I just thought I'd also drop by on this topic to remind everyone that the therian community is in no great need of more new words.

As I have stated many, many times before, terms that only exist in the therian community are not helpful, because it's too easy for someone who is new to everything to misunderstand what the word was supposed to mean (and therefore, someone putting it in their profile to describe themselves, could mean anything).

It is much better, than to use these special words, to simply describe your experience. In other words, if you really really think you're a therian, don't call yourself a holothere, just say it: You identify as your theriotype. This is so much clearer.

As @Cygnus explained on discord, the holothere term was originally intended to validate the delusion that one has p-shifted (which the OP in this thread does not seem to appreciate). This serves to demonstrate how the meaning of the term changed when it was adopted by someone who did not fully appreciate its original meaning. This always happens and is why using these terms to describe oneself is a bad idea, because nobody involved in the exchange has any way to know which meaning you personally subscribe to when you used that word.


In addition, "private language" is one of the red flags on how to tell if something is a cult and so using these special terms that only have meaning to specific people make the therian community look like some kind of cult.

LP,
Dusty

I usually read all the replies before adding my own opinion, but there are far too many pages for me to read personally, so I apologize if my post is similar to others.

I believe no matter where you are on the internet, there are always going to be safety risks involved, especially on forums and spaces that are available to any/most age groups. I have seen the staff continuously make efforts to keep TG safe, and appropriate for all ages, as well as keep the site informational and helpful for all. I also want to add that i had my awakening when I was 15ish in age, and if not for being able to be a part of TG I wouldn't have had the experience I had awakening as a Therian. Adult members were there to guide me and new members were there to relate with me. Everyone was very helpful and informative.

I think as long as the staff continues to monitor the forum as they have been it will remain a safe place. The only thing that concerns me is an adult seeing that most of our userbase are minors, and posing as a therian in order to gain access to a forum of young and uninformed users..

(2025-02-08 17:25)Honeymala Wrote:  Ohhhhh okay! Thank you for explaining it in a nice way! I guess I just get a little confused, especially with the amount of therians who constantly shout “but we know we’re still human!!!!!11” but like...I don’t. So, am I some sort of different otherkin? And then this term came along and suddenly things made sense. I get the feeling that therianthropy/otherkinity is getting so garbled and watered down by social media that beings are forgetting what it originally was, and then spread misinformation. As someone that’s been in this community for just a few years, it’s really starting to confuse me :(

Worry not your not different. You dont have the desire to say it and that perfectly okay. The base experience is the same for everyone but we still all experience it a bit different from eachother because not one person is going to feel the same exact thing as another but no matter what they all feel that non human experience and non human identity. Its why we have TG to do our research and compare experiences to understand eachother. To debate civily and to learn.

But this is why we dont need terms and labels for every little aspect of the therian experience. Its becomes confusing and misunderstood. It doesn't help the community by having terms like that. We want people ouside of therianthropy to understand us clear as day. The moment terms get confusing.. people will start to think we physically are that animals dna and all when we arnt. And once the community has a bad reputation for all the misunderstandings.. therians would feel a need to go into hiding and try to avoid calling themselves therians so they dont get grouped with the tained view people have of the community. It happened to the furry community where people do horrible things to animals and so all furrys got grouped with that and now some furries dont use the furry label despite being one.

People forget what the therian experience is on places like tiktok and Tumblr because alot of stuff is being taught to others by kids who havent been that long in the community. They dont have the research like we do here at Tg so i dont blame them that they might not know what therianthropy is truly about.

C:

Dont get me wrong though I think its great that the Op told us about this. Because it lets people learn.

(2025-02-08 3:38)100espeon Wrote:  So Therianthropy it self its an experience right? The most common experience among therians is feeling non-human which is where the identify of their theriotype comes from but they still knowledge that they are infact physically human because down to the core of dna and our cellular structure we are. Whether we like it or not. Depending what you mean by become their theriotype...

Physically: (Of course its impossible but if they had choice by some magical genie-)
- Depending on the theriotype some may not wish to physically become their theriotype because life would be harder than living as human. If though it would feel so good to them to become it, it is too dangerous. You have to weigh in the fact that some species lives are cruel and dangerous. Fighting for survival, find shelter, food and water. Avoiding illnesses, and wounds because there is no doctor in the wild to treat you. It's not all fun and games as you may see survival animal games show.

Other means:
- For some it may be the fact that they arnt in a place to physically express or wear anything so they cant and wont do it for their own safety. Or maybe they just feel comfort as is and dont have a bad case of species dysphoria which is totally okay but that doesnt take away the fact they still feel non-human because that itself is what makes them therian.


For Spiritual Therians:
The do believe yes that they had a past life or a few of an animal of sort. If you believe in past lifes then you have to knowledge that this current life as a human will also someday will be a past life. So once they move onto the next life. Human will be part of their species list of past lives. Though their soul remembers the lessons, the way they felt in their previous lifes which makes what we have, A spiritual therian. So yes they knowledge they are human in this life but they are very much still identifying as an animal and feel non-human because of their soul being in an animals body before their human body

For Psychological Therians:
They don't believe they had a past life but rather something in their brain wired differently or even somewhere along the lines of development for the brain didnt come out the way it should. They feel non-human because of their brain because of how it developed and its wired. So these therians identify not by pastlive means but by a psychological reason with an animal of sort. May it be something they grew up around as a child leaving them to be heavily influenced and imprinted upon. Or perhaps an animal they saw during a traumatic event. Maybe during a traumatic event the animal was their comfort, or even they were treated so poorly by other humans that they thought maybe theyre not human anymore. There is many different reasons why a Psychological therian may identify with an animal or creature of sort. Its complicated to figure out the core making of these type of therians and how developed into one. Anyways, Alot of them will still knowledge that they are physically human but they still feel this non-human feeling about them. They still feel this animalistic part of them. They still see this animal side of them as part of their idenity.

Though there is some cases for certain folks with medical conditions like Clinical lycanthropy that they are trapped by their brain to see that they are physically the animal but they may still knowledge that they are human because they know what they see with their eyes is tricky of the brain to make them see something that isnt there. But none the less they identify sometimes with the animal and feel non-human. We actually had a therian here once who had this medical condition.

The identity of something non-human and feeling non-human...that is what the therian experience is and always will be.

Ohhhhh okay! Thank you for explaining it in a nice way! I guess I just get a little confused, especially with the amount of therians who constantly shout “but we know we’re still human!!!!!11” but like...I don’t. So, am I some sort of different otherkin? And then this term came along and suddenly things made sense. I get the feeling that therianthropy/otherkinity is getting so garbled and watered down by social media that beings are forgetting what it originally was, and then spread misinformation. As someone that’s been in this community for just a few years, it’s really starting to confuse me :(

(2025-02-08 3:38)100espeon Wrote:  So in my input with everything I said above: holothere seems like unnecessary term. As youre saying what basically what therianthropy is. you see yourself as an animal while saying that your physical body isnt physically that animal. That youre still knowledge you are human. Though what was explained for what holothere is.. sounds like a someone trying to say they physically are that animal without saying they are physically that animal and it just seems so unnecessary. There is a thing though i believe as too many labels and terms that we really dont need as it only creates clutter of confusion.

This is what I was trying to say, not sure if it came over like this. I'm with the others that see it as an unneccessary term. But I probably said enough about it already.

This really just sounds like an unnecessary word for therianthropy. That's what therianthropy is. Have people really become so misinformed that they lost the definition for therianthropy and just started calling it something else?

(2025-02-08 2:28)Honeymala Wrote:  Oooooh! I quite like this term! I suppose it could be a synonym to the term “nonhuman”, which is how I define myself. There are cases where this sort of thing isn’t delusional. As far as I know, I don’t have hallucinations or anything similar, I just know for certain that I don’t feel human. My thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are very odd for a human, some of them being outright feral, so I don’t think I ever was one. I know there’s gotta be other reasons for non-delusional nonhumanity! :bheart:

I am a bit puzzled by something, though...I’ve heard some therians say this is just what therianthropy is, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not so sure. I’ve noticed how many therians were simply animals in past lives but identify fully as humans in this life, or know that they’re human and just “shift” to become more like their theriotype sometimes, or some that don’t even wish to become their type because being a human is better. That doesn’t quite feel like being holothere to me, am I missing something?

(Not trying to invalidate beings’ experiences, btw, I just want to fully understand this.)

So Therianthropy it self its an experience right? The most common experience among therians is feeling non-human which is where the identify of their theriotype comes from but they still knowledge that they are infact physically human because down to the core of dna and our cellular structure we are. Whether we like it or not. Depending what you mean by become their theriotype...

Physically: (Of course its impossible but if they had choice by some magical genie-)
- Depending on the theriotype some may not wish to physically become their theriotype because life would be harder than living as human. If though it would feel so good to them to become it, it is too dangerous. You have to weigh in the fact that some species lives are cruel and dangerous. Fighting for survival, find shelter, food and water. Avoiding illnesses, and wounds because there is no doctor in the wild to treat you. It's not all fun and games as you may see survival animal games show.

Other means:
- For some it may be the fact that they arnt in a place to physically express or wear anything so they cant and wont do it for their own safety. Or maybe they just feel comfort as is and dont have a bad case of species dysphoria which is totally okay but that doesnt take away the fact they still feel non-human because that itself is what makes them therian.


For Spiritual Therians:
The do believe yes that they had a past life or a few of an animal of sort. If you believe in past lifes then you have to knowledge that this current life as a human will also someday will be a past life. So once they move onto the next life. Human will be part of their species list of past lives. Though their soul remembers the lessons, the way they felt in their previous lifes which makes what we have, A spiritual therian. So yes they knowledge they are human in this life but they are very much still identifying as an animal and feel non-human because of their soul being in an animals body before their human body

For Psychological Therians:
They don't believe they had a past life but rather something in their brain wired differently or even somewhere along the lines of development for the brain didnt come out the way it should. They feel non-human because of their brain because of how it developed and its wired. So these therians identify not by pastlive means but by a psychological reason with an animal of sort. May it be something they grew up around as a child leaving them to be heavily influenced and imprinted upon. Or perhaps an animal they saw during a traumatic event. Maybe during a traumatic event the animal was their comfort, or even they were treated so poorly by other humans that they thought maybe theyre not human anymore. There is many different reasons why a Psychological therian may identify with an animal or creature of sort. Its complicated to figure out the core making of these type of therians and how developed into one. Anyways, Alot of them will still knowledge that they are physically human but they still feel this non-human feeling about them. They still feel this animalistic part of them. They still see this animal side of them as part of their idenity.

Though there is some cases for certain folks with medical conditions like Clinical lycanthropy that they are trapped by their brain to see that they are physically the animal but they may still knowledge that they are human because they know what they see with their eyes is tricky of the brain to make them see something that isnt there. But none the less they identify sometimes with the animal and feel non-human. We actually had a therian here once who had this medical condition.

The identity of something non-human and feeling non-human...that is what the therian experience is and always will be.

(2025-02-06 6:40)owlsgardfan96 Wrote:  A holothere is someone who identifies physically as an animal, they do not believe they are biologically an animal (unless they have clinical zoanthropy) but that’s the gist of it. Personally I do not think I am biologically an animal as I do not have any delusional disorder or anything that would cause me to believe this, but I do identify physically as my theriotype (Biological and physical are not technically the same thing).

One explanation I’ve heard for it is, for example, “I identify as a dog, and my body is mine, so therefore this body is a dog’s body, even though I may not look like a dog, I am still entirely dog.” This is my personal explanation as well.

Holothere means “entirely animal” meaning one does not identify as human in any way. There’s a good few websites with more information on this. It can be equated to transgender, while obviously not the same thing, it’s compared as so: “A transgender individual is 100% their internally perceived gender(s). They may be biologically their AGAB, but they are still 100% the gender(s) they identify as.”

So in my input with everything I said above: holothere seems like unnecessary term. As youre saying what basically what therianthropy is. you see yourself as an animal while saying that your physical body isnt physically that animal. That youre still knowledge you are human. Though what was explained for what holothere is.. sounds like a someone trying to say they physically are that animal without saying they are physically that animal and it just seems so unnecessary. There is a thing though i believe as too many labels and terms that we really dont need as it only creates clutter of confusion. One reason being: as a community where its very easily judged by folks who dont understand therianthropy. terms like physical therian and holotherian terms will confuse people. The less confusing terms the better. The way I see it: no need for special terms when you can just simple say "I experience therianthropy like this" If we made a term for every single type of experience, it would become super hard to keep track of and it would get very messy. As everyone experiences it a bit different.

But dont get me wrong, anyone can have their own views and opinions. I'm not trying to come off as attacking anyone persay but just giving my own input about this since thats what we are here for in this community to debate, compare experiences and understand therianthropy and everything that it is. I'm just trying to understand and make sense of things.

Oooooh! I quite like this term! I suppose it could be a synonym to the term “nonhuman”, which is how I define myself. There are cases where this sort of thing isn’t delusional. As far as I know, I don’t have hallucinations or anything similar, I just know for certain that I don’t feel human. My thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are very odd for a human, some of them being outright feral, so I don’t think I ever was one. I know there’s gotta be other reasons for non-delusional nonhumanity! :bheart:

I am a bit puzzled by something, though...I’ve heard some therians say this is just what therianthropy is, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not so sure. I’ve noticed how many therians were simply animals in past lives but identify fully as humans in this life, or know that they’re human and just “shift” to become more like their theriotype sometimes, or some that don’t even wish to become their type because being a human is better. That doesn’t quite feel like being holothere to me, am I missing something?

(Not trying to invalidate beings’ experiences, btw, I just want to fully understand this.)

I technically fit under the term holothere and used to use it for myself but not so much anymore because it doesn't do its job of communicating accurately my identity. Most therians don't understand what it means. A holothere identifies fully as an animal, so that includes physically of course. To me identifying as an animal physically means that I perceive my body as that of an animal's. I feel phantom parts and I am in a perception shift constantly, so my body feels very animalistic to me. It is technically just a strong psychological identity, but to me saying that I identify as an animal mentally but know that I don't have an animal's brain is equivalent to saying that I identify as an animal physically but I know that I don't have an animal's body. It means that this is how I perceive my own mind/body.

Many therians probably feel this way and I think that this experience is definitely covered under therianthropy but I don't think that the term itself is contradictory.

I have quite a bit to say about this topic, but it's going to take me a while to gather notes and put something together. In the mean time, I encourage others to discuss their thoughts on this freely, but to recognize that the word-use and meanings OP (and their evidence) is using are being misrepresented in my view.