𓍊𓋼 ☾ Kai's Guide To Therianthropy ☽ 𓋼𓍊

𓍊𓋼 Therianthropy 𓋼𓍊

The definition of therianthropy is "an identity phenomenon categorized by a deep integral or personal belief that an individual is in some way and to some degree, a non-human animal, based upon involuntary, non-human experience. Physically, Therianthropes are human and understand that they have human bodies". 

Therians identify as an animal on any level except physical. There are many different types of therians; the most common and most recognized are spiritual and psychological. Please note that not all therians are spiritual! This is a common misconception, especially on platforms such as TikTok. 

Spiritual therians are likely the most common type of therian. They are therians who identify as an animal on a spiritual level. Some causes for spiritual therianthropy include: 
-Multiple parts/layers of the Self/Soul
-Misplaced Soul
-Dual Souls
-Link to Nature
-Reincarnation/Past Lives
-Other Spiritual Causes (like walk-in events, soul shattering/splitting/shards, and psychic connections to animals)

Psychological therians are not quite as common as spiritual therians, but there are still lots. They identify as an animal on a mental or psychological level. Some causes for psychological therianthropy include: 
-Atypical Neurology
-Imprinting/ Developmental
-Identity Formation
-Survival/ Resilience/ Unconscious Defense Mechanism
-Duality of Human and Animal Nature
-Other Causes (like genetics, "everyone is a therian", and neurodiversity such as ASD/Austism Spectrum Disorder or bipolarity)
-Combination of Multiple Causes

Some terms relating to therianthropy include Alterhuman, Otherkin/Otherkinity, Otherhearted, Copinglink, Fictionkin, and Factkin among other things. 

Alterhuman is a term for individuals who have identities beyond what is traditionally considered being "human". An alterhuman can identify as non-human, or they can identify as being human in ways alternate to what is societally common. The word "alterhuman" can be used as an umbrella term for various identities. 

Otherkin are those who identify as not entirely human on a non-physical level. There difference between Otherkinity and Therianthropy are kintypes (theriotypes) which can be generally described as mythological, eg: dragons, fae, angels, demons, unicorns, satyrs, and others. 

Otherhearted describes a person who has a strong fundamental connection to a species or character which impacts their core sense of self. This is most commonly described in terms of identifying with a being as opposed to identifying as one, like family. 

A copinglink (sometimes shortened to c'link) is adopted as a coping mechanism for trauma, stress, mental illness, or any other ailment. Someone who has a c'link is referred to as a copinglinker or a c'linker. 

Fictionkin are those who identify as something that is considered fictional, typically (a) fictional character(s) or species. Characters may not always be directly mentioned in the canon of their source material; for example, one may identify as an original character (also known as an OC), a background character, a non-canon character, or occasionally even a glitch. Fictionkin identify as a fictional character or species, rather than with them, and see themselves as actually being them on some level. This belief is involuntary, long-term, and intrinsic to one's selfhood.

Factkin are people who claim to be other real human beings, whether past or present. The term factkin was invented on tumblr to mock , , and . However, by definition, factkin are not otherkin; the term factkin refers to humans only. The concept of factkin, as described on tumblr, is identical to experiences of human past lives, dissociative fugue, delusions, etc. There is also the issue of identity theft, as several claimed factkin source their kintypes as living people, giving conflicting information about sexual, gender, and religious identity often to celebrities or historical figures.