Imagine that you don’t feel human. You know your body is human, you know physically there is no way you cannot be human. You ponder why you feel this way. Perhaps it is your mind, a mental identity of sorts, or perhaps it is your spirit. Maybe you feel you lived a past life as something else. You may have memories of being something other than human. Or, you may have no memories, and you draw a blank when attempting to find them. Instead, you just feel as if you are not meant to be in a human body, a sort of “species dysphoria”. Like many who feel this way, you may search online for answers, and you may find the otherkin or therian community.

 These communities (sometimes grouped into the otherkin community) are full of people with feelings of being non-human, though experiences may vary. Many of the individuals have searched nearly everywhere before they found the community. Others may have simply “fallen” into it. Whatever the reason, they have found a group for them (or so they think), and are happy to have found an explanation for their feelings. Are these feelings legitimate, though? What is the community really like? What is the difference between the therian and otherkin groups? This article will attempt to break the barrier between the otherkin and therian communities and the rest of the world.

 It has long been debated between active members, whether therianthropy is the same as otherkin. In other words, whether otherkin is an unbrella term, or rather a separate term from therianthropy. Many therians believe themselves to be different from otherkin, as most therians identify as non-human animals, and most otherkin identify as more “otherworldy” beings. Of course, there is a good deal of blurred lines, since many dragonkin (those who identify as dragons) label themseves as therians, and many earthly therians join the otherkin community, and consider themselves otherkin. Things can get confusing at times, and occasionally arguments spring up. However, more and more, the otherkin community is expanding to include therianthropy as well. Another area of crossover is furry. Many therians will identify as furries and vice versa. The two sub-cultures, though, are actually quite distinct. While both groups have close animal ties, furries often are more “fun” oriented, and don’t necessarily have meaning to what they do. Therians, on the other hand, usually have a far deeper connection to the animal they identify as. This is not to say, however, that furries cannot be therians, and therians cannot be furries. There is (as mentioned above) a good degree of crossover.

 The therian community community is said to have begun with a website called “alt.horror.werewolves”, started in the early 1990’s on Usenet (Wikipedia, “Therianthropy”). It was initially a werewolf fansite, until some of the members began claiming that they were werewolves themselves. Many described a certain situation that they have experienced, either mentally going into the state of an animal, or feeling phantom sensations, such as fur or fangs. These “experiences” later became known as “shifts”, short for “shapeshifts”. Despite the name, however, few actually claim to be able to physically shapeshift, and those that do are often frowned upon, even “bashed”.

 Therians as a whole tend to be greatly connected to to a certain animal, generally called the therian’s “theriotype”. This is the animal they identify as. The individual’s theriotype may vary. Some may be cats, others dogs, some horses, some birds. However, there is a significant number of wolf therians out there. Many have debated why this may be, but few “reasonable” answers have come forth. Some take the spiritual theory, and suggest that since there are so few wolves now, maybe the wolf population is incarnating as humans to survive. There are, however, a couple problems with this theory. The first is that we are living in a time when, often, wolves, and other endangered animals are being taken care of by zoos and wildlife foundations, rather than killed. Along the same lines, why would only wolves incarnate instead of other endangered animals? The next, a more plausable theory, takes a more psychological approach. Perhaps because many people identify with dogs, a therian may take on a fairly canine identity at an early age, and eventually “mature” into wolf, since they are less tame, just as humans.

 While not many claim that therianthropy is physical, there is still some debate whether theiranthropy is something psychological, or something spiritual. Those in favor of the psychological debate suggest that therianthropy may stem from Asperger’s disorder. Many therians seem to have it, and may be more “animalistic” because of it, and led to identifying as an animal, since it can be hard for someone with this disorder to relate to other humans. However, since there are no formal studies, therianthropy relating to Asperger’s cannot be proved or disproved as of yet. The other theory is that therianthropy is entirely spiritual, and therians are incarnated animals. Then, of course, there are those that are more “on the fence”, and believe that therianthropy may be a combination of both. So far, no theory truly dominates, and most seem to feel the cause depends on the therian personally, and not as a whole.

 The otherkin subculture, like the therian community, began in the early 1990’s (Wikipedia, “Otherkin”). The first “true” otherkin site, was a mailing list for “elves” (Wikipedia, “Otherkin”). The community eventually expanded to include angels, demons, fairies, dragons and others. Unlike the therian community, there is little debate whether otherkin is spiritual or psychological. Though there are some that do choose the psychological approach, many otherkin do feel that they once were, or are meant to be something other than human. It is generally accepted that many otherkin have phantom sensations as well, much like therians. Of course, these sensations often differ from therianthropy related sensations. Many therians feel earthly limbs, such as fur or fangs. A common sensation for otherkin is phantom wings, usually located on the back.

 A very big problem in both subcultures, is the presence of so called “posers” and “wanna-be’s”. People who pretend to be otherkin for attention are called “posers”. People who want to be otherkin, but are not, are considered “wanna-be’s”. Then there are “roleplayers” and “trolls”, people who come on forums, and attempt to poke fun at “legitimate” members. In both communities, fusses are usually made, and trouble stirs. For this reason, there is often strict “criteria” that you need to pass in order to be accepted, although generally not obvious. There is a lot of questioning involved, and some do not respond well to this. Often those that do not respond well are in fact not “otherkin”, but there have been occasions where someone who may very well be able to be considered “otherkin”, does not answer well, and may behave immaturely and not be accepted, or may be mistaken for someone they are not. Even so, the questioning (used in both subcultures) is not always in excess, or prove fatal. For many it actually may prove beneficial. For instance, some learn more about their otherkin or theriotype, others may more easily find it. Some may actually discover that they are neither otherkin or therian, but may stick around as a “human” simply because they have grown fond of the community! Yet some “humans” do enter the otherkin community as non-kin, simply because they are interested.

 It cannot be forgotten, however, the bad reputation these two groups often get. Most people outside of these subcultures may find all this “weird” or even “disturbing”. Plenty may worry that most otherkin are “insane”. It is true that many otherkin and therians would by no means consider themselves “normal”, and there have been a few cases of otherkin having some form of psychosis, or DID (dissociative identity disorder), but many seem to be quite sane. On one forum, there was a medical thread, in which members actually posted their disorders seemingly quite honestly. Surprisingly few were Aspeger’s, bipolar, or even psychotic.

 Now imagine you are a regular person reading this article (which you may very well be). You may be confused. You may be a little baffled. You may be surprised at what you have read. Yet at the same time, hopefully your awareness has been expanded, and you have at least learned something. Sometimes that’s all that matters, and in the otherkin and therian communities, research and knowledge is stressed greatly. All in all, these two communities, while fairly new, are expanding. Perhaps one day they will be well-known, perhaps not. At very least, the feelings in these communities seem legitimate. Whether they are real or not, we may never know. At least, so we think…

Sources:

“Otherkin -.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 11 Jan. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherkin#History_of_Otherkin>.

 “Therianthropy -.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 11 Jan. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therianthropy#References_in_popular_culture>.