Myth and Monsters

[Scorpion]

This might come off as weird- Wait, this is werelist. Let's go nuts!

Just curious to know if any of you think of yourself as being monsters or like monsters. I bring this up because, in the shower today, it accured to me that, if I have a true form, or if I saw my scorpion self in a dream, it might look like a monster more than a normal scorpion. I've always enjoyed horror movies and heavy metal and feel a certain connection to monsterious things. Then again, were I to see a scorpion from a point of view other than from the point of view of a human looking down at it, it might seem alien or monstrous.

I felt a certain rightness to the feeling, and I also felt an acceptance. Should it turn out I am some sort of mythical monster in some capacity or another, it doesn't mean I have to be a certain way or not be another way. I'm still me.

I'm wondering how many mythical creatures we have, and I wonder how many of you would be considered monsters? I know there are dragon therians.

I'm still not comfortable calling myself a mythical creature, even with some cue-by-fours in altered states of consciousness.

[Scorpion]

And this came up in my YouTube subscriptions, and I thought it was funny, so I'm posting it here for shits. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGYsJuV00KE

[Kisota]

(Scooted this to General Conversations!)

I definitely have always empathized with monsters and creatures of all sorts. I was one of the kids always kind of cheering for Godzilla or the monsters and beasts in movies and such. I think a lot of people who feel “other” in some way or another relate heavily to “monster” type characters.

And I know a lot of therians who see their ideal selves as a sort of human-animal gestalt that might be thought of as kind of monstrous.

I wouldn’t say I necessarily formally consider myself a monster, but I do think that in the absence of real-world monsters, maybe therianthropes are some of the closer equivalents.

As for mythical creatures - yeah, we’ve had plenty over the years. At some point, it became fashionable to only include real-life animals under the term therianthrope, but it really has no functional purpose to do that. People who experience themselves in an animal, beastly sort of way often find themselves more at home in therian vs broader otherkin spaces, regardless of whether their inner animal is “real” or not.

[Aquatic Raider]

I am definitely part of the group Kisota mentions - my form would probably fit better under a mythic umbrella (I do love the merfolk community), but because the experience of shifts is central I feel therian circles are more appropriate.

I think its always tempting to identify with monstrous characters because of an analogous experience of 'otherness' - but when it comes down to it my BIG SCARY urges include things like catch fish and maybe I'm poisonous ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . Characters like Abe Sapien and the creature from the Shape of Water all resonate for me, but maybe my theriotype is just Doug Jones.

On a spiritual note I've found it useful to force a more predatory/scary/monster-like shift when doing some astral work. The shift focus goes from swimming/fins/gills to claws and teeth - which are definitely there - but perhaps not as exaggerated as I make them for the sake of a working.

[Scorpion]

Thank you for your responses. They both make sense. They make me feel a little better about being a "monster". I can embrace it in a fun way without being an edge lord.

Also, Aquatic Raider, you intrigue me. Ismouth jokes aside, I'm curious to know about how you see or feel yourself. Are you what we typically think of is merfolk, human top and fish bottom? Are you something different? Reason you fascinate me so much is because I've found a love of Mesopotamian mythology, specifically Enki/ Ea, and Adapa was a fish person. I also heard in an audiobook that the priests of Enki dressed up as fish. I know merfolk exist in other mythologies. I should learn more. Anyway, it's cool to meet an aquatic therian.

[Aquatic Raider]

I think of myself as an agnostic amphibious shapeshifter. I've spent too long trying to pinpoint a specific species when in reality it is not relevant to the experience of my shifts. It feels much more organic to let the shifts come and go as they might without impressing a cameo shift of whatever my favorite animal of the week is.

That said, there are common elements. A craving for fish. A distinct shift of the hands / fingers. A sensation as if I should be floating (even if on land). Obvious serpentine movements. Each of things exists as a distinct sensation in the body, but are not tied to a particular image. Sometimes I will visualize myself like a merperson. Other times its more salamander like. So much of my perception is mashed up in the human meat-brain that even if my true theriotype is a salamander, it would be easy to connect with the mythic attributes of a mermaid because we share 'symptoms'.

Mythos wise I've really been enjoying Nordic literature surrounding the nine waves and Ran. They don't have an explicit mermaid myth, but post-Christianization there were Icelandic stories akin to Scottish Selkies and Merrows. So many of the European cultures have mixed at different times that trying to hold pure to a specific culture or time-period has grown increasingly irrelevant to how it informs my paganism.

In terms of my identity though I do not attempt to connect to a specific mermaid myth or culture.

Enki and Adapa sound worth a google...

[Kerguelen]

"I've spent too long trying to pinpoint a specific species when in reality it is not relevant to the experience of my shifts. It feels much more organic to let the shifts come and go as they might without impressing a cameo shift of whatever my favorite animal of the week is."

This is very relevant to me right now. Thank you for putting it into words. (Except instead of "week" I might say "month" or even "year")

[wildlife]

it accured to me that, if I have a true form, or if I saw my scorpion self in a dream, it might look like a monster more than a normal scorpion. I've always enjoyed horror movies and heavy metal and feel a certain connection to monsterious things.

I really relate to this honestly. Although I consider myself an "average horse", in my dreams I am sometimes larger, have sharp teeth, look deformed or distorted from an average horse. It used to confuse me a lot, I tried on different labels of mythological horse-like creatures to see if it might fit better but none did. I think for me it's just a way to express myself in my dreams. I realized that when a (human) friend of mine who loves winter/snow described a dream where she was herself but her hair was made out of snow.

[elinox]

I tend to root for the "monsters" in movies too. I empathize with the semi-human, the hybrid creature, the monster, etc. and often see myself in those characters. The things that cannot be described as "human".

As for my experiences, for the wolf, they could certainly be classified with werewolves and thus, monsters. While I have experienced something as simple as a phantom tail often, I have, much less often, also experienced the blood rage many werewolves describe. I often think of myself, in my own mind, as a monster. Not as a negative, evil creature, just beastial and wild and definitely not entirely human.

Also, a few years ago, more beast-like 'kin started using the term "theriomythic" as a way to describe that their experiences were more like therians as far as shifting went, but were species that weren't technically found on earth. Werewolves, shapeshifters, dragons, etc. are theriomythics.

[Scorpion]

THERIOMYTHIC! Perfect! Thank you!