Therian and Otherkin Explanation

[Sne]

I'm not a "Master Therian" by any account, but personally I consider zoans of every slightly anthropomorphized zootype as therians. Why? Because human body tries to enforce some assumptions about your image in your brain. But the base image is still there. Also Fantasy Prone Personality can cause some disruptions of the image, but not necessarily in that direction.

Amphibians / reptiles / dinosaurs → dragons (most, at least), wolves → werewolves (anthro wolves)... all therian in my opinion.

Also consider that clinical lycanthrope (werewolf) differs from therianthrope only by the realization (or not) of having a human body.

[Shadis]

That makes sense    Though I know I'm not really a werewolf. I can't actually shift my body like then can. I wish I could! But I know I can't. So by definition, I know I am not a lycanthrope 

[Keo]

I've no idea what a master therian means.


I call myself therian/otherkin, because apparently I am one.
I have memories of my past lives and experience phantom/mental shift as my theriotypes, most prominently (female) wolf and (male) fox (which also sort of makes me feel I am gender fluid in a spiritual sense). Sometimes I can phantom-physically see myself as more fox or wolf, and in accordance to kin / human form, more bipedal/anthro or quadruped/feral. I have also splits/alts I can see, hear, touch, etc and they have always been with me, they helped protect me when I was being bullied for being non-human like at school, sometimes they'd take me over (or I'd let them communicate through me (sort of like RP sometimes)) - though, some (the mean, monstrous ones) are bad/corruptions. I have also made more fursona-y variations on my alts and even named them. I do not consider this like dissociative identity disorder or anything, it's spiritual and while I have triggers especially when stressed they don't necessarily line up to my fursonas/theriotypes/alts.

[Lupi]

Here's a question for you all... Do you believe someone can be a therian as well as an otherkin?

Say for example: Someone who might believe they have some sort of fae blood running through their veins that is more pronounced in a way that makes them more faerie than human, but also goes through psychological/spiritual shifts of a mammalian therian...

Is it possible for the two conditions to co-exist in the one subject?
Just curious.

[Ventus Fall]

My answer:
Most definitely.
Not only because in theory Therian and Otherkin are very similar. The only real difference is that 'Therianism' only is regards to existing animals (cats, wolves, rabbit, koala's, etc) while 'Otherkinism' is with regards to mythical or fantasy creatures (fairies, dragons, chimera's, etc)

[White Wolf Guardian]

Pretty much what Ventus said, the terms are only made to describe the sensation of it, combinations are probably more common than you think.

[Shadis]

I'm an Empath and a Therian. Not sure if an Empath classifies as an Otherkin, but it's proof that there are indeed hybrids 

[Halopromise]

Finally, a furry forum that talks correctly about therians.


I've "awakened" if you will, around the summer. I never knew what it was before then, I did know one... but she was, unstable to say the least (she bit me. o.o). So whenever I heard the word, I was always repelled. All I got to learn from that person was to try to not get bitten again.


Years later, another person brought it up, however, he turned out to be a wonderful friend and really interesting person. So, I decided to do actual research about it and I was instantly hooked on reading and learning about it since all the sudden, so much became clear to me as to why I was the way I am.


Oddly enough, I fall under the lycan form. Wolves are not my favorite animals for sure, but all signs keep pointing to it no matter what way I look.


I experience typical phantom shifts and constant dreams. Nothing to fancy.
I now own a pack (off line, so real life) and that's really the only time we show our more wild nature.


So yeah. Awesome information given out here. Interesting to hear what everyone has to say too.

[Twilight Rose]

I haven't done extensive research on the topics, but I want to make a distinction that's rarely mentioned. Therianthropy is a spiritual connection to a certain animal, or possibly several. This CAN INCLUDE "mythological" beasts, like dragons, griffins, and so on. Otherkin feel they are something else. If you're spiritually connected to cats, you're a therian. If you feel you ARE part cat, whether in spirit, body, or mind, you're Otherkin. If both, then both. I'm personally a furry, a therian with several theriotypes, and Otherkin. Think of it like this. If a therioshift is permanent, you're probably Otherkin. For example, I'm a cat through and through. People I don't even know will tell me I move, act, and react like a cat. A coworker once called me Felix the Cat because one day he heard purring and ran around looking for a cat until he realized it was coming from me. I don't control that; it's just the way I am.


On the subject of Empaths, I'm not sure most people know what we are. It's hard to find stuff on our kind, and a lot of us never know. An Empath is someone with a hyperacute sensitivity to the emotional conditions of those around them, to the point of literally feeling the emotions of those people as if they were their own. Once an Empath figures out what they are, they can limit that ability. If they don't, they're bombarded with overwhelming amounts of emotions they can't make sense of. It's extremely uncomfortable. That's an understatement really... Imagine the ability to hear thoughts, but you can't turn it off. The thoughts of everyone in the vicinity pass through your head. That, but emotions.

[FaeMinx]

Hmm. I'm not all that keen on putting labels on myself. That which I am is too multifaceted and vast to be cast in any definition or role. And when I speak of that which I am, I do not refer to myself alone, but to all my kin and expressions of which we are essentially one being... expressed in infinite diversity. So I could say I am a Human being, and that would be partly true. I could say I am a visitor to this world, and that would be more true. I could say that in Truth I am not really here, but only appear to be... that what I really am exists in a place some of you may call the before place, the afterlife, heaven, a higher dimention of consciousness, etc... and that what you are interacting with now is but a small spark, a fragment of that which I am. I could say I exist in all places and all beings at once, and that in our purest essence - we are one and the same. I could say all these things and quite rightly some of me would go "oh booooring, what a lot of huffy puffy fluff... who are you posing for? Yourself? Yeah silly, why don't you share something REALLY interesting... why don't you tell them about us, your family in the magical garden of light we've been taking you to in secret for your whole human life.... tell them about all the amazing things we do, and all the fun cute ways we help species all over the universe realize the beauty of who they are..."

=~. O =

[Twilight Rose]

This is why we love the fandom, yes? You can be anything, as many things as you want to be, and unless you try really hard, no one finds it all that strange. Therian, Otherkin, vampire, empath, psychic, musician, writer, anything and everything.

[FaeMinx]

You know what this forum needs? A 'like' button

=~. O =

[Kozy]

If you're often your fursona or a real life fox in your dreams before you even knew about furry and you like to identify as a fox as you feel and relate to the species even if you're not RPing (besides offline cause people might think its strange), does that make you a therian? Or is that something else? Thanks ^^ Also I have a lot of empathy, even if it's inappropriate, I tend to avoid crowds as I feel like I can feel their emotion and it becomes a noise to me, I don't know if that's what being an empath means.

[aperson1]

If you're often your fursona or a real life fox in your dreams before you even knew about furry and you like to identify as a fox as you feel and relate to the species even if you're not RPing (besides offline cause people might think its strange), does that make you a therian? Or is that something else? Thanks ^^ Also I have a lot of empathy, even if it's inappropriate, I tend to avoid crowds as I feel like I can feel their emotion and it becomes a noise to me, I don't know if that's what being an empath means.

I'm no expert, but that sounds pretty much like a Therian description to me. Besides, it's not so much of an official description of needed parameters to be a Therian, but more what feels right.

[Twilight Rose]

If you're often your fursona or a real life fox in your dreams before you even knew about furry and you like to identify as a fox as you feel and relate to the species even if you're not RPing (besides offline cause people might think its strange), does that make you a therian? Or is that something else? Thanks ^^ Also I have a lot of empathy, even if it's inappropriate, I tend to avoid crowds as I feel like I can feel their emotion and it becomes a noise to me, I don't know if that's what being an empath means.

That's definitely somewhere in the range of therianthropy, yes. And if the emotions of crowds are "noisy" enough that you tend to avoid them, you're definitely an empath on some level.