Angel and Demon Ask Blog

Is it weird/can I still find comfort in some Christian songs despite being pagan? I mean I know I can, I do what I wish/brings me joy. But still. It feels like there’s a small voice in the back of my head invalidating me for still finding comfort in them. Ig it bothers me the most because I don’t understand why they bring me comfort. And I mean the ones that are a bit more vague, not the ones strait up worshiping lol.

(This is not an invitation to tell me to turn to God, I appreciate the care and sentiment I truly do but please don’t. It hurts more than helps.)

If you're asking whether it's okay: Frankly, your personal beliefs are no one's business but yours. As long as you're not hurting anyone or advocating for anyone to be hurt, you're fine. You can have all the contradictory beliefs in the world and while I might be mildly concerned for your critical thinking skills depending how far you take that, there's nothing inherently morally wrong with that. You wouldn't be the only angel I've seen to not believe in God/gods.

If you're asking from a theological standpoint whether it makes sense/fits within a single ideological framework, that's a somewhat different question that I'm happy to help you explore now that that big important thing is out of the way. To preface this, I'm a big believer in internal consistency - basically, whatever you believe about the metaphysical/spiritual/religious, it should be consistent with itself and you shouldn't be contradicting yourself at any time. If you are, there's a logical flaw somewhere that says one of those two things must not be true, if they can't both be true at the same time. (However, things may appear to be contradictory sometimes which aren't actually when you dig a little deeper.)

Frankly, that second question depends on a whole bunch of factors, primarily 1) your personal explanation for your being angelkin, 2) how you're defining "angel," and 3) closely linked to #2, whether you believe angels can exist without God/gods. Let's go through them one at a time:

1) Your personal explanation for your otherkinity. If you think your otherkinity comes from (or might come from) pretty much any psychological source, this is a moot question; angels don't need to literally exist in any sense (physically or non-physically, in this world or any other) for you to have them as a psychological kintype. Archetypal resonance and probably some other explanations for otherkinity that are slipping my mind also fall into this category. Similarly, if you believe in a multiverse, that probably also answers your question; gods don't need to exist in this world to potentially exist in other universes, which eliminates the need for the question.

(If you simply don't know (or don't care) where your otherkinity comes from, then there's still nothing inherently contradictory about identifying as an angel while not believing in God or gods, because any one of the above explanations could potentially apply and make it internally consistent. You don't have to pin down which one of them you think it is for that to be true. It can be an "I don't know what it is, but it's probably not [x] because that doesn't make much sense" situation.)

But let's say you happen to believe that either a) you were (or will be) at some point literally an angel (whether in a physical or purely spiritual form) in this world, or b) you were/are/will be literally an angel in another world, but you don't believe there were actual gods in that world either. In that case, the question is still relevant, and we move on to point 2:

2. How you're defining "angel." "Angel" isn't nearly as broad as "dragon" in terms of umbrella terms, but it can still mean a number of things. For many people, "servant/messenger of God/a god" is a part of how they define "angel", so an angel existing in a world without at least one god to serve wouldn't make much sense - they would no longer be an angel, but something else. However, you might simply define an "angel" as a very powerful, semi/quasi-divine being that isn't quite powerful enough to qualify as a god themself. Or what you're describing as an "angel" might be even less related to the typical definition and be something more similar to air elementals or aasimar from D&D - mortal or semi-mortal beings, but with "celestial" qualities that make them superficially seem like "angels" to us (or at least make them close enough that it's a convenient shorthand to explain them). Whether that truly "counts" as an angel is probably up for debate, but there may not be a better term for it, so it may be what you're stuck with regardless.

So: How do you define "angel"? Or, perhaps more effectively: Write down a definition of "angel". Then (afterward, not before), write down a description of your kintype, with whatever details of appearance, physiology, culture, etc. you deem important, without using the word "angel" (or any derivatives like "angelic," or even "celestial" if you want a challenge) anywhere. Then reread that description, compare to your written definition of "angel," and see if they match. Try to explain (written down, preferably) why or why not your kintype reads as "angel" to you, in as much detail as you can. Hell, try to write two arguments, one for why it should and one for why it should not be counted as an "angel", if you want, and then compare how strong each argument is!

(Bonus round: send your written definition and description to a friend and see if they think they match, or send just the description and ask if it would qualify as "angel" in their mind (and why/why not, and what they'd call it if not), or send the argument(s) you wrote down for why and/or why not to them and see if they think the argument is sound/which argument they think is stronger! This is not because their opinion is automatically correct - their logic may not be sound, or you may simply still disagree with them - but getting a second or third opinion is rarely a bad thing.)

Now, hang onto what you wrote down - it's going to be important to this next part.

3. Do you believe an "angel" can exist in the absence of God/gods? Take another look at the definition you wrote of "angel." Assuming you've made it this far and aren't just reading out of fascination at the thought process, if there's anything necessitating the presence of a god in there, you have a problem. And that wouldn't be unusual! When you say "angel" to someone, typically they're immediately going to think of a being connected to/serving a god, most often the Christian God.

But there may be exceptions to that - as I described earlier, you may essentially be using "angel" as a shorthand to describe something that's not really technically an "angel", but which we don't have a more accurate word for that's in common usage - something to get the point across in casual conversation, which can then be explained further if the topic of conversation necessitates that. Or you may consider any semi/quasi-divine being not quite powerful enough to count as a god an "angel," regardless of whether there are more powerful beings present that they serve. There's some room for interpretation there, in my opinion - or there may be a word that fits that kind of being better that I don't know!

This is my first post for the Angelkin community since i’m more of an obsever rather than a speaker. I have two questions for y’all and if you’ll answer to even one i would make very happy.

-Do you have a strange body reaction to some materials that is unusual? 

In my experience is Gold. It literraly cuts my skin, i had gold earings and they both cut my lobes so much that i needed to have an operation to reconstrut them, i can’t wear gold bracelets because they makes me bleed and burn my skin as well. 

-Do you have very fast flashbacks of your previous form all of a sudden?

Usually when i look at the sky at dusk or when it’s raining i had flashback of flying up there. I see an angel with black hair and something yellow around him like an aura? i think that’s my previous form. I remember the moment when i chose to reborn to save my current mother’s life but other than that it’s blurry.

For your second question, yep certain activities will give a sort of flash of sense memory in relation to my form. Usually with me it’s phantom sensations though, like boom suddenly wings on a windy day (although I tend to have wing sensation most of the time anyway).

Hi there!

First becoming aware of possibly being otherkin, especially divinekin I've noticed, can be very intimidating. So don't worry about being, well, worried or hesitant!

My personal experience with being divinekin is that of spirituality (I am spiritual kin, rather than psychological kin). I started having dreams or visions of memories, and I would just know things about my past life/lives with absolute certainty. I guess I just knew in my heart and soul that I was, and am, an angel.

I was introduced to this community and this experience by a very close friend of mine, who is a deity. It turns out that we knew each other when she was a deity and I an angel, so corroborating memories with her definitely helped me become more firm in my knowledge!

When I started thinking "I think I am," it quickly became "I know I am," if that makes sense.

I obviously can't speak for everyone, and the experiences can differ from person to person.

I think a good place to start could be reading up information about angels, pick any religion you like. Do you feel connected to any of them? Or you could scroll through the #angelkin tag on tumblr and see if you resonate with anything you see there.

Another thing that can help is to talk to people in the community about your feelings and experiences!!

If you use discord, you can look up "angelkin" on disboard and find some servers to join! If you'd like to DM me, you're more than welcome to join the divinekin server I run!

If you practice any kind of divination, you can also ask for guidance there.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that you know yourself best, and only you can know with absolute certainty if you are an angel or not. It's never wrong to question these things, so don't worry too much about it!

Welcome to the community, in any case. I hope this answer helps you somehow, and my ask box and DMs are open if you'd like to chat some more!

Love always,

I wouldn’t expect that most people knew I was gone in the first place. Hi, my name is Toby. I ran a blog on here under the same name (hiraeth-prince) which I deactivated some time ago. I was part of the Otherkin community. Not a huge part of it or anything, but I think I had a decent following. Since I deactivated my account, I’ve pretty much been out of touch with the whole of the ‘kin community, with the exception of meeting some younger people who definitely showed signs of being newly awakened therians (not that I asked, though).

That being said, I think I have spent around 2-3 years away from the community, and I have learned a thing or two, let me tell you.

People who are against otherkin will tell you that actively participating in the community is the only reason you feel this way, and they are (mostly) wrong.

I feel like I can safely say that the community did not change the fact that I was or was not otherkin. I had these feelings of being non-human before I even knew what the word was. Quite literally since childhood. And of course that didn’t change when I left the community. However, I do think that being a part of a group of people that feel the same that you feel can intensify certain things. When I was away from the community, I didn’t stop feeling non-human, but certain things like mental and phantom shifts just didn’t happen as often. There was a period shortly after I left that I started wondering if I really was faking it the whole time, and then out of the blue, my blunt nails would feel strange because shouldn’t claws be there? Or I would smell, or hear, or taste something that made me feel connected again. Like I said though, the community can sometimes make things more intense, and that’s not always great (more on that in a moment though). Nobody forced me to be who I am though. Some people do go through the experience where they try a label and find out later that that label doesn’t suit them, and that’s perfectly valid. This isn’t a part of my identity that’s going away, though. It simply changes and evolves over time. 

Experimenting with labels is okay, and you should do it.

This goes for literally any part of your identity (sexuality, gender, spirituality, religion even) but let’s stick with the theme for today. The Alterhuman and Otherkin communities have a fuckton of different labels to describe just about anything, and it’s okay to experiment with labels (or lack of labels) to see where or if you fit in to these places. Example; I think I don’t really “vibe” with the term Otherkin anymore, I much prefer Alterhuman. Especially because the terms kin/kinning/kinnie have kind of become a part of mainstream media to mean just heavily relating to something. My spiritual identity in general also tends to just get a little too messy at times to fit into the Otherkin box. This is something that I have had to learn about myself over time, and that’s okay. Identity takes a helluva long time to figure out sometimes.

The ‘kin community is kinda stressful.

If you want to learn more about the angelkin experience, you can check my angelkin or fallen angelkin tags, or my FAQ and Resources pages.

Putting that part aside, not everyone subscribes to a belief in reincarnation when it comes to their divinekin identity. It’s definitely in the majority, but it is not the only way to exist as otherkin, even within just the spiritual explanation (for example, my identity is not due to reincarnation, but is still spiritual), not to mention potential psychological explanations.

I mean, I’m Lucifer, so you might not like my commentary for multiple reasons, but I thought I’d try anyway to offer you a different understanding and perspective from someone who is also part of Abrahamic culture. I can’t appropriate my own culture’s beliefs.

I think some of the human bias among canonical depictions is to think of the Devil as a static, unchanging caricature of a person. There is little personality aside from those moments where the role of Satan (in Job for example, or during the Temptation of Jesus) is presented as much more of a nuanced figure with a job still connected to God in a way. It’s an ugly job, and more often than not the simple fact of what you are as a demon or fallen angel puts you inherently against humanity, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a person and capable of more than one emotion than Always Evil. Anyone who knows me knows that I will wax on about my love for my people and my kingdom, about my excitement over random details of the way the government I designed works, over the languages and culture of demons and angels that I have inherent knowledge or  memory of. And that I also talk a lot about the discomforting parts, about the darker aspect, but including in it a lot about the perspective of a predator/prey relationship when it comes to a perspective of good/evil.

With regards to appropriation, honestly I think Christianity in particular can take the relatively minor hit of divinekin existing. There’s been so much historical precedent of argument and schism over being the “wrong kind” of Christian, of having the wrong interpretation of theology, etc. Indigenous/Christian blend religions especially come under fire from (mainly mainstream, white) Christians all the time for shit like ~black magic~ (it’s just racism again). Personally, while it can weird me out sometimes that someone who doesn’t believe in a god/s can identify as angelkin when religion tends to be inherently connected to the being, there are just so many differing theologies to begin with that I don’t feel victimized or appropriated, especially coming from a religion that has done so much appropriating.

Putting that part aside, not everyone subscribes to a belief in reincarnation when it comes to their divinekin identity. It’s definitely in the majority, but it is not the only way to exist as otherkin, even within just the spiritual explanation (for example, my identity is not due to reincarnation, but is still spiritual), not to mention potential psychological explanations.

I mean, I’m Lucifer, so you might not like my commentary for multiple reasons, but I thought I’d try anyway to offer you a different understanding and perspective from someone who is also part of Abrahamic culture. I can’t appropriate my own culture’s beliefs.

I mean I guess it would really depend on your behavior and how it's affecting your life.

Are you brushing off people who are confiding in you? Are you no longer feeling the need to eat or keep up your hygiene? Are you no longer participating in hobbies or activities that you used to enjoy?

Is this something that you felt before, or after you began using the demonkin label? Is this new? If it came after, then I would say it sounds like trying to fit into the box.

There's a lot of variables here.

And at the end of the day, it's fine to feel however you like, as long as you aren't harming anyone, including yourself. Your kin type should not be affecting the way you treat other people. (Apathy is very broad so I'm not sure specifically what it applies to here.)

You aren't going to like this suggestion but I think it might be something you discuss with a therapist about. (Honestly I think even very mentally healthy people should speak to therapists as well. Everyone needs them more than they think they do.)

And honestly, for all you know, it very well could be a chemical imbalance. Thyroid issues can be the root of depression. Poor posture can be the root of phantom wing feelings. It's important to examine why you feel these things, and take into account physical possibilities as well.

This was all completely unrelated to my being demonkin, it just meant that sometimes those feelings were expressed in ways that fit my species identity - simply because that’s who I am. If people around you are starting to take notice when they haven’t before, this probably means you’re acting differently to a degree that might be cause for concern. If you find out later that really, it’s a normal, comfortable mental space for you to be in, that’s fine, but please don’t automatically attribute potentially harmful health concerns to being kin.

Please please put things in place to protect young people in the actuallydivine community. I’m sure you all mean well but you must realize how easy it would be for the wrong people to get into your community and use it as a way to manipulate vulnerable young people. Be cautious, don’t forget that not everyone has good intentions. Don’t let your community turn into a gateway.

You’re not obliged to still respect the archangels, the seraphim, the anyone if you don’t feel comfortable; if you are fallen by the hand of an angel that most other angels look up to, or if you blame God, or anything like that, that doesn’t make you a lesser person!

You’re allowed to hold a grudge, to be angry, to be upset! Falling didn’t happen to all angels, and maybe you didn’t have the same story that every other fallen angel did, but that doesn’t make you obligated to be wishing you could be forgiven for whatever made you fall!