Research

[arena_atlanta]

Hi there

I thought I'd start anew thread for this as I have been ading comments and getting snapped at :lol:

I am not a p-shifter or a therian in the sence that you refer for that matter but I have been researching in to therian myth and fact and I was wondering if any one can help with there ideas or experiances.

Therianthropy is derived from the noun therianthrope, meaning part man and part beast, in turn derived from the Greek therion (Θηριον), meaning "wild animal" or "beast", and anthrōpos (ανθρωπος), meaning "man". Therianthropes have long existed in mythology, appearing in ancient cave drawings and in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The Inquisitions of the 16th century claimed to have documented therianthropy in mortals, specifically referring to lycanthropy, the state of being a werewolf.

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 and others) as well as creatures like centaurs and mermaids.

Some common forms of therianthropy have their own terminologies. Of these, lycanthropy, cynanthropy and ailuranthropy are the best known. 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.

The word lycanthropy is often used generically for any transformation of a human into animal form, though the precise term for that is technically "therianthropy". Sometimes, "zoanthropy" is used instead of "therianthropy

sorry there isn't more but that is all I have time to type for the moment. I have not got alot of resorces to use for my research so plesae if anyone can help or explain there ideas to me it would help me alot.

Also please dont direct me to the explination on this board I have already read all of the threads in this section. Thanx

[MorganaFang]

Okay, I'm not going to snap at you but this is a warning. Contact a moderator of this forum before you elaborate on a subject of a closed thread.

Secondly cite where you get your information because a lot of people are going to argue with you when they're bored enough and into their own opinion enough.

Having citations is sometimes the best way to shut people up.

[arena_atlanta]

Sorry if I sounded ignorent I didn't mean to. All I ment was I am doing research in to differing ideas on Therianthropy and wanted more personal or indepth info. The only tool I have used so far baring popular legend and folklore that I am already familiar with is http://en.wikipedia.org the free encyclopedia. Iam not stating that my original post is my personal take on therianthropy, just that that is my research so far. Iam a script write and I am after as many differing ideas as possible, does that help?

[blueeyes]

Most of the interest for the Therianthropy forums focus on therians toward the 1980+ definition, which focuses more on individuals with a normal human body but animal-like attributes or spiritual sensations. Most interest in anthromorphic or shapeshifting beings doesn't fit under the current day definition of therianthropy. Therianthropy tends to just be a slightly atypical spirituality/neurology. It's been used in the past to describe more interesting things, but now you'd probably be better looking into werewolf/religious/werecat/were-whatever fiction to get that sorta stuff.

Given that physical shifters have been declared non-existent by this forum's moderators (and the vast majority of society), you're unlikely to get much useful in terms of script fodder in this subfora if you're looking for traditional werewolves or half-animal half-human conglomerations. For script ideas for hero or villain species, I'd advise heading to the Mythology (http://werewolf.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=1 0) or Literature (http://werewolf.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=1 4) subfora, which would respectively focus on the myths of shapeshifters or partly animal myths, and the story aspects of writing animalistic characters.

If you're interested in creating characters with a psychological or spiritual link to animals, however, then :

For starters, I'd advise heading to the Awereness Forums (http://forums.therianthropy .org/) and asking for information. Do NOT state what you think you know, only what you want to find out. It's better to ask a stupid question and have people think you an idiot, than to give a stupid answer and prove it; and Jakkal or Bullet will rip you a new one anyway if you spout off Wiki/Werewolf.com Sticky information.

That's not to say they won't rip you a new one anyway. On the upside, there's usually a thread covering what I think you're asking about, so you may be able to avoid that.

The WEREWeb (http://www.swampfox.demon.c o.uk/utlah/index2.html), while seldom updated, still has a good deal of information that may also be useful to you. The Werecards in particular hold a good many diamonds, even if there is likewise a noteworthy amount of dust.

I'm afraid that I'm insane, and thus my viewpoints aren't particularly useful. I may still have a few descriptions of other people's therianthropy, but I'd have to spend a good deal of time finding it. I do, however, know a few writing tricks, so if you can further illuminate what you're looking for I might be able to give some aid.

I will warn you ahead of time that therianthropy is a fairly small field with few regulatory descriptors. Thus, the effective definitions and descriptions vary vastly from one person to the next. As a result, it can be difficult to get any single expression that sums up the entire field.