Glossary of Therian, Otherkin and Shapeshifter Terms

A

Alterhuman: A broad, opt-in umbrella word for people whose identity sits outside the usual idea of being human, including therians, otherkin, fictionkin and the otherhearted. Read the full entry on alterhuman
Animal-hearted also animalhearted: Feeling a deep and lasting kinship with a particular animal while not identifying as that animal. A form of being otherhearted.
Astral shift: In spiritual accounts, the experience of taking the shape of the theriotype or kintype while traveling outside the body, in trance or in a vivid inner journey.
Aura shift: In spiritual accounts, the sense that the energy felt around the body has taken on the outline of the theriotype. Some regard it as another way of describing a phantom shift.
Awakening: The period, often months or years long, in which a person comes to recognize and accept a non-human identity that was already there. Read the guide to awakening and questioning

B

Berserker: In Old Norse tradition, a warrior said to fight in a trance-like fury and to be linked with the bear. Often paired with the wolf-coated ulfhednar. Read about the bear and the berserker
Bisclavret: The werewolf knight of a twelfth-century Breton lay, who keeps his reason and loyalty in wolf form. A leading example of the sympathetic werewolf of medieval romance.

C

Cameo shift: A shift toward an animal or being that is not one of the person's own theriotypes or kintypes. Usually brief and occasional.
Cladotherian: A therian whose theriotype is a whole related group of animals, such as all the great cats, and not a single species. Read the full entry on cladotherian
Clinical lycanthropy: A rare psychiatric syndrome in which a person holds the delusional belief that they are turning, or have turned, into an animal. It is a different matter from therian identity. Read the full entry on clinical lycanthropy
Contherian: A therian who does not shift. Human and animal are felt as one steady blend at all times. Read the full entry on contherian
Copinglink also otherlink: An identity with a creature or character that a person chooses to take up, often to help them cope or grow. It differs from therianthropy and otherkin identity, which are not chosen.

D

Dream shift: A dream in which the dreamer is their theriotype or kintype, with that body and those senses.

F

Fictionkin: A person who identifies as a being, species or character known from a work of fiction. Read the full entry on fictionkin

G

Gear: Worn items such as tails, ears, masks or collars that some therians use to express their theriotype. Gear is optional and is not what makes someone a therian.

H

Hamr: An Old Norse word for shape or skin. In the sagas a person "strong in hamr" could send forth or put on another form, often that of a wolf or bear.
Heptagram also seven-pointed star, elven star: A star of seven points drawn in one unbroken line. Widely used as an emblem of otherkin identity. See the symbol and its meaning
Holothere: A person who understands themselves as wholly their animal, in every sense they consider meaningful, while living in a human body.
Howl: A gathering of therians, traditionally held outdoors. The name and the custom both date from 1994. Read the full entry on howl

K

Kintype: The kind of being an otherkin identifies as, such as dragon, elf or fae. The otherkin counterpart of a theriotype. Read the full entry on kintype
Kitsune: The fox of Japanese folklore, long-lived, clever, and able to take human form. It gains tails with age and wisdom, up to nine. Read about fox spirits

L

Loup-garou: The French name for the werewolf, carried by settlers into the folklore of other lands.
Lycanthropy: The state of being a werewolf, in folklore and fiction. From the Greek words for wolf and human. Read the full entry on lycanthropy

M

Mental shift also m-shift: A temporary change of mindset in which a therian thinks, feels and attends to the world more as their theriotype would. Read the full entry on mental shift

N

Nagual: In Mesoamerican tradition, a person able to take animal form, or the animal counterpart bound to a person from birth. The word and the idea belong to living cultures and vary between them.
Nonhuman: A plain descriptive word used by many therians and otherkin for the part of themselves, or the whole of themselves, that is not human.

O

Otherhearted also kith: Feeling a deep kinship with a creature, as family and not as self. Identifying with, not identifying as. Read the full entry on otherhearted
Otherkin: People who identify as beings other than human, most often beings known from myth and legend such as dragons, elves and fae. The word dates from 1990. Read the otherkin overview

P

Pack: A small circle of therians who keep close company. The word is borrowed from wolves, but a pack is a friendship, not a ranking, and no one needs one to be a therian.
Paleotherian: A therian whose theriotype is an extinct animal, such as a cave lion or a dire wolf.
Phantom shift also ph-shift, phantom limbs: The felt presence of body parts that belong to the theriotype and not to the human body, such as a tail, ears, a muzzle or wings. Read the full entry on phantom shift
Physical shift also p-shift: The bodily transformation of a human into an animal. It belongs to folklore and fiction. It is not possible, and the therian community does not claim otherwise.
Polytherian: A therian with more than one distinct theriotype.

Q

Quadrobics: The athletic practice of running, jumping and moving on all fours. Some therians enjoy it, but it is an activity, not an identity, and many who practice it are not therians.

S

Selkie: In the folklore of the northern Scottish isles and neighboring coasts, a seal who can lay aside its skin and walk on land in human form. Read about selkies and swan maidens
Sensory shift: A spell in which the senses seem to work more as the theriotype's would, for example with smell or hearing taking the lead over sight.
Shapeshifter: In myth and folklore, any being able to change its bodily form. Stories of shapeshifters are found in every inhabited part of the world. Read the overview of shapeshifter mythology
Shift also shifting: A temporary change in how strongly, or in what way, a therian or otherkin experiences their non-human side. Shifts are changes of perception and feeling, never of the physical body. Read the guide to shifting
Species dysphoria: Discomfort or grief that arises from the mismatch between a human body and a non-human sense of self. Read the full entry on species dysphoria
Suntherian: A therian who lives in a constant blend of human and animal that drifts gradually toward one side or the other, without distinct shifts.
Swan maiden: A figure of widespread folktale who becomes a woman by laying aside a robe of feathers, and who must stay on land if the robe is taken. Read about selkies and swan maidens

T

Therian also therianthrope: A person who identifies, in a deep and lasting way, as a non-human animal, while knowing that their body is human. Read the full entry on therian
Therianthropy: As an identity, the experience of being a non-human animal in a non-physical sense. In folklore and the study of religion, the transformation of humans into animals, or beings that are part human and part animal. Read the therianthropy overview
Theriocephaly: The condition of having an animal's head on a human body, as in the depiction of many ancient deities. Read about animal-headed gods
Theriomythic: A therian whose theriotype is a creature of myth, such as a gryphon or a dragon, understood by them as an animal.
Theriotype: The animal that a therian identifies as. Read the full entry on theriotype
Theta-delta: The emblem of therianthropy: the Greek letters theta and delta laid one over the other. It has been in use since 2003. Read the full entry on theta-delta

U

Ulfhednar: In Old Norse tradition, "wolf-coated" warriors, companions in legend to the bear-linked berserkers. Read about the bear and the berserker

V

Vacillant: An older word for a therian or otherkin in a constant blend that sways toward one side or the other. Close in meaning to suntherian.

W

Were: An early name therians used for themselves, common in the 1990s. It comes from the Old English word wer, meaning man, the same element found in werewolf.
Werewolf: In folklore, a human who takes the form of a wolf. The word is Old English: wer, man, and wulf, wolf. Read the overview of werewolf mythology
Wolfsbane: A common name for aconite, a plant tied to werewolves in folklore. It is highly poisonous and should never be handled or eaten on the strength of any legend.

About this glossary

The vocabulary of these communities is young and still moving. Words are coined, argued over, refined and sometimes dropped. The glossary records terms that have settled into steady use, and gives the sense in which they are most widely understood. Where usage is divided, the entry says so.

Terms from folklore are included alongside terms of identity because readers meet them together. They belong to different subjects, and the definitions are worded to keep them apart. For how the library decides what to include, see the editorial principles.