Otherkin

What otherkin means

An otherkin is someone whose sense of self is, wholly or in part, not human. Where a therian identifies as an animal of this earth, an otherkin usually identifies as a being from the world's mythologies: a dragon, an elf, a faery, a gryphon, an angel. The being is called their kintype.

As with therianthropy, the claim is not about flesh. Otherkin know that they have human bodies. What they describe is a persistent inner identity, not chosen and not put on, that has usually been present since childhood and that no change of fashion or interest has dislodged. It is held soberly, and most otherkin are well aware of how unusual it sounds.

Where the word came from

The roots of the community lie in the 1970s, when small circles of people who understood themselves to be elves began to find one another, largely by letter. By 1990 an electronic mailing list had formed for elves and those interested in them. It soon drew people who felt the same kind of kinship with other beings entirely, and who needed a name that was not "elf." In the spring of that year a member proposed otherkind, which was quickly shortened to otherkin. The word has been in continuous use ever since.

Through the 1990s the otherkin and therian communities grew side by side, sharing members and ideas but keeping separate meeting places and separate customs. The history page traces both.

How it is experienced

Otherkin describe many of the same experiences as therians, turned toward a different kind of being.

• A sense of a different body. Wings, a tail, horns, pointed ears, a greater size or a different way of moving, felt as phantom sensations.
• A sense of a different home. A longing for a place or a time that does not match anything in the person's life, sometimes sharp enough to be called homesickness.
• A different cast of mind. Ways of valuing, reacting and paying attention that the person recognizes as belonging to their kintype.
• Memories, or something like them. Some otherkin report impressions of another life. They are generally careful about these, treating them as personally meaningful and not as evidence that others must accept.

Not every otherkin has all of these, and some have none beyond a quiet, constant certainty.

How otherkin explain it

Because kintypes are beings that do not walk the visible world, spiritual explanations are more common among otherkin than among therians. People speak of reincarnation, of a soul that began elsewhere, or of an older, wider cosmos than the one usually assumed. Others take a psychological view: that the figure of the dragon or the elf is the truest available shape for something in their own nature, and that the identity is no less real for being understood that way.

Otherkin identity is not a religion. It has no scripture, no clergy and no central body, and otherkin are found among people of many faiths and of none. The community has always agreed to differ about causes.

What otherkin is not

• It is not role-play. A role is taken up and put down. A kintype is neither.
• It is not fandom. Loving dragons does not make a person a dragon, and many otherkin have little interest in fantasy fiction.
• It is not a claim to powers. Otherkin do not claim to fly, cast spells or live for centuries. Thoughtful members of the community are quick to discourage such talk.
• It is not a disorder. It is not listed as one, and otherkin hold their identity with a clear grasp of physical reality.

Otherkin and therians

The relationship between the two words has been described in three ways, and all three are still in use.

1. Therians as a kind of otherkin. On this view otherkin means anyone who identifies as other than human, and therians are those whose kintype happens to be an earthly animal.
2. Two neighboring communities. On this view the words name different groups with different histories, which overlap in some people.
3. Both under a wider umbrella. Since 2014 many people have placed both under alterhuman, alongside related identities.

A person may also be both: a wolf therian and an elf, for instance. The page on the alterhuman umbrella sets the related terms side by side.

Where to go next

The page on kintypes describes the beings most often named and how a kintype comes to be recognized. Those who are questioning will find that the advice on the awakening page applies to otherkin with very little change. The emblem of the otherkin, a star of seven points, is drawn and explained among the symbols.