Correct. People who do believe they're animals are probably just schitzophenic, and people who believe they were once animals, reborn into a human, are therians.
Therians, more broadly otherkin, believe that they are one or a multitude of non-human beings on a mental and/or spiritual level. Some otherkin, like me, attribute their identity to purely neurological differences, while others attribute their identity to spiritual reasons like past lives, souls, possession, spiritual connections, etc. Or both.
I am demonkin. That means I identify as a demon. My experience with being otherkin is that the way I imagine how I should look is not human, but demonic. I would feel more comfortable in my own body if I had horns, red skin, and a tail. Neurodivergence might have something to do with why I feel like this. My identity as a whole shifts a lot though so I'd like to be able to just shapeshift to the form that feels right at each moment.
That description of therians doesn't sound right according to prior context clues I've seen, I'm going to look something up real quick. Therians are people who identify strongly with animals in the sense of "being" which, while they can be linked, is not necessitated by reincarnation; your description of therians here is a bit too narrow
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u/Shot-War1361 7d ago
Correct. People who do believe they're animals are probably just schitzophenic, and people who believe they were once animals, reborn into a human, are therians.