Kale

THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEAANSS

"Am I a Therian?" you ask with a quizzical expression.

"I like bathing in the sun. I hate taking baths. I'm highly active at 3am," you explain, and so you conclude, "I must be a cat therian!"

Why?

Don't humans also like sitting in warm sunlight? Don't some humans hate the sensation of baths? Aren't some humans more active at night than at day?

Aren't those normal human behaviors?

"I like to howl, bark, and growl! I like to dig in the dirt and play tug-a-war!" you shout excitedly, and so you conclude, "I must be a dog therian!"

Why?

Don't humans also like to be vocal; shouting, hollering, and yelping? Don't some humans love digging in the dirt to see what's beneath? Do you not see the kids playing tug-a-war? Aren't those normal human behaviors?

"But..." you pause and you think. You finally state, "I feel a call to Nature. I feel at home among the trees, when my bare feet touch the Earth. I feel a pain in my heart when looking at my body, like it doesn't feel right. Surely that means I'm a Therian."

Why?

Aren't there humans who feel a call to Nature? Who live by themselves in the woods? Aren't there humans who also feel like something is missing with themselves?

Aren't those normal human behaviors?

"Then how do I know if I'm a Therian?"

Why... are you asking me?

You clearly know yourself better than I do. You have already given so many reasons as to why you must be a Therian, right? So why ask me what you are?

"Cause you're a Therian, too, aren't you?" you ask.

"I am," comes the answer.

"So then tell me," you urge with impatience. "Am I a Therian?"

"I can not tell you," comes another answer. "Because I do not know. I do not know your identity. I do not know what bristles beneath your skin or echoes in your heart."

There are no set rules to define someone who is a Therian. There is no checklist to go through to determine who is a Therian. There are no guidelines to follow under to know who is a Therian.

"Are you an animal?" comes the question. "Are you, in any sense or form, an animal?"

You pause. And you think.

You already know the answer.

"I am an animal."

Then congratulations.

i can recognize white people as a whole have systemically oppressed POC in america, which is where i live 

most people when they make white people jokes only mean the shitty white people and i am not a shitty white person 

i started this account to share my stupid wolf thoughts, with the mindset of "no one will ever see this. i can be myself and write whatever id like." now i find one of my posts reaching 200 likes, and it warms my heart to see so much activity on my blog.

Hi, most of you online know me as Coyote, we’ll leave it at that for now. I’m a 26-year-old UK-based therian. Recently it occurred to me that there is very little actual research into the therian community, and as a result we don’t really have data to back up our experiences.

There are a lot of misconceptions about therianthropy; for example, that it’s mostly children or just a phase. Those of us in the community know that isn’t accurate, but right now it’s difficult to demonstrate that in a way that people outside the community will take seriously.

So I’ve started a research project to try and change that.

The aim of this study is to gather anonymous data about therian identity; things like age, how long people have identified this way, and the kinds of experiences people have. In order to identify patterns within the community.

This is not about proving or disproving anything, and it’s not about making anyone look ridiculous. It’s about documenting our experiences in a way that is respectful and actually useful.

If you’re a therian (or questioning / feel you relate), I’d really appreciate you taking part:

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask.

humans think they are the most important species, but so does every species. being a majority does not make that a truth.

There is currently no word for "the experiences that give rise to therianthropy." The therian community has a million different terms for pieces of it - mental shifts, phantom shifts, sensory shifts, etc. I propose a new term. Hear me out:

Zoesthesia ("zo-esthesia", from the Greek "zōion" [life/animal] and "aisthesis" [perception]): "The subjective inner non-human animal experiences that give rise to therianthropy." Therianthropy is an identity. Zoesthesia is the root of that identity, and can include all forms of shifts therians have previously described. Zoesthesia can be experienced from a young age and can occur before one's identity forms, before one knows the words for what they're experiencing. It is the "happening" behind the curtain - instinct. Consider:

It's neutral, even if it sounds like it implies a neurological bias.

It doesn't replace "therianthropy" as a term.

It sounds similar to synesthesia - the crossing of the senses in the brain, which is not seen as a disorder.

It's a spectrum, just like synesthesia - everyone's experiences are different.

Using "zoesthete" instead of "therian" is possible, though it does not imply any sort of identity, nor does it imply that one interprets these experiences as belonging to any specific non-human animal. This is primarily to describe "therianthropy underneath the hood."

It is not exclusive. We could use it to account for spiritual experiences as well - past life memories, "auras," the whole nine yards. If you think about it, all of those things also occur in your brain. Literally everything does. Your brain is hallucinating its own version of reality right now, and everything "spiritual" that you believe is just based on something your brain experienced. And everything that appears to be "external" is a recreation of it by your neurons.

What's The Point?

I suggest this because of the latest happenings globally within the therian community. A lot of young people in China, for example, think that "therian" is a fandom they can join. Younger folks globally should know that becoming more aware of the happenings in their consciousness is the point - not joining a fandom or getting likes on TikTok.

I believe that the way we do that is by turning the focus beyond identity, toward the inner experiences that lead to that identity. Time and time again, I've heard non-therians say "You can't identify as an animal, that's just not possible." There are significantly more convincing ways to talk about the experiences we have. Zoesthesia has my vote.

A more general, similarly neutral version of this that would apply to all alterhumans would be "allosthesia," from the Greek "allos" (other) and "aisthesis."

Theres an animal-like corpse inside your shapeless void body and it's slowly decomposing under your skin

Yeah so uh i'm very pissed right now. Theriantropy is going somewhat viral in my country now, like, a big news letter just posted something.

Not to doxx myself but

Quick translation: Teenagers walk on all fours, that's behind it

"Humans with Furmasks move like animals through parks, behind the TREND is an online subculture"

Other thing reads: "When TEENAGERS see themselves as wolf, dog or cat"

I know it sounds a bit silly, but my heart is racing right now, i'm scared that it might end like it did in spain.

And i'm also FCKING FURIOUS. THE MISINFO.MINE AND MANY OTHERS IDENTITY GETTING DOWNPLAYED AS "Teen trend" ONCE AGAIN. oh god bro

I'm genuinely hoping that it either gets forgotten soon or people react nice

I don't think paraphiles should be told to die. I don't think paraphilias that are harmful to oneself or others should be encouraged but I do think that there needs to be more support for accessing resources to help as currently I'm seeing a whole lot of "[insert paraphilia] needs to die!!!" instead of actual ways to get help, which is kinda frustrating to see since to get better you need to know how to access those resources.

I also think we need to be more accepting of paraphiles talking about their experience and how they got help. I don't see how you expect these folks to get help when theres no one out there talking about their experiences. Having a safe support network of folks where you can talk about your issues in a judgement free zone is crucial to getting help for a lot of folks.

I think our community has good intentions for wanting to keep theriform animals and children safe, but I think our approach is pushing people into spaces that are echo chambers of harmful beliefs.