HushedHowler

[hushedhowlerk97]

Random therian thoughts: I wish to hell I could tell someone irl about me being a therian. I wish I could wear a tail

[hushedhowlerk97]

New gear!!! Ive been wanting to find a little pom pom like this in my fur color and i just stumbled apon it in hobby lobby! Such a lucky find so excited!!

Im too self concious to wear a real tail so this is the next best thing🙃

Had to clip it from a bunny keychain

[baumarius]

Zoesthesia & Therianthropy

There is currently no word for "the experiences that give rise to therianthropy." The therian community has a million different terms for pieces of it - mental shifts, phantom shifts, sensory shifts, etc. I propose a new term. Hear me out:

Zoesthesia ("zo-esthesia", from the Greek "zōion" [life/animal] and "aisthesis" [perception]): "The subjective inner non-human animal experiences that give rise to therianthropy." Therianthropy is an identity. Zoesthesia is the root of that identity, and can include all forms of shifts therians have previously described. Zoesthesia can be experienced from a young age and can occur before one's identity forms, before one knows the words for what they're experiencing. It is the "happening" behind the curtain - instinct. Consider:

It's neutral, even if it sounds like it implies a neurological bias.

It doesn't replace "therianthropy" as a term.

It sounds similar to synesthesia - the crossing of the senses in the brain, which is not seen as a disorder.

It's a spectrum, just like synesthesia - everyone's experiences are different.

Using "zoesthete" instead of "therian" is possible, though it does not imply any sort of identity, nor does it imply that one interprets these experiences as belonging to any specific non-human animal. This is primarily to describe "therianthropy underneath the hood."

It is not exclusive. We could use it to account for spiritual experiences as well - past life memories, "auras," the whole nine yards. If you think about it, all of those things also occur in your brain. Literally everything does. Your brain is hallucinating its own version of reality right now, and everything "spiritual" that you believe is just based on something your brain experienced. And everything that appears to be "external" is a recreation of it by your neurons.

What's The Point?

I suggest this because of the latest happenings globally within the therian community. A lot of young people in China, for example, think that "therian" is a fandom they can join. Younger folks globally should know that becoming more aware of the happenings in their consciousness is the point - not joining a fandom or getting likes on TikTok.

I believe that the way we do that is by turning the focus beyond identity, toward the inner experiences that lead to that identity. Time and time again, I've heard non-therians say "You can't identify as an animal, that's just not possible." There are significantly more convincing ways to talk about the experiences we have. Zoesthesia has my vote.

A more general, similarly neutral version of this that would apply to all alterhumans would be "allosthesia," from the Greek "allos" (other) and "aisthesis."

What are your thoughts?

I'd use it!

Nah.

Voting ended onMar 26

[baumarius]

For those who are averse to using new terminology such as this: Using current terminology, it could be said that a "therian" is someone who identifies as a non-human animal, and "therianthropy" is the subjective inner animal experience and the mechanisms that might cause one to shift or remain shifted. Many online resources do not describe therianthropy this way. On Wikipedia, therianthropy is defined as "the enduring experience of identifying as a nonhuman animal." You have to read through 9 paragraphs before reading anything about the actual experience. On Therian Guide, therianthropy isn't even defined - "therianthrope" is. At least there, the experience is in focus, rather than the identity. Meanwhile, Therian Territory defines therianthropy as "the involuntary experience of animalistic behavior/instincts/urges/traits" - which is the best I've seen so far. But they have a YouTube channel, not a website. Whether something new is adopted or we continue to use old terms, it would be sensible if each of these sites could come to some consensus on what it actually is. From the outside looking in, it appears as if nobody knows what they're talking about. To the trained eye, it smells like BS. But let's say the people who manage each of these platforms are actually able to do that and it was made crystal clear that there is an actual distinct term for the experience and a different term for the identity - and the experience is the primary focus moving forward. The term "therian" is still suffering from disinformation campaigns that are resulting in thousands of people taking to the streets to catch a glimpse of these "freaks" in countries all around the world. This may be temporary, but it is fresh in people's minds and may live there for a long time. So many therians are afraid to share themselves, even with their own friends - again. No one knows about zoesthesia, and if it can be prioritized by researchers first and foremost, I believe it could drive a renaissance for the global community. This term could be used in scientific circles - something that researchers can use to refer to and study our experiences. Provided that researchers take this up, I think it could have a very positive impact. If it does catch on, maybe the focus on inner experiences over identity will result in a positive shift in the kinds of conversations people are having about therianthropy throughout the world. Such a change would be a long-haul, though. Research takes a lot of time, money, and an incentive to even perform that research. Until that happens, the next best thing would be to create an international organization with the intent to define, translate, and localize terms such as zoesthesia and therianthropy. Without either of these things, you can expect more of the same.

[thetadelta]

This topic is actually what I was trying to get at with my alterdysphoria/euphoria post! The community is lacking in broad terms to refer to alterhuman experiences that aren't constrained by a specific identity label, which leads to a lot of confusion and division, particularly in people new to the community.

Not only is therianthropy a purposely vague word (it's just "the experience of identifying as an animal"), but things like shifts, dysphoria/euphoria, and noemata are also experienced by non-therians (e.g. otherhearts or people who only use transspecies, draconic, etc). Having a catch-all term for internal animalistic experiences that includes everyone who has them would be great, both for intra-community discussion and research purposes.

I also agree with your comment on this post that having a broader version that includes non-animalistic experiences is needed, for which I'd suggest "alterthesia", defined as "the internal experiences that constitute an alterhuman identity" (and one could conceivably create other subcategories, like fictothesia for fictionfolk).

[baumarius]

I've suggested allosthesia ("all-o's-thesia") in the original post because:

1. Both roots come from the same language.

2. It is similar to other scientific terms such as allostasis, which is similar to homeostasis but refers to adaptation to changing conditions.

3. I structured both terms in a way that avoids referring to any specific existing community, and by definition do not need to. Therefore, zoesthesia would mean "the subjective experience of non-human animal traits, instincts, and urges that may lead to a non-human animal identity" and allosthesia "the subjective experience of traits, instincts, urges, and etc. that may lead to an identity based on a species, concept, or form of consciousness different to one's species."

But - the first root word of zoesthesia is "zoe," meaning animal or life. Literally "life perception," it could simply refer to the way your consciousness feels (your qualia), and therefore encompass all forms of alterhumans. Allosthesia achieves the same purpose in a different way. I'm not sure which one I like more.

[thetadelta]

Wanting a lack of reference to an existing community makes sense, though I'd also argue that "alter" is just another root and the issue is more with the definition I suggested. Like with the "alterdysphoria" terms I mentioned I don't like that it mixes root languages but English does that a lot anyway, and with broad community terms anything new that doesn't have a somewhat self-explanatory meaning tends to not catch on because nobody can remember it ^^;

As I said in the comments "allo" as a root has a lot of associations with the queer community so that's an option that would lead to confusion. The "zoo" root, on the other hand, makes it an implied therian-centric word even if it can technically refer to life in general, so I'm disinclined to suggest it to anyone who doesn't have an animalistic identity because those people already struggle with a lack of terminology that was created specifically to include them (see my alterdysphoria post)(and also! not everyone has living things as their identity). Broadening the meaning of zoethesia also brings us back to square one with not having a term more specific to the experience of therianthropy. "Ontothesia" is probably a better option for a broad term that doesn't reference alterhumanity.

If anyone following me (or otherwise reading this) has a non-animalistic identity I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[hushedhowlerk97]

Wearing all my gear today 😎🐶🐾🐺

[hushedhowlerk97]

Being a therian and an adult is wild sometimes.

What do you mean I am a wolf dog with human adult responsibilities???

[hushedhowlerk97]

Well this sucks. I hate waking up at 1:42am. Cause my only thought is: MUST BE INTERNET FEIND! SCROLL SCROLL SCROLL!!!

But I must try and go back to sleep!!!!! And it SUCKS!!!

It sucks waking up in the middle of the night and being a chronic phone addict!

I just want to read about other peoples therianthropy and share mine its a problem!!

[hushedhowlerk97]

Im new here. Theres alot more therians than I would expect, and I love it! I cannot be open about my therianthropy in real life so here I feel like I can shout (or type?) It to the roof tops!!

🐺🐶🐾

[hushedhowlerk97]

EvenNewerMouse | Substack

Welcome to my Trumpet Journal. Where I document my practicing and all my music adventures and the journey from now till I start getting paid

Along with my therian blog, I decided today that I am going to start a trumpet practice blog.

So wheather if you were a band kid, like trumpet, like jazz.. or just curious: please consider checking out my Trumpet Journal 💻👀🎺✍️🏼

https://substack.com/@evennewermouse?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8gv759

[hushedhowlerk97]

Birthday Blog From A Therian

Therian Journal - Entry #1 - May 20th, 2026

My first Therian Blog!!!