The Therian Grove
Kinds of Therian
Therians have coined a small family of words for the different shapes the experience can take. They are descriptions offered for convenience, not ranks, and nobody is obliged to use them.
Why there are so many words
The first writing about therianthropy came from people who shifted strongly and often, and for a few years that pattern was taken to be the whole of the subject. Then others spoke up. Some never shifted. Some were several animals. Some could not narrow their animal down to a species, and some were animals that no longer walk the earth. Each of these people needed a way to say "I am a therian too, but not in that way," and the vocabulary grew to make room for them.
The words fall into two groups. The first describes how the animal side is felt over time. The second describes what the theriotype is.
Words for how it is felt
| Word | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Shifting therian | Human and animal are felt as distinguishable states, and the person moves between them in shifts. No special word is usually needed; this is simply the pattern first described. |
| Contherian | Human and animal are a single, constant blend. There are no shifts, because nothing ever recedes. See the full entry on contherian. |
| Suntherian | A constant blend, as with a contherian, but one that drifts slowly and smoothly toward the animal or the human, as a mood might. The change is gradual and never tips into a separate state. |
| Vacillant | An older word, from the early otherkin and therian communities, for much the same pattern as suntherian. It is seldom used now but appears in older essays. |
These are points on a continuum, and people move along it over the course of a life. Someone who shifted dramatically at seventeen may find at thirty-five that everything has settled into a level blend. That is commonly described as integration, and most who experience it regard it as a kind of peace.
Words for what the theriotype is
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Polytherian | A person with two or more distinct theriotypes, such as wolf and raven. Each is felt in its own right. |
| Cladotherian | A person whose theriotype is a whole related group, such as all felines. One identity, broad in scope. See the full entry on cladotherian. |
| Paleotherian | A person whose theriotype is extinct: a cave bear, a dire wolf, an ancient bird. |
| Theriomythic | A person whose theriotype is a creature of myth understood as an animal, such as a gryphon or a dragon. Many such people use otherkin instead. |
| Holothere | A person who understands themselves as entirely their animal, in every sense they find meaningful, and not as part human and part animal. The body is still human, and holotheres do not claim otherwise. |
Using the words well
A few habits keep this vocabulary useful.
- Describe first, label second. Work out what your experience is actually like, in plain sentences, and only then see whether a word saves time.
- Expect to change. These words describe where a person is, not where they must stay.
- Do not rank. A therian who shifts is not more of a therian than one who does not. A wolf is not more of a theriotype than a sparrow.
- Do not collect. A long string of labels can hide a person as easily as reveal them. One accurate word is worth five approximate ones.
- Plain "therian" is always enough. Many people with decades in the community use nothing more.
New terms continue to be coined, some of which last and many of which fade. The glossary records those that have settled into steady use.