Theriotypes

What a theriotype is

The word theriotype names the particular animal a therian identifies as. It may be stated narrowly, as a single species, or broadly, as "a small wild cat" or "some kind of owl." Either is acceptable. What matters is that it is accurate to the person's experience, and accuracy sometimes means leaving a question open.

A theriotype is not a favorite animal. People often love animals that are nothing like them, and are sometimes lukewarm, at first, about the animal they turn out to be. It is also not a guide, a guardian or an emblem. Those are relationships with an animal. A theriotype is an identity.

The range of theriotypes

Any animal can be a theriotype. In practice some are named far more often than others. Wolves have always been the most common, followed by other canines, the great cats, and domestic cats and dogs. This probably has several causes. The community grew out of a shared interest in werewolves. Wolves, dogs and cats are the animals most people know best. And social, expressive mammals are easier to recognize oneself in than animals whose inner lives are harder to picture.

That said, the shelves are wider than the popular rows. Therians identify as deer, horses, bears, foxes, hyenas, otters, bats, rabbits, seals and whales; as ravens, owls, hawks, herons and songbirds; as snakes, lizards and crocodiles; as sharks and other fish; and, more rarely, as insects and spiders. None of these is more or less legitimate than a wolf.

A few further terms describe the shape of a theriotype:

• A polytherian has more than one theriotype.
• A cladotherian identifies as a whole related group, such as all canines.
• A paleotherian identifies as an extinct animal.
• A theriomythic person identifies as a mythic creature understood as an animal, such as a gryphon. Many would place this under otherkin instead, and either usage is found.

Finding a theriotype, slowly

There is no test. Quizzes, generators and the opinions of strangers can only hand back whatever was put into them. What works is patient attention to two things: your own experience, and the real animal.

Begin with what is already there

Before you think about species at all, write down what you have actually noticed. How do you react when startled? How do you settle to rest? What does play look like in you? If you feel phantom limbs, what are they, and what are they like: long or short, heavy or light? Which landscapes feel like home, and at what hour of the day? What have you felt since childhood, before you had any words for it? Describe; do not interpret yet.

Study real animals, not their legends

Read natural history. Watch long, unedited footage of animals doing ordinary things: resting, grooming, traveling, raising young. The wolf of story is noble, fierce and lonely. The wolf of the field is a family animal that spends most of its life walking, sleeping and looking after pups. It is the second wolf that a wolf therian is, and many people find that the animal they recognize is not the one they expected.

Compare honestly

Set your notes beside what you have learned and look for a pattern that fits as a whole. One trait proves nothing. Enjoying the night does not make a person an owl. Look for many small things agreeing, including the unglamorous ones. Pay particular attention to what does not fit, because that is where a wrong guess shows itself.

Hold the answer loosely

Try a conclusion on for a season. Say "I think I may be a fox" and live with the sentence. If it settles and stays quiet, good. If something keeps rubbing, go back to your notes. Most people revise at least once. A changed answer means the method is working.

Common pitfalls

• Choosing the admired animal. Wishing to be a snow leopard is not the same as being one. A good check is to ask what you would lose if the answer turned out to be something plain.
• Reading too much into one experience. A single vivid dream, a single moment in the woods, is a moment. Patterns matter more than peaks.
• Collecting theriotypes. Some people do have several. But a list that grows every month is usually a sign of enthusiasm, not of discovery.
• Letting others decide. Nobody else can tell you your theriotype, however experienced they are. They can only ask good questions.
• Rushing. There is no deadline. Many people take years, and say afterward that the years were not wasted.

A note on the animals themselves

To identify as an animal is to owe that animal some loyalty. Many therians find that learning about their theriotype leads naturally to caring about its real circumstances: its habitat, its conservation, the way it is spoken about. This is not an obligation, but it is one of the quiet goods that the identity tends to bring with it. Wild animals should be admired from a respectful distance and never approached, fed or handled in the belief that kinship makes it safe.