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Imma tag @Taudefindi because of them replying to my previous thread on shifting. I hope they dont mind. I felt debating the validity of alterhumans was off-topic for that thread and I just wanted to infodump on the topic. Alterhumanity has been a very interesting topic I been reading a lot about. As an autistic person I love infodumping. I felt this topic goes best on psychology and philosophy because it discusses identity. I'm new here tho so if there's a better spot mods can move it. So first let me define alterhuman.
Alterhuman:someone who experiences regarding humanity differ from what people would conventually consider human. This could be identifying as something non human, identifying with something nonhuman so strongly but not as it that you feel it's center to your identity and changes how you precieve your humanity, changing your appearance to match that of an animal, spiritual practices such as believing you are a reincarnation of something nonhuman or that part your soul isn't human despite your human form, experiencing phantom limbs of non human entities, feeling you are sharing a body with a demon etc the list goes on. Basically humans who feel they are not just human and their humanity is felt and experienced differently. Alterhuman basically mean alternative form of a human. Most will acknowledge physically they are human.
Now imma info dump on therians and otherkins and why someone might identify as such. I can't get too into detail on other types of alterhumans besides the ones that identify as animals.
Why might someone identify as a nonhuman animal:
Let's start with spiritual theories. All of these are theories I've heard from therians and otherkin whether I subscribe to them or not.
1. Reincarnation. Some therians and otherkin recall past lives of being animals some don't. Some believe that the past life as an animal sticks with the soul and leaves an imprint. As a result some people notice this imprint and it's part of them. This is why they get shifts if they do at all some therians and otherkin don't experience any kinds of shifts.
2. Multiple parts to the soul. Some religions believe in many parts of the soul in fact one of the pagan belief systems I draw from-Egyptian or kemetic- has an idea of multiple parts to the soul but I haven't read much on that. Anyway according to the multiple parts theory the idea of multiple parts of the soul regardless if what religion we draw from some therians and otherkin believe a part of their soul is animalistic. It could be foxlike, it could be doglike etc. But their soul isn't fully human.
3. Animal soul human body- this is an idea some have and it goes along with number two. Some however believe their whole soul is nonhuman. Just in a human vessel. Or they believe there is two souls in them one human body. Some believe you born like that or a damn animal spirit possessed you whether willingly or not.
4. Some believe and this also can go with number two or even number one everyone has an animal part to their soul or psyche. It's only a matter of getting in touch with it. Once you do it's permanently something you aware of and can't undo.
5. Some alterhumans believe in different realms and getting in touch with different forms of consciousness like making the mind animal-like. For some doing this can cause shifting both voluntary or involuntary. And some don't intentionally get in touch with that form of consciousness either. Just happens.
6. We are all connected. Some folk just are reflecting the animal spirit through shifts and identity. Whether intentionally or not.
7. Apparently some Jews identify as Nephesh Mavar. That is alterhuman and their identity is connected to their Jewish spirituality. I got no clue on that not being jewish.
And those the spiritual theories. Next ill get into the mental/psychological ones.
Mental health theories-
DID/OSDD- people with DID or OSDD identify as systems folk without it are singlets. Anyway some systems have animal identities. It just depends on which Identity in the system is fronting. DID and OSDD is formed from intense trauma in childhood before the age of 10 when personality is still developing. The child escapes by creating an identity that protects them and disassociates. They can switch between these identities but don't remember doing so in most cases as amnesia is a symptom of it. An alter that is an animal is not unheard of in DID as a child might grasp it to protect themselves. If for example you were to Waterford a child they may make an identity of a fish or mermaid to cope with the fact they are being waterboarded. Or a kid that's treated like a dog and put in a cage might create a dog identity that lasts even after the abuse is gone. Some folk in systems may identify as therian or otherkin when an animal identity is in front controlling the body.
2. Schizophrenia or other mental disorder. Think about that guy Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible that Go punished and made himself think he was a cow. That's an actual documented mental disorder it's called boanthropy. When a person believes themselves to be a wolf or werewolf its called lycanthropy. Some therians ones that believe themselves to physically shift or physically an animal are suffering from a mental disorder that's similar.
3. Some believe that some people just identify so strongly with animals that they end feeling phantom limbs and through wishful thinking believe they are that animal either spiritually or mentally.
4. Coping. Many people might believe they animals to cope with life's problems for whatever reason.
5. Maybe in the vein of DID some people don't have it but through trauma they create an animal Identity. Like with how pet regression is a thing. It's an escape. Maybe for some it's the same process but because of the child being older or maybe the trauma wasn't that severe it never formed into full on DID or OSDD just an animal identity they experience.
6. Shifters disease. This is an actual term in the theruan community. Reading too much on otherkin and therians can cause some people to believe they have shifts. Once they are no longer exposed to the material the shifting sensation stops. They weren't really otherkin or therian it's just power of suggestion
7. Some believe that otherkin or therian is a mental disorder itself even within the therian and otherkin cummunity.
8. Many disagree with 7. Because while their identity isn't spiritual and it's psychological it doesn't harm them and it benefits them. These people may never remember any trauma and just think maybe their mind is just animal like and they ok with it. People are different what's wrong with identifying as an animal if it doesn't harm you and makes you happy.
A theory on why some may think they are turning into an animal physically but arent so they identify physically as such-
Phantom shifts. For someone who never has heard the term maybe they new to otherkin amd therian communities they may genuinely be scared by the sensation of wings or a tail. They may not know what else to call it how else to make of it.
I accidently hit post before I finished typing:
I'm otherhearted. This is someone who has experiences similar to otherkin and therians but identify "with" instead of "as" an animal.
Alterhuman:someone who experiences regarding humanity differ from what people would conventually consider human. This could be identifying as something non human, identifying with something nonhuman so strongly but not as it that you feel it's center to your identity and changes how you precieve your humanity, changing your appearance to match that of an animal, spiritual practices such as believing you are a reincarnation of something nonhuman or that part your soul isn't human despite your human form, experiencing phantom limbs of non human entities, feeling you are sharing a body with a demon etc the list goes on. Basically humans who feel they are not just human and their humanity is felt and experienced differently. Alterhuman basically mean alternative form of a human. Most will acknowledge physically they are human.
Now imma info dump on therians and otherkins and why someone might identify as such. I can't get too into detail on other types of alterhumans besides the ones that identify as animals.
Why might someone identify as a nonhuman animal:
Let's start with spiritual theories. All of these are theories I've heard from therians and otherkin whether I subscribe to them or not.
1. Reincarnation. Some therians and otherkin recall past lives of being animals some don't. Some believe that the past life as an animal sticks with the soul and leaves an imprint. As a result some people notice this imprint and it's part of them. This is why they get shifts if they do at all some therians and otherkin don't experience any kinds of shifts.
2. Multiple parts to the soul. Some religions believe in many parts of the soul in fact one of the pagan belief systems I draw from-Egyptian or kemetic- has an idea of multiple parts to the soul but I haven't read much on that. Anyway according to the multiple parts theory the idea of multiple parts of the soul regardless if what religion we draw from some therians and otherkin believe a part of their soul is animalistic. It could be foxlike, it could be doglike etc. But their soul isn't fully human.
3. Animal soul human body- this is an idea some have and it goes along with number two. Some however believe their whole soul is nonhuman. Just in a human vessel. Or they believe there is two souls in them one human body. Some believe you born like that or a damn animal spirit possessed you whether willingly or not.
4. Some believe and this also can go with number two or even number one everyone has an animal part to their soul or psyche. It's only a matter of getting in touch with it. Once you do it's permanently something you aware of and can't undo.
5. Some alterhumans believe in different realms and getting in touch with different forms of consciousness like making the mind animal-like. For some doing this can cause shifting both voluntary or involuntary. And some don't intentionally get in touch with that form of consciousness either. Just happens.
6. We are all connected. Some folk just are reflecting the animal spirit through shifts and identity. Whether intentionally or not.
7. Apparently some Jews identify as Nephesh Mavar. That is alterhuman and their identity is connected to their Jewish spirituality. I got no clue on that not being jewish.
And those the spiritual theories. Next ill get into the mental/psychological ones.
Mental health theories-
DID/OSDD- people with DID or OSDD identify as systems folk without it are singlets. Anyway some systems have animal identities. It just depends on which Identity in the system is fronting. DID and OSDD is formed from intense trauma in childhood before the age of 10 when personality is still developing. The child escapes by creating an identity that protects them and disassociates. They can switch between these identities but don't remember doing so in most cases as amnesia is a symptom of it. An alter that is an animal is not unheard of in DID as a child might grasp it to protect themselves. If for example you were to Waterford a child they may make an identity of a fish or mermaid to cope with the fact they are being waterboarded. Or a kid that's treated like a dog and put in a cage might create a dog identity that lasts even after the abuse is gone. Some folk in systems may identify as therian or otherkin when an animal identity is in front controlling the body.
2. Schizophrenia or other mental disorder. Think about that guy Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible that Go punished and made himself think he was a cow. That's an actual documented mental disorder it's called boanthropy. When a person believes themselves to be a wolf or werewolf its called lycanthropy. Some therians ones that believe themselves to physically shift or physically an animal are suffering from a mental disorder that's similar.
3. Some believe that some people just identify so strongly with animals that they end feeling phantom limbs and through wishful thinking believe they are that animal either spiritually or mentally.
4. Coping. Many people might believe they animals to cope with life's problems for whatever reason.
5. Maybe in the vein of DID some people don't have it but through trauma they create an animal Identity. Like with how pet regression is a thing. It's an escape. Maybe for some it's the same process but because of the child being older or maybe the trauma wasn't that severe it never formed into full on DID or OSDD just an animal identity they experience.
6. Shifters disease. This is an actual term in the theruan community. Reading too much on otherkin and therians can cause some people to believe they have shifts. Once they are no longer exposed to the material the shifting sensation stops. They weren't really otherkin or therian it's just power of suggestion
7. Some believe that otherkin or therian is a mental disorder itself even within the therian and otherkin cummunity.
8. Many disagree with 7. Because while their identity isn't spiritual and it's psychological it doesn't harm them and it benefits them. These people may never remember any trauma and just think maybe their mind is just animal like and they ok with it. People are different what's wrong with identifying as an animal if it doesn't harm you and makes you happy.
A theory on why some may think they are turning into an animal physically but arent so they identify physically as such-
Phantom shifts. For someone who never has heard the term maybe they new to otherkin amd therian communities they may genuinely be scared by the sensation of wings or a tail. They may not know what else to call it how else to make of it.
Post automatically merged:
I accidently hit post before I finished typing:
I'm otherhearted. This is someone who has experiences similar to otherkin and therians but identify "with" instead of "as" an animal.
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