Hello! Im currently making a therianthropy binder and have a question about one of the reasons why somebody may think their therianthropy may be spiritual. The cause im wondering about is a walk-in soul event.
Ive found out that walk-in souls are souls who choose to incarnate into an established body rather than a newborn infant. The original soul thay inhabited the body returns to the spirit realm. Sometimes the two souls can inhabit the same body during the transition period. Some people believe that the walk-in can be permanent or temporary, and that the original soul sometimes returns. Walk-in events cause a person to feel as if they're in the wrong time and place, in the wrong body, or maybe even on the wrong planet.

The question i have is: is this considered therianthropy?

Because I found an article titled "Are You a Therian?" by Strill that suggests that walk-ins aren't considered a part of Therianthropy because the soul is an outside source and that this is more like a possession. The possibility of a walk-in being temporary also disqualifies it from being Therianthropy, which is a permanent part of a person's identity.


Another cause I found is soul shattering.
What ive found about soul shattering is that unlike a soul which originally was multiple parts, soul shattering or splitting can occur while the soul is outside or inside of a physical vessel. This can occur because pieces of a soul need to learn or have certain experiences to continue their spiritual growth, or it could happen because of traumatic events. Sometimes, the soul pieces are not human, but when they join with parts of a human soul, it can result in a person identifying as a therianthrope.
I would like to know more about the soul shattering but can't seem to find more stuff about it.

Hey guys,

Just a small update: If you added your pin and are under 16 years of age, your pin may appear up to 15km away from where you placed it, for other users. This is obviously done for security, because some of you pups would probably not have heeded our warnings regarding not placing the exact location.

It should still be quite good enough for people to know if they live near you or not, without having your exact location.

LP,
Dusty

Thank you Dusty! I knew some users had an issue with the map but I didn't know it was broken. Maybe we'll see more Therians being added nearby to some of us soon!

And of course, thanks for giving us your spare time. TG appreciates what you do for us. *Pats wolf head*

Hey everyone,

So... Therian Guide forums have had a map feature since like... 2014. But I guess we never really mentioned it on the forums? So I thought I'd make a post now.

Here it is:
https://forums.therian-guide.com/usermap.php

It can also be accessed by clicking "Our Sanctuary" at the top and then "Therian Map".

To those of you who are accessing this page without being logged in, the user map is, for obvious reasons, only accessible to TG members.


Many of you will know that the map has not been functioning for a long time, but I finally got my act together and patched it up. I also added a few quality of life improvements, such as making it more compatible with mobile phones, and I added some descriptions onto the map itself, to clarify how it's used:

Quote:This is the Therian Guide user map. It shows the approximate location of our members, according to what they themselves entered.

To add yourself to the map, provide a city name or country name or similar into the "Your pin location" field below and click Lookup to find it. The form uses Google Maps, so whatever location Google Maps can find, should work here.

To remove your pin, simply enter nothing (or clear what's there) and click Lookup.

Remember to never share your exact location online!

So, as you can see I have also finally added the requested functionality to remove a pin. Simply change your pin location to blank and click Lookup and after you click OK your pin will vanish.

I realize a lot of this was long overdue, but please try to understand that I do the coding for this in my free time and I don't really have a lot of that.


If you have any further questions about the map, you can post them here onto this thread and I'll try to answer.

LP,
Dusty

Well, for example. The other day I was feeling lonely, but that emotion expressed in a more animalistic way. I didn't want a hug, I wanted someone to headbut and nuzzle, sort of rub my head and neck with, like some cats, big of small. But I was perfectly aware of myself and my human body. I certainly remember it. I am unsure wether that was a form of weak shift, or just a typical desire expressed in an animalistic way.

(2025-07-25 5:19)Mai Wrote:  How does someone know what is or isn't a shift? I guess where is the line between animalistic desires and a shift? With phantom shifts that's clear, but mental shifts seem a bit confusing.

To answer your question, i am unsure of that. I havent been able to remember what happened in the shifts. Mental shifts can be triggered by strong emotions like stress, extreme anger or saddness, or just randomly sometimes. There is a line between animalistic desires and a shift. That line is that shifts are mostly involuntary meaning they happen whenever or when someone is triggered. What do you mean by animalistic desires?
(This is just from my own experience, i dont know if im exactly right or not)

How does someone know what is or isn't a shift? I guess where is the line between animalistic desires and a shift? With phantom shifts that's clear, but mental shifts seem a bit confusing.

I suppose I should give an example. It's not much because I am not confident in where the boundaries are, but the only thing I am sure is probably a shift is something that happened years ago, though I couldn't say when. But I remember the feeling of having phantom fur. It didn't last long, but for a while I felt so soft and fluffy. For things I am less sure of... Occasionally I have the desire to lay out in the sun and warm my fur, only to be slightly dissapointed. But I have never experienced any state where I wasn't aware I was human.

Here are some other threads that talk about what shifts are like:

https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-Can-you-describe-your-most-memorable-shift-as-an-alter-human
^ I even commented on this one, a while ago

https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-What-was-your-first-shift-like--23004

https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-Is-this-a-shift-animalistic-urge

https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-What-To-Call-This-shifting

There are many, many more but these are the more recent and informative ones. Nothing will help you more on here than learning how to use the search function efficiently


For me, I'm usually in a constant canine mentality. Human behaviours are something I have to actively think about and analyze which is exhausting. It's easier when I'm in dog form but if I'm feeling more wolfish, I prefer not to interact with others. If I'm with someone I trust or am going through strong emotions, I stop being able to keep up the human mask well which is usually what I refer to as a shift. I can act normal with effort but I'd rather not.

Shifts are tricky for me since obviously canines have different body language than humans do. I don't have a solid way to communicate without expressive ears and a tail, because facial expressions and speaking don't come naturally to me. Typing with canine emojis on discord is usually how I get through them.

I'm fairly new here even if my profile is 5 years old. (Things got busy and I forgot about this website.) I have heard a lot about things like shifting, and was curious. As I have no basis for what a shift means without examples I must ask; For people who do experience them, regardless of degree, what are they like for you?

I figured it might help not only me, but others who are unsure or knew if we could get some stories about shifting. For the most information if possible I'd like to find stories of shifts people have had from small ones to large ones, and in a variety of situations.

I looked to see if another such topic exists. I am sure one probably does, but could not find it.

My short, simple (personal) interpretation: therianthropy drives misanthropy, not the other way around.

Unless perhaps you've experienced something incredibly traumatic at a formative age, and it ended up significantly altering your brain chemistry to the point you absolutely cannot trust humans (which is honestly fair).... nothing, misanthropic or not, is going to 'cause' therianthropy — going under the rhetoric, of course, that it is not a choice. Why would it be? It's totally miserable half the time, you feel permanately alienated, dysphoria is a daily struggle, a constant longing for something you'll never have...

I do believe, however, that therianthropy can definitely drive misanthropy. You are an animal, therefore you think like an animal (regardless of how often), you see the world through non-human eyes and so when humanity is putting extra effort into doing something disgusting, the failures feel 10x more appalling. At least for me, it's almost like its personal. Humans and their money, their moralities, their issues, are the cause for 90% of the world's problems, and when bad people fail, it feels like they want to drag every other human (or creature) down with them. It's not a struggle of morality; it's a struggle of involuntary self-separation. There's nothing more isolating as an alterhuman than being forced to suffer as every other person does knowing you never belonged here either way.

Regardless, I definitely don't hate humans. I partially see their problems from a human perspective, but that also allows me to feel empathy in a way that many animals can't. I acknowledge the good people, the great people in our world. I know the bad people will all eventually sputter and die as they are meant to, 'karma' (or whatever you prefer to call it) will always catch up in the end. The feline in me is disgusted and will probably only continue to be, but the human that I ultimately am in this life can always recognise and appreciate goodness when I see it.

XX,
KK.