One of my main spiritual theories to therianthropy is the concept of reincarnation, specifically being based on the concept of the "Seven Planes of Existence". This includes my take on the Seven Planes of Existence so dont take my word as fact of the common view on this concept.
This is a very complicated subject so I am going to give a brief explanation of it. I will be quoting a lot from
Rising Pheonix Herbals as they can explain it in better detail than I can. According to this theory there are 7 planes of existence.
Quote:The three highest planes are said to represent the individual. The four lowest planes are said to represent the personality. Personalities are what we reincarnate into, thus giving us our set of advantages and disadvantages, the challenges and successes we will experience, and the lessons we are placed into to learn. The individual is what evolves through these personality experiences.
The Individual/ The Higher Planes
7) Upper Spiritual Plane of Pure Spirit/Abstract Spirit - where infinite potential creative force becomes actual and manifests. Represented by Saturn.
6) Lower Spiritual Plane of Concrete Spirit - characterized by Tendency and will. Represented by Jupiter.
5) Upper Mental Plane of Abstract Mind - life becomes lives and development of qualities. Represented by Mars.
The Personality/ The Lower Planes
4) Lower Mental Plane of Concrete Mind - concrete thought characterized by memory. Represented by the Sun.
3) Upper Astral Plane of Emotions - characterized by response to attractions, the desire for union. Represented by Venus.
2) Lower Astral Plane of Psyche - instincts, passions, the desire to attract or possess. Represented by Mercury.
1) Physical Plane - incarnation into bodies of flesh and blood. Represented by the Moon
.
Some say that in reincarnation, only the higher planes will stay with your soul after death. However, I theorize that in reincarnation, perhaps for some, some of the lower levels may stay with their soul and shape it after death. This would explain things like past life memories, dysphoria and our animalistic urges and qualities.
I do believe that every living being is reincarnated, but only some souls may have been deeply shaped by a life, or perhaps several lives at once, that they feel such a deep connection to it. A feeling that this current life is not what its meant to be.
To tap into the topic, "Why so many wolf therians?? Why so many canine and feline therians??". Well, its a good question. I have a few theories on how that ties into this. I'm going to take quotes from a thread I made as I feel like it can explain some of those questions.
(2021-02-22 18:18)HoneycombPup Wrote: I wonder if the reason that a lot of therians are more likely to be animals, such as dogs or cats, is because of how close we are to these animals, even on a daily basis. It makes sense that less therians know they are animals like pigs or cows if a lot of people never even get a chance to interact with them to understand how they act. And a lot of times, their personalities aren't as well documented since they tend to be viewed as "just farm animals". Some people even view them as mindless and emotionless. How can you know you are something when you don't even know what it acts like? Whereas wolves and big cats are more popular to the general public as well, so we have a lot of documentation on how these animals act. Usually, if a therian knows they are a less common animal, its because they actually went out of their way to research it and to understand it. Of course, therians often talk about seeing an animal and feeling that "thats me" feeling, but as ive said, lesser common animals such as pigs arent usually shown as much by the general public the way that wolves are, so therians may not have that chance.
(2021-02-22 20:58)DustWolf Wrote: I wonder how many people who list themselves as wolves are actually correct about that.
Among the active TG members I talk to there isn't even that many wolves (of the 3-4 I know, only 2 share anything of my experience of therianthropy).
We also have to consider that we are only looking at the ONLINE therian community.
For myself I know I stick around online because I have a need to socialise with others of my kind. I imagine people with less social theriotypes don't have this reason to stick around, and for herd animal therians, human crowds might work just as well to suit their needs.
(2021-02-22 21:07)HoneycombPup Wrote: I often wonder if many wolves might be other animals who happen to have similar characteristics, but were just never considered because theyre not animals that people really think about often. I'm sure a lot of other less common species may just be more likely to be perfectly fine fitting in with a normal human crowd rather than really looking for the therian community. Maybe like sheep, where its just safer to blend in with the crowd than to do anything that would make them drastically different from their peers.
To really drill home people's perceptions of species such as livestock, I will be quoting an article from
BBC Earth (which is incredibly informative and I really would recommend looking at!)
Quote:Reputation: Sheep are stupid, defenseless and harmless creatures that mope about on hillsides doing not very much. They are good for two things: being eaten and producing wool.
Reality: Sheep are actually surprisingly intelligent, with impressive memory and recognition skills. They build friendships, stick up for one another in fights, and feel sad when their friends are sent to slaughter.
Quote:Intelligent. Complex. Sociable. All words we would quickly assign to humans, but would not dream of extending to sheep, those fluffy white creatures you see milling about in fields – or served up with mint sauce on your dinner plate.
Quote:Aside from being smart, sheep can be playful and joyful. You only need to watch the video ofWinter The Bouncing Lamb to see for yourself. Sheep also have erotic preferences: 8% are homosexual, making them one of the few species that show lifelong preferences for same-sex partners.
And thats only the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the true personalities of sheep, but you most likely wouldnt know that if I didnt just show you. So how would you be able to ascribe your experiences to an animal you hardly know anything about?
Thats not to say I believe that psychological and spiritual therianthropy are mutually exclusive. I'm sure theres some cases where a therian can have similar or the same experiences due to psychological causes, as the human mind is a strange thing. This is just my take on a spiritual explanation of it all.
I'm sure I missed some stuff, so I might update this if I think of anything I didnt add