Some things seemed worth asking about in the community - especially because things are quiet, and why not be friendly? This is just curiosity, so please forgive if this is stepping past peoples' boundaries. So;

• Are there many therians/Otherkin who consider themselves to be coyotes, rather than, say, wolves?
  
  
• If so, do y'all consider yourselves at all connected to the big-C variety Coyote? You know, talks to crap, occasionally gets useful answers from it, not actually good at gambling, occasionally detachable bits, that guy?

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE55B3KL20090612?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

Woot!

:)

The author of the following book will be delivering a paper on Otherkin in August (2009) at the Association for the Sociology of Religion's annual conference in San Francisco, CA.  If you know of individuals with insightful perspectives or interviews to provide regarding Otherkin or the Otherkin Community e-mail us at research@suscitatio.com and we'll pass along your contact information to Mr. Laycock.  He is already in communication with quite of number of individuals from the Otherkin community to ensure as accurate a representation as possible. 

If you're interested in the Vampirism & Energy Work Research Study (VEWRS/AVEWRS), sanguinarian and/or psychic vampirism w/secondary focus on Otherkin / Therianthropy, or the vampire community in general you will want to purchase a copy of this book.  There hasn't been anything quite like this published before... a very different kind of text/approach than that of Ramsland, Guiley, Guinn, and others.

The academic and sociological significance of this work can't be underscored enough.  Laycock offers a sweeping scholarly examination of the vampire community and the process of self-identification as a vampire.  He counters many of the negative stereotypes of the vampire community and posits thought-provoking arguments regarding ontological diversity.  I strongly encourage everyone to obtain a copy of this book and link to it as a resource for vampirism and the vampire community.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Today-Truth-Modern-Vampirism/dp/0313364729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230149021&sr=1-1

Praeger Publishers:  http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C36472.aspx

Religion Dispatches Article:  http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/rdbook/1438/modern_vampires%3A_your_neighbors_and_spouses/?page=1

Vampires Today:  The Truth About Modern Vampirism
Joseph Laycock

Chapter 1:  What Is a Vampire? or, The Varieties of Vampiric Experience
Chapter 2:  Why Vampires?
Chapter 3:  The Vampire Milieu
Chapter 4:  Initiatory Vampire Groups:  Vampirism as Apotheosis
Chapter 5:  The Vampire Community
Chapter 6:  Vampirism and Religion, a Dialogue
Chapter 7:  Out of the Shadows
Chapter 8:  Vampires and the Modern
Bibliography & Index

Names You May Recognize (Mentioned and/or Contributed Material):

Atlanta Vampire Alliance, Corvis Nocturnum, Daemonox, D'Drennan, Don Henrie, Dozens of Groups/Houses/etc. (House Dark Haven, House Eclipse, House Kheperu, House of the Dreaming, House Pantheon, House Quinotaur, House Sahjaza, Temple of the Vampire, Order of the Vampyre, Ordo Strigoi Vii, etc.), Eclecta, Father Sebastiaan, Father Vincent, Goddess Rosemary, J. Gordon Melton, Kiera, Lady CG, Lady Dark Rose, Lord Alistair, Madame X, Maloryn, Martin Riccardo, Merticus, Michelle Belanger, Nicholas, Sanguinarius, Sarah Dorrance, Shadowlore, SoulSplat, SphynxCatVP, Stephen O'Mallie, Vlad & Sky, Voices of the Vampire Community, Vyrdolak, & Zilchy

Inside Cover: 

Vampires are not just the stuff of folklore and fiction. This book explores the modern world of vampirism in all its variety.

Around the globe, untold numbers of people are identifying as "vampires" and following the ways of "vampirism."  But what does it mean to be a vampire?  Is vampirism a religion? Is it a fantasy? Is it a medical condition?  Based upon extensive interviews with members of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance and others within vampire communities throughout the United States, Vampires Today looks at the many expressions of vampirism.

In the past two decades, modern vampirism has come under increased study, yet most scholarship has portrayed the vampire community as a cultural phenomenon or, at worst, as a religious cult. Having interviewed many vampires across the country, both "lifestylers" and "real," even those "reluctants" who try not to be vampires, Laycock argues that today's vampires are best understood as an identity group and that vampirism has caused a profound change in how individuals choose to define themselves. As vampires come "out of the closet," either as followers of a "religion" or "lifestyle" or as people biologically distinct from other humans, their confrontation with mainstream society will raise questions about the definition of "normal" and what it means to be human.

In this book, readers will meet "lifestyle vampires," who adopt a culture and a gothic ascetic associated with the vampires of art and legend.  They will be introduced to "real" vampires, who feel that they must actually consume blood and/or psychic energy for their well being.  They will hear from members of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance, and they will learn about the Order of the Vampyre, the Ordo Strigoi Vii, and the Temple of the Vampire.

There is no doubt that anyone who reads this book will find the details of real vampire life--including vampire role-playing games, grimoires, "vampyre" balls, vampire houses like House Sahjaza and House Kheperu, the vampire "caste" system, and other details--utterly fascinating.

Additional Notes:  The author holds a Masters of Divinity from Harvard University, a recipient of a grant from the Pluralism Project, and currently enrolled in the Division of Religious and Theological Studies at Boston University where he's working on his PhD.  He has presented on the topic of vampirism at the American Academy of Religion Conference in San Diego where he argued that "vampirism" should not be classified as a new religious movement (NRM) and to faculty at the University of Michigan and other institutional bodies on the sociological and emergent scientific aspects of vampirism.  Laycock is well versed in the structure of the vampire community, has interviewed many individuals from diverse paths, and attended multiple gatherings.

All right - someone asked for an introduction, so here goes.

I am a dragon, who runs a lightly used forum over on Paradice Net (where we have both Canis and Draconity boards). Because Therianthropy is such a subjective term (along with furry, Otherkin, etc etc), I simply stick to "I am a dragon."

However, I have many other things going forward at this point in my life, so I don't spend a lot of time celebrating personal beliefs, as my life is almost always one of action. Action, with long, disturbing periods of normalcy in between.

Welcome new members. There's been a lot of you in recent months. Please take a bit of time to post an intro, (brief as you'd like) so we can all get to know you a bit.

Thanks.

Leswamp. :)

Hello all. I haven't posted in this community for quite a long time. You might know me better as AUDIOBOXROCK, I used a rename token and am now nokturnel. To give you an idea of who I am since I haven't posted in so long, my name is Lykaios, I'm 21 years old, I'm a female, and I'm a wolf therian. I've been part of this community since I was in high school. I just haven't been nearly as active as I'd like to be.

The reason I am here today is to ask questions about some dreams I've been having lately. I dream shift often, at least a few times a week, occasionally more. It depends on my surroundings and emotions or how connected I feel to my therioside at the time. Usually my dreams involve me running with a pack and hunting with them. Every once in a while I have "angry" dreams where I rip into to someone, usually human and these dreams disturb me slightly but I disregard them. I'm not overly good at interpreting my own dreams.
The ones I've been having recently are the dreams I've come to ask about today. For those of you who's therioside is not a domesticated animal, do you ever have dreams where you're domesticated or you're acting as someone's pet? Recently I've been having dreams about becoming a pet. In my dreams I'm sitting next to a friend of mine (always the same friend) and he's petting me much like a dog would be petted. I'm also wearing a collar and am acting as though I'm completely content, however when strangers come near I act much like a guard dog. Would you take these as nothing more than dreams and not read much into them? Or would you think there were some sort of message behind them?
I figured asking people from the therian community would make more sense rather than talking to a dream community. I thought I would get more response here.

been dreaming ALOT lately here was another four legged one I have many of these and they feel so natural

Tonight I was a wolf and I ran alot. There was a little boy who wanted to play catch but I was to fast and he laughed. I ran alot looking for my friends but I knew they were ok and running too. I talked to many people while running in wolf form and they were nice. I rode a push pole ferry and ran more it was a glorious night no wonder I woke tired.

Ketrava

Current Mood: happy

So. I'm having a good day and thinking about a lot of just random stuff.

How're you all doing? And what sort of thing are you working on, if anything, with the whole not-human-but-kinda-good-at-faking-it business?

I haven't posted here in so long... I really should try and become more active in the community. So much has happened in the past year or so, moving, my son growing, moving again back home, finding a new 'mate', school, and everything in between.

I hope the community has continued to grow and expand while I've been away, and I hope that I will be able to participate and add to the discussions here in the near future.

Current Mood: embarrassed

Between one step and the next, like the shifting of waters--the ocean momentarily overtaking the beach with the strength of the tides--the one who is me is overflowed from human matters and drifts to feline matters.

( I flick my tail out behind me, not faltering in my stride )

I've been trying to find a home for a puppy a friend found, so I contacted some ASPCA people I know.
Then i realized that the reason I know them was because they were flirting/hitting on me.
Then I realized that most of the women hitting on me in the past couple of years have been hard corps animal lovers.
Leaving any argument of causation aside, you have to admit it is kind of humorous.

This is another therian-drabble about a time that happened during the summer at the camp I work at, I'm surprised I never wrote it down.

( It takes them six people to uproot me from my spot on the floating dock )

Ears alert and eyes wide, I watch the small black ball of soft fur as his green eyes stare at me from below on the stairs.

( If he were a human child, he would wrinkle his nose up and pout at me, instead he twitches his ears irately and pulls his whiskers back slightly. )

hey, all you wonderful Therianthropy members! here's wishing you all a happy new year before I go to work!
with my workload lightning soon (what with my job going back to normal hours) I'm going to start brainstorming ways to make this comm a little more active and encourage more discussions. let's try to make this a happy and active new year!

from;
your friendly Therianthropy mod

I'm sure this is going to get a wee bit longer than I really mean for it to, so I will likely need a ( cut. )

So I'm not sure how this goes, how it works, what's going on. I'm not looking for clarity, since I know it varies between people. A lot. I guess I'm just looking for understanding ears, and I knew I'd find them here. So thanks for listening.

Current Mood: curious

The long-term importance of the VEWRS & AVEWRS surveys can't be stressed enough and this will come into focus on a larger scale in May of 2009 with the publication of an academic book involving some of the information gathered thus far. This independent publication in May ‘09 necessitates that we stop accepting surveys and move full time into analysis and writing if we ever hope to finish this decade (over 130 additional surveys have been e-mailed to us after the initial Oct. ’07 deadline bring the response total to over 750+).  If you have not already completed these surveys (preferably both parts) PLEASE take an hour or so tonight or this weekend/over the holidays to sit down and complete at least the VEWRS (Part 1 - Survey). PLEASE encourage others you know to complete these surveys as well - we rely on your assistance to reach as many individuals online and offline as possible.

( THESE SURVEYS ARE APPLICABLE IN PART TO THE THERIAN & OTHERKIN COMMUNITY - READ UNDER CUT )

How To Participate:

Return the surveys to response@suscitatio.com

SURVEYS: (Click Links To Download)

Part 1 - VEWRS (MS Word Format):  http://www.suscitatio.com/images/VEWRS_Online_Survey.doc
Part 2 - AVEWRS (MS Word Format):  http://www.suscitatio.com/images/AVEWRS_Online_Survey.doc

TROUBLESHOOTING: (If You Are Unable To Read The File) - Simply Copy/Paste From The Web Sites Below Into rtf/doc/pdf/text File Format or Direct E-mail, "X" Your Choices or Delete Any Non-Applicable Choice, Send As Attachment:

Part 1 - VEWRS (Text Format):  http://www.suscitatio.com/VEWRS.htm
Part 2 - AVEWRS (Text Format):  http://www.suscitatio.com/AVEWRS.htm

Sincerely,

- Suscitatio Research Staff

Vampirism & Energy Work Research Study
A Detailed Sociological & Phenomenological Examination Of The Real Vampire & Energy Worker Community With Secondary Focus On Therianthropy, Otherkin, & "Awakened" Individuals
Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC
http://www.suscitatio.com

Because this issue in general has been being brought up a lot lately, I felt it was important to cross-post here. It is a sensitive issue for most, but one that I Truly Believe needs to be Addressed.

I wrote this post in response to another where a member of the community had a blog snagged and snarked on an online newspaper. As can be expected, the member was a bit miffed and felt insulted and outraged over his invasion of privacy. My response to the whole kit-and-caboodle is as follows:

Okay. So. Having read both the last few postings along with the comment threads within them, I now have a response that I felt should be posted separately as it brings up a somewhat separate issue still connected to the postings...

How many of you here actually believe yourselves to be otherkin? Honestly, truly, without a shadow-of-a-doubt know the Truth Within You to hold the fact that your Soul Is Not Human?

How many of you in here are actually willing to step up and admit that to more than simply the otherkin groupies, aka members within these different types of comms?

How many of you are willing to look bat-poop crazy, willing to take ridicule, slander, cruelty and insults simply because you know yourself to be different?

If anyone has said not me to one or more of these questions, then maybe you should seriously rethink why and what you're doing here.

Otherkin is not, as this man stated, something you simply make your mind up about to look cool. It is not jumping into a suit and going down to the local fur-con to hang out with a bunch of friends. It's not simply putting on the elf ears and going down to the next ren-fest.

Otherkin is a way of life. Those of us who truly believe? We don't give two hoots whether or not we're looked upon as "that crazy lady who thinks she's an elf." We don't care whether people cross over to the other side of the road when they see us coming. We're not here to prove to the masses that we're different. We simply are...

If I were born with only one arm and one leg shorter than the other, would it make me different? You betcha. Would it subject me to ridicule and throw me into the brunt of several mean and caustic jokes? You better believe it. Would it make me any less of a person, any more of a freak than the next person simply because I was born differently than most people?

No.
It wouldn't.

This is where you have to start getting comfortable in your own skin.

If you're not comfortable with Who or What you are, then there's a problem there. It also means that you have issues that you need to work on or sift through.

Because if you're not willing to stand up for your beliefs, if you're not willing to take some snarky comments and some slanderous gossip... then you truly don't fully believe in what you're touting as truth to your group of friends who understand. If you're not willing to step up and say "Yeah, that's what I believe, so what?" If you're not willing to educate the ignorant... then why are you even admitting you believe this stuff in the first place?

Simply put, if you're not in it for the long haul... then decide that you're not and back up. Because to be honest, this is the least of what's coming your way.

This is not simply directed to [lj member here], so please don't believe that I'm trying to target you, hunny. I'm not. But. In your response to this... mmm, writer's spotlight, you did bring up an issue which needs to be brought out to the forefront. If people are not willing to stand up for what they believe in, if they're not willing to take flack for their beliefs when to be honest, all of the myriad beliefs within this community are Odd As Hell from a so-called "normal" viewpoint... well... again, what are you guys doing here?

Put yourself in a "normal" person's set of shoes. Or, better yet, go back to before you Awakened. Most of us, when we want to be honest, had a point in time where had you said, hey, guess what, [your name here], werewolves exist! we'd have locked them in the loony bin faster than you could say "otherkin." It's a sad fact, but it's also true.

We're born in a human body, included in a human family, live among mundane humans and survive in a human world. Nine out of ten people walking around are not Enlightened, and most would clench their butt cheeks tight as hell at the first mention of witchcraft, let alone otherkin...

So how do we survive as something other-than-human in a human world? We take the knocks, get back up and brush the dirt off, nod to the person who was able to knock us down and walk on, grateful that they were able to show us a weakness we're able to Learn and Grow from. Because when we know our Weaknesses, we can transform them into Strengths...

Tags: otherkin, spirituality
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Chevelle: The Red

Just a quick question for my fellow therians out there.

Has anyone noticed an increased sensitivity to [insert tangible sense here] lately? I'm talking sight, smell, hearing, taste, abilities, etc?

It seems like in the past month or so my own senses are going into overdrive. When I checked with another friend, they too agreed that they've found their senses to be overloaded lately as well.

Just curious to see what the rest of you can throw my way...

Thanks,
Wynnie

::Edit:: Okay, so stupid me I forgot that- yes indeedy, it is wintertime, or at least in the northern hemisphere. I'll allow that while a lot of therians will notice their sensitivity to different things becoming stronger, what I'm talking about is more than the simple wintertime upping of the senses.

For instance, during a normal winter, I can smell the snow before it even falls. Granted, I can smell when the rain's coming during the summer and oftentimes amuse my grandmother with the fact that I can- within half an hour generally- predict when the rain is going to start.

What I'm talking about is beyond this. I'm talking about the fact that when you stand outside you can hear a bird alight on a branch from across the field, maybe the fact that some senses are getting crossed- such as smelling color, etc.

That sorta thing...

Hopefully that clears it up for ya?

Tags: otherkin, therianthropy
Current Mood: curious

Yes, this is unrelated to therianthropy but there is sometimes crossover of interest/participants/etc.

If you would like to stay up to date with the most recent news concerning the real vampire community subscribe to the Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC) RSS Feed at:

http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/vvc.xml

News Articles & Videos:

http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/newscalendar.html

The Tyra Banks "Vampires" Episode from October 31, 2008 w/Don Henrie, Sarah Lester, & Vampyra is available for viewing either on YouTube or at the link below in a single-page format.

http://www.veritasvosliberabit.com/newscalendar.html

As every bird-therian or otherwise winged otherkin would know, long car rides mean cramped phantom wings.

Normally this isn't too much of a problem, since my shoulders and back constantly cramp (therefore my wings cramp as well) and so I'm decently used to the vague sort of oddish 'pain' from my phantom wings. However, this time I decided to sit in an awkward way for a good hour or so right before the car ride.

So my phantom wings were killing me.

( Complaining about not-really-existing limbs also tends to suck )