Glory
- Therian - Standard Animal
Siberian Husky
Posts: 6
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Post by Glory on Apr 26, 2018 22:49:11 GMT
Hi everyone! I need some help. I keep finding myself super confused about my theriotype. Like I'm switching between different canines, back and forth. How can I confirm that an animal is my theriotype? I'm wondering if I could have a fox, or arctic fox could my theriotype, or one of my theriotypes. I mean, when I started out over a year ago, I identified as a fox for months. I have a lot of fox personality traits. Not so much with dogs. I match the description of having a fox/arctic fox totem animal. I even decided to go dressed as a fox therian to my middle school's 'vocabulary parade', where everyone had to go dressed as a vocab word in order to pass English class. I know about meditation and research. But the more I look inside myself to find answers and the more I learn about myself, the more confused I get. I seem to find more questions than answers. I'm afraid if I switch between theriotypes too quickly or too much, it'll make me look 'fluffy', and I don't want to come off that way. But I'm genuinely really confused. Am I having cameo shifts? Am I seeing spirit guides/totems? Am I a polytherian? I mean, I really don't think I am, but I'm willing to at least consider that possibility. The fact that i'm stuck between so many animals is driving me crazy! Is it normal to be this confused? How can I be sure of my theriotype? Please help!
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G.D.
- Otherkin - Extraterrestrial or Metaphysical
Vampiric Black Shuck
Posts: 2,243
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Post by G.D. on Apr 27, 2018 9:03:37 GMT
Hey there. Confusion is a big part of identifying as non-human. Even people who feel 'comfortable' with a self identifying term experience confusion, doubt, anxiety, and can and will still experience things such as cameo shifts and otherheartedness. The process of understanding self is a continuous one and many still experience changes in how they view and label themselves over time. And will across their whole lives. So it's normal, in that way, to feel what you're feeling. There's no end of the road for us. Being otherhearted can create a deep longing, if you've looked into being fox-hearted/kith. Or with any other animal. I experience this myself for a variety of reptilian creatures such as crocodiles and utahraptors, to the extent that sometimes I even get extremely strong shifts related to these beings. But I do not identify as them. Identity, itself, is very personal. How you define yourself in terms of your non-human identity will be up to you, and it will be as complex as you wish it to be in reasoning or understanding. It's going to be how you discern your identity for yourself and what you individually consider to be an integral part of you. In terms of Guides, they're separate beings from us. See this guide for more basic information on the phenomena. If you have further inquiries don't be afraid to ask myself or Ke 'ano. Guides are not related to our identities in any facet, but they can induce experiences similar to shifting when they wish to teach you something. Since these shifts are caused by an external force for a specific reason they also do not qualify for being related to our non-human identities. Totems, while used as an interchangeable term often, are actually a separate phenomena. Once again not really related to the non-human identity in terms of self. Relating traits to animals in reference to ourselves can be extremely tricky. Because we experience this world through a human body, we are subject to the human experience in near exclusivity minus our atypical non-human nature that causes the need to identify as such. However, because we are physically human we really only know this world from the human perspective. Imparting human traits or traits as we understand them in animals is inherently anthropomorphizing those animals. Rationalizing their behaviors in a way which we, as humans, can understand. But in reality there's no real way to know. We only have our individual perspectives and the comparisons we make. Not to mention not every animal is a carbon copy of what we have in mind as the idea of that animal. Some animals fall into atypicalities for what we assume of them. Such as dogs being asocial or house cats loving water. Very basic examples, but you get the point. This area is always pretty grey and we have to make sure we're on top of things when it comes to understanding human nature, what it really means to be human (the human animal, as humans are animals), and who and what wild animals really are outside of our perceptions (as best we can). As someone who's gone through just about every canine in an effort to find a blueprint that worked for my system, there's still a longing to go back to old blueprints/canids sometimes. I think we long for this in the sense that we romanticize the times we thought we had it figured out or felt comfortable with those labels. That's just my opinion though, and that line of thought could absolutely just be my own. Despite whichever it is, the fact remains that you don't have to make a decision right now. In fact I suggest waiting it out and seeing where these feelings take you. And if you do end up finding that it's a more accurate label in comparison to the one you use now, don't feel ashamed. Everyone, at some point, considers the fact that they could be wrong. Or that a new label might be better. It's just part of the journey.
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Glory
- Therian - Standard Animal
Siberian Husky
Posts: 6
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Post by Glory on Apr 30, 2018 21:09:03 GMT
Thanks, G.D., that helped a lot. 。^‿^。
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