Welcome to Gaia! ::

So I'm going out on a limb here in posting this thread. I've been chastised too many times before for this but I like to try and maintain hope that there are people out there who might be more open minded than the general populous.

I know this is a furry guild but I'm curious to see how many people here know about therianthropy (or possibly even are therian themselves).

For those who don't know, the generally accepted term for Therianthropy is a person who identifies themselves as a non-human animal, generally in a spiritual or psychological way. Please don't confuse this with simply having a fursona. Theranthropes actually see themselves as the animal they identify with, just trapped in a human body.

This differs from furry fandom in that a therian doesn't choose their animal self and a therian will experience "shifts" be they mental, phantom, dream or astral (if you believe in such things). Some actually believe they can undergo physical shifting but most of the therian community dismiss these as wild fantasies.

So now I'm curious to get everyone here's feedback.
Just to say though, please refrain from blatantly offensive statements like, "ah yes, the furs that forget to take their anti-psychotics." or "You can stop pretending to be animals. You're humans". -_-

That idea of therianthropy definitely does come up. It's why a lot of people who view it as something more/purely psychological have such a harder time accepting it than people who view it spiritually.

What I find reoccurring thing that I think defines therianthropy for most is that the feeling goes beyond fantasy (and for some people with the more unusual types (lke insects, sloths, and rodents) isn't a fantasy at all). I've done oodles of reading on the subject and one recurring things is that the feeling's people have go beyond psychological. There really is no good way to describe a feeling. It's like trying to describe true love. You just can't do it. The best way to describe it is that you know it's there and it's real.....I sound like a loony. -_-

True true. Sadly a lot of therians have been pretty badly scarred by society for speaking out. And it doesn't help that it's also a spiritual thing, so by simply stating the basics one can sound rather loony. XP

Admit it, you can't exactly take someone seriously when they tell you that their soul isn't human, or they were an animal in a past life.

Really? I'm almost surprised there are any others in this guild (at least others brave enough to say something). It's nice to see another canine. Would you be okay if I asked you more about your experiences with therianthropy?

I think it's a pretty cool thing, I believe in past souls, and as more animals are killed more humans are born with there souls ^-^

A lot of therians share the past souls philosophy. I'm not one of them but I respect that belief. :3

And how do you mean by having cat DNA, Fluffy? Do you mean in a physical way, because I always tell young therians how you behave and what you can do has no factor in whether or not you're therian. It's all about how you feel deep down in your soul.

I personally feel that I have a spiritual connection with the Gray Wolf, but no farther then it is more or less my 'patron'. I still consider myself Therian, though.

Patron as in, it's what I feel that I truly am inside. In other terms, the personality of the wolf is my own. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.