Guide to Spiritual Otherkin
[This article can also be found in Kinmunity’s Library –here-.]
*This guide aims to provide an overview of
common spiritual beliefs and resources to help you figure out what you
personally believe, supplemented with interesting quotations from
secondary sources.*Part of the awakening experience (and continual growth) involves sorting
out your beliefs, especially if you identify as otherkin for spiritual
reasons.NOTE: there is no list of “set beliefs” to be otherkin. You do not have
to believe in any of these common ideas. Perhaps you are religious, and
find a niche for the otherkin identity somewhere in those beliefs.
Perhaps you have your own philosophy and personal spirituality, such as
W.B. Yeats [1], and can work your otherkin identity into that. The point here being that otherkin is not a religion. It
has no written texts to follow, no collective spirituality. You don’t
have to pray, meditate, lucid dream, or astral project. The only
constant is the definition which fits all of our experiences.Newcomers to the otherkin community observe that some otherkin accept
spiritual reasons for their identity. The most common beliefs I have
seen are past lives (anyone), multiverse theory (anyone, but commonly
fictionkin), as well as the idea of incarnations and shards (specific to
divine beings like gods, angels, or demons, although I’ve recently seen “reincarnation” start to be rephrased as this), although as stated above,
these beliefs are not requirements. I just want to provide some
information on them, as they are so prevalent.Past lives
– based on the concept of reincarnation. “This way of
putting the matter implies that there is some entity that is
re-incarnated, something that carries over from life to life (whether or
not that something is identified as the same person)” [2]. For example,
a cat therian may believe that at some point in the past, a cat lived
and died, and the same soul was later reborn into a human body. Some
people may believe that they can gain access to the memories of that
past life, through various techniques, or may have been pointed towards
this identity because of experiences or visions which seemed to them to
be memories of another time, place, and species. Still, as the quotation
suggests, you can have and believe in past lives without identifying as
that same being. Please note that this concept of reincarnation is
contrary to the beliefs found in Buddhism, and thus this religion should
not be used as a comparison [3]. The idea of reincarnation is also not
exclusive to religions such as Hinduism or Buddhism. Such beliefs were
held by ancient Greek philosophers, as alluded to in the following lines
from Dr. Faustus:“Ah, Pythagoras’ metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me and I be changed
Into some brutish beast.” [4](metempsychosis refers to the transmigration of souls, another version of reincarnation; Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher)
Multiverse theory
– fairly straightforward, this is simply a
hypothetical idea that there are an infinite number of parallel or
“other” universes as well as our own, that encompass all of existence.
For fictionkin, this may mean that somewhere out there, the events of a
work of fiction truly have happened. Somewhere out there, dragons might
exist. Infinity is a big number. Lots of people get excited about this
idea, because “Stephen Hawking believes in it, therefore it’s backed up
by science”. Well…no. It’s still just a belief, and the more fictional
and magical the world, the more you have to rely on faith [5]. Many
people combine this with the idea of past lives and their belief in
souls allows them to transfer across universes.Incarnation
– this is a term used by many in the group of
“divinekin”, which includes deities, angels, and demons. As opposed to
reincarnation, incarnation implies a somewhat or totally
non-corporeal entity taking on human form for the first time. If you
want to get amusingly technical about it, Jesus is Godkin*. Unlike
Jesus, you don’t get incarnated with special powers. Some may explain
this through death in their entity’s form and rebirth as a human, as
punishment, or the simple wish to experience life as a human.Shard
– the idea that a soul can break off pieces of itself and
manifest as other beings while still remaining whole and alive somewhere
else. Often combined with the idea that being a shard means you have an
intended purpose to your life and will return to the original soul upon
death. Again, commonly used by divinekin.I myself do not believe my identity is due to any of the above. What do
you do if you have different beliefs than the norm? Figure out what you believe,
don’t half-heartedly repeat what everyone else is saying simply because
you think it is the only reason they will accept. Try the following
steps:
- Ascertain if you believe in a higher power. You might be an
agnostic (god maybe), atheist (god no), or theist (god/s yes), and these
are all okay. Even if you already belong to a defined theistic
religion, it’s worth it to look over and find out what exactly your
faith entails.- Analyze your personal beliefs. Do you believe in souls? How
do you believe souls work? Do they send out pieces of themselves into
many beings, do some souls end up in the “wrong” body, do souls go
through different lives, being reborn into new bodies? Do you not believe in souls? What philosophy might you have that fits your experience of identifying as non-human?- Consider why you might be otherkin. Simple mistake?
Wish to experience life as a human? A second chance at redemption? If
you believe in reincarnation, do you believe there is an end goal to the
process or is it simply a recycling of nature?- Write down your beliefs. Keep a log of your philosophy as it grows and solidifies.
- If you wish, engage in practices that contribute to your personal beliefs, such as meditation or ritual.
Sources under the cut.
