people with power animals are not (automatically) therians, nor are people associated with animal archetypes.
Oh, I definitely would I agree with that. That's why I thought to mix the two: it's identity, but also often behavior.
Oh, and I do think of clinical lycanthropes as therians; just as the pathological version.
I agree, when it's the case that they identify as that animal or at least don't feel that what they experience is a horrible thing. (I know some therians who feel that their therian nature is often a difficult, frustrating and painful thing, and sometimes even think they would wish to give it up, but they don't feel completely alienated from it. In some way it is still an important part of their identity, even if it also causes pain.)
I personally have difficulty seeing how to put clinical lycanthropes who 100% identify as human (and not "human + animal" or "human with an animal side" etc.), and feel that the non-human animal experience is a demonic possession or an illness being forced on them, in the therianthrope box, though. It seems like in those cases it's more like the animal expression is a metaphor for something, not a deep inner part of their self.
But I guess you also could say they're just repressing their self. It's difficult to say, I guess, and I'm not a psychologist of course...
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-11-09 02:09 am (UTC)Oh, I definitely would I agree with that. That's why I thought to mix the two: it's identity, but also often behavior.
Oh, and I do think of clinical lycanthropes as therians; just as the pathological version.
I agree, when it's the case that they identify as that animal or at least don't feel that what they experience is a horrible thing. (I know some therians who feel that their therian nature is often a difficult, frustrating and painful thing, and sometimes even think they would wish to give it up, but they don't feel completely alienated from it. In some way it is still an important part of their identity, even if it also causes pain.)
I personally have difficulty seeing how to put clinical lycanthropes who 100% identify as human (and not "human + animal" or "human with an animal side" etc.), and feel that the non-human animal experience is a demonic possession or an illness being forced on them, in the therianthrope box, though. It seems like in those cases it's more like the animal expression is a metaphor for something, not a deep inner part of their self.
But I guess you also could say they're just repressing their self. It's difficult to say, I guess, and I'm not a psychologist of course...