#But this is just what surviving records have given us. There were likely otherkin in different terms before the '70s

[solradguy]

It's kind of a bummer how a lot of people think otherkin are a 2020s thing when it's been around since at least the 1970s

I'd like you to imagine an Elf [Tolkienesque] in bellbottoms tearing it up at a disco. That is the decade where this all started and it kicks ass

[rottenrevelry]

What is #actuallydivine? What is #divinekin?

Big Big Big Disclaimer: These are my own definitions, and my own understanding of other folks' definitions. If you have any information that I missed, edits you would suggest, or corrections to what I have said, please do not hesitate to let me know!

If you agree with this post, I'd love a reblog, but don't feel pressured to use these same definitions that I do. I'm just like, a little tired of people (Antis? Sealions?) asking the same questions over and over.

In his post, I'm going to address two types of terms: actually_______ and _______kin; within these groups I will address actuallydivine, actuallyangelic, actuallydemonic, and actuallydeific/actuallydeified --- as well as divinekin, angelkin, demonkin, and deitykin/godkin.

This is a really long post, by the way. It’s sort of an essay and it’s like, over 2k words. There’s a pretty tongue-in-cheek tl;dr at the end, but you can probably absorb most of the information by skimming it.

ACTUALLY__________ :

Usually, if someone uses actually_______, rather than ______kin, they are probably purposefully distancing themself from the general 'kin narrative. I think this can sometimes be misinterpreted as a (literally) “holier-than-thou” attitude, but in my experience, it is almost always deeper than that.

Actuallydivine, as a tag, was started by a person (who I will not tag unless they would like me to) who had delusions* of being a deity due to their mental illness. The tag mimics other tags intended to form community between folks with the same/similar mental illnesses, such as a.ctuallya.utistic or a.ctuallyps.ychotic (censored to avoid cluttering these tags). It is not appropriative of these tags, because the origins are the same.

*The DSM V defines “delusions” as follows: “[F]ixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. Their content may include a variety of themes (e.g. persecutory, referential, somatic, religious, grandiose)”

Note that this definition differs from the DSM IV definition, “A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everyone else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary,” which bases “external reality” on the popular belief.

Initially, the tag was intended to be used exclusively by deities, and not by otherkin. The creator initially requested that posts not be tagged with both actuallydivine and divinekin, or other forms of cross-posting. The fact that it’s been taken over by otherkin has irritated several of the non-’kin folks who use the tag, especially those who have been using the tag for a long time.

Actuallydivine has also branched out somewhat to include religious beliefs that involve self-deification -- that is to say, those who believe that they are gods for personal religious reasons. This is where I fall, as well as most of the actuallydivine folks I’ve had extended conversations with. These religious beliefs are, understandably, quite intimate and individual, but are often characterized by meditation, self-worship and autodevotional acts, and forming community (if not organized, then at least supportive) with other actuallydivine folks, even if the specifics of their religious beliefs differ wildly.

Actuallyangelic is a newer tag which is a subset of actuallydivine. It is characterized as a mental delusion or religious belief that one is, predictably, an angel. Most often, this refers to angels and angelology within Abrahamic religions (ARs). However, this can also refer to angels from Non-Abrahamic religions (Non-ARs), or even angels that do not originate from religious faiths at all. “Abrahamic” is a bit of an umbrella term, used for religions which originate or identify with the figure Abraham. The most common Abrahamic religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, although there are others. You can read more here (Wikipedia link).

It may be appropriate here to define “angel,” given that it’s a fairly fluid word, despite its fixed cultural image. Here, angel is presumed to mean a spiritual or celestial being, who is partially or fully immortal, who acts as an attendant, servant, messenger, agent, or envoy to a deity or concept. “Angel” as a word originates from the Greek “angelos,” meaning messenger.

Actuallydemonic, as might be expected, is similar to the above, used by those with mental delusions or religious beliefs that they are a demon. This can also appear in an Abrahamic sense, usually as the “opposite” of an angel, as an unpleasant or evil spirit, or the servant of an “evil” or devilish deity (namely Satan). However, just as angels, demons can have beliefs stemming from Non-ARs as well.

A demon, in this case, is defined as a baneful or chaotic spiritual servant to a (similarly baneful or chaotic) deity or concept, much like an angel. Also like angels, the word  “demon” originates from the Greek “daemon,” meaning a supernatural being either personifying a concept, or occupying a divine space between gods and mortals.

Finally, actuallydeific, or actuallydeified, is a very new label, reaching back toward the roots of the actuallydivine tag. It is a subset of actuallydivine, encompassing the specific mental delusion or religious belief that one is a deity. It was created, perhaps in protest or perhaps in abdication, of the influx of actuallyangelic folks and angelkin in the actuallydivine tag. This is where I stand, specifically, and I mainly interact with other deities.

__________KIN:

The definition of “otherkin” varies based on who you ask -- their communities, their age, their politics, and their particular kintypes. For the sake of my post, I will use the simplest and most common definition I have run into: “One who identifies as partially or entirely nonhuman.” This leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and can be used to convey almost any related belief -- psychological, religious or spiritual, family lore, and even very straightforward literal beliefs. One may believe they were a dog in a past life, that they have generations-old fae heritage, or that they are an alien who was put in the place of a human child in infancy, and all of these could count as “otherkin.”

As such, one who is divinekin may have countless reasons for believing so. Many divinekin believe that they have either died and been reincarnated as a mortal, or that they were sent to earth for a particular reason. Using the given definition, those who classify as actuallydivine may also classify as divinekin. However, there is a sizeable movement to distance the two, as many people in the actuallydivine community do not resonate with the general image or narrative associated with the divinekin community.

Angelkin are, in my experience, one of the more popular divine kintypes. These are folks who identify, either partially or entirely, as angels -- again, most commonly Abrahamic, but many from Non-ARs as well. This can range from anyone who fully believes that they are the Archangel Gabriel incarnate, to those who are kin with a fictional angelic character from media, to those with whom an angelic aesthetic simply resonates deeply.

Similarly, demonkin identify as fully or partially demonic -- that is to say, as one who fits the above definition of a demon.

godkin, or deitykin, are people who identify as deities. They may be full incarnations of these gods, or “shards” -- small pieces of the full deity inhabiting, possessing, or being possessed by a mortal body. It is notable that shards are likely far more common than full incarnations, as a human body There are many different kinds of deities, and not all deitykin identify as gods that you might recognize. While some deitykin identify as gods which are mentioned in surviving mythology found on earth, others are deities whose myths have all been lost to time, who were worshiped remotely or unofficially, who were not recorded, or who were never even worshiped on earth to begin with.

MISCONCEPTIONS:

Angels, demons, and deities are the only types of divine beings.             Nope. A real definition of who “counts” as divine would be impossible. This varies culturally as well as personally. Many considered their royalty to be partially divine, or sanctioned by the gods. Prophets and oracles, and other channels/vessels of the gods, are sometimes considered divine, and sometimes not. Some people consider all Fae to be divine, some consider no Fae to be divine, and some believe that the Fae have their own structures of religion and government. Whether one is “divine,” actuallydivine, or divinekin, is up to them.

All divinekin want worship.             Nah. Many divinekin are pretty uncomfortable with the concept of being worshiped here. Some do want worship, yeah, but nobody is required to do that. Yeah, it’s pretty unhealthy to ask for worship of others, and most divine folks will agree. If you see a post that says “WORSHIP ME,” there are a few things it might be. It may be a vent post, not intended at anybody, but expressing a feeling related to divinity on somebody’s personal blog. It may be a troll pretending to be divine. And, potentially, you may have found a person who is genuinely asking for worship. In any case, it’s best not to interact with the post at all. And, hey, some folks like to perform devotional acts for their friends. That’s for them to discuss together as consenting individuals, and you don’t need to be a part of it.

Divinekin are going to hell.             Probably not. Some of them, maybe! It really depends on your religious beliefs. If you thing that anybody not of your religious belief is going to hell, then sure, you’re probably well within your rights to include divinekin in there. But that’s on you, not them.

Divinekin are hubristic / divinekin insult my religious beliefs.             Again, this is more dependent on your religious beliefs than on theirs. If divinekin thought that they were going to be punished for hubris, they wouldn’t be expressing themselves in that way. The thing is, gods aren’t usually punished by other gods in the same way that mortals are. Their religious beliefs are as valid as your own.

Divinekin think they are immortal, or better than others.             Yet again, some, yeah, but not all. Most divinekin, like otherkin, are aware of the limitations of the body they’re in. The belief that one is literally immortal is often associated with mental illness, by the way, and even if a person thinks they’re literally, physically immortal, is it really your business to tell them otherwise? Unless you are their doctor, no. It’s not.             Divinekin sometimes think they’re better than others. If that upsets you, you don’t have to engage with them. It will make both of you feel bad. A lot of divinekin also struggle with some serious self-worth issues. Again, unless you are their doctor or their friend, it’s probably not your business to deal with.

All divinekin are a particular way (young, white, trans, mentally ill, unmedicated, uneducated, unstable, bullies, etc.           Verifiably incorrect. Looking through the tags immediately yields sets of selfies from divine POC. You will find posts from divine beings over 20 (such as this one!), even over 30, 40 years -- remember that around 40% of tumblr users are under 25. You will see the blogs of divine folks who are trans and cis, of all kinds of genders, including cultural third genders, intersex... the list goes on.            The point is that we’re a varied group. Many divine folks on tumblr are seeing or seeking psychiatrists, taking medication or in the process of receiving prescriptions, or don’t feel the need to seek out this kind of support. My therapist knows about my religious beliefs and agrees that they’re a non-issue. If they were contributing to self-harm in some way, she and I would both want to change that. But the fact is, they don’t.           There’s this common misunderstanding that all divinekin are cruel. This is perpetuated by personal stories ( “I had a friend who was divinekin and they wanted me to worship them, and when I didn’t they [blackmailed me/self harmed/abused me/accused me of abuse/etc].” ) which, while these are often at least partially true, and very very unfortunate, and worthy of sympathy, they’re passed around as a scare tactic in order to demonize (haha) people’s mental illnesses, spiritual beliefs, or personal identities. Most of the divinekin I know would definitely not participate in this kind of abuse. Have I met some divinekin who would? Absolutely. But I’ve also met plenty of abusers who weren’t divinekin. The two don’t seem to correlate significantly.            At the end of the day, whether somebody is any particular way is not your business unless it’s directly and actively harming you -- at which point it is not your responsibility to change that person, but to keep yourself safe. If you have negative experiences with a person who is divinekin, you have every right to get away from that person, but you don’t have a right to say that every divinekin is bad because of your experience with that person. And that person has a right to retain their personal beliefs, but they do not have a right to continue abusing you or others because of them.

TL;DR for divine folks: You’re great! Learn the difference between actuallydivine and divinekin, learn about your origins, pay attention to each others’ boundaries and needs, and be good to each other!

TL;DR for non-divine folks, sealions, trolls, anti-kin, or anyone made uncomfortable by divinekin and actuallydivine folks in general: The block button exists. Other religious beliefs from yours exist. People in communities probably know more about the communities than people outside of them, and individuals probably know more about themselves than you know about them.

[theriannation]

Cringe Worthy Cringe Transcript

Video Available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/pxxhSajqnzY

Shannon: Welcome to Therian Nation. I'm your host Shannon Jackson. 

George: And I'm your host George Ross. We felt like doing something a little different today.

Shannon: There has been an increase in cringe videos and antikin blogs ridiculing Therians and Otherkin. Those videos are filled with false and misleading information. Yet, this is unfortunately where a large portion of the general public is getting their first impression of us.

George: In response, Therian Nation thought we should point out what's wrong with these videos and correct the misconceptions found in them.

(Opening and Title screen)

George: Let's just get right in to analyzing the content of cringe videos and blogs.

Shannon: Parroting and Unoriginal Content. From video to video or blog to blog, the content is always the same. These haters like to copy each other. This way, they don't need to spend time researching, learning, finding, or creating their own content. The last three or four videos that I've personally seen were almost identical to each other, but repeating false and misleading information doesn't make it true.

George: Questionable and Unreliable Sources. When cringe videos and antikin use sources like Wikipedia and sensational news, it means that they are criticizing something which they don't understand. They don't care to learn either. Their only goal is to humiliate and offend.

Shannon: Use of Unrelated Content and No Links to Sources Clips of completely unrelated subcultures or events are often thrown in to purposefully confuse the audience about Therianthropy and Otherkinity. In truth, the Otherkin and Therianthrope communities are filled with well thought out essays about our experiences. But antikin would never share links to those sources. They wouldn't want to provide that information because their audience might actually decide to make their own informed decision about Therians and Otherkin.

George: Content Edited and Out of Context. Cringe videos generally use short clips that are heavily edited to be out of context. This tactic is used to confuse the audience because they don't get the full story. Clarifying points are often omitted in cringe videos in an effort to distort the concepts that Therians and Otherkin are trying to get across.

Shannon: Use of Fake Troll Accounts for Misrepresentation and Overgeneralization.

Fake troll blogs are used because antikin want to falsely represent hundreds if not thousands of unique individuals within the Therian and Otherkin communities. In truth, one Therian or Otherkin that is singled out in a cringe video does not represent all of us. One individual's views on a Tumblr blog does not indicate that every Therian  or Otherkin believes the same or behaves the same. One person's views only represents that individual. Unfortunately, it's hard to get the general public to understand that.

George: Dramatized and Sensationalized Content. When we recorded this, all of the cringe videos at the time had used only the Nano cat girl video and a VICE article “Otherkin Are People Too; They Just Identify as Nonhuman”. The problem with media like this is that it's always dramatized and sensationalized in an effort to get views. And the makers of cringe videos have further sensationalized it by insulting and mocking us.

Shannon: Use of Shock Content. VICE and other media outlets choose information and edit their stories to shock the audience. They don't care about representing us in a truthful manner. Stories are exaggerated and embellished in an attempt to catch the audience's attention and get higher ratings and more views. Media and cringe video creators and anti-kin blogs always pick young, gullible, possibly vulnerable people as well.

George: No Range of Content and Use of Only Extreme Examples. Creators of cringe videos generally use the most extreme examples that can be found, usually of young children. Clips of younger individuals are used because antikin can't accept that the Otherkin and Therianthrope communities are also made up of adults. The creators of these videos fail to find content that is representative of our communities.

Shannon: Cringe Creators and Anti-kin Seek Attention. If they weren't seeking attention, they wouldn't be creating this kind of content that degrades and insults a group of people who simply fall outside of societal norms. They do this while claiming that Therians and Otherkin are the ones seeking attention. Projection is a common occurrence in cringe videos and antikin blogs.

I'd also like to point out that cringe videos usually get more views than content created by Therians or Otherkin. I guess people just don't want to hear the truth about us from us because it's really not that interesting. So just remember that if you watch a cringe video, they are only using the most extreme examples that they can find to get themselves attention at our expense.

You may be wondering, “If you're not seeking attention then why are you on the internet?” Maybe you haven't noticed, but everything takes place on the internet now. It's an easy way to communicate and keep in touch.

Therians and Otherkin kept more to ourselves on private forums during the 1990's and early 2000's. Yes. these subcultures were taking place long before Tumblr, which antikin lie about and refuse to accept. Unfortunately, forums move too slowly for the younger generations and so discussion moved to Facebook and other social media sites including Tumblr. This was a natural progression.

The majority of Therians and Otherkin do not put our essays and experiences on Tumblr to seek attention from the public. We share our experiences there so that it's easier for our fellow Therians and Otherkin to find it. We didn't want cringe videos to screen capture our blogs and videos without permission.

Cringe videos and antikin blogs are created by bullies, bored kids and bored adults. Seriously, the adults who are doing this should know better than to pick on kids and teens who are going through the natural process of discovering who they are. However, cringe videos creators and antikin do it to get attention at our expense. And sadly, a large number of people enjoy watching a person hurl insults and hatred at other human beings.

George: Now, we would like to cover some of the main misconceptions repeated in every cringe video and antikin blog.

“You can't use the internet if you're an animal. You can't type with paws.”

No surprise there. We are physically human. We were physically human yesterday, and the day before, and we have been physically human our entire lives. We will remain physically human for the duration of our lives. No denying that. I suppose all the anti-kin making cringe videos want an award for pointing out the obvious.

People who say this clearly have a fundamental misunderstanding of what Therianthropy and Otherkinity really are. This is about experiencing life as a human and also as something nonhuman. Yes, it's strange, but that doesn't mean that we aren't going to be thankful for and enjoy and take advantage of the human life we have been given.  

“Otherkin are all mentally ill and should seek help.”

We do not have delusions of physically being another creature or of having transformed into that creature. Therefore, Modern Therianthropy and Otherkinity are not mental illnesses or clinical lycanthropy.

Quote Card: First and foremost, if you are not a psychologist or psychiatrist, you are not qualified to diagnose mental illnesses. 

George: “If you think you're an animal, you should commit and go live in the woods.” or “You're not an animal. You wouldn't survive in the wilderness.”

While many Therians and Otherkin do wish that they could live off-grid and be more self-sufficient, this is not unique to Therians or Otherkin. Plenty of regular people have chosen that lifestyle. Therians and Otherkin may express a love for the outdoors. This is also not unique to us. Average people are enthusiastic about hiking and camping and roughing it for a while.

Also, it's not impossible for humans to learn to survive in the wilderness for extended periods of time, but this takes years of learning bushcraft and preparing yourself mentally and physically. Because most Therians and Otherkin are busy with school or working or both, not all of us have the time or resources necessary to pursue learning bushcraft. There are some Therians and Otherkin who are not interested in the outdoors at all. We know that we are humans, and we can appreciate the comforts of human society.

Shannon: My most favorite quotes from anti-kin must be “You can't have the soul of an animal!” and “Being an otherkin is not scientifically recognized, so it’s bullshit.” 

Quote Card: We can experience phenomena without them being scientifically understood or proven. There are plenty of mental, cognitive, behavioral, social, natural, etc. phenomena that can be experienced or observed that science doesn’t completely understand yet.

Anyone is welcome to have a personal opinion that animals don't have souls or that animal souls can't be in human bodies or that souls don't exist at all. The existence of souls has neither been proven or disproved. We'll be keeping our own personal opinions and personal beliefs. We won't be changing them just because someone out there doesn't like them or agree with them.

On that note, some Therians and Otherkin believe that we might have atypical neuropsychology causing us to interpret aspects of our lives as nonhuman. This is just a hypothesis of course. But if there are some differences in our brain structure or brain function, then hate and insults can’t change that about us either. And just be to clear, atypical neuropsychology or atypical physiology does not equal mental disorder. It just means that our brains might not function or be structured like what is considered average.

While science has not verified the existence of souls, or verified any of our communities' psychological hypotheses, scientists have recognized and written about Therianthropes and Otherkin. Links to those in the description to some of those articles.

Quote Card: If studied properly by knowledgeable professionals and scientists, there are many Therianthropes and Otherkin who are willing to accept the findings related to our non-human experiences, even if those findings were to be different from the way we have previously thought about and understood Therianthropy and Otherkinity.

George: Our advice for dealing with the people who create cringe videos and antikin blogs is to simply ignore them. Don't give them the attention that they are seeking. Lack of attention will hopefully make them bored of the subject and they will move on.

Shannon: If you must engage with antikin, try to stay calm and use proper English and grammar. Have some sources ready too.

George: To all of my fellow Therianthropes, animal-people, and Otherkin, be true to yourself. Stay strong.

Shannon: Leave us a comment and let us know what else cringe videos and anti-kin get wrong. Therian Nation is researching methods to help you decide for yourself whether or not you a Therianthrope, and we're also putting together information about how to discover your theriotype.

George: There's a lot more to it than meditation! Subscribe to stay informed and remember to click the bell to receive channel notifications.

Shannon: Thank you for watching.

See the end of the video for a few bloopers.

Sources

Project Shift - http://project-shift.net/

Werelibrary - http://werelibrary.com/

Therian Wiki - http://therian.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Therian Timeline - http://theriantimeline.com/

“An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity in the Therian Community” Timothy Grivell , Helen Clegg & Elizabeth C. Roxburgh (2014) Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262685394_An_Interpretative_Phenomenological_Analysis_of_Identity_in_the_Therian_Community

Bricker, Natalie, "Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model" (2016). Senior Theses. http://publications.lakeforest.edu/seniortheses/63/

“Understanding the Otherkin”, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, The Daily Dot, Feb 22, 2015. http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/11866/otherkin-tumblr-definition-pronouns/

“Born in the wrong species” Nano the cat girl original video, January 26, 2016 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeBunPiIzo

“Otherkin Are People Too; They Just Identify as Nonhuman” VICE, July 16, 2015. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/from-dragons-to-foxes-the-otherkin-community-believes-you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be

Hasty Generalization https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/100/Hasty_Generalization

“Applause 7” by Free Sound Effects - https://www.freesoundeffects.com/free-sounds/applause-10033/

“Award Icon” by Free Icons PNG - http://www.freeiconspng.com/free-images/award-icon-32903