Is it possible to BECOME Otherkin?

The following is from the documentary 'Black Metal.' Talking about the music a member of Arkhon Infaustus says: "...music that will be something else besides fashion, music that will change your soul into something else..."

I've been thinking about this. Do you think it's possible to become Otherkin by working at it? I've got no opinions about it at this stage...

Arkhon Infaustus are French so maybe the speaker didn't have the right words for exactly what he meant.

Bachman Road Wrote:The following is from the documentary 'Black Metal.' Talking about the music a member of Arkhon Infaustus says: "...music that will be something else besides fashion, music that will change your soul into something else..."

I've been thinking about this. Do you think it's possible to become Otherkin by working at it? I've got no opinions about it at this stage...

Arkhon Infaustus are French so maybe the speaker didn't have the right words for exactly what he meant.

Our initial reaction is that we'd need to have some pretty convincing proof before we'd believe that someone could become an Otherkin by working at it. I just don't believe that the power to alter one's soul or nature that deeply is accessable to pretty much anything mortal. Otherwise we'd be far more inclined to chalk it up either to someone believing that they were otherkin when they weren't or then coming to realize that they were.

As for the quote, I'd be far more inclined to read it as someone waxing lyrical about music and not something that should be taken literally regardless of the person's mother tongue.

Rain

Technically, a change in identification would constitute becoming otherkin.

Otherkin are people who believe themselves to be something other than a human being on a spiritual, psychological, energetic and some even on a biological level, and choose to identify with that non-human fragment of themselves to the point where they count it as a permanent and ingrained part of their personal mythology and/or identity.

I second Miniar, but if you're asking could someone change the nature of their soul/essence/whathaveyou I'd say no. The only way I believe someone could "become" otherkin in the literal "my soul is X and body is Y" way would be if another soul walked-in and wasn't human.

And I'll third Min and Sera. The only other possible result of "I became Otherkin" I can see is if someone had some sort of revelation where they believed themselves to be human one day and the next they discovered they in fact were not. I don't think that's the same thing though as suddenly "becoming" Otherkin.

It's pretty simple: you either are, or you're not. And either is absolutely fine. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s -->

Miniar Wrote:Technically, a change in identification would constitute becoming otherkin.

That depends on your definition of otherkin.

Quote:Otherkin are people who believe themselves to be something other than a human being on a spiritual, psychological, energetic and some even on a biological level, and choose to identify with that non-human fragment of themselves to the point where they count it as a permanent and ingrained part of their personal mythology and/or identity.

See, to an extent I disagree with this. Or rather, we may be thinking of separate phenomena when we say "otherkin".

When I say "otherkin", I mean a person who is, while physically human, in some sense non-human. It is not required that they believe it, and believing it doesn't make it so (a cat can think he's human, but that doesn't give him opposable thumbs). On the other hand, if by "otherkin" you simply mean people who are part of the otherkin subculture (if such a thing can be said to exist) then that definition might be good.

To phrase it a little differently - I'm a shadow living in a human body. As I use the term, in this context, "otherkin" is "shadow-in-human". As you use the term though, it seems more like "otherkin" is "human who identifies with concept of being shadow-in-human" . . . which is something different.

Archer Wrote:

Miniar Wrote:Technically, a change in identification would constitute becoming otherkin.

That depends on your definition of otherkin.

Quote:Otherkin are people who believe themselves to be something other than a human being on a spiritual, psychological, energetic and some even on a biological level, and choose to identify with that non-human fragment of themselves to the point where they count it as a permanent and ingrained part of their personal mythology and/or identity.

See, to an extent I disagree with this. Or rather, we may be thinking of separate phenomena when we say "otherkin".

When I say "otherkin", I mean a person who is, while physically human, in some sense non-human. It is not required that they believe it, and believing it doesn't make it so (a cat can think he's human, but that doesn't give him opposable thumbs). On the other hand, if by "otherkin" you simply mean people who are part of the otherkin subculture (if such a thing can be said to exist) then that definition might be good.

To phrase it a little differently - I'm a shadow living in a human body. As I use the term, in this context, "otherkin" is "shadow-in-human". As you use the term though, it seems more like "otherkin" is "human who identifies with concept of being shadow-in-human" . . . which is something different.

I don't think that a psychologically "other" person is "non-human" in any sense other than identification, never the less I consider their experience as "otherkin" to be valid.
Also, I do Not believe that a human being, who identifies as human, and in fact disbelieves in reincarnation as well as (for example) dragons, should be called otherkin even if they have a dragon soul.

I agree with Archer in the sense that you are or you are not Otherkin, no matter how you identify yourself.

Buuuuuut, at the same time, I do wonder how one would think of a transgendered person who is physically female but considers their self to be male. I always refer to an individual by the pronoun s/he uses for his/her self if I know it, regardless of physical sex, and I often refer to otherkinism as being very similar to being a transgendered individual.

Hmmm, then again, if you are transgendered, you can always get a sex change if that is your choice, so I suppose you could then literally "become" the other sex in the eyes of the law and society, even if you were already that sex in your mind. Yet, you could never truly become a non-human through surgery...

Huh. A more complex topic (for me) than I originally thought.

Miniar Wrote:I don't think that a psychologically "other" person is "non-human" in any sense other than identification, never the less I consider their experience as "otherkin" to be valid.

I consider their experiences to be completely valid, but I also think someone who is "otherkin" purely psychologically is not the same as someone who is "otherkin" in that their soul (or whatever) is a mismatch to their body. Essentially, "thinking" you are something is not the same phenomenon as "being" that something.

Quote:Also, I do Not believe that a human being, who identifies as human, and in fact disbelieves in reincarnation as well as (for example) dragons, should be called otherkin even if they have a dragon soul.

IMO the only reason not to call such a person otherkin is politeness.

As an analogy - I'm Northern Irish, and British. My passport, birth certificate, and all relevant documents show me to be British and I identify as a member of British culture. But this being Northern Ireland, there are many people who are from the same place as me but who identify with Irish culture.

If those people have British passports, were born in a British hospital, have spent their entire lives in the UK, pay British taxes, vote in British elections, etc etc etc . . . they are factually British. Now, the friends I have like that, who consider themselves Irish but are legally completely British, I would never call them British. (Except if I was teasing them, of course.) It would be impolite and downright disrespectful for me to call someone a Brit if they identify as something else. But, that said . . . they have a British passport, a British birth certificate, and a British voting card. Which makes them British.

Someone who is completely dragon in energy and soul (and let's not worry about how we would determine that, heh) is, IMO, otherkin - even if they would never identify as such.

IMO "otherkin" is a concept of fact, not opinion. Tenuous, vague, slippery, unsubstantiated fact maybe . . . but fact all the same.

Archer Wrote:Essentially, "thinking" you are something is not the same phenomenon as "being" that something.

But that begs the question of how does an individual tell the difference? I "think" I'm a wolf and orca therian. Other than my own experiences, my mannerisms, etc., what else is there to go on to prove that I "am" what I say I am?

I tend to agree with you on your thinking Arch, someone can be Otherkin whether they're aware of it or not, but then we get into sticky territory of "no one can tell you what you are". I can believe all I like that my best friend is a dragon, and my impressions might be correct, but until she acknowledges that herself it's really a moot point.