The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The copyright to this is by Lupa who use to be part of the Otherkin community but I am not sure why she left but she did. A lot of her books are out of print but I knew her in the first incarnation of the Graveyard Press that I helped to open. She wrote articles for us. Some were also on otherkin.net but that site is under new management but they give a link to old articles and I'm talking about a long time ago, years. I will give the link to this. I'm pretty sure we published this one at one time.



For educational or FYI purposes only



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I Am Not a Werewolf



I am not a werewolf. I am a therianthrope, an animal person, someone who identifies as a wolf. But I’m not a werewolf.



What is the distinction? After all, plenty of therians also like using were(insert animal here) as a descriptor for themselves. And most therianthropes experience shapeshifts, albeit nonphysical ones, which makes a connection to lycanthropic lore and legend.



However, the idea of a werewolf is a person who turns into a wolf - sometimes. Particularly in popular culture, the change is involuntary, triggered by the light of the full moon. It is something that is out of the control of the hapless werewolf, who must succumb to the raging beast inside. Even in calmer stories, the person is still only a wolf part of the time.



One point that is made frequently about therianthropy is that a therian is the animal all the time, whether spiritually, psychologically, etc. Obviously, this isn't on a physical level. But when a therian shifts, they are not becoming anything they were not already. The animal was always there; the shift is in the balance of perception and behavior between what is categorized as "human" and what is labelled "animal". When the shift is done, the therian doesn't just put away the animal in a box somewhere; it''s not a persona to be donned and removed at will.



A lot of therians concentrate on the lycanthropic and other shapeshifter lore, and yet often miss the experience of simply being the animal. Some think they have to go feral at the full moon, and have the most aggressive shifts, and bloodlust, and have the urge to go and hunt down a deer or whatever, in order to be considered legitimate.



And yet, that often blocks us from understanding what it is to be the animal. If you're so busy trying to be a werewolf, then where does being just a wolf come in?



For me, at least, therianthropy isn't about how often I shift, or how intense the shifting is. It's not about whether I physically resemble a wolf, or if I crave venison, though my body is lean-muscled and I walk digitigrade, and I do love the taste of deer meat. It's about being a wolf, and recognizing that I am a wolf, and integrating that into my life at all times. It's more important, to me, to read books about wolves and wolf behavior, than it is to read books about werewolves, though those have their place, too. The archetype of the werewolf doesn't really resonate with me, particularly since I began accepting my therianthropy and, consequently, experienced far fewer shifts. I am not a person who turns into a wolf. I am a person who is also a wolf.



I am a wolf in human flesh. When I think of myself, yes, I do think of the body I have, and the human identity. But I also think of myself as wolf, so much that sometimes I expect to look down at my hands and see white paws ending in short, stubby claws worn down by miles of walking. I accept that I have a very particular way of viewing the world that combines human socialization and lupine instinct. There are things that I identify as being a product of being a wolf - certain social behaviors, preference for rural areas, reliance on instincts. But these alone do not make me a wolf; they are only possible symptoms. And the more I accept them as they are, the more easily they weave into the rest of who I am.



I've never really determined whether my therianthropy is just psychological conditioning, a neurobiological quirk, an internalization of a totemic bond, a past/alternate life; in a way, I accept all of these as truth at once. In the end it doesn't matter to me. Inside, I am a wolf - but I am not a werewolf.



© Lupa



http://web.archive.org/web/20150308133444/http://www.otherkin.net/articles/notAWerewolf.html





Other articles are at this link that might be of interest and they are not all on wolves.



http://web.archive.org/web/20150219184418/http://otherkin.net/articles/byauthor.html

I know when people see a snippet of what I wrote they aren't going to like it most likely but it is a topic that is bothering me to the max.



The topic I have posted at the top has me stumped because some black people I know are very definitely racist. There is no other way to describe it. The thing is if one tells them their comments are racist (which I have never done) it merely starts a verbal war. I can't have an opinion.



On another social site, all hell has broken loose over the sports person that refused to stand for the National Anthem going as far as now some are talking about Francis Scott Key was a racist. They are right he was like many who owned slaves at that time. That was in the 1700s. The US is a young country in comparison to most places.



Then the National Anthem is racist because of something in the third verse. Is everything going to be considered racist if the wording can be extrapolated that way? He is talking about, from what I can gather, since I wasn't alive then, was the 6000 slaves that fought with the English. When the battle was lost they dispersed. Most of them weren't even from Africa actually. Many went to Canada and the others went back to Trinidad.



A man decided, who is a sports person, not to stand for the National Anthem. People need to stop singling things like that out. Just move on and let people do their thing. Times have changed and a lot of people don't have the same values many older people had in the past. I commented on it because I actually think it is counterproductive by dividing people even more. Then someone said to me you just don't understand black thought. I was like, what black thought? I had seen pictures of the man and he didn't look black to me. I thought he was white or maybe Puerto Rican, something like that. I guess he is part black. Obama is only part black as well but his father was extremely dark giving him those traits since they are dominant. I don't give a flying fig what color someone's skin happens to be.



I do recognize a person's right not to stand. There are religious people who would do the same. But the thing is if one voices the opinion and many people who have served in the military for the US are speaking out and they don't like what he did. So automatically they all become racists. I want to know why people are allowed to get away with labeling others they don't even know because they have a different opinion? I'm sick and tired of it. I wasn't raised like that. I'm from CA and my parents never taught me there were differences just because someone is light and someone else is darker and we didn't teach our children that way either. Why should thoughts be different? Obviously I understand the experiences are different and I can't step into those shoes but damn, people are not racists just because they have a different opinion on a topic. I find it very subversive and very low to use that as a means to get your view dominant. I am steaming mad over incidents like this going on. I won't be party to it, I refuse. I saw one person say I found out how many of my friends are racist and solely based on the fact these people had a difference of opinion. I saw one girl upset because she made a remark not meant as taken. She posted and was really upset.



People need to quit going ballistic over the fact that not everyone will agree that all of a sudden everything is racist. We have many who are in this country but that doesn't mean everyone just because they might be of European descent. I am sick of the accusations and being forced to accept things I think are racist actually. Should I even be saying this...NO because I know the consequences because I will be served up on a platter as racist. I live in a town that is 97 percent minority and get along with everyone just fine. I am not treated any differently than anyone else here and have no problem being the minority.



I don't like what is going on with law enforcement and I'm not sure why. Sometimes I think it is racism and other times I think it runs much deeper than that. I have been treated abusively by law enforcement in the past just because I was a woman but that office got reprimands because it wasn't just me. I'm a Heinz 57 but predominantly European descent. Did I choose to be, no. Maybe I can't understand how some feel because I can't possibly relate by experience but it doesn't mean because I don't agree about a viewpoint that I am a racist.



This is my rant today, here and now. I'm sorry but I started to cry over this. If one can't say what they think then nothing will change if they do because it's true, there are racists out there but I am finding out the hard way they are on both sides of the fence. Or maybe it is resentment but one's skin color doesn't mean they hold certain viewpoints. I feel like I was profiled. That's very wrong. You can't deny you are a racist because then they turn it around and say only racists do that. It's damned if you do and damned if you don't. What is going on now does not have the class that Martin Luther King, Jr. had. I remember him because I was alive when he was. He died on my 21st birthday. I am appalled how some have been treated but I don't agree with all that is said by some people and I am not the only one saying so but it will do no good because those making accusations know it all and can get away with calling everyone a racist that don't agree with their viewpoint on everything. Yeah, I'm really angry.