, or put a name to various illogic and inconsistancy in my cognition and learn to either adapt to better ends or to live with myself better the way I am.
January 19 2005, 13:44:58 UTC 7 years ago
I am willing to be that no one else considers themselves to be some fourth- or fifth-form element. And even though that is the form I take when I dream, I don't, either. It does seem to give me great talent and insight with computers and other electronic devices.
Even so, I'll stick with human, since that is what I am when I am awake. I like cats, but cats are cats, and people are people, and electronics are electronics.
Sunfell
January 19 2005, 21:18:43 UTC 7 years ago
January 19 2005, 14:27:22 UTC 7 years ago
Points to ponder
Hmm, By laochbran's definition I would be otherkin.I don't think of myself as otherkin though.
The people I have met/heard of IRL that are otherkin did seem to be running from something.
There is something really comforting in having others see the secret you though. I have to admit I find it endearing to be called a dragon...
Thank you laochbran for your post, it has made me think, or remember to think when I wake up.
May I ask if you share my skeptism on otherkin physically transforming into their otherkin forms? My suspension of disbelief snaps back there. ^_^
Need sleep. Good night to all ^_^
January 20 2005, 20:48:32 UTC 7 years ago
Re: Points to ponder
May I ask if you share my skeptism on otherkin physically transforming into their otherkin forms?It's certainly not uncommon. The problem is that most who aren't running any more tend to shut up about it - it's not exactly easy to talk about, and seldom rewarding to do so.
May I ask if you share my skeptism on otherkin physically transforming into their otherkin forms?
Yes, I share that. I have been told (by an eye-witness) of a physical transformation (not by an otherkin). The witness believed that they had been hypnotized in someway. While it's uncomfortable for me, I have say that hypnotism remains the most credible explanation.
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January 19 2005, 14:43:51 UTC 7 years ago
I thought it a little fanciful of them until I saw their eyes flash fire, felt their claws on my flesh and experienced their totally not human growl.
I am skeptical and totally non-fluffy. Normally, I'd laugh if I hadn't experienced it for myself.
It's a phenomenon that I don't pretend to understand.
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January 19 2005, 16:00:49 UTC 7 years ago
who distance themselves from the other.
Also, your icon is the absolute Shiznit.
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January 19 2005, 14:52:23 UTC 7 years ago
Personally I don't care if you think you're a dragon. I don't care if you think you're a dancing Russian bear, or the reincarnation of Elvis. I simply believe that has no more to do with being Pagan than does being into BDSM, or SCA, or Sci-Fi movies. I certainly hope people don't go around claiming to be Pagan Klingons.
That being said, several of your points are probably valid. I don't know, I've never studied the Vietnamese faiths, but then again I don't need to, they aren't Pagan. Grabbing details from completely unrelated faiths to justify what you do in this one is just silly. I do know that the Native American shamanic practices often involve aspecting different animals under the belief that they could take on the aspects of those animals such as the cunning of a wolf before a hunt. I'm perfectly fine with that, but they didn't think they -were- wolves.
It is things like this "Otherkin" nonsense that make me embarrassed to openly admit being Pagan. I'm afraid my family/co-workers will connect me with this. I have to go with Ursus on this one. Believe what you like, but don't expect me and mine to do anything but point and laugh when you claim it. And "cybernetic meld of dragon and a cat"? Do you have any idea how utterly delusional that sounds?
Your so-called "traits" that prove your dragonness are nothing more than random personality quirks some might call OCD'ish. Here, let me try. I'm a night owl, prefer the dark, and never met a cheese I didn't love. Physically I'm never happier than when I'm curled up with a pile of friends on the floor chatting, and my bed is an utter nest of soft squishy pillows and blankets. I play in the eclectic Pagan world under the moniker Shadowkat. I must be *ponders* hrm, well that all sounds cat-like so I'll go with a lynx. Sure that sounds good...uhm no. I'm a human with a varied personality. As, might I add, are you.
So, at what point, if any, if ever, will the Pagan community finally put its collective foot down? At what point will we finally have the guts to say, "Whatever you are is ok. Whatever your delusion is is fine with us. But it isn't what we are, take your particular flavor of nutty and get it the heck out of our religion." In short, whatever your particular brand of psychosis may be is fine, but stop pretending it has anything to do with this religion. You're making the rest of us look stupid.
January 19 2005, 15:28:29 UTC 7 years ago
Alas, I can tell you of at MINIMUM four 'Pagan Klingons'. o.0 And these I know in real life. And have worn full Klingon garb. To circle.
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January 19 2005, 15:01:59 UTC 7 years ago
Except for the water element bit, the same could be said of my cat. Just sayin'.
I'm like a lot of people, I have a hard time getting a grasp on the concept of otherkin. Plus my opinion on the whole thing has been tainted. My ex believes himself to be a werewolf. That's fine, he's hairy and he likes the night and eating loads of meat. I call him an albino that needs a wax on an extreme Atkins diet, but hey, if he wants to call himself a werewolf, that's his business. He would tell friends about how he's a werewolf, and I would sit back and shrug when people would glance at me as if to say "He's not serious, is he?"
For the most part, if someone believes themselves to be otherkin, that's fine by me. Personally, I don't care if someone thinks they're a kangaroo or worships a toaster oven. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone (including themselves), that's cool. I don't really follow the Rede, but that's just common sense.
However. I had children with the aforementioned ex-werewolf. Now that they are school-age, they question everything (which I love). One of the things they were asking me about after a visit with their father was "Are we puppies? Daddy says he's a werewolf and you're a witch. Why aren't we normal?"
This pissed me off. Firstly, yes, I am a witch, but I really don't refer to myself as one in front of my kids. Kids have a tendency to misconstrue things, and I didn't want to confuse them. Secondly, I don't think he needed to impart his beliefs on being a werewolf. Why would he feel like a 5 year old needed to know this? All it did was confuse and upset them, made them feel like freaks. I had to ask him where his boundaries were. I recall asking "When you apply for a job, are you going to tell your potential employers that you can't work on full moons because you need to go run in the woods?" (He claims he does this often, but the whole time we were together, he wouldn't know it was a full moon unless I told him).
I guess if I could ask one question of someone who is otherkin, it would be where do the boundaries lie? Is it something very personal, or is it something you would shout to the world without fear? I know my ex is a...um...special case, but I thought I would ask someone who seems to have a good handle on it.
January 19 2005, 21:04:18 UTC 7 years ago
Personally, there are quite a lot of aspects to my identity that might be considered more or less freaky to other people, and I tend to take a middle road. I don't generally introduce anything into conversation that's not relevant, and even when it does seem relevant to mention one or another of my less-than-mainstream attributes, I tend to think about how best to put it so I don't freak anyone out unnecessarily. For instance, I'm married to a woman. I don't in any way hide that, or refrain from mentioning my wife in a situation where a straight woman might mention her husband. But on the other hand, I don't feel the need to say "Hi! I'm queer!" to every person I meet. :-)
I don't identify as otherkin, but I do identify as therian, which many people would consider related. And I don't tend to talk about it unless (a) I'm speaking to someone who I have reason to believe is likely to accept and understand that, and/or (b) it seems relevant or important to mention it. On the other hand, I don't hide it either - I've written articles about therianthropy under my real name which anyone searching for info on the net could find if they wanted to. I guess I pretty much take a "need to know" approach.
My wife and I don't have kids, but we're planning to in the next few years. And if and when the time ever comes to talk to them about this, I would want to be certain that I put it in a way that they would have no trouble understanding. Maybe something like "Mommy really likes lynxes, and sometimes feels a bit like a lynx inside. Maybe someday you'll find there's an animal you feel like inside. Maybe not. Everyone's different, and that's OK."
Some people in the therian community do use the were-creature archetype to express their connection to the animal they identify with. Some don't. But from what you've written here, I think that even most of those that do would consider your ex a big embarrassment.
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January 19 2005, 15:14:46 UTC 7 years ago
However, I never have and probably never will identify as "otherkin". I'm a human who has very cat-like mannerisms. At which point do you switch from "I identify with..." to "I am..."? That's a pretty major distinction.
January 19 2005, 15:30:23 UTC 7 years ago
Precisely my thoughts.
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January 19 2005, 15:35:45 UTC 7 years ago
Despite the username ...
I'm not otherkin, but I do no some people who identify as therian, otherkin, or just very closely identify with an animal/being.I have red hair, I like to think I'm relatively intelligent, I like to nip my partners shoulder on occasion. All fox-y like things.
I am also called "Momma Bear" by some. Mostly because I have a couple of kids and I tend to be protective.
I once had a dream I was a harp seal on an ice flow. Woke up to find the room was cold, and I was fat, on my side, nursing my daughter.
I don't believe that I am anything but human. I say that I am fox-like, bear-like, harp seal like - and expect that the person I am talking to will pick up on the traits that humans have imbued those animals with.
OTOH, I have friends that feel that they *DO* have a greater than usual connection with various animals or mythological beings. I may not understand it, I may not see what they do, but I do respect them.
My belief in otherkin has not grown. However, my belief and respect for those I care about is rock steady, so ... I just chalk it up as one more of the mysteries of the universe I don't fully comprehend, and leave it at that.
January 19 2005, 15:45:14 UTC 7 years ago
ok, I believe in communication with animals, and that animals may even be able to connect psychologically with us humans. thank you for clarifying my question on this issue.
however, I find it quite far-fetched and probably not for me to go into. It is a very interesting subject though, and the mind is a very powerful thing. Its just another way of realising our potential and tapping into our 'hidden' strengths and resoures?
I do though, have this recurring dream about being able to fly and always having to save the world but I always get hit in the back...that's usually the point where I wake up, and I really do feel the tingly sensation of the knife/blade/fireball/energy that hit me in the back when I wake up.
I don't suppose that means anything to anyone here. Not that I'm fishing for anything, you understand...probably it just means that I have matyr issues of sacrificing myself to 'save the world' and shit like that heh.
Do share what you know about chinese myths and stuff like that though. I'm 100% chinese, maybe we can trade myths *smiles*
January 19 2005, 17:09:55 UTC 7 years ago
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January 19 2005, 16:50:22 UTC 7 years ago
Not being one to give my attention or energy away to just anybody, I have no real opinion on otherkin, otaku, or furries other than to say I don't care, do what thou wilt, and clean up after yourself.
January 19 2005, 20:38:52 UTC 7 years ago
This statement is incredibly wrong.
While the label 'otherkin' is about as old as the internet [give or take a few years], otherkin have existed for a lot longer than the internet.
Elves, dragons, therians... yup, they all predate the internet by a lot.
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January 19 2005, 16:50:36 UTC 7 years ago
Random notes from a psych point of view..
Ok, so if we run with general psychology, then we have the ego, superego, and the id.OR the light side, the dark side, and the public side.
OR (Norski terms, here) the Alf and Dwelf, residing in the Giant.
OR (lastly) the human side and the animal side. Now, if we name or identify our dark/feral/animal side, and that happens to be a wolf, eagle, dung beetle, food processor, whatever; then we are engaging in a typical exercise engaged in by immature psyches throughout the Western world.
Not that it is a bad thing; rather, this exercise of the imagination is what keeps the mind healthy in a stress-filled environment. It is similar to people who belong to a sexual subculture that only those in the subculture know the identity of. However, as the line gets blurry, other issues arise - and can lead (in extreme cases) to Multiple Personality Disorder.
Everyone who's seen LOTR remembers the split between Smeagle and Gollum, right? That's the extreme I'm talking about.
Astral projection, lucid dreaming, energy manipulation into "forms" - all can be projections of that animal side. I'm a wolf guy, personally.
It is important to remember that integral to the concept of the "Shamanic Journey" is to consciously enter the subconscious, learn from it, and return back to the conscious mind. I believe that some of the Otherkin simply started that journey (whether or not they realized that they did) and got lost.
-Ronin
January 20 2005, 03:56:55 UTC 7 years ago
Re: Random notes from a psych point of view..
that's a great way of putting it, and maybe they might be open to this suggestion, to complete their journey. Cuz as I understand in my limited knowledge, majority of them seem to be without an anchor, constantly trying to find answers...7 years ago
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January 19 2005, 16:59:38 UTC 7 years ago
The problem I have is with those people who take these beliefs to a scarey place. Those people that actually believe they can transform into dragons and breath fire on people, but when you ask them to show you, give some crock story about their form overwelming me, and my puny consciousness would not be able to cope. I mean, come on, I've seen some pretty bizarre things in my life, and my mind has coped with a fuck of alot. Personally, if someone actually turned into a dragon in front of me, then burned me to a crisp and/or turned me into a tastey snack, I'd die happy. It'd mean I died knowing that the world had such amazing creatures as dragons still in it.
Then there are the ones that don't just settle with being something other then human, but believe they are an actual personage from legend/mythology. I know a person in town to not only claims to be one of the Tuatha de Danann, which I could accept, hell, even welcome. No, he claims to be Lugh. I'm sorrr, maybe its just my point of view, being on a druidic/shamanic path, and the fact that my Patron is Lugh, and I've had an encounter with him (my jaw still hurts) but this guy.... The idea makes me want to gag.
I'm perfectly willing to believe in just about anything, if, when explaining it, you don't come off like a complete and utter fruit loop, or as a meglomaniacal ass. I don't discount the possibility of someone having been in an animal form in a recent incarnation, which influences their lives this time around. I don't discount the possibility that non-mundane creatures exist just because I can't see them. Just please....PLEASE, if you are going to brandy about the fact that you are a dragon, have some common sense about it, and realize that if you threaten to turn me into a crispy critter with your fire breath, I'm going to think you're a nutbar until you actually do it.
January 20 2005, 21:19:35 UTC 7 years ago
I find that kind of stuff very annoying myself.
January 19 2005, 17:40:23 UTC 7 years ago
I know there have been some historical lunatics who believed they were animals (European kings seemed particularly prone to this), but I'm wondering if this specific phenomenon might not be something generated by the web...
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January 19 2005, 18:56:40 UTC 7 years ago
I don't think they would have perceived themselves as Otherkin, though. They went into this altered state for a very specific purpose dictated by real life necessity--kicking enemy butt in battle--not because they perceived themselves as full of groovy esoteric wonderfulness.
In the tradition I've been working in, it is believed that every human has an animal self or fylgia, sometimes called a Fetch. Although everyone has one, most people are unconscious of it. Once you meet your Fetch, you can travel in this form into the Otherworld. But knowing and working with your Fetch doesn't make you Otherkin. You're a human working with your Fetch . . .
January 19 2005, 19:46:52 UTC 7 years ago
Ah, Fetch Work ,,,
An ongoing process.The difference I see between fetch work and otherkin is that when doing fetch work, often teh point is to attain mastery over your animal self, and that the animal self is not considered enobling, but usually has quite the opposite qualities.
Which leads me to wonder ([Bad username: valgarth"], where are you????) whether us Nordic types are predisposed to be even more vociferous on the "you gotta be nuts" side of the otherkin debate.
I mean, I have friends that identify, on some level, as Therian or otherkin, which is the reason I am at the live and let live stage, as opposed to the pointing and laughing stage. I respect them, therefore, I will respect their beliefs, although I still don't really "get" it.
And I have had an almost visceral response to someone saying they are a were-something or other. I wonder if in doing our fetch work, the astral/meditative version of imposing your human will over your more bestial qualities, we have ensured that this is one idea that it's difficult to be open to?
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January 19 2005, 21:23:22 UTC 7 years ago
There is a big difference between "I identify with unicorns" and "I am a unicorn", though. I believe that the moment you start to believe you are something, the lessons those things can teach you are lost. Very Taoist, no?
Personally, I view otherkin as a modern way of the tribal shaman putting on the mask and "becoming" bear, or stag, or whatever.
I am very goaty. When I am "feeling" my spirit, I feel hooves and horns. Am I a satyr? Am I Pan the Man? Nope. Am I a goat? Nope. But the idea of "Goat" and the idea of "Pan" are teaching me things in my life right now, so naturally I'm identifying with them and will see myself in that aspected light.
I can see how it could be mistaken for actually being those things, instead of just feeling them though.
January 20 2005, 21:32:08 UTC 7 years ago
When I say "I am a dragon", I mean it in the same sense - I have the characteristics of dragnon-ness. This does not make 'dragon' the sum total of my being. It means that there is a (relatively) unchangable part of me that has a bunch of interrelated characteristics that can be efficiently described with a single label.
I can relate to what you say about 'becoming' an animal - I use 'shapeshifting' to describe that. There is a difference between what you are and the forms you can take. When I am home, when I am not shifted into something else, then 'dragon' is an efficient label for those parts of me that keep returning after every change.
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January 20 2005, 00:12:11 UTC 7 years ago
Every one of these people was wrong in the head. Every one of them had some feeling of alienation from people because of relationship problems they had as a youth with their peers or families. To cope, they mentally removed themselves from humanity and claimed that they were some sort of natural or mythical creature, which they thought of as better than humans. They wanted to feel special.
I can't agree or be okay with people who identify themselves in this way, and I'm not sorry for saying it. Every single Otherkin I've known has had so much emotional baggage that I feel dragged down just being around them. No matter how happy or up-beat they act, I can feel that they aren't the confident and well-adjusted people they make themselves out to be, and the truth of this has always been revealed in time. That's what I've experienced, that's what I've dealt with in reality, so that's what I believe. Perhaps there are people who identify as Otherkin who are actually right in the head and wouldn't be better off with a psychiatrist and medication -- hell, I don't know you, so perhaps you're one of them -- but I have yet to encounter a single one. So, when a person such as yourself identifies as a dragon (or a cybernetic dragon-cat, for that matter), my reaction will always be that of skepticism and disbelief.
January 20 2005, 21:39:04 UTC 7 years ago
You'll be pleased to know that I got lucky and found a very good psychiatrist. I believe that identification as otherkin is a symptom of a recovery process, rather than a symptom of the disease itself. I can understand if you are sceptical about this. Perhaps it would be better to call that initial switch a 'coping mechansim' - one that can be used or abused.
As with any crutch, those who depend on it most visibly are the ones who are the worst off.
But it's not just a crutch for the sick. It can be an enabler of other things, too. Perhaps in a similar way that a mountain-climbing stick is a variation on the 'crutch' theme?
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January 20 2005, 01:12:19 UTC 7 years ago
A random observation
Why the heck does every thread seem to degenerate into a discussion of what is, and is not, "really pagan?" It's like some strangeJanuary 20 2005, 21:39:44 UTC 7 years ago
Re: A random observation
But they started it! ;)January 20 2005, 02:57:38 UTC 7 years ago
it seems like...
...Otherkin conveniently are always something "cool" or mysterious. From all the comments I have read (and I haven't read every single one) there are reports of people who think they are sidhe, werewolves, dragons, vampires, etc., but no one finds themselves to be a less "cool" creature like a troll, duck, or a gnome.January 20 2005, 21:45:02 UTC 7 years ago
Re: it seems like...
Yeah, people tend to identify as something that facilitates a positive self-concept. I have no problem with that.I also think that the more stories a person hears about a given creature, the more opportunity a person has to evaluate that creature as being that creature.
I suspect that if there were lots of stories about ducks, and people had cognitive models of "Faced with this situation, this is how a duck would behave," you'd get more people identifying with ducks.
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January 20 2005, 05:29:37 UTC 7 years ago
In my mind the only thing that sets otherkin apart from others is their belief that they are otherkin. Everything else i'd chalk up to simply being human.
January 20 2005, 05:51:59 UTC 7 years ago
Congratulations. You made me snort my hot chocolate, and now I'm sneezing. *l*
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January 21 2005, 00:02:53 UTC 7 years ago
And you're right about how well this has gone, I'm hugely relieved by the generally positive response.
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February 26 2005, 18:39:02 UTC 7 years ago
I'm too lazy to explain but check out forums.therianthropy.com and browse around for some explaination.
No otherkin actually physically shifts. They shift mentally, in dreams, astrally, many feel phantom body parts which exist constantly (wings, ears, tails), many just feel inhuman. They feel confused because they wake up in the morning and wonder where their paws are, why their senses are different..almost like someone waking up and not knowing where they are..many therians have instances where they wake and they don't understand WHY they are human. It doesn't feel right to them.
I hope i've explained that somewhat well.
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