If during this quarantine period you've even momentarily thought you were on the brink of madness, trapped within your own four walls, to breathe a sigh of relief think of the Otherkin: those who live every day with the idea of being locked up in a body of the wrong "species."
Origins of the subculture
Developed in the 1990s, the Otherkin subculture actually originated online some time earlier, around the mid-1970s, as an offshoot of The Elf Queen's Daughters (EQD), a movement that existed from 1974 to 1977, founded by sisters Arwen and Eleonore, who called themselves the daughters of the Elf Queen.
Elves, indeed! The Otherkin subculture is based on this very premise: its members, despite having the appearance of elves, do not feel (or do not feel entirely) psychologically and spiritually human, but rather a sort of reincarnation in a body whose soul is closely connected to creatures from parallel universes, whose supernatural power they perceive.
They can, therefore, identify with fantastic beings such as elves, fairies, angels, demons, dragons or unicorns , aliens, vampires, animals, or feel like a hybrid of more than one species, thus taking part in the “ Trans species ” sub-movement.
Yes, because depending on the creature they feel akin to, each Otherkin follows specific online communities (but also Tumblr pages, Facebook groups, personal sites), primarily to seek understanding, share emotions and thoughts. For this reason, they have even been studied as a sort of religion . In fact, beyond the parallel universe with which they establish their connection, all Otherkin recognize themselves in a single symbol, born at the beginning of the movement, namely the heptagram , the "elf star."
But how do they understand what their Kintype is , that is, their true soul?
The different souls
To be able to define their kintype , Otherkin go through an awakening phase , that is, becoming aware of the “phantom” physical and mental characteristics that they experience in dreams or at special moments of the day, to then answer very specific questions and start their mental (M shift) and phantom (PH shift) transformations .
Let's use an example to better understand. Suppose you feel the sensation of having wings. The first things you should ask yourself are: do they start from your shoulder blades or your arms? Are they scaly? Do you feel the presence of a long tail? Or even other legs? Then, in this case, there is no doubt: your soul is draconian, therefore you are part of the Dragonkin community ! If, however, you feel like you have wings along your arms, with white plumage, it is much more likely that you have an angelic soul and are, therefore, an Angelkin.
And so on. Anyone who feels they belong to another planet is an Alienkin , anyone who feels terrifying, with claws and a tail, is a Demonkin , anyone who draws emotional and spiritual energy from others or feeds on their blood is a Vampirekin . Easy, right?
The special case of therians
Among the Otherkin categories, there are also the Therians, those who identify with animals, both existing species, but also extinct or mythological and hybrid ones, such as mermaids , centaurs and werewolves.
A subculture now practically unto itself, not to be confused with Furry Fans , who, unlike Therians, choose a "fursona" (i.e., their anthropomorphic animal alter ego) and wear a daily disguise. Therians' connection is still spiritual , and in fact, to listen to their true soul and understand their animal species, they often participate in shamanic and meditative rites in nature, without ever changing their outward appearance (although some claim to undergo involuntary mutations, such as the change in color of their irises at night!).
Clearly, as with all subcultures, the boundaries of these communities are fluid , so much so that hybridizations between Therians and Furry Fans are increasingly widespread, such as the famous case of Stalking Cat , the catman who underwent numerous body modification surgeries in order to distance himself from human features. But that's another topic and we'll address it soon! ?
" If there's not a rebellious youth culture, there's no culture at all. It's absolutely essential. It is the future ."
