An Interesting Find
I was doing some research into the origins of the current usage of -hearted terminology (this post here will help you out if you’re interested as well!). And during my diggings I was surprised to find the first “official” definition of the term given by the person who more or less coined it.
_____ therian: One who identifies as other, more than, or not fully human, instead choosing to identify themselves AS part or fully animal, whether mentally or in soul. May experience past lives or phantom limbs, or certain animalistic behaviors and urges.
_____-hearted: One who identifies as fully human, but who identifies strongly WITH a particular animal, similar to a totem. May experience phantom limbs or certain animal behaviors, but does it as a way to become closer to an animal to whom they feel connected.
(I linked to the post up there, however you have to be logged into the forum in order to view it)
I found this really interesting because it’s a piece of otherhearted history I’ve literally never seen mentioned anywhere. Also interesting (to me at least) is the fact that the “as vs. with” distinction has been around since the start. It’s pretty amazing how far the term has spread from it’s origin point and how the understanding of what “-hearted” means has changed with time.
Most people aren’t aware of the terms origin and that it came from The Daemon Forum in the late 90s.
The therian community did have a term that meant similar (”animal person”), but nothing much ever grew from that term perhaps because it was so easily mistaken as not having a significance.
– Cavern-Risen
