I even see psychological therians today claiming to experience “human sickness” if they spend too much time doing human behaviors without mentally shifting into their theriotype. I stand by my assessment.
Hmm, well… I think I can sympathize with them, even if I wouldn’t describe the situation as “if I spend too long doing Human Things and don’t get some Me Fae Time then I get Human Sickness”. I really do find contact with others of my kind to be healthful and healing - it’s one of the reasons I used to be so regular going to gathers even though they were all the way across the country. I needed (need!) “Otherkin time”. There was something about being in that environment that helped sustain me. I wonder/theorize if lack of this has contributed, along with more conventional reasons for depression, to my general shitty mood, suicidality, etc. the past Xty years. So I do wonder if having more opportunity to “shift” and “let it all fae out”, as it were, would be a good thing.
eta: On reflection, I think I may be talking about something a bit deeper than just engaging in a few “fae behaviors”, whatever exactly that might mean (I don’t have anything analogous to howling, for example, off the top of my head). I do sometimes phrase it as needing exposure to glamour (in the Changeling: the Dreaming sense), so doing things like engaging with a magical movie (inasmuch as I can “engage” with anything anymore) can help, even though really it’s quite shallow. But to speak of staving off “human sickness” by contact with Otherkin at gathers is something else - it’s not just getting to wear wings for a while, though that is enjoyable; it’s more experiential and connective, to people and land, and something more like having an opportunity to taste and recharge with some Deep Majik that isn’t readily available in day to day life. (The old Faery Caern was always one of the hearts of Thresholds for me; I really need a space like that here.)
I found out yesterday that i am otherkin.
My mentor highly suspects Fae.
I need to know what my abilities and challenges are. What does this mean for me? I’m a little scared…
What led to this discovery, and what makes them suspect fae? Do you agree with their suspicion, and why or why not? In what context is this person a “mentor” to you?
Assuming that it’s true, it’s not the case that otherkin necessarily gain “abilities” when or after they awaken. Some do notice new things or a feeling of more magical power as though something had become unblocked inside them, but for others that doesn’t happen, and for yet others it was that way all along and is something that led them to the conclusion of being otherkin in the first place.
As far as fae specifically, if you are, some folks are good with the traditional glamours that alter something’s appearance, such as for deception or to be more attractive. Never managed those myself though. :P
I’m wondering if any of the other Faekin on tumblr are sensitive to metal?
I can only wear surgical steal, but silver, gold, iron, pewter, any kind of metal other than surgical give me the worst reaction ever, rashing, burning, itching,
anyone on this boat?
This isn’t unknown among fae-kin, but I don’t personally have a problem with the metals used for jewelry, except some “base metal” combinations (probably involving nickel, as that’s a common cause of skin irritations from metal) when used as a pierced earring post. I sometimes experience discomfort from wrought iron objects (and occasionally cast), but that’s a kind of shooting pain rather than surface skin irritation or rash. I don’t often wear gold as I much prefer silver, but I’ve never had a problem with either, or with pewter (which is largely tin plus some copper, antimony, and/or bismuth).
How many otherkin/faekin/nonhuman followers do I have? I like you guys, generally. Seems like you’re extra nice…..
Oh my. If you think I’m “extra nice”, you got me all wrong. ;)
(eta: not a follower, just saw the post in the otherkin tag.)
I have a feeling that I may be sidhe. I’m almost sure that I am faekin (if not changeling), but I cannot find any reliable source, I guess. Everything tells me different things. Any help?
A reliable source for what particular information?
I wish all of my clothes were gray. There is something indescribably fantastic about looking down and seeing the right color.
Man, I would go through so much opalescent lamé if I tried to do this…
Um, hi there!
I was wondering if any of you folks out here in the Faekin community would come and talk to me about some things I’m a little confused on, please?
I have questions I can’t find the answers to online, or in books.
I’m probably not the most helpful fae in the ring, but what’s up?
How are things different if you/someone you are working with are faekin? Especially in astral/hedgecrossing work…I always hear about this stuff from an astrally-human point of view and I wonder if anybody has had different experiences than that.
Like, at least for me, on the astral I appear literally as a fae-thing. I’m not human and other entities there treat me accordingly. Anyone else have this happen or am I just a fuckin’ snowflake?
I’ve had some encounters like that, where fae I ran into seemed to regard me more as a cousin than as a complete stranger of some other species. But I don’t think I’ve had enough experiences out in random realms to say what “most” denizens were perceiving me as.
As an otherkin, do you feel that your Kin-ness can/does affect your religious views?
Personally, I get asked this question allot. Because of me being an angel, I get a lot of “You should be Christian”. Though there is nothing wrong with Christians, It’s not my path.
What about you?
- Indigo
Similar idea to another post I just reblogged (sorry for the old reblog, it’s just been hanging around in my “to reply to” folder forever!).
I think it certainly can and does. For me being fae means an intrinsic connection to magic and myth/fantasy/wonder, so a path that doesn’t have room for those would never be for me. It colors my approach to paganism, the sort of ritual forms I find comfortable, style or “flavor” of magic working, makes some things kind of awkward and fuzzy when e.g. talking about Ancestors and like that, and (so I am coming to understand) affects my relationship to deities as such.
[snip]
What if I am having difficulty with human centered religion and ritual because, in spiritual identity, I am a snowshoe hare?
Now stay with me here, because I know this seems kind of far fetched, but, being otherkin is the core of my identity, my truest self, and it affects everything about my life. I think it would be foolish to underestimate its effect on my spirituality. The rituals, the prayers, the motions don’t work for me, because its ALL human centered and human based. Its like trying to run Linux software on a windows 8 box. The format wont even be recognized.
I have this kind of problem in my spiritual life too (I’m Pagan). Some things and practices work well enough although I can tell they are not perfect, and I want to align more with a fae template or essence as much as I can. Others itch with a kind of “this feels too human” or “this was directed at humans” kind of feeling - possibly in some cases things originally taught by faery beings to humans, but tailored for that application - and so, only varying effective when attempted by fae or elves themselves. Particularly when it comes to gods, at least “big name” gods, I feel somewhat adrift. My feeling is sidhe/faery didn’t/don’t have gods, not in the sense usually meant by humans, anyway. So perhaps it would be more worthwhile for me to do as Nornoriel has done and focus on more local and smaller spirits. Too, there are many powerful spirit beings that are not “gods” as such (though they might sometimes seem so to humans), various celestial and cthonic powers of various types.
But perhaps I digress… yes, of course all (or majority) of information on religious paths is sourced in humanity… so it can be quite a challenge to figure out what applies to oneself as nonhuman, in some cases. (Although I’ve met a few Christian elves and intellectually understand how that can be, I can’t imagine what that feels like to believe from the inside, for them.)
do any other faekin dislike the sound of bells and does it hurt their ears?
or do i just dislike bells a lot?
i read somewhere that Fae don’t like the sound of bells but I’m not sure if it was accurate
I’m familiar with the lore that the fae can’t stand the sound of church bells, but I’ve never noticed any problems. With small bells and chimes it depends on the frequency, but I think that’s just a personal thing, not a fae thing.
[snip]
As for any other communities, I do not identify with the multiple community, despite being multiple. I identify with the fictionkin community, but not generally with the fictive community. I front all the fucking time, so I often feel more like fictionkin than a “SoulBond” or a fictive, despite not having lived here since birth like fictionkin generally have.
If I understood you correctly when you described what you meant by being vampirekin (the thread with Sylvere), I can see how technically that could be counted as fictionkin, since you seem to draw your imagery/identity not from older folklore, nor the paradigm of much of the modern psyvamp community which seems to define itself as essentially human plus this condition or state of being (needing life force/psychic energy for health), but from modern portrayals of vampires. But the same could be said for a lot of faery otherkin, myself included, and I don’t think of myself or of them as fictionkin. I tend to apply the word “fictionkin” only when the kintype something specific found in a certain work, not this kind of broad amalgamation. IMO this is more like imagery arising out of mythic patterns in consciousness that also manifests itself in modern fiction, art, film, etc.
I’ve always had strong conviction that I have faeblood (tendencies) in me… From when I was a wee-one and onward. But after looking at pretty fae things that make my heart all warm and tingly- I stumbled upon something called ‘Otherkin’.
Curious, I researched the word on the internets-… And started seeing words like ‘dragonkin’, ‘therian’, and lastly ‘faekin’.
HEY, HEY NOW, WE NOT LAST. HARUMPH.
The last of these stuck out to me- so I delved deeper. Otherkin.net is where I was led.
A place I recommend in general, although sadly not well maintained these days. Consider adding yourself to the directories both there and on dreamhart.org. I won’t bore you with a long list of other sites to check out right here in this post, but I have something I put in PDF form for handing out at the otherkin meetup my husband and I did at PantheaCon a couple weeks ago: http://otherkin.eristic.net/otherkinlinks.pdf (that’s my website; http://otherkin.eristic.net is — duh? — the otherkin and faery section)
All my life, people have commented how I’m like a ‘fairy’. How I act unconsciously, how I look. All the internal conflict and years of clinical depression and flirting with suicide because I have always been and always be ‘odd’ and ‘eccentric’? It. Makes. Sense.
Things which of course humans can exhibit as well, so, inconclusive in and of themselves, just sayin’, but that capslocky feeling of OH IS THAT THE WORD IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW can be meaningful.
For the first time, it feels like I’m starting to make sense to myself.
*offers feywine*
(Source: bornfromlaughter)
[…]
So this is where, if we were on Facebook, I would put my status to “It’s complicated”. Because seriously, when is identity ever not complicated?
[…]
The difficulty with “fairy” is that my own definition does not fully apply to myself. Mainly that I wasn’t sapient, essentially functioning as a drone for a larger entity. So, I’ve been poking around at “elemental”, which (structurally-speaking) fits much better. The main difference, to me, between fairies and elementals is that elementals are much more intertwined with nature and are less self-aware. If you’d like an analogy, think of a river. The eddies and waves are elementals, distinguishable from the water around them but still part of it. Fairies are the fish that swim in the river; they depend on the water but are separate from it.
Herein lies the problem. There is no doubt in my mind that, when I was not human, I was an elemental or an extension of one. But here and now? I identify with fairy much much more strongly, and I have many of the traits that one associates with faykin. So what am I, exactly? An elemental or a fairy? My brain and my gut instinct disagree, and that’s all I have to explore my claims.
A fraught question, to be sure! IME, there’s a good deal of overlap between elementals and certain “orders” of the fae, especially when it comes to natural features: Is something dwelling in a river a water elemental or a river faery? Is something associated with a mountain an earth elemental or a mountain/stone faery? Etc. There are kinds of fae who fit well with the “drone” mentality you describe, and others who have very independent spirits/minds. Your analogy about fish which depend on the river but are not essentially a part of it is not bad at all, for certain kinds. Generally I would rather trust instinct than brain - which feels more comfortable to say about yourself? - but don’t necessarily credit it as obviously correct, either.
*is helpful*
(yeah right)
