Otherkin

[Otherkin]

What or who are 'Otherkin'?

The term refers to those who believe their souls to be of non human origin, not unlike some of the speculation that pertains to modern day real vampires. Typically this is inclusive of:

Were (wolves, panthers, various large cats etc)
Draconics (Dragons)
Angelics
Fae (fairies and their ilk)
Demon/Deamon

The umbrella term for all those above of an animal nature would be Therianthropes, the practice and spirituality being Therianthropy. To reiterate, this is a spritual/soul connected belief system. There is believe that the soul is imprinted with that of another or that the 'others' soul resides within their body. They have a very deep connection with their animal, forget all you've seen and know from movies etc. No-one here, at least just for right now lol! is going to suddenly physically change into any sort of great big snarling fanged beast under the full moon. Now, that brings us to Lycanthropy an illness which does indeed mean those afflicted have a complete change of personality and behaviour, become animalistic and threatening, attacking like an animal, but again no physical changes. This is a psychological illness and not to be confused with wereism/Therianthropy though the terms lycanthrope/lycanthropy are often seen to be used, more so among wolf types, commonly because of sheer association and the actual meaning of the word

What all have in common is shared traits or behaviours with their kin or animal, a greater natural and inherent understanding and sense of nature and magick and for some the ability to dream or astral shift, revert to what can be percieved as their true form or phenotype and of course the mental shift though this isn't always intentional,

"it's happened. Sudden urges, and fidgets. Something I always do is sniff the air You know; raise my head and sniff like a dog. When I'm in restaurants, I always feel like picking up my food in my teeth and hands" - Wolfvayne (DR mod)

and is akin to what is known as 'vamping out' for their vampiric counterparts ie. vamps experiencing certain associated behaviours such as heightened senses and excitement where blood is the stimulus whether that be film/any media or being around someone who has cut themselves, or simply just the urge to bite, hiss or growl!

Now for those of you are are asking yourself 'but what about those mythical creatures, how can the soul of a being said never to have existed imprint or take up residence in a body?' Well this is something that the term 'kin' itself defines

kin

\Kin\, a. Of the same nature or kind;

Ie. demonkin dragonkin and all the various 'others' but - they are not those beings Incarnate. It's the same as the above mentioned therianthropes, shared gifts, traits, thoughts beliefs, and there may also be memories of lives as these beings and the feeling of psuedo limbs, wings etc. Most of us are aware of and believe in other realms and planes of existance and it's possible that this is how the cross over occurs and these souls find themselve encased in human bodies. The terms, descriptions and names for all mythical beings, their origins began somewhere for each, that we have long forgotten and closed our minds doesn't mean we should dismiss them immediately.

As with any belief there will be varied opinions as to what defines Otherkin, the whole debate on whether physical shifting is or will ever be a reality, why and how they these souls come to inhabit certain bodies, one thing most will agree on I'm sure is that you cannot simply become