Date First Written: August 2014; Date Last Updated: June 2015
History of the Therian Community - 1997
The term contherianthropy would be coined and defined on the 19th of January of 1997 by Lion Templin. Lion Templin, an AHWw member and maintainer of his own website which hosted his writings wrote the essay titled, “A Short View on Modern Contherianthropy.”# [1] Contherianthropy, meaning a certain kind of therianthrope that did not experience shifts and experience a full integration of their human/animal experiences. The driving force behind the creation of the word was due to the early community’s obsession over shifting and assumption that a therian had to shift to be a therian. To quote Lion Templin himself,
“The prevailing attitudes of those who subscribe in therianthropy see the word as pertaining to those who 'shift' […]. And most certainly the classical definition of therianthropy has a great number who fit this simple dual-based nature, that of two distinct states: human and animal. However, with the basis of therianthropy moored the critical 'shifter' definition, it marginalizes those who identify and feel the presence of animals but lack the shifting boundary. […] Instead of transversing from one perception to another, they perceive the world from one reasonably constant frame.”[2]
In June 1997 around the 20th (due to that day being a full moon) a Howl took place in the Great Smokey Mountains in North Carolina in the United States. The howl, called NC Howl, was hosted by Pinky (later called Jakkal).[3] [4]
On July 11 1997, during a radio show with Art Bell interviewing a man called Father Malachi Martin on Coast to Coast AM a man named Lance Foxx called in. Lance asked the question over if it was possible for a person to be a lycanthrope and not be evil. During the short interview, Lance states he has had dreams of being a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf. LanceFoxx was once an active member of the were community (as it was called back then) during the late 90s and was once even active on alt.horror.werewolves.[5]
Some time in August 1997 the Euro Howl ‘97 took place and as again hosted by Utlah. It was held in Aberystwyth, Wales.[6]
On September 3rd 1997, work on the offline community began to be planned by several dozen members. The project had been proposed in 1996 to create more permanent offline community and by 1997 discussion has become more serious. Named the “Heart’s Dream,” the idea was for people who wanted to come together to live and possibly do some farming and other forms of independent living. Heart’s Dream was intended for therians, but discussion into the possibility of achieving the project also spilled over into the furry community as well. The people involved in the most project included Coyote Osborne and Rorschach. The mailing list for the project had roughly 30 members interested. However the idea never went very far and by 2000 any discussion on the idea had come to an end.[7] [8] [9]
In October 1997, alt.horror.werewolves had a survey called “The AHWW Poll ‘97.”[10] Later on November 9th the results of the poll were posted. In total 56 people replied to the poll (compared to 25 people replying in the 1995 poll). The ages of the replies ranged from 13 to 52 with most being in their mid-20s. Of the responders, 42 were male and 14 were female. 38 of the responders identified as wolves making them the largest represented animals, with foxes coming in as the second largest with 9 responders. Over all though, twenty different kind of animals including, five of which were mythical. To the question of feeling like they were born in the wrong body 28 responded yes, while 27 responded no. To name some of the results found.[11]
On alt.horror.werewolves 1997, over 200 weres checked the usergroup fairly regularly according to reports by members of the time. However also reported that starting in 1997 and continuing on from there heated debates between weres and spamming had brought AHWW away from its ‘safe haven’ as it once was a few years prier. While AHWW would continue to exist (and actually still exists to this day), it was during this time that were community began to move away from the user group as the ‘core’ of the community and its decline began. The were community began to move its activity more and more elsewhere at this point.[12] Due to this slow decline, Slash.Net was created as AHWw’s spin-off. For over a year, Slash.Net offered people private places to discuss away from spammers; however, after that the activity began to decline and was shut down not long after that.[13]
Sources:
[1] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 42
[2] Joshua Lion Templin, "A short view on modern contherianthropy," Lion Templin's Archive of Animal Spirituality Essays, 19 Jan 1997, http://web.archive.org/web/20051211222158/http://www.leonine.com/~lion/cthwww/ [accessed April 20, 2013].
[3] Pinky, “NC Shifter’s Howl This Summer,” Alt.horror.werewolves, January
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/nc$20howl|sort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/0IcwvDF1RkQ/9v7oLFBDf34J [accessed August 23 2014].
[4] Pinky, “Howls?? Would anyone come here again?,” alt.horror.werewolves, August 29 1997, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/nc$20howl/alt.horror.werewolves/BctLbsIpLoA/ngVbqG22V0MJ [accessed August 23 2014].
[5] Bell, Art, Father Malachi Martin, and Lance Foxx. “Lycanthropy,” Coast to Coast AM, July 11 1997, aprox. ~ 4 minutes.
[6] “ATTEN: Euro Howl ‘97,” alt.horror.werewolves, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/Euro$20Howl%7Csort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/iV09u9CWqAY/I3DkYR0ZIBoJ [accessed September 6th 2014].
[7] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 44
[8] Osborne, Coyote, “The Commune (Heart’s Dream),” at.horror.werewolves. January 31 1996, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/e3nQ-gcO8oI (accessed February 1 2015).
[9] Rorschach, “A Fury Colony?,” alt. lifestyle.furry, March 3 2000, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.lifestyle.furry/pA6rLg5TbdA (accessed February 1 2015).
[10] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 44-45
[11]The Utlah, “AHWw Poll’97 - The RESULTS!” alt.horror.werewolves, November 9th 1997, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/AHWw$20%E2%80%9897$20Poll$20results$20/alt.horror.werewolves/lYqSQB2DVQM/FGPjBFzqarQJ [accessed July 1, 2014].
[12] Jakkal, "Foundation's Edge: The History of the Online Werecommunity," Were.Net, http://web.archive.org/web/20010620111439/http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml [accessed April 20, 2013].
[13] Jakkal, "Foundation's Edge: The History of the Online Werecommunity," Were.Net, http://web.archive.org/web/20010620111439/http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml [accessed April 20, 2013].
“The prevailing attitudes of those who subscribe in therianthropy see the word as pertaining to those who 'shift' […]. And most certainly the classical definition of therianthropy has a great number who fit this simple dual-based nature, that of two distinct states: human and animal. However, with the basis of therianthropy moored the critical 'shifter' definition, it marginalizes those who identify and feel the presence of animals but lack the shifting boundary. […] Instead of transversing from one perception to another, they perceive the world from one reasonably constant frame.”[2]
In June 1997 around the 20th (due to that day being a full moon) a Howl took place in the Great Smokey Mountains in North Carolina in the United States. The howl, called NC Howl, was hosted by Pinky (later called Jakkal).[3] [4]
On July 11 1997, during a radio show with Art Bell interviewing a man called Father Malachi Martin on Coast to Coast AM a man named Lance Foxx called in. Lance asked the question over if it was possible for a person to be a lycanthrope and not be evil. During the short interview, Lance states he has had dreams of being a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf. LanceFoxx was once an active member of the were community (as it was called back then) during the late 90s and was once even active on alt.horror.werewolves.[5]
Some time in August 1997 the Euro Howl ‘97 took place and as again hosted by Utlah. It was held in Aberystwyth, Wales.[6]
On September 3rd 1997, work on the offline community began to be planned by several dozen members. The project had been proposed in 1996 to create more permanent offline community and by 1997 discussion has become more serious. Named the “Heart’s Dream,” the idea was for people who wanted to come together to live and possibly do some farming and other forms of independent living. Heart’s Dream was intended for therians, but discussion into the possibility of achieving the project also spilled over into the furry community as well. The people involved in the most project included Coyote Osborne and Rorschach. The mailing list for the project had roughly 30 members interested. However the idea never went very far and by 2000 any discussion on the idea had come to an end.[7] [8] [9]
In October 1997, alt.horror.werewolves had a survey called “The AHWW Poll ‘97.”[10] Later on November 9th the results of the poll were posted. In total 56 people replied to the poll (compared to 25 people replying in the 1995 poll). The ages of the replies ranged from 13 to 52 with most being in their mid-20s. Of the responders, 42 were male and 14 were female. 38 of the responders identified as wolves making them the largest represented animals, with foxes coming in as the second largest with 9 responders. Over all though, twenty different kind of animals including, five of which were mythical. To the question of feeling like they were born in the wrong body 28 responded yes, while 27 responded no. To name some of the results found.[11]
On alt.horror.werewolves 1997, over 200 weres checked the usergroup fairly regularly according to reports by members of the time. However also reported that starting in 1997 and continuing on from there heated debates between weres and spamming had brought AHWW away from its ‘safe haven’ as it once was a few years prier. While AHWW would continue to exist (and actually still exists to this day), it was during this time that were community began to move away from the user group as the ‘core’ of the community and its decline began. The were community began to move its activity more and more elsewhere at this point.[12] Due to this slow decline, Slash.Net was created as AHWw’s spin-off. For over a year, Slash.Net offered people private places to discuss away from spammers; however, after that the activity began to decline and was shut down not long after that.[13]
Sources:
[1] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 42
[2] Joshua Lion Templin, "A short view on modern contherianthropy," Lion Templin's Archive of Animal Spirituality Essays, 19 Jan 1997, http://web.archive.org/web/20051211222158/http://www.leonine.com/~lion/cthwww/ [accessed April 20, 2013].
[3] Pinky, “NC Shifter’s Howl This Summer,” Alt.horror.werewolves, January
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/nc$20howl|sort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/0IcwvDF1RkQ/9v7oLFBDf34J [accessed August 23 2014].
[4] Pinky, “Howls?? Would anyone come here again?,” alt.horror.werewolves, August 29 1997, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/nc$20howl/alt.horror.werewolves/BctLbsIpLoA/ngVbqG22V0MJ [accessed August 23 2014].
[5] Bell, Art, Father Malachi Martin, and Lance Foxx. “Lycanthropy,” Coast to Coast AM, July 11 1997, aprox. ~ 4 minutes.
[6] “ATTEN: Euro Howl ‘97,” alt.horror.werewolves, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/Euro$20Howl%7Csort:date/alt.horror.werewolves/iV09u9CWqAY/I3DkYR0ZIBoJ [accessed September 6th 2014].
[7] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 44
[8] Osborne, Coyote, “The Commune (Heart’s Dream),” at.horror.werewolves. January 31 1996, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/e3nQ-gcO8oI (accessed February 1 2015).
[9] Rorschach, “A Fury Colony?,” alt. lifestyle.furry, March 3 2000, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.lifestyle.furry/pA6rLg5TbdA (accessed February 1 2015).
[10] Scribner, O. “Otherkin Timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0.” Last modified Sept. 8, 2012 in The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. https://sites.google.com/site/frameacloud/nonfiction_about_otherkin_and_therianthropes[accessed March 5 2013] Page 44-45
[11]The Utlah, “AHWw Poll’97 - The RESULTS!” alt.horror.werewolves, November 9th 1997, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/AHWw$20%E2%80%9897$20Poll$20results$20/alt.horror.werewolves/lYqSQB2DVQM/FGPjBFzqarQJ [accessed July 1, 2014].
[12] Jakkal, "Foundation's Edge: The History of the Online Werecommunity," Were.Net, http://web.archive.org/web/20010620111439/http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml [accessed April 20, 2013].
[13] Jakkal, "Foundation's Edge: The History of the Online Werecommunity," Were.Net, http://web.archive.org/web/20010620111439/http://www.were.net/foundation.shtml [accessed April 20, 2013].
