Part II
Spiritual Therianthropy

The first thing to remember when reading this part is that the ideas expressed here aren't necessarily held by every reader of AHWW. This subject is a very personal one, and opinions on it will vary from individual to individual. The second thing to remember is to keep an open mind...

1) What's Spiritual Therianthropy?

Physical Therianthropy has been defined as the ability to shift from human to animal form and back again. Spiritual Therianthropy, then, is the ability to mentally transform from the normal human mode of thinking and reacting to an animal one. Each one of us identifies with an animal whose characteristics we feel reflect our own. For example, I feel strongly attracted to both the wolf and the cougar... one is a pack animal, truly comfortable only in a group setting, relying on its packmates for everything. The other is a solitary hunter, only meeting others of its kind to mate. I feel that there are aspects of both animals in my psyche.

Humans are animals. Most of humanity, however, has tried to deny this fact. Humanity has sought to remove all aspects of animalistic traits from its behavior; to the point that being called an animal is considered an insult. It evokes images of uncivilized, impulsive, hedonistic behavior; acting completely without thought or restraint. Humanity has attempted to remove itself from nature as well as remove nature from itself; by subverting and subduing the land, bending it to suit humanity's purposes, attempting to conquer it rather than coexist with it. As a result, humanity has had to deal with a number of ecological problems caused by it's attempts to kill the very thing that sustains it.

All humans are animals, but very few these days can look into themselves and find the animal remnants. We who believe in Spiritual Therianthropy feel those animal remnants very strongly. We exist in the human world, but long to seek connections with the animal one. It contacts us through totems, through dreams, through our very souls. We cannot completely leave the human world, nor completely enter the animal one. We are in-between, half animal and half human in psyche... mental, or spiritual, shapechangers. We seek to balance the two halves of our nature, so that someday we can teach the rest of humanity how balance its drive to conquer with the reality that it needs nature to survive.

2) What are Totem animals?

Totem animals are animals that best reflect the qualities and needs of a person. How totems are used varies greatly... some shamanic traditions place great importance on totems and have many different totem animals, colors, directions... some barely mention them in passing.

Most commonly, it's believed that their are two kinds of totems... the central totem, the one that defines who you are; and "outside" totems, spirits that surround and guide you. The central totem is the animal you most strongly identify with, that reflects who you are. As I mentioned above, I strongly identify with the wolf and the cougar... reflecting the two sides to my nature.

Outside totems are commonly called upon to guide a person. How they are called and how they manifest themselves, again, depends a lot upon the particular tradition you follow and what you believe.

3) What do Dreams have to do with anything?

Dreams, with a capitol D, are messages from your soul, or sub- conscious, or whatever you wish to call it. Not everyone Dreams.... scientists say that everyone has dreams; but not everyone remembers them upon waking. The Dreams that we're talking about here are dreams that are exceptionally vivid and memorable, that make a strong impression upon the dreamer, and seem to have something to impart of importance.

A lot of my experiences with therianthropy are through my Dreams. I don't have them every night; sometimes it's months between them... but the really vivid, technicolor, interesting dreams I try to remember and write down and decipher. Sometimes I shift into different animals in the dreams. Sometimes I just know that they have something important to say. I chereish every one of them as a message from my elusive animal spririt.

It sounds like I'm attatching a lot of importance to these Dreams... and I am, really. But one can feel a strong pull to know their animal side without having them. They are not a pre-requisite for being a were-creature. They are, however, a valuable tool for discovering what that spirit has to tell you.

I usually rely on my Dreams to come on their own. There are ways to go looking for them, however. One involves autohypnosis; Asikaa has volunteered to tell us more about it:

>How do you Dream? Asikaa, I was told by Rimblesah that >you< can enter Dream quite easily by "spacing out". Is your natural affinity for that learnable?

[rip]

Yes, I enter a state of autohypnosis called by some a "dreamtrance". It's really quite easy to do, and is simply a form of extremely deep relaxation of the mind and body. You might like to print the rest of this article, starting from here:

It is a learned skill, and fairly easy to learn at that. First you need to learn how to relax physically. It's best to get hold of a compact disc (or continuous tape cassette) and put the player on infinite repeat. Oh sorry, I forgot to mention what should be on the CD! Not Iron Maiden or Aerosmith! You can get relaxation soundtracks from health stores and similar places. They contain "nice" sounds, such as birdsong, the gentle trickle of riverwater over rocks, the wind through the trees...

Now all you have to do is put the CD player on infinite repeat like I said, and lie down flat on your back, with your legs out straight, arms by your sides. Let your hands curl slightly into their natural relaxed position, and make sure you are absolutely comfortable.

Breathe in slowly and steadily, filling your lungs completely. Hold the breath for two seconds then release it. Don't blow it out, just let the weight of your chest gently descend, emptying your lungs. Try to breath like this for the rest of this "session". It doesn't matter if you forget the breathing later on, just do whatever feels comfortable.

Now you can start relaxing your body. Start at your face, and work down. Breathe in, concentrate on the muscles of your face and neck, *feel* the muscles, explore them with your mind. Let the breath out, and as the air leaves your body, imagine all the tension being drawn from the muscles of your face and neck and floating away.

Do this a couple of times for each part... your chest, your arms and shoulders, your stomach, thighs, legs and feet. Once you've got down to your feet, mentally check for any feelings of tension left behind, then go back to that part of your body and relax it a little more.

By now your body should be fully relaxed... a nice warm feeling of wellbeing. This is the first stage of autohypnosis, and will take a little practice to master.

Now we concentrate on the mind. Imagine yourself lying warm and comfortable in your favourite place. Perhaps lying on warm sand, or on the edge of a forest next to a lake. Clear your mind of all unnecessary thoughts, and concentrate on that place. Let your mind enjoy the feeling of total isolation, with no worries or stress. Float along with your calm thoughts, and you should notice that you have no awareness of your physical self. Honestly, you really cannot feel your body any more. You have become just your consciousness, nothing more. Your body is so relaxed it may as well not exist.

Now you should be able to start Dreaming. You mind is free of all physical restraints, and your body has assumed the type of deep relaxation usually found only in alphawave sleep. It is up to you what you do with this mental freedom, but with practice the possibilities are endless.

4) Isn't this some kind of New-Age Psuedo religion?

No. Not on it's own. The concept of Spiritual Therianthropy means a great deal to me, personally; and might be seen as my religion.... it certainly forms the core of my belief system. But we have no intention of starting a church or cult here. Most of us have an intense dislike of any _organized_ religion, in any case.

But not all... there are christian werewolves out there. This sounds like an impossability; but the basic tenets of christianity aren't so far from many other religions... and nowhere in the bible does it condemn werewolves! Spiritual Therianthropy should work well with many different beliefs; even atheism.

So there'll be no cups of spiked kool-aid at the Howls, and stop looking for the BATF. *grin*

5) How does someone shift mentally?

I can tell you how I "shift". It may not be this way for others. I welcome any additional comments on this subject for addition here.

What I mean by "shifted" is the state of mind that I'm in when I feel closest to my animal spirit. It's a feeling of heightened awareness, a sense of prowess and well-being. It's what defensive-tactics instructors call "Condition Orange"... that state of hyper-readiness and alertness that means one is ready to handle whatever crisis might get thrown at him. It's the state that I envision a healthy animal being in at any given moment... ready to fight or flee, ready for anything a hostile world might conjure up. I might add one additional thing that I'm ready for.. fight, flee, or party. :)

I achieve this state unconciously whenever I'm in an area or situation that might prove to be harmful to me. Most all humans have felt this at one point in their lives or another... whether they admit it or not, it's a wonderful feeling. Adrenalin junkies spend their lifetimes looking for this feeling and beyond. I noticed this feeling accidentally and connected it with my fascination for animals and began looking for a way to bring it on voluntarily. I found that if I concentrated on visualizing myself as an animal, those thought patterns would return to me and I'd get the ol' predator feeling again. Now I find myself slipping into it at odd moments... when I'm driving, under particular full moons, while listening to evocative music.

Most people can sense an outward change when I'm shifted inwardly. Perhaps this is the first step, for me, to physical changeing... we shall see.

End Part II

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