OccultForum.org

I'm an otherkin [yay]

Or at least, I have called myself such for a number of years. It's been shuffling around a lot lately, as have other parts of my life. When I was a kid/early teenager I strongly believed that I was physically a dragon trapped as a human; that was part megalomania, part making sense of my connection to many different types of animals, and part believing so strongly for so many years that it was true, that I tricked my brain into experiencing "phantom limbs" and the like. I've always had a strong connection to animals and a lot of the time it felt like I was more animal that human, but unlike most I wasn't tied to one animal specifically. I've been experiementing lately with the idea that it's more a natural shamanism thing for me. But I still can't shake the feeling. I like to describe it this way: I may be a human wearing an animal mask, but if you were to take the mask off I wouldn't have a face under it.

I always fit in better with therians more than otherkin (the difference is that therians are real-world animals, it might be a subcategory of otherkin, depending on who you ask). In the time I've been part of the online community, I spent most of it in the strictly no-fluff environment of werelist.net. Outside of that site and a few others, probably 90% of the community is batshit. I'm not going to argue with that. Even within those sites, it's very difficult to draw a line between acceptable and insane.

Funny thing about identity: It's entirely made-up. It's a very thin line between feeling like you're being influenced heavily by an animal, real or fictional, and feeling like you actually are one. Ultimately, it's up to the person to decide what they want to call themself. I always subscribed to the paradigm that it was all in my mind, but that didn't make it unreal. One can be an otherkin/therian without believing they're the reincarnation of a tiger/unicorn hybrid king from another world, or without believing in reincarnation at all.

Here's a post about the difference between having a totem and being otherkin/therian:
http://www.werelist.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23710

How therianthropy can be a pain in the ass:
http://www.werelist.net/forums/showthread.php?t=24013

Lots of information and different perspectives:
http://project-shift.org
In particular, look at the article "Otherkin & Therian Theories of Cause or Origin" under articles -> therianthropy. Sorry the site doesn't let me link directly to it.

I just feel the need to speak for my community. I've met many besides myself who are stable, functional, rational, and quite willing to tear apart their egos in search of some kind of truth. We're not all insane. Or maybe we are, but at least some of us know that we're crazy [crazy] and still apply this label to ourselves because it's the best way we have to make sense of what is, to us, a very real part of our lives.

Finally, a real Otherkin here! I've been waiting for this! Cybernetic Jazz, grab the table! Ramscha, grab the straps! Dawningsun777, bring the specimen jars and trays! What? No, Rose Red, no need for tranquilizers. I have the set of scalpels. The dissection will begin immediately!

On a more serious note, I don't know that I have a full grasp on this but I do have distinct impressions from my own interactions and reading.Speaking in general and not creating a pie chart here I think most of these cases are of a psychological origin. I also think a large number are due to an imbalanced relationship or manifestation of a totem animal. I do hold open the possibility that there are other individuated beings who may wish to live as a human, evolve into a human or be compelled to live here.

There is a book by William Mistele entitled 'Mermaids, Sylphs, Gnomes & Salamanders' in which he has interviews with humans whom he believes to have, at their core souls, the souls of elementals living in human bodies. The human mermaids told him that if a human mother does not have a strong attachment to the fetus that this can allow, in the first trimester, an elemental to walk-in, basically. They claim this is why these cases will most often have dysfunctional mothers.

But, elementals, dragons and Asura are not animals. They're all individuals. I have two main totem animals: Fox & Hawk (I have mentioned this before). At this point, my understanding from them is that they, the conscious totems, emerge from the morphic field of the species. This field is what accounts for the fact that if you teach rats in one lab a series of tasks, it is easier for rats in another to learn this same task who have not been exposed to it previously. (This part comes form Rupert Sheldrake, not me!) It becomes assimilated into the field. So, how does this relate to Otherkin? Wolf, for example (with a capital letter), who is the core or emergent consciousness of all wolves, is just one entity. He is also more limited than humans, overall, despite distinct advantages in some respects. How does he become removed from all wolves to become 50 people on a forum? Further, if he is blending with humans then it will affect the actions of the wolf species. This is all random speculation, I really don't know. It needs more study.

A good book by Sheldrake:

http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-That-Their-O ... 0307885968

Thanks for posting here Lynx,it's good to have an Otherkin join in the discussion as gives us balance.

I have a friend who identifies as Therian and he is one of the most rational people I've ever met,so this is why I'm stuck up here on the fence,lol.

I tried to explain a page back that I do think there is more than a little validity to the claims of some folk,but I see it as Shamanistic/Animistic development and/or attachments,which I find rather difficult to quantify in words.So thanks too to Asurendra for the above post.

I also found that others like my friend exist,so I can't discount what's going on,even If I'm not sure exactly what it may be.

Whoohoo! More tranqs for us. Party at my place after the live and awake dissection [lol]

Anyways, that was bad, dude. LOL

I do think that Otherkin exist. Whether they're born that way or become that way - I don't know. Perhaps both. I do think that the percentage of true Otherkin is much smaller than the majority that claim the title. Over the years I've noticed that a lot of people seem to cling to the idea as a form of escapism 'my life sux - I wanna be a wolf'. It always seems to be these big badass predators. Why not a butterfly or parakeet? I think that the people who cling to this out of what? Desperation? Wanting to be special or different? As a psychological defense? Whatever and etc? are usually the most vocal and people judge their views based on what they see.

Lynx - if you truly believe that you're Otherkin - more power to ya. I don't disbelieve you. You may be one of the real ones. I don't know.

I'm not trying to be an asshole - I'm really not - but you said yourself that you had a strong believe that you were Dragon and you changed your mind. You're going through some shuffling right now - how do you know that you're not going to change your mind about being Otherkin later?

I have never heard of someone claiming to be Otherkin without a static Other. You said that you weren't tied to one animal specifically.

I have heard of shamanic practitioners that can take on the form, shape and characteristics of multiple animals but they never claimed the title Otherkin. Basically, I'm saying that I've heard of what you're describing here before. Is it possible that you're limiting yourself by claiming this title instead of continuing to search for what else may be out there?

This field is what accounts for the fact that if you teach rats in one lab a series of tasks, it is easier for rats in another to learn this same task who have not been exposed to it previously.

Hive mind /spirtit mind kinda stuff. I've seen it in grasshoppers. I fully and completely believe they have a hive mind. It's creepy. Almost like plant spirits - where there is the overall spirit of the plant and yet each individual plant is it's own.

I'm not trying to be an asshole - I'm really not - but you said yourself that you had a strong believe that you were Dragon and you changed your mind. You're going through some shuffling right now - how do you know that you're not going to change your mind about being Otherkin later?
...
I have heard of shamanic practitioners that can take on the form, shape and characteristics of multiple animals but they never claimed the title Otherkin. Basically, I'm saying that I've heard of what you're describing here before. Is it possible that you're limiting yourself by claiming this title instead of continuing to search for what else may be out there?

I don't know that I won't change my mind. When I have changed it in the past, it was more a self-discovery thing. I was only changing what I called myself, not whether or not I actually am otherkin. As I said, I'm going through shuffling. Especially since I started working with chaos magic, which does weird things to your sense of self. I think at this point it would be fully within my power to exaggerate the animal tendencies and make myself indisputably otherkin, or to supress them and become fully human, if I dedicated myself to that goal and used all the mind-altering tricks that I've learned. Some 'kin would disagree with me. A common view is that one's nonhuman side is too deeply embedded to be changed after early childhood. But they're not magicians [thumbup]

So in response to your question, no, I don't think I'm limiting myself, because I'm not particularly attached to the title. I've been exploring the idea that I just happen to relate to different animals/concepts/morphic fields/whatever by identifying with them. Pending further experience before I can make that call. However, there are some key differences between my experience and what I've read about shamanic shapeshifting. For one thing, when a shaman communicates with a totem, it's always separate from them. I've even heard of people who are new to shapeshifting getting stuck because they don't know how to move in their new form. That wouldn't happen to a therian. We're more likely to forget how to move in our human bodies, and either get stuck or develop cramps because of it. Also, a big part of shamanism is learning from the animals. The totems always have some symbolic meaning, and are often intelligent, where for therians it's just basic urges. Like recently when I went out walking one night and started thinking like a raccoon (or something. It's hard to tell, really, you can't just look in a mirror) I didn't recieve any wisdom about mask-wearing or presenting different faces. It was just, "Hey, I wonder if there's anything smelly in that trash bin?"

I've met a lot of therians who also have a totem animal. Sometimes the same as their species, sometimes not.

I have never heard of someone claiming to be Otherkin without a static Other. You said that you weren't tied to one animal specifically.

We're in the minority. There are a number of people who relate to two animals, a few who claim four or more, and occasional people like me who are all over the place. We coin terms like "polywere" to try to describe what's going on with us. It's hard to tell who to believe, who's lying to themselves, and who's just confused. I connect with some animals more than others. Mostly of the order carnivora. Cats are very common, deer hardly ever. I think the reason some species are more common kintypes is that they're just more relatable. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to be a butterfly, and an ape therian might not realize they were nonhuman at all. It's in the middle ground where you get the feeling that something about your body isn't quite right, that you're supposed to be walking differently, living differently, and barking at the mailman (kidding... mostly).

Wolf, for example (with a capital letter), who is the core or emergent consciousness of all wolves, is just one entity. He is also more limited than humans, overall, despite distinct advantages in some respects. How does he become removed from all wolves to become 50 people on a forum? Further, if he is blending with humans then it will affect the actions of the wolf species. This is all random speculation, I really don't know. It needs more study.

I don't know anything about the mechanations behind it. I've just recently started exploring out of the materialist paradigm that I grew up with. I can only tell what I've felt and what I've read. Maybe you should ask Wolf how he does it?

Lynx suggested, "Maybe you should ask Wolf how he does it." I don't work with Wolf, my totems are Fox and Hawk. But, your point is well taken. I haven't Journeyed in a while but when I next do I will try to remember to ask about this issue. This is probably a question for Hawk, who is more serious.

However, there are some key differences between my experience and what I've read about shamanic shapeshifting. For one thing, when a shaman communicates with a totem, it's always separate from them. I've even heard of people who are new to shapeshifting getting stuck because they don't know how to move in their new form. That wouldn't happen to a therian. We're more likely to forget how to move in our human bodies, and either get stuck or develop cramps because of it. Also, a big part of shamanism is learning from the animals. The totems always have some symbolic meaning, and are often intelligent, where for therians it's just basic urges.

I wasn't talking about interacting with totems. I was talking about Animal Walking which is something that not all shamans can do. There's not a whole lot of accurate information out there on it.

I think we can agree to disagree here. I think that learning from the animals is a very small part of shamanism.

TBH, I really don't know that much about Otherkin. You're posts have been very informative. I'm enjoying the conversation.

I think we can agree to disagree here. I think that learning from the animals is a very small part of shamanism.

When it comes down to magickal practice (and shamanism is no exception from that), there is nothing worse then to generalize what a direction of magickal practice does contain or does not contain as it is the adept or shaman himself/herself who defines the path he walkes on. [wink]

Good point. Although, some paths do come pre-defined.

Once we start getting into neo-, new age, or modern concepts of older paths - then it becomes wide open to personal interpretation.

Well, I guess I can quote you from before if I say that we agree to disagree on that one.

I agree with you that especially the modern concepts are point for the individual but this counts also for the old ways and concepts as they are far too big to be forced under one hood for everyone. Of course you can redefine it as it happens for example when you look closer to a big picture and see the different pieces, but this happens then again and again until this redefining looses every meaning.

As example I would suggest the general christian religion as it is a very good one. On the surface you see some rough and general concepts: One god, good and evil, sin concept, hell and heaven (talking about generalization [crazy] ). Looking closer you will see, that this concepts maybe shared by many, but not all and even the majority which goes conform with the overall concepts redefine themselves with subconcepts and pictures, as of course do the minorities. You can go further in and further in but as I sayed at one point it will loose every meaning as you are on such a small level that it does not make sense any more to define something for one or 5 units if you have 2 billions in sum.

And I don't know much about shamanism. I've never had any training in it unless you count perusing websites and talking to the occasional tree.

Personally I do believe in otherkin, mainly for the reason that human souls are far from the only ones to exist along with the fact humans are quite young as far as we know and many things could exist in our very own backyard let alone the entirety of the planes we visit, etheric, physical, others. That any being is capable of reincarnation/incarnation if it so chose to.

While I believe in otherkin, I don't believe in multiples such as "im wolf, dragon, demon" etc outside of the walk-in concept. I find in my own little belief system that there are "real" otherkin, and then there are people who had past lives as a nonhuman but not otherkin, by this I find that the first existence (in my own experience) is what defines one's "kintype" However, I do believe through an outside interference otherkin can be "made" but that dips into manipulating the soul by a source that would know how, for example I read at one point that metatron the angel was once a human named enoch (please correct me if I'm wrong) so by the judeo-christian God's power he was possibly made angel yes?

Or for example the Goddess Aset and her Asetians, not all were originally Asetian but human given the "gift" but I notice no one claims smaller animals and in my opinion the reason for such is in my belief smaller animals don't "normally" have souls but instead are like plants and such interconnected into the earth's energy system all being a small sliver of the earth's energy.

but that's just my opinion/experience on it I suppose. I might of went entirely off subject lol.