What Does It Mean To Be a Therian? Here’s What To Know About the Community Growing Thanks to Social Media
Social media is filled with people who are sharing pieces of themselves for the world to see. The recent growing trend: therians, short for therianthropes. People who identify as therian know that they are human beings but their soul is more aligned with a specific animal. That animal is their theriotype and there are moments when the person expresses themselves as their theriotype. The sudden social media attention has led to increased interest, curiosity, and moral panic. Here’s what you should know about the therian community.
You might have heard the term therian recently
The term is growing in popularity as the therian community uses social media to connect and share in their experience. The images of people dressing up to look like animals have little to do with identifying as the animal and more to do with feeling connected. There are no delusions that the person is the animal, and experts agree that being therian is an identity expression.
Being a therian is a spiritual expression that someone has with an animal. They do not identify as that animal; they identify with that animal. Many believe that their characteristics and personalities are tied to a specific animal. Examples include a wolf, a bird, a dog, or a cat. Therians go through shifts where they express themselves explicitly as that animal. This includes walking on all fours, making noises associated with the animal, and wearing gear to visually appear as that animal.
Therians shouldn’t be confused with furries. Furries dress up as anamorphic creatures that are both humanoid and animal. Therians put on ears or tails and mimic their theriotype. They shift into the energy of the theriotype but do not believe that they are that animal. The connection is purely a psychological or spiritual connection with their animal.
“There are many theories as to why therianthropy is experienced,” reads the Therian Guide website. “Some believe their therianthropy to be caused through reincarnation or misplaced souls, while others attribute it to scientific or psychological reasons such as imprinting, an innate predisposition, abnormalities in neurological wiring, or any of a number of various other theories.”
Social media is creating a stronger global community
Therians have been part of society for decades, but visual social media has changed their visibility. Before, therians existed in small communities with local meet-ups called “Howls.” The Harvest Howl in Ohio was one of the first “Howls,” and it took place in 1994.
The advent of blogs and chatrooms helped to start the growth of an online community. People who identify as therians found places to gather virtually and continued to grow a community of like-minded people. Over the decades, the community has evolved as it better understood the larger community and the different ways that people express themselves as therians.
Social media platforms like Tumblr and TikTok moved the community from a text-based online community to visual. For the first time, people started to post photos and videos of themselves in their therian gear and experiencing their shifts. Some social media users made fun of the community but it continued to grow and is starting to reach the mainstream.
