Therianthropy

Therianthropy (also mistakenly called werewolf) is the belief that one shares a spiritual and/or mental connection with an animal. The most common appears to be the wolf, but therianthropy is associated with all known animals and, in some cases, mythological ones.

The term was used (perhaps created) by a group of people on the Usenet group alt.horror.werewolves, where some people seemed to be serious in their claims to be part-animal.

"Shifting" is the belief one 'becomes' an animal during the following transformations. There are three kinds:

M-Shift or "mental shift" where one sees the change happening in their mind; sometimes this occurs while one is dreaming or daydreaming.

S-Shift or "spirit shift" where one feels their soul or spirit becoming more animalistic.

P-Shift or "Physical shift" most therians do not believe this to be possible. It is the shift which occurs in Hollywood movies, and is accomplished by the body physically changing into the animal.

Therianthropy should not be confused with Zoophilia, as it is not a sexual attraction to animals, but more so that one feels a spiritual bond with them.

This is by no means a completely accurate definition, as therianthropy is not something that CAN be defined accurately. Its definition varies from person to person, and this is meant to be only a general view.

(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Therianthropy .subculture. article in Wipipedia.)

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