Everything about Polywere totally explained
Otherkin are a
subculture of people, primarily
Internet-based, who identify in some way as other than
human. Otherkin often believe themselves to be mythological or legendary creatures, explaining their beliefs through
reincarnation, having a nonhuman
soul,
ancestry, or symbolic
metaphor.
Outside of their own subculture, otherkin beliefs are often met with disbelief.
History of the Otherkin Community
The oldest
Internet resource for otherkin is the
Elfinkind Digest
; a
mailing list started in
1990 by R'ykandar Korra'ti at the
University of Kentucky for "elves and interested observers". Also in the early
1990s,
newsgroups such as alt.horror.werewolves and alt.fan.dragons on
Usenet, which were initially created for fans of these creatures in the context of
fantasy and
horror literature and
films, also developed followings which identified as
mythological beings.
On
6 February 1995, a document entitled the
Elven Nation Manifesto was posted to
Usenet, including the groups alt.pagan and alt.magick. On
Usenet itself, the document was universally panned and considered to be either a
troll or an attempt to frame an innocent party. However, enough people contacted the original author of the Elven Nation post in good faith for a
mailing list to spin off from it.
The modern otherkin
subculture grew out of these
elven online communities of the early-to-mid-1990s
, with the earliest recorded use of the term
otherkin appearing in
July of
1990 and the variant
otherkind being reported as early as
April 1990.
The
therian,
vampire, and
draconic subcultures are related to the otherkin community somewhat, and are considered part of it by most otherkin, but are culturally distinct movements of their own despite some overlap in membership.
References in Popular Culture
Most references to otherkin outside of their own
subculture take place in the context of
neopagan and
vampire literature. In addition to the sources referenced elsewhere in this article, otherkin have been referred to in the following
metaphysical sources:
Otherkin have also been mentioned in two academic books on religion:
Cults and New Religious Movements by Lorne L. Dawson, and
Religion Online by Dawson and
Douglas E. Cowan, in an
anthropology course at
Hofstra University, and in the following works of fiction:
The BBC radio play Looking for Angels: Otherkin by Laura Wade.
Colors insulting to Nature by Cintra Wilson, published by Harper-Collins.
MESSAGE FROM BUNNY_5 by Dave Teeuwen, published in the online peer-reviewed literary magazine The Harrow.
The term otherkin has also been referred to in The Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske and The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English by Grant Barrett.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Polywere'.
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