RSS
Home
There's weird, and then there's Otherkin
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Getty Images/Mike Kemp: Otherkin: Hear him roar!
There are a lot of strange beliefs in this world, but few of them come close to the oddness that is Otherkin. The Otherkin are people who come to the rather simple conclusion that they are not human, but that's not what makes them weird. What makes them weird is what non-human creatures they believe to be: faeries, elves, vampires and unicorns.
If you want to tick off an Otherkin, suggest they've watched too many movies, or tossed one too many D20:
Popular media * does * seem to attract a lot of people who claim to be kin. There are several theories as to why this is: A popular movie will trigger memories and a mass ‘awakening’ in people…or some people are just laying claim to being Otherkin for the sake of being cool. Yes, some people do take movies to [sic] far, its certainly possible. But, just as there are some crazies, so, too, are there people who truly hold their spirituality-and their kinship- close to their heart. Some kin do accept that some movies remind them of a past life or previous incarnation, just as if someone had a past life aboard the titanic, watching a documentary on the event would likely trigger an emotional response.
This is one of those things that goes beyond mockery. It kind of satirizes itself. Yet, I think it needs to be said that perhaps the main reason Otherkin get exercised at the suggestion that this is simply wish-fulfillment, imagining one might actually have come from an appealing fantasy world, is that it's true.
Otherkin like to point to mythological precursors to their chosen race to suggest an ancient, hidden truth that's somehow been revealed. Now, elves have existed in mythology, but Tolkien's writings have so dominated our view that imagining an elf separate from that is like trying to imagine a vampire without the influence of Dracula. Yet, their visions of what it was like back in the elven days looks a lot more like the more recent fictionalizations than those of mythology. Consider this review an Otherkin gave of Lord of the Rings:
I was very pleased by the portrayal of the elves. They looked, walked, acted and even spoke like elves. They were very remniscent of what I remember. In full elven form can look that unearthly (especially as in Lothlorien). That's part of who we are. My view overall is very positive and awe-filled Even when speaking English the elves had an elvish accent. Rivendell, while very pretty and inviting looking for me did not move me as did Lothlorien. There's a place that could have easily existed on Sel'ar, the way it was depicted. *sigh*. I found Eowyn's voice to be very elvish in timbre. I was moved by her Voice when speaking the words at the river and her mannerisms. I have to give the cast credit for studying elvish with aid from Tolkein societies to strive for correct pronunciation.
Granted, the author suggests there may be innaccuracies, and that she is perhaps overly smitten, just seeing her kind represented in popular media (oh, how the elves are underrepresented in the popular media! At least in proportion to their makeup of the rest of the population.) But her gushiness might also be seen as an explanation for the motivation of her elven origins: "The critiquing also just does not sit well with my feeling of peaceful joy when thinking on the movie, and seems petty to me by that light... My experience of the movie was wonderful, I care to focus on the wonder of the movie rather than detract from that wonder by focusing on the not-quite-perfect bits"
Or, consider this Otherkin's online ponderings about why Lupines have so much difficulty maintaining relationships:
I usually don't feel comfortable with my human shell, the body i have now, because I suffer from sensory memories of having a tail and ears, most people don't understand that even if it's not there physically it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I have a hard time sitting down because I am constantly making sure I don't sit on a tail that is not there currently, I mean I think that I may have the tail when in reality I don't at all in this form, I run like my knees are meant to bend the other way sometimes, which mind you makes me look odd to others.
Freaking out about someone stepping on your phantom tail chases dates away, you say? You think?
And another small thing: if fiction isn't so influential, you might consider renaming the Otherkin Resource Center (ORC) because Orcs are a Tolkien creation.
Related Articles:
Comments
