Marshall Schottler

Therianthropy If you've ever heard of therianthropy (and you probably haven't), you might understand what being a therian is. If you haven't, you might be curious to now what these unfamiliar words even are. !eing a therian is all about beliefs, whether you now it or not" the belief, that you in fact, are different from the rest of the world. Therianthropy is a concept almost all haven#t heard or have begun to even understand. $or those who are %Therians...%, it could be a way of life, a religion, but for all it is a belief. %&The' (enerally accepted definition of therianthropy is a person who is, feels or believes he)she is a nonhuman animal (not physically). The connection can be spiritual, or logical%. !asically, a %therian% believes that they have some form of connection to an animal. If the connection is spiritual, then the connection can be through dream or thought. If the connection is *+ogical,, then he)she psychologically thin s or feels the same way their animal would in most situations. The symbol for therianthropy is a (ree theta, interweaving a delta, with a line in the middle of the theta, to represent e-uality in animals. .hy/ 0umans have always been fascinated and even identified in some ind of way with other animals. 1ultures all over the world have animalistic humans. 2ne culture in particular are the 3gyptians. 0umans with animal heads were seen all over hieroglyphs, and monuments were even built. 4nother culture, the Indians, also showed a spiritual respect for animals. In recent times, a subculture has developed that has adopted the word therianthropy to describe a sense of intense spiritual or psychological identification with a non5human animal. Members of this subculture typically refer to themselves as therianthropes or therians. Therians all feel the same, all because animals have certain personalities, li e people do. It's an inner feeling that is hard to e6plain from a therian's own standpoint. If you are therian, you 7ust are, animal. Then what's the point of saying you are therian/ .ell, it depends on

how you view your beliefs. Some people mi6 their religion with therianthropy, while others ta e it as a religion itself. Sometimes it's 7ust a way of life. $or e6ample, say one's thereo5type is a wolf. .olves are social creatures, so this person strives to be more social. .hen a therian does this, it ma es them feel more complete, because they feel closer psychologically to their own animal. *I'm christian, or *8agan, or something of the sorts.. is a great way to describe the beliefs of someone, so why not *yeah, I'm a therian., In conclusion, being a therian is many things, but out of all, once heard, it is misunderstood. $or the few, the pride of being therian cannot be replaced, that feeling inside that says that they are animal inside, and now the only way they can let it out is to be free in this world. Therians don't care if they are misunderstood. Many people around the world are misunderstood, for their beliefs. %I'd rather die on my paws, than live on my feet%.