Therianthropy Article

[BadCarma247]

[Guest]

Bad Carma,

The entire article is an excellent piece of work. I am especially drawn to the section pasted below. The hairs raise on the back of my neck when I observe the similarities between this description and a shaman's experience with his/her totem guide. I acknowledge these similarities not only from my own (Therian) shamanic viewpoint, but also remember reading many similar accounts in Mircea Eliade's foundation work in shamanism, Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy and other shamanic works.

I wonder if Therians are naturally "called" to shamanic initiation and practice or if the process of becoming a shaman "calls forth" or "merges" the totem guide and shaman into a Therian composite.

<"A Therianthrope is someone with a deep connection to an animal spirit/s. They are in essence part human and part animal, or in some cases all animal in spirit in a human body. This connection to their animal side comes in three parts: Mental, Physical or Spiritual. This animal side can be really any animal, most common are predatory animals such as wolves, bears, foxes, jaguars, tigers, and cougars just to name a few. Their animal side doesn’t always have to be a predatory animal; some Therians are other animals such as horses and deer.

Most Therians go through something that is called a shift. A shift is when their animal side takes over more dominantly. This shift is mostly mentally. They will start to think more like their animal side and take on the personality, temperament and instinct of their animal side. This shift can happen at any time as it is mostly out of the person control, but some can control it at will. If a Therian has more than one animal side one side can come out at different times or both at once making a conglomeration of traits.">

I'd like permission to reprint this article on the ezine section of my website: http://shamanperry.home.comcast.net

Blessings,

Shaman Perry.

[The Madame X]

Paul,
what terrific research!
I love the interview, very nice touch. Btw I would love to hear a bit more of your own personal take on this subject; what are your personal impressions?
Awesome work here, a great start indeed.

There are a few things I’d like to interject:

Firstly, the correct Therian variant terms, I believe should be Therianothropy and Therianothrope.

Lunar phases and their effects have always held a great interest for me. Lunar effects not only affect myth of the past but they also affect many aspects of modern life today. It is scientifically proven that lunar phases affect not only tides but all water as well as organic development. The parallel can be established between tides and the water content in the brain on man and animals undoubtedly causing chemical imbalances during certain times and, between organic development/growth and hair/nail development/growth. The effect of the moon goes beyond mere myth but can certainly carry on to modern day civilization (or lack there of). If you know any policemen, ask them how busy they are during full moon, you might be surprised at their answer.

I can’t help but to question the reasoning behind Modern Medicine. Doctors constantly aim to suppress symptoms at all costs and claim such to be ‘treatment’. We are constantly compelled to caste aside our intrinsic propensities, suppress deviance, dismiss instincts and conform, by way of chemicals, psychotherapy or enforcement. While in fact we should be exploring the reasons for these aberrations, perhaps even nurture them as a means of self-discovery and understanding.

Unfortunately for the American public, any accounts of anything of an unusual or paranormal nature are suppressed by government agencies. So inevitably there is a big difference between discovery, reports, documentation and public disclosure. You can certainly find such articles on foreign publications held in higher regard than the US Sun or Inquirer, which seem to be the only ones that dare to publish such “controvertial material”. And certainly, aside from foreign sources, if you were to look deeper into medical journals you might find not only documentation of unusual birth defects: elongated ears, fur, horns (both cutaneous and calcareous), animal and fish tails in addition to legs or in substitution thereof; but also unexplainable degenerative mutations towards the same end. Many do not live much longer that a few months or years, with rare exceptions of some who may live full lives often in solitude and secrecy, away from the public eye … for obvious reasons. You may find elephantiasis, giganticism, hirsutism, hyperthelia, and hypertrichosis. If you are interested in this type of research, I would recommend the unusual collection of photographs, preserved fetuses and skeletons presented at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Again, do keep in mind that such collections only barely scrape the surface since the “most unusual” never make it to the public eye.

To touch upon Shaman Perry’s point, it is my feeling that Therians may not necessarily make the connection between their “condition” and the shamanic initiation process. Many Therians feel that part of their soul is part animal and that part can at times dominate the mental, spiritual and physical facilities if allowed, encouraged, or provoked. The ‘Splinter Theory’ is a principle of reincarnation that many Therians accept, it states that two or more souls combine before entering a newborn and separate upon the death of the body only to recombine with others, human or not, where the human soul may in rare instances co-exist with one of an animal thus establishing this type of intrinsic animal kinship. However, I would be very interested in understanding the “merger of the totem guide and man” into the Therian composite you alluded to.
Can you please expand?

[BadCarma247]

[Tioga-Lynx]

[The Madame X]

[Tioga-Lynx]

Pardon my vocabulary goof...I did mean lucid dreaming. Sometimes I get latent and lucid mixed up...Thanks for picking it up for me..

I like the idea of the way that the moon may effect the body. It does make quite a bit of sense whether one is Otherkin or not, and could have quite a bit to do with some Therian's situations in general.

I only actually belong to a couple of groups here and there, but by far I would have to recommend the Werelist. I've only been a member there for a very short time, but all of the individuals I have talked with on the list are very intelligent and thoughtful. They seem geared toward bringing the Therian community closer and exchanging ideas in a polite and introspective fasion. I was impressed by thier mature conduct.

Other than that, at the moment, I have to say I am still filtering through the discouraging sites that seem to have RPG mixed with reality. But I'll definately let you know if I find anything worth 'sniffing' after on the rabbit trail.

Regards,

[Guest]

[Lenore Tepes]

[Aeon_Atratus]