This is where articles on Therianthropes will be posted.
Interview with a Pantheress An Interview with an awakened Pantheress
Therianthropy: Religion or Spiritual Belief An article debating whether or not Therianthropy should be considered a religion or a spiritual belief
Therianthropy A great article with some history of Therianthropy thrown in.
Interview With a Pantheress
An interview conducted by mage20022003
Special thanks go to Audrey Al’ Nalesar for being so gracious as to answer my questions. She truly is a dark queen.
What made you first begin to think that you were a Therianthrope (were-creature)?
Waking up with blood on my hands and fur in my mouth one night being sore and faint memories.
A lot of Therianthropes believe that they have a “true form”, which harbors such things as whiskers, ears, tails, fur, etc. What are your thoughts on “true forms” and do you have a true form?
I have a true form, but I don’t think all Weres have them.
In science fiction, there the idea that, at a certain time (usually the full moon), a Therianthrope will physically transform into their true form or into the form of an animal, most of the time when this happens the Therianthrope remembers little if anything. Have you found this to be a real occurrence?
Half is real the not remembering thing is definitely true the moon thing is wrong there have been many times when I’ve “turned” that haven’t been on the full moon.
What types of incidents did you experience around the time that you “awakened” as a Pantheress?
Blood on my hands, fur in mouth, loss of energy, extreme sorness, grass beneath fingernails, strange wounds, multiple bruises. Times when I haven’t fully changed back.
So, do you ever growl at people, or go to hit them with “claws”?
(laughs) yes (laughs) I claw at things if I fall and usually end up on my hands and knees.
Any advice for the younger awakening/recently awakened Therianthropes?
Don’t kill anybody (laughs), keep your secret from those you don’t know if you can trust. If you have any questions for me contact mage20022003 and he’ll relay them to me.
The following two articles were written by my friend Silverback2001, these articles are her property and can only be used with her permission. Thanks Silverback2001!
Therianthropy: Religion or Spiritual Belief?
Much is asked about Therianthropy for those few who know of it. What Therianthropy is, is often debated upon: Religion or Spiritual Belief? Good or Evil? Christian or Satanic? I will do my best to answer these questions. But first we must define : just what a Religion is? What is good and evil? What is the definition of "Christian"? All this and more must be taken into account before one can come to, or even try to come to a conclusion on just what Therianthropy is.
Quoted from a Random House Webster’s Collage Dictionary, a religion is : “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a super human agency or agencies, usu. Involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code for the conduct of human affairs.” This is a religion. Worship of a deity or deitys in general.
A spiritual belief is similar, and yet nothing alike in this. A spiritual belief is basically a set of beliefs that have no relation, and yet much relation to religion. A good example of a spiritual belief would be believing in a certain set of rules or moral code, but not mentioning, or requireing the person to worship any specific deity, that choice is for that person alone, and completely unrealted to the spiritual belief that the person holds.
In my opinion Therianthropy is a spiritual belief because there are no set rules on who, what, when, you worship a specific deity, if even any at all! Therianthropes can be Pagan, Christian, Atheist (spelling on that? :P) ect. A good attempt at a definition for Therianthropy would be : “A person closely linked to nature who feels that they have the soul, or spirit, of one or more types of animals, or feels that in a spiritual sense, that they are that animal usually from birth, and of whom can come from all walks of life.” Good or evil comes from within the soul of the Therianthrope, not rooted in the spiritual belief itself. Just as with good and evil, there are Christian therianthropes, and even Satanists. This is no different from other average people who walk among you every day. The animalistic soul within us does not make us "demons" or Satan Worshipers. Indeed there are many Christian Therianthropes who feel their Therianthropy to be a gift from God.
So just what is Therianthropy to you? Religion or Spiritual belief. I have given my view. Its up to you, not me to decide what you think.
To better explain just what Therianthropy is, I have included the whole of a Term Paper I wrote for my Freshman English class. Also included is a brief history of the therianthropic community.
Therianthropy
Therianthropy is a very personal and deep spiritual belief. The word Therianthropy originates as a term used in archeology as a term for ancient petroglyphs of half human half animal beings portrayed in prehistoric cave art. The word Therianthropy, is derived from the Greek word “therios” meaning animal, and “atropos” meaning man.
There is a saying among therianthropes : “Ask ten therianthropes what Therianthropy is, and get eleven different answers.” So as you can see, there is quite a variation in the explanation of just what Therianthropy is. To keep it simple for the time being, a therianthrope is a person who’s soul (for lack of better term) is that of an animal, or several animals. Most therianthropes do not feel as if they are truly human. Often this is confused with the metal disease called Lycanthropy.
Lycanthropy is a mental disorder, in which the individual goes insane and can often act like a rabid beast. Other cases of Lycanthropy however, are not quite as extreme. People with Lycanthropy often display violent animal-like behavior, and studies show that the said individual has no control what so ever, over their actions. As you can see, Therianthropy is very different than Lycanthropy, as Lycanthropy is a mental disease, and Therianthropy a spiritual belief. Because of the resemblances between the two words, Therianthropy is often still mistaken for Lycanthropy.
It is so far unknown just why most therianthropes also tend to display minor animalistic behavior. This causes most therianthropes to be alienated by their peers at an early age because of their differences. Sadly this can cause a therianthrope going into depression and even lead the individual to suicide in some cases.
There are many theories that have been brought foreword on why therianthropes even exist, some spiritual and some scientific. Some therianthropes believe that they are animal spirits reincarnated into human bodies, and yet others (to take a more scientific approach) believe that somehow therianthropes are people who have imprinted on animals, or a certain animal in their upbringing for reasons unknown yet to science and psychology. Another thing that is often misunderstood, is that Therianthropy is not voluntary. You can not just become a therianthrope because you want to. You have to be born a therianthrope in order to be one. People who were not born therianthropes, and claim to be, are known in the Therianthrope community as Posers, or in other words, people who are trying to turn Therianthropy into a new age fad. Hopefully this will never happen.
The Therianthrope Community was officially founded in the time span of the years 1992-1995. The community itself started on the internet email newsgroup called “Alt Horror Were Wolves” aka. A.H.W.W, which was founded on November 16, 1992. The community expanded soon after a special occasion which took place in the year 1995. During this time the A.H.W.W. members met in person, and went camping in the forests of Ohio, as far away from humanity as possible. This brought a feeling of unity among the therianthropes who attended, and gave rise to new chapter in Therianthrope community history that would change the community for years to come : Packs.
Packs are a family group of therianthropes, usually of the canine type. Packs work by having either an Alpha male, Alpha female or both, that lead the group to aid in the survival of all pack members, by buying food, hunting it, or providing shelter for pack members to stay, for unlimited amounts of time when needed. These types of packs are extremely rare, but not unheard of. The most well known type of pack is an online, or “Virtual Pack” which generally consist of anywhere from three to two hundred therianthropes, and is like a family or a club depending on the pack’s size. The smaller the pack, the more closely bonded the pack members become to one another. Packs however popular are not the heart of the therianthrope community, and are looked upon as unneeded and immature by many therianthropes. Being a therianthrope is not all sunshine and light however, there are many challenges in a therianthrope’s life as well.
If you happen to be a minor, telling your family about your spiritual belief can be extremely hard. People have a tendency to hate and or fear what they do not understand, or feel should not exist. Sadly this applies to therianthropes as well as the spiritual belief of Therianthropy, all together. Often a therianthrope will feel pain and confusion on the topic of telling their parents about their Therianthropy. It rally is a thing for a therianthrope to be worried about and to consider carefully. Though it may seem a simple enough thing to do, the consequences can be extreme. If you live with Catholic parents, or Christian parents in general, there is almost always trouble in them accepting that you don’t have the devil within and or that you are not a psychotic freak either, or as well. Thankfully this is not the case of every family. Sometimes parents can actually be acceptant over time, or even come to understand that their children are not insane, or filled with a demonic spirit, but were born how they are, and realize that Therianthropy is not a curse, but a gift, as well as a curse, not unlike other things in the world.
The words Therianthropy and Lycanthropy are very similar in origin. Therianthropy and Lycanthropy both find their roots in ancient Greek, “therios” meaning animal, and “atropos” meaning man. For Lycanthropy the roots are very similar, with “lycan” meaning wolf, and “atropos” meaning man. Lycanthropy comes from Lycan, a figure in ancient Greek mythology. Lycan was said to have been transformed into a wolf, by the Thunder god Zeus, when he tried to trick the god into eating human flesh at a banquet. The term Lycanthropy is now used as a scientific term for a mental disease in which the victim believes themselves to be a wolf, or other type of predatory animal. People with Lycanthropy can be a great danger to themselves, as well as anyone, and or everyone around them. Lycanthropes have been known to growl, snap, urinate in corners as if marking territory, as well as bark, drop on all fours, and even refuse to eat anything other than raw meat. The greatest reason for all the confusion is that some therianthropes, improperly call themselves lycanthropes.
One thing the therianthrope community has been very leery of, is media coverage. But as the community grows, it has become harder for the knowledge of this spiritual belief to stay hidden. Despite of this inevitable fact, the therianthropic community has continued to do its best to stay hidden and unknown, to avoid unwanted media coverage, as well as extreme misunderstanding within the general public. The reason for this fear is not just because of religious misunderstanding, but because of what happened to another community group called Furries. Furries, who are basically people into anthromorphic fandom, were discovered by MTV and a show on them aired sometime in the 80s. The truth became horribly twisted into something obscene, and the image of their community was changed forever. The therianthrope community too may face this now. Recently as of early January 2003, the New Zealand Natural History company interviewed a therianthrope living in Boulder Colorado for a part in a documentary to be aired on TLC, aka. The Learning Channel. The results of this action are still uncertain, though it is hoped that the community will be portrayed truly, after the filmed interview has been edited. At this time, the airing date of the program is still unknown, but is expected to be shown on TLC sometime this summer.
A question that is asked quite often is :”Is Therianthropy a religion?” To answer this question it has to be defined exactly what a religion is. Quoted from a Random House Webster’s Collage Dictionary, a religion is : “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a super human agency or agencies, usu. Involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code for the conduct of human affairs.” At this time, there is no set definition of a therianthrope, but a good attempt at a definition would be : “A person closely linked to nature who feels that they have the soul, or spirit, of one or more types of animals, or feels that in a spiritual sense, that they are that animal usually from birth, and of whom can come from all walks of life.” Therianthropy has no special rituals, does not force therianthropes to worship any specific deity, or any at all. A therianthrope can be a Christian, a Wiccan, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a male, a female, black or white. There are not set rules of who a therianthrope can be, nor will there ever. That is the difference between Therianthropy and religion.
A problem that often can arise in a therianthrope’s life, is for those Christian therianthropes who are discovered to be therianthrope, by either a family member who belongs to the same church, or a friend of the family. Misunderstanding is all too common since even spiritually, being an animal or even belief in reincarnation is considered to be the influence and possession of people by demons or devils, and often results in the therianthrope being permanently expelled from the church. There have also been cases when a therianthrope teenager, pre-teen, and even older children have tried to explain how they are to their parents, and are then physically beaten in the name of God, to make the “demons” leave their children’s souls, or try to force the believed evil spirit to leave by inflicting extreme pain. But in the end, there never was a spirit, or demon, merely a child worrying about their family accepting them as they are, and all that is left is blood, tears, and an aching soul.
In conclusion, Therianthropy is incredibly diverse, and can be seen in many different views. Therianthropy is a fascinating spiritual belief, and something that I sincerely hope is understood someday, instead of the majority of the therianthropes feeling fear from being known about by the general public. It is my wish that Therianthropy is not viewed as a “new age fad” and to never again hear stories about children tending wounds that they never should have received, wounds inflicted by their parents, out of misunderstanding and ignorance. The hopes that someday there will be no reason for such fears to exist.
