A Simple Introduction to Otherkin
Some real people believe they’re other than human. They call themselves otherkin. They believe they’re animals, such as wolves,^1 or kinds of creatures from stories, such as elves.^2 You wouldn’t get that idea by looking at them. They have bodies and lives like anyone, and they know that.^3 They come from human families. How can they say they aren’t human?
For otherkin, that creature is their true self. These aren’t made up in the imagination for play.^4 They’re more than just things they really like.^5 They’re who they are. Your self is a discovery only you can make. Because of this, each otherkin finds her own idea of whether she’s other than human.^6 Only she can say what she is, or why she is one.^7 There aren’t any leaders of otherkin,^8 and each otherkin has different views.
Many otherkin say their spirit is of a different kind of creature,^9 or they were a different creature in a past life.^10 These are spiritual beliefs,^11 but not a religion.^12 Each otherkin has any religion she wants.^13 Many otherkin are Pagan, so ideas about otherkin are often based in Pagan beliefs.^14 Some otherkin don’t have those beliefs. Some go without spiritual beliefs at all.^15 Some use ideas from psychology instead.^16
It’s strange to believe you’re a different kind of creature, so some asked psychologists about it. The answer: by itself, this belief isn’t an illness.^17 Psychology says it’s okay to have beliefs, even strange ones. If it makes your life too difficult, only then might it be part of an illness.^18 Most otherkin don’t have that problem.
Otherkin, as we know it, started in 1990, when a group made the word “otherkin” for themselves.^19 In 1994, another group took up a word for themselves, “therianthrope” (Greek, “animal person”).^20 Today, “otherkin” means them, too.^21 Some like-minded groups were around earlier, such as elves who put out writings since the 1970s.^22
We have no idea how many otherkin there are today, but they’re uncommon. In a list of writings about them, 604 of the writers said they weren’t human themselves.^23
In short, otherkin are people who believe they’re other than human.^24 This isn’t an illness, a religion, or something made up last year. It’s often a spiritual belief, but they don’t all believe in the same things as one another. Each has their own reasons for their identities.
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