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Therianthropy
Sep. 24th, 2008 07:21 pmTherianthropy was once used as a simple term for individuals with a spiritual identification with an animal. A broad term for a nebulous concept. An idea not subject to scientific measurement, classification, and verification; instead, a term denoting the variation of belief within a common umbrella: the umbrella of those with a spiritual identification with an animal (or, in some cases, an 'other').
There was no need for more definition than that, and it wasn't an issue. It denoted a philosophy, something spiritual, a sense of wonder, the mysterious, metaphor--not something physical, biological, a germ, an illness, something to prove, define, and categorize. The latter is now the norm, or so it appears, in the more well-known communities of the newer therian-identified.
Strangling a world of definitions out of the term therianthropy became the new big thing once the word, and therefore all newcomers following, were hijacked and altered by the two who weren't put on a pedestal by the old timers from AHWw (alt.horror.werewolves, pre-1996). Those folks, their research, notions, ideas, and history were quieted, conveniently overlooked, or rewritten so as to have never existed. Rumors were started that those old timers, "Greymuzzles", had abandoned the scene and those newcomers to it (with the exception of two or three who were personal friends with the hijackers, of course). Undoubtedly some had moved on by then, but many hadn't and still wanted to be involved. With the scene hijacked and altered, it no longer resembled the haven for friendly discussion or support of the original therianthropy group. The majority of the old guard left the new-fangled on-line "therianthropy community" then, as it was a quickly-growing trend that bore little semblance to its origins.
I stubbornly clung to the term therianthropy for a long time, largely for the sake of nostalgia. I still am a therianthrope, by the original intent of the word as adopted by alt.horror.werewolves in 1994. I do spiritually identify as an animal. For me this is spiritual; this is philosophical; the shape-shifting is metaphorical; this is all in my heart and head. Can the soul be measured, dissected, proven as if it were physical evidence? No. I am what I am, and my 24 years of mythological, philosophical, zoological, psychological, and folkloric study in relation to therianthropy, as well as my 24 year revelry in were-animal fiction, film, cartoon, comic book, and television appearance regardless of how cheesy, plus 24 years of introspection, have left me contentedly knowledgeable of what makes me tick-- therianthropically speaking. >;-)
In good conscience I've stopped using therianthropy (except for in this entry) and it's derivatives because in the last eleven years this new over-defined, pseudo-scientific version of therianthropy doesn't fit me anymore. The word carries an excessive amount of baggage, probably to no one else but those who were there in the early years of on-line therianthropy. I've used animal people for a descriptive when a descriptive was necessary, as an ode to the author Charles de Lint. His recurring characters, often, are called "animal people"--animal archetypes that can take human shape. In 2002 I started using "animal folk", not as a term but simply to refer to animal people. For some strange reason people started using it.
I love the nebulous nature of "animal people". It has no definition, no muzzle and chains to confine it and break its spirit.
It's tragically comedic. Those who discovered on-line therianthropy after 1997 have no clue what came before. Everything therianthropic on-line began with the hijackers, and they prefer it to be regarded that way.
Is this in itself a bad thing? All subcultures evolve or devolve; change. The meaning and use of words change over time. Common vernacular is often different than the dictionary definition. What was therianthropy and the "Were community" has simply changed: changed in outlook, in definition, and in what is a relatively short on-line history.
There were always on-line cliques. I lucked out and joined AHWw when the newsgroup was the sole therianthopic clique on-line, boasting maybe thirty frequently posting members. This changed soon enough, and therianthropy saw a swell in popularity, forums, sites, and cliques. Now there are numerous cliques on-line, whose members won't cross over to befriend or even desire to know someone outside of their clique or social network (be it the Werelist, or some IRC channel, etc.) It's a shame.
Time has changed. History's been changed. But you know what? It's okay. And I'll never stop reaching out a friendly paw to my fellow animal folk--whatever they choose to call themselves.
There was no need for more definition than that, and it wasn't an issue. It denoted a philosophy, something spiritual, a sense of wonder, the mysterious, metaphor--not something physical, biological, a germ, an illness, something to prove, define, and categorize. The latter is now the norm, or so it appears, in the more well-known communities of the newer therian-identified.
Strangling a world of definitions out of the term therianthropy became the new big thing once the word, and therefore all newcomers following, were hijacked and altered by the two who weren't put on a pedestal by the old timers from AHWw (alt.horror.werewolves, pre-1996). Those folks, their research, notions, ideas, and history were quieted, conveniently overlooked, or rewritten so as to have never existed. Rumors were started that those old timers, "Greymuzzles", had abandoned the scene and those newcomers to it (with the exception of two or three who were personal friends with the hijackers, of course). Undoubtedly some had moved on by then, but many hadn't and still wanted to be involved. With the scene hijacked and altered, it no longer resembled the haven for friendly discussion or support of the original therianthropy group. The majority of the old guard left the new-fangled on-line "therianthropy community" then, as it was a quickly-growing trend that bore little semblance to its origins.
I stubbornly clung to the term therianthropy for a long time, largely for the sake of nostalgia. I still am a therianthrope, by the original intent of the word as adopted by alt.horror.werewolves in 1994. I do spiritually identify as an animal. For me this is spiritual; this is philosophical; the shape-shifting is metaphorical; this is all in my heart and head. Can the soul be measured, dissected, proven as if it were physical evidence? No. I am what I am, and my 24 years of mythological, philosophical, zoological, psychological, and folkloric study in relation to therianthropy, as well as my 24 year revelry in were-animal fiction, film, cartoon, comic book, and television appearance regardless of how cheesy, plus 24 years of introspection, have left me contentedly knowledgeable of what makes me tick-- therianthropically speaking. >;-)
In good conscience I've stopped using therianthropy (except for in this entry) and it's derivatives because in the last eleven years this new over-defined, pseudo-scientific version of therianthropy doesn't fit me anymore. The word carries an excessive amount of baggage, probably to no one else but those who were there in the early years of on-line therianthropy. I've used animal people for a descriptive when a descriptive was necessary, as an ode to the author Charles de Lint. His recurring characters, often, are called "animal people"--animal archetypes that can take human shape. In 2002 I started using "animal folk", not as a term but simply to refer to animal people. For some strange reason people started using it.
I love the nebulous nature of "animal people". It has no definition, no muzzle and chains to confine it and break its spirit.
It's tragically comedic. Those who discovered on-line therianthropy after 1997 have no clue what came before. Everything therianthropic on-line began with the hijackers, and they prefer it to be regarded that way.
Is this in itself a bad thing? All subcultures evolve or devolve; change. The meaning and use of words change over time. Common vernacular is often different than the dictionary definition. What was therianthropy and the "Were community" has simply changed: changed in outlook, in definition, and in what is a relatively short on-line history.
There were always on-line cliques. I lucked out and joined AHWw when the newsgroup was the sole therianthopic clique on-line, boasting maybe thirty frequently posting members. This changed soon enough, and therianthropy saw a swell in popularity, forums, sites, and cliques. Now there are numerous cliques on-line, whose members won't cross over to befriend or even desire to know someone outside of their clique or social network (be it the Werelist, or some IRC channel, etc.) It's a shame.
Time has changed. History's been changed. But you know what? It's okay. And I'll never stop reaching out a friendly paw to my fellow animal folk--whatever they choose to call themselves.
