#defining identity

[purefilly-connection]

Kujichagulia: Embracing Self-Determination

The second day of Kwanzaa celebrates Kujichagulia, which means Self-Determination in Swahili. This principle focuses on defining ourselves, creating our own paths, and speaking for ourselves rather than being defined or spoken for by others. As I reflect on Kujichagulia, the principle of self-determination, I realize how much of my journey over the past year has been about stepping into this…

View On WordPress

[angela-grey]

Book review: The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest

Book review: The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest

Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery This is a poetic and deeply personal self-help book where the information flows in an elegant and organic way that makes the lessons and life tips less jarring to discuss. Even the book’s disjointed structure makes even the most technical topics easier to discuss. The author starts by differentiating intrusive versus intuitive thoughts and explains…

View On WordPress

[consciousautomation-blog-blog]

A proposal to redefine Therianthropy

So, yesterday I commented on some other problems of referring to someone as Otherkin only. Today, I figured it would be a good time to generally express my viewpoints on defining what exactly Therianthropy is. 

As it stands there is no real definition. Everyone has their own definition, and it kind of drives me nuts. Why? Well... Here's the problem: if there's no set definition then it allows for all kinds of people to class themselves as therian, when they really arent. (side note here)

Granted, nobody can tell you who you are, only you can define your own identity. However, that being said, within all groups there are defining features that encompass said group. If someone isn't meeting any of the features, then I feel its possible that they've adopted the label of the identity for wrong questionable reasons. IE. A lot of the people whom I've seen on therian communities are particularly young and for all intended purposes identify as they do as a means of trying to fit in because they feel that they are social outcasts or rejects of society. Dont get me wrong, I get that. I understand its important to feel accepted. However, it gets on my nerves that this occurs so frequently because people like me arent taken as seriously by others within society about my conditions/identity. (/end side note)

As it stands, the only thing that can really be generally agreed upon is that therianthropy is where an individual feels a connection to a specific animal(s). However, I disagree with this notion for a few reasons. 1) When you weed out the misguided youth and find the genuine intellectual individuals who are objectively trying to seek out explanations for the things they experience, you find that a vast majority of them experience things like shifts (mental, phantom, astral-- just to name a few). 2) Not all people (including myself) necessarily are super stoked about their theriotype. As a personal example, I am a dragon therian, and yet while yeah, sure, dragons are cool and all, Im not fanatical about them. 3) If the sole defining feature of a group is merely "really liking animals", well then fuck... Pretty much anyone can be one (which leads to...) 4) If there was only one defining feature of the group then why are there so many discussions about shifts and various aspects of therianthropy? Why is it that the whole concept of "shifts" gets thrown under the bus, so-to-speak? 

To be honest, I dont know... And to be rather blunt, it pisses me off. 

So, lets define some more things before we continue. Yesterday, I briefly discussed "Otherkin", however, I'd like to expand some on this subject before I continue. I think that one can take an objective approach when seeking to define this term-- part of it being simple observation as well as just logic/common sense/understanding of word formations and their meanings. First, lets break down the term "Otherkin". Otherkin, can obviously broken down into two words "Other" and "kin". "Other" referring to an identity that is not typical/run of the mill/existant. "Kin" means "family" or "of likeness". So, "otherkin" merely serves as a blanket term for the groups that make up it such as Vampires, Therians, Daemons, Multiples, etc. In other words, all groups that fall under the "otherkin" blanket, are otherkin... but not all otherkin are a specific group. (Ex. All therians are otherkin, but not all otherkin are therian). 

H'okay. So. Now that thats off my chest, lets define therianthropy! I like to view therianthropy through both its etymology as well as general observations I've seen on genuine therians.  Lets start with the etymology first, shall we? Therianthropy is a combination of two greek words: "Therion" (meaning wild animal or beast) and "Anthropos" (meaning human being). As mentioned, a vast majority of those who are genuinely therian experience shifts in one way, shape, or form. So, how do we use this to define what therianthropy is? Objectively, we can take both the meaning and the observations and create one such as this:

"A therian is an individual who identifies as feeling as though they are a specific animal (real or imagined) that experience shifts."

A note should be made that this only refers to people who experience shifts and those that are non-humanoid in nature-- particularly as when we look at the breakdown of the words that make up "therianthropy" it states wild animal or beast, not humanoid creature (granted there are some exceptions to this, I think, but thats for a later time). Another note should be made that if an individual does not experience shifts, well, they're not really therian then. I would argue that for those who just super hardcore love a particular animal or that identify as some sort of humanoid thing, that they be reclassed under a different identity label which I call "Idolists". 

Why Idolist? Well, lets look at the meaning of the term "Idol". There are two definitions that go somewhat hand in hand, I think, when making this group. They are:

1) any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration,or devotion

2)a figment of the mind; fantasy.

In this regard, it satisfies both those who just have strong connections to various things such as animals, or elves, or whatever, yet do not experience shifts.