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Continuing my rant on things within the Otherkin community that really get under my skin:
1. Trolling non-otherkin boards and forums with your Otherness. This isn't "challenging people to think outside the box", it's not "explaining to people where you're coming from". It is, very simply, a way for you to illicit a negative reaction from them so you can go play victim and talk about how intolerant the group you just posted to is. Going up to random people and explaining that you think your "immortal form" is a mythological being and/or a character from an anime IS NOT going to be received well, *especially* when not prefaced by anything even remotely resembling a real explanation of the belief system involved and how you arrived at such conclusions.
Oh, and telling people you're a demon so you believe in the "strong devouring the weak", but are fighting against Lucifer and Dominionists and are saddened by innocents being harmed in the war in Iraq (though we have the "right of dominion" over them if we can conquer them, so you support us doing that) is also not going to garner a great reaction from people inside the otherkin community, let alone outside of it.
2. STOP BLAMING YOUR FEELINGS, ACTIONS, AND BELIEFS ON WHAT YOU ARE! You're a sentient being, presumably, so you're more than just a bundle of instincts; you have a mind and free will and the capacity for CHOICE and GROWTH. FUCKING USE IT!
3. Stop redefining terms to suit your belief system.
Angel, for example, does not just mean the things from judeo-christian mythology, even in English it can merely mean messenger, as in "The dear good angel of the Spring, The nightingale" from Ben Johnson's "The Sad Shepherd," Act II, Scene vi. It is originally from the greek Angelos, and applied to beings such as Hermes himself. Any being that acts as a go-between bridging the mortal and divine realms can justifiably be called by this title. There is a history of such usage, despite the judeo-christian meaning being the most popular one in western culture at this time.
At the same time, the opposite is true as well. Because a word comes from a particular culture or narrow usage in the past, that does not mean the term is limited to only describing things present in that culture's belief system or sharing the same narrow usage. Words can be and have been adopted into english from other languages, with their usage broadened in the process. The english word shaman applies to a lot more than just the mystics and healers of the Siberian Tungus people it was borrowed from. Likewise, the english word demon, though originally derived from the greek daemon and applied to biblical fallen angels, is properly used to describe groups which are not daemons or judeo-christian fallen angels as well as those which are. Its usage has changed.
And for gods sake, Otherkin != Nephilim. We are NOT all one kindred, let alone all descended from judeo-christian angels. Which reminds me:
4. THERE ARE NO "ANCESTORS OF THE OTHERKIN"! We are not all related to one another, many of us are not even from this planet originally, so it's pretty damned unlikely that anyone can come around claiming to speak on behalf of our ancestors as a collective group. Those that try, are FULL OF SHIT. Especially since even if we were a single group, descended from common ancestors, those ancestors would have NO AUTHORITY OVER US IN THE PRESENT.
5. Stop pushing the newly "awakened" onto their own groups. Yes, many of them ask the same questions time and time again, but you know what? That's a GOOD thing. It makes you keep thinking about the answers, keep refining them, maybe even changing them entirely as you learn new things yourself. Segregating the newly "awakened" off onto their own lists means a) they'll have a lot fewer examples of mature kin to learn from, b) you'll get a lot of newer kin turning around and trying to answer the questions of those younger than themselves, often with little practical experience, c) focusing so much on the very basics that they never get beyond it into anything deeper. Let's get newbies on the main lists, let's get them involved, let's challenge them with new ideas and things that force them to go beyond the basics, and lets let them challenge us and our preconceptions too!
6. For that matter, how about we all scrap the term "Awakened"? It has a HUGE problem: it implies we're done. We were asleep, but now we've "awakened", and that's it. It's over. End of story. The problem with this is, Awakening is a process. Nobody gets memories of an entire past life, let alone all the past lives they have lived, in one lump downloaded into their brain one day. Nobody suddenly realizes who and what they are in its totality. Awakening is a gradual process of learning about yourself, about who and what you are and who and what you want to be and how to get there. It's not the result of a magic cosmic egg timer going off, it's not something that's just going to randomly happen to you one day, it takes time and it takes effort, and it's a process that can literally take *lifetimes* to achieve. Believing that you're all done, even after years of soulsearching, is a really quick recipe for stagnation.
7. This is a big one: THERE IS NO IMPENDING WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND OTHERKIN. It's important, so I'll repeat myself. THERE IS NO IMPENDING WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND OTHERKIN. A) Most humans don't even *believe* in mythical beings, let alone in the concept of those mythical beings incarnating in human bodies. Those most inclined to believe this, occult practitioners and pagans, are rather unlikely to wage war against us. B) Neither the human nor the otherkin cultures are unified enough to all end up on one side in any type of battle. C) Humans have no fucking REASON to want to fight otherkin unless we go around picking fights with them! The people who believe in a coming war between the "evil humans" and the "good otherkin" are themselves the most likely thing to spark such a reaction with their paranoia, antagonism, and militaristic preparations. Ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy??
8. "Otherkin Research". Is. Fucking. Stupid. What the hell do you expect to find? Nonhuman genes? Newsflash, any nonhuman genes in current otherkin have been part of the human gene-pool long enough for geneticists to consider them normal human genetics. You'd have to go WAY back to before the species interacted for a pure sample of human DNA. Current maps of the human genome are not based on pure samples of this kind, they are based on modern genetics and all the interbreeding and mutation that my have occurred along the way. We need to prove metaphysical concepts scientifically before we can even start trying to prove the idea of otherkin through actual research. So focus on that instead.
9. To sum it all up again, "You want your religion taken seriously? Stop treating it like fandom."1 Are we getting the idea yet??
1. Trolling non-otherkin boards and forums with your Otherness. This isn't "challenging people to think outside the box", it's not "explaining to people where you're coming from". It is, very simply, a way for you to illicit a negative reaction from them so you can go play victim and talk about how intolerant the group you just posted to is. Going up to random people and explaining that you think your "immortal form" is a mythological being and/or a character from an anime IS NOT going to be received well, *especially* when not prefaced by anything even remotely resembling a real explanation of the belief system involved and how you arrived at such conclusions.
Oh, and telling people you're a demon so you believe in the "strong devouring the weak", but are fighting against Lucifer and Dominionists and are saddened by innocents being harmed in the war in Iraq (though we have the "right of dominion" over them if we can conquer them, so you support us doing that) is also not going to garner a great reaction from people inside the otherkin community, let alone outside of it.
2. STOP BLAMING YOUR FEELINGS, ACTIONS, AND BELIEFS ON WHAT YOU ARE! You're a sentient being, presumably, so you're more than just a bundle of instincts; you have a mind and free will and the capacity for CHOICE and GROWTH. FUCKING USE IT!
3. Stop redefining terms to suit your belief system.
Angel, for example, does not just mean the things from judeo-christian mythology, even in English it can merely mean messenger, as in "The dear good angel of the Spring, The nightingale" from Ben Johnson's "The Sad Shepherd," Act II, Scene vi. It is originally from the greek Angelos, and applied to beings such as Hermes himself. Any being that acts as a go-between bridging the mortal and divine realms can justifiably be called by this title. There is a history of such usage, despite the judeo-christian meaning being the most popular one in western culture at this time.
At the same time, the opposite is true as well. Because a word comes from a particular culture or narrow usage in the past, that does not mean the term is limited to only describing things present in that culture's belief system or sharing the same narrow usage. Words can be and have been adopted into english from other languages, with their usage broadened in the process. The english word shaman applies to a lot more than just the mystics and healers of the Siberian Tungus people it was borrowed from. Likewise, the english word demon, though originally derived from the greek daemon and applied to biblical fallen angels, is properly used to describe groups which are not daemons or judeo-christian fallen angels as well as those which are. Its usage has changed.
And for gods sake, Otherkin != Nephilim. We are NOT all one kindred, let alone all descended from judeo-christian angels. Which reminds me:
4. THERE ARE NO "ANCESTORS OF THE OTHERKIN"! We are not all related to one another, many of us are not even from this planet originally, so it's pretty damned unlikely that anyone can come around claiming to speak on behalf of our ancestors as a collective group. Those that try, are FULL OF SHIT. Especially since even if we were a single group, descended from common ancestors, those ancestors would have NO AUTHORITY OVER US IN THE PRESENT.
5. Stop pushing the newly "awakened" onto their own groups. Yes, many of them ask the same questions time and time again, but you know what? That's a GOOD thing. It makes you keep thinking about the answers, keep refining them, maybe even changing them entirely as you learn new things yourself. Segregating the newly "awakened" off onto their own lists means a) they'll have a lot fewer examples of mature kin to learn from, b) you'll get a lot of newer kin turning around and trying to answer the questions of those younger than themselves, often with little practical experience, c) focusing so much on the very basics that they never get beyond it into anything deeper. Let's get newbies on the main lists, let's get them involved, let's challenge them with new ideas and things that force them to go beyond the basics, and lets let them challenge us and our preconceptions too!
6. For that matter, how about we all scrap the term "Awakened"? It has a HUGE problem: it implies we're done. We were asleep, but now we've "awakened", and that's it. It's over. End of story. The problem with this is, Awakening is a process. Nobody gets memories of an entire past life, let alone all the past lives they have lived, in one lump downloaded into their brain one day. Nobody suddenly realizes who and what they are in its totality. Awakening is a gradual process of learning about yourself, about who and what you are and who and what you want to be and how to get there. It's not the result of a magic cosmic egg timer going off, it's not something that's just going to randomly happen to you one day, it takes time and it takes effort, and it's a process that can literally take *lifetimes* to achieve. Believing that you're all done, even after years of soulsearching, is a really quick recipe for stagnation.
7. This is a big one: THERE IS NO IMPENDING WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND OTHERKIN. It's important, so I'll repeat myself. THERE IS NO IMPENDING WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND OTHERKIN. A) Most humans don't even *believe* in mythical beings, let alone in the concept of those mythical beings incarnating in human bodies. Those most inclined to believe this, occult practitioners and pagans, are rather unlikely to wage war against us. B) Neither the human nor the otherkin cultures are unified enough to all end up on one side in any type of battle. C) Humans have no fucking REASON to want to fight otherkin unless we go around picking fights with them! The people who believe in a coming war between the "evil humans" and the "good otherkin" are themselves the most likely thing to spark such a reaction with their paranoia, antagonism, and militaristic preparations. Ever hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy??
8. "Otherkin Research". Is. Fucking. Stupid. What the hell do you expect to find? Nonhuman genes? Newsflash, any nonhuman genes in current otherkin have been part of the human gene-pool long enough for geneticists to consider them normal human genetics. You'd have to go WAY back to before the species interacted for a pure sample of human DNA. Current maps of the human genome are not based on pure samples of this kind, they are based on modern genetics and all the interbreeding and mutation that my have occurred along the way. We need to prove metaphysical concepts scientifically before we can even start trying to prove the idea of otherkin through actual research. So focus on that instead.
9. To sum it all up again, "You want your religion taken seriously? Stop treating it like fandom."1 Are we getting the idea yet??
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