Therianthropy

What is a therian?

Therianthropy, or Zoanthropy, refers basically to 'the metamorphosis of humans into other animals'. The word comes from the Greek word therion, meaning "wild animal" or "beast", and anthropos, meaning"human being". The word was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Europe and Asia. It is also used to describe a spiritual belief in animal transformation.

Words such as hybrids, shapeshifting, lycanthropy, and 'were' are often thought of when therianthropy is involved.

Therianthropy is currently considered a subculture of people who feel they are part animal, usually in a spiritual sense. They use words such as lycanthrope to describe those of them who have a spiritual connection to the wolf. This is not to say that they believe they become werewolves during the full moon.

Otherkin is another subculture, closely related to therians. Otherkin, like therians, have a spiritual connection to something non-human, however, they hold connections to mythical creatures and animals, such as the fae, unicorns, and even vamipres.

Shaman and totems are closely related to therianthropy as well. Whereas therians feel they have animal spirits, or an animal soul, totems are themselves animal spirits that serve as guardians. It is common to have multiple totems, but not so common to have many different animal souls, though it's not unheard of to have connections to more than one animal.