A subject of therianthropy

There is an unknown belief amongst people called Therianthropy. I've touched on this subject before but I didn't explain much about it. Therianthropy is when people have a deep spiritual connection to a certain animal. It means that these people feel themselves as the animals they identify with, and have a lot in common with other therianthropes who they share an understanding.

Some regard themselves as "therians" for short, or "weres", similar to werewolf. Not all of them are were-wolf therians. 

There's a lot of different animals including tigers, lions, cougars, foxes, coyotes, jaguars, bears, hyenas, crocodiles and more. Not all of these therianthrope animals tend to be predators. Some are rabbits, deer, bison and so on. 

Besides the animals among therianthropes, there's also other types who can identify with mythical creatures. These will be people who identify with dragons, angels, griffins, fairies, elves. ect. Many of these are called "Otherkin". There is a difference between Therianthropes and Otherkin. 

For more reading on Therianthropy visit Pluralpedia page HERE.

There was a massive online community of therianthropes and otherkin up until 20 years ago. Therianthropes and Otherkin have formed their own personal symbols. The otherkin symbol is a seven pointed star to represent fae. The therianthrope symbol is a theta-delta overlapping. More on the therianthropy symbol found here at Fandom. 

Therians even have "shifting" sensations in various ways. Often it's psychological with the senses of phantom limbs such as tails. Others can mentally shift by having the mindset of the animal, almost like a Berserker mode but not always angry. Some mental shifts are mild sensations. Most common are dream shifts where the therianthrope becomes their animal. Some people forget what it's like to be human as they become part of their animal. 

It must be said that therianthropy isn't the same as clinical lycanthropy. Therianthropy is purely based on a spiritual idea and has roots in mysticism, helping people to understand to learn about themselves while knowing they're human. While clinical lycanthropy is a severe mental illness like psychosis that gives someone delusions and hallucinations. 

In centuries past, therianthropes were often demonised and linked to evil, witchcraft and sorcery. During the infamous Witch Trials, a number of innocent lives were lost because of a mania and lack of evidence. Most of the condemned were targeted by malicious gossip. So-called werewolves were also put to death. A lot of horrific things happened and the majority simply practiced the old ways and might've been confused as witches. Today people are certain werewolves don't exist while history shows otherwise. Therianthropes today are not in any way evil witches or criminals. Today's werewolves are seen differently in a positive light.   

She Wolf Night