Therianthropy (from n. therianthrope and adj. therianthropic, part man and part beast, from the Greek therion, θηρίον, meaning "wild animal" or "beast", and anthrōpos, άνθρωπος, meaning "man") refers to the metamorphosis of humans into animals. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Metamorphosis is a Biological process by which an Animal physically develops after Birth or hatching involving a conspicuous and relatively Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus ^[1] Therianthropes have long existed in mythology, appearing in ancient cave drawings^[2] such as the Sorcerer at Les Trois Frères. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" The Sorcerer is one name for an enigmatic Cave painting found in a cavern known as 'The Sanctuary' at Trois-Frères, Ariège, France. The Cave of the Trois-Frères is one of the famous Caves in southwestern France famous for its Cave paintings It is located in Montesquieu-Avantès

The term therianthropy was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Asia and Europe as early as 1901. ^[3] Therianthropy was also used to describe spiritual belief in animal transformation in 1915^[4] and one source^[5] raises the possibility the term may have been used in the 16th century in criminal trials of suspected werewolves.

Horus is an ancient Egyptian deity. Many Egyptian deities were portrayed with a human body and an animal head.

Examples

Ethnologist Ivar Lissner theorized that cave paintings of beings with human and nonhuman animal features were not physical representations of mythical shapeshifters, but were instead attempts to depict shamans in the process of acquiring the mental and spiritual attributes of various beasts. ^[6] Religious historian Mircea Eliade has observed that beliefs regarding animal identity and transformation into animals are widespread. Mircea Eliade ( – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion fiction writer philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago ^[7]

Therianthropy can also refer to artistic descriptions of characters that simultaneously share human and animal traits, for example the animal-headed humanoid forms of gods depicted in Egyptian mythology (such as Ra, Sobek, Anubis, and others) as well as creatures like centaurs and mermaids. Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity Ra (pronounced Rah and sometimes as Rê, is an Ancient Egyptian sun god. Sobek (also called Sebek, Sochet, Sobk, Sobki, Soknopais, and in Greek, Suchos) was the deification of crocodiles Anubis is the Greek name for a Jackal -headed god associated with Mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. In Greek mythology, the centaurs (from Ancient Greek: Κένταυροι - Kéntauroi are a race of creatures composed of part Human A mermaid is a Mythological aquatic creature that is half human half aquatic creature (e

Some common forms of therianthropy have their own terminologies. Of these, lycanthropy, cynanthropy, and ailuranthropy are the best known. Cynanthropy (sometimes spelled kynanthropy) is a mental Delusion in which one imagines oneself as a Dog, frequently barking and growling Werecats (also written in a hyphenated form as were-cats) are creatures of Folklore, Fantasy fiction Horror fiction, and Occultism ^[8] The term "cynanthropy" was applied in 1901 to Chinese myths about humans turning into dogs, dogs becoming people, and sexual relations between humans and canines. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ^[9]

Lycanthropy

Main article: Lycanthropy

In folklore, mythology and anthropology, the most commonly known form of therianthropy is lycanthropy (from the Greek words lycos ("wolf") and anthropos ("man")). History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora Although the definition specifically describes a metamorphic change from human to canine form (as with a werewolf), the term is often used to refer to any human to animal transformation. See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to

Psychiatry

Among a sampled set of psychiatric patients, the belief of being part animal, or clinical lycanthropy, was generally associated with severe psychosis, but not always with any specific psychiatric diagnosis or neurological findings. Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare Psychiatric syndrome which involves a Delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an Animal, ^[10] Others regard clinical lycanthropy as a delusion in the sense of the self-identity disorder found in affective and schizophrenic disorders, or as a symptom of other psychiatric disorders. ^[11].

References in popular culture

Main article: Therianthropy in popular culture

In fiction

A Practical Guide to Monsters, a Dungeons and Dragons themed book published under Wizards of the Coast's juvenile publishing imprint Mirrorstone Books, makes reference on page 33 to D&D's use of the term lycanthrope to refer to many different types of humanoid/animal shapeshifters. Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of Werewolves and other Shapeshifting man-beasts in the media of literature drama film games and music Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of Games primarily based on Fantasy and Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of Games primarily based on Fantasy and The text goes on to state that "A better term for this group would be 'therianthrope,' from the root therios (animal). "^[12]

Internet subculture

The first widely-known internet use of the term developed among the Usenet group alt. Usenet, a Portmanteau of "user" and "network" is a world-wide distributed Internet discussion system horror. werewolves (ca. 1992). ^[13] Some Usenet users began publicly asserting that they were part animal, generally in a spiritual sense. ^[14] Such people initially called themselves lycanthropes, but because that word specifically means wolf-people the term therianthropes became more popular. From these foundations, an internet-based subculture of individuals identifying as therianthropes has developed. ^[15]. Some self-described therianthropes also consider themselves members of the Otherkin subculture. Otherkin are a Subculture of people primarily Internet -based who identify in some way as other than Human. ^[16]

See also

• Clinical Lycanthropy
• List of shapeshifters in myth and fiction
• Were
• Werecat
• Otherkin
• Totem
• Nagual
• Theriocephaly
• Morphological freedom

Notes and references