What is an Otherkin?

Post Reply New Topic

I came across the term, and from what I read, it is an interesting thing.
I am interested because of the similarity between believing you're not spiritually/mentally human, and being on the "wrong planet".
I'm also curious as to the "phantom limb" sensation. I happen to feel that alot, but then again, my sensory system has a screw loose.
So, what are you're thoughts on it?
I'm trying to figure out what causes the claimed sensation, myself - pinched nerves, or what?
It could be another attention-gimmick, but I'm not so interested in the media-obsessed.

I'm familiar with the term. It can mean several things, but the way I'm familiar with it is when people believe they are something that isn't human but is just in a human looking body. Faeries, Werewolves, Angels, I can't remember what all else is in that group. I'm not sure if vampires are considered Otherkin or not. There is also some type of Otherkin called something like Starseeds.

I don't believe in it, but there are people who do.

Not a medical expert but...

About "phantom limbs"- thats something that happens to amputees.

Can be horrible.

Combat veterans who have a leg or an arm amputated will sometimes continue to have sensations coming from the absent limb. Could be itching that cant be scratched. Could be excrutiating pain that cant be treated.

If you have all tour of your original limbs than you're not supposed to get "phantom limb"(as I understand it). So you either are mistaking it for something else, or you really do have a unique nervous system.

To put it simply, they are ordinary people who believe they are not ordinary. They believe that they are partly or wholly vampires, werewolves, fairies, or some other fictional creature. In other words, they are so dissatisfied with being just like everyone else, that they delude themselves into believing that they are 'special' in some way. Yet when confronted with their utter lack of objective evidence to support their claims, they become angry and sometimes violent, further claiming that they are being persecuted by 'purists' and 'specists' who are expressing their own xenophobia against them.

You can read This Wikipedia Article if you have more interest in learning about the mythology of 'Otherkin'.

I'm not a medical expert, either, but I agree with the above. That's exactly what I thought "phantom limbs" meant. My understanding is that after the limb is amputated, the nerves that were connected to it are still sensing what they used to sense.

I think part of the phenomenon comes from undiagnosed Aspies trying to figure out why they are different from everybody around them. Many of us developed some sort of "origin story" as children, thinking we must be adopted, or aliens, or androids, etc. Those who are really into animals or fantasy might decide they are "really" a cat, or a dragon, and that is why they aren't like the other humans. The old LiveJournal community for Otherkin had a significant overlap with the Asperger community.

I have taken to thinking of myself as an alien for the past couple of years or so. It is difficult to put a value on how seriously I hold this claim. I don't try to convince anyone else that I am "definitely an alien," and if pressed I would admit that the idea is ridiculous. On the other hand, it is not a completely superfluous thing for me either. I very often feel like I genuinely do not belong on this planet, and thinking of myself as an alien brings me some comfort. It is like therapeutic role-playing.

In a way I am like the religious man who knows that his religion is not literally true or logically sound, yet still holds his belief because "it just feels right." I think that so long as I recognize that my "belief" is not based on any sound or testable evidence, I am not violating my own principles. Usually I dislike mysticism, pseudoscience, religion and similar concepts, but I suppose this is my guilty pleasure.

I've always thought of others as them. Or the humans. Or something along those lines. I always identified with Science Fiction characters who looked like everyone else but really wasn't one of them.

Some of the lines in Superman the movie:
Jor-El: He will look like one of them.
Lara: He won't be one of them. He'll be odd. Different. Isolated. Alone.

The book title "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein.
About a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians.

I don't know that I've ever viewed myself as superior to others because of this. That I was some sort of loftier being or whatever. Although I've scoffed at some of the things they consider so important. Mainly along the lines of social status.

I was trying to be nice and not make it sound as crazy as it is, but yeah, you got it.

ETA; I once knew this one chick online who was so far out there she was convinced that not only was she one kind of otherkin, she had about 6 or 7 other souls living in her body that were also otherkin, but all different kinds of otherkin. So she gets to have multiple personalities like "Sybil" plus they are all otherworldly creatures! Double bonus for being special! And she always used "we" and "us" and "our" when she meant I, me, and my.

Last edited by OliveOilMom on 03 Apr 2013, 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think this is a very good observation. I have also noticed that the "otherkin" and "furry" communities seem to have a very high incidence of people who, whether or not they are actually diagnosed with AS, have autistic traits, especially around obsessive interests and absorption in their own world. Autistic people also tend to identify closely with characters who are alien or different, so identifying as non-human ticks a lot of autistic boxes. I also agree that it's definitely a comfort thing for most - while there are always a few attention-seekers in every community, most of the ones I've met weren't this way at all. Rather, they just seemed to be people looking for somewhere they belonged because they had such difficulty fitting in, and this identity was something they found reassuring. I am not "otherkin" but I know that for me being absorbed in fictional worlds brings a huge relief from the demands of trying to cope in a NT world, and so I can definitely understand it in terms of the "wrong planet" phenomenon.

<-- Is a "furry." (In case my avatar didn't make that obvious!)

So maybe you're onto something.

As to the phantom limb bit - the theory is that when an amputee has a pinched nerve, it sends signals interpreted to still be the limb. The feeling of tails or wings I think some of it may come from people with pinched nerves (does not require amputation). Correct me if I'm wrong.
I have all my limbs - I figure my sensory system is wacked (I doubt my nerves are pinched).
If it is a matter of indentifying with things, I can identify with several things, and thus learn from them.
I was intrigued because I got to that wiki article on Otherkin from a theory of Aspies being the "changelings-children" of old myths.

Well said as always.

I'd never made the connection between ASD and these types of people before. Interesting thread, glad I clicked.

And no, I'm not really one of any of these things. I suppose the only one I could partly identify with would be the starseed/indigo sort of concept as I do find that stuff rather fascinating - but I don't go around calling myself any of those things or preaching it. I just find the concepts of it a pretty good fit in terms of my thoughts, morals, ethics, ideals, philosophies etc when it comes to economics & the environment and the way society is going and so forth. There just seems to be a strange sort of comforting logic to it, that if everything happens for a reason - perhaps this is mine/ours, to be the type of person that thinks & lives differently because that's what's needed and healthy for humanity and the planet. That sort of stuff.

But the link between AS and furries, and others mentioned in this thread, is an interesting one indeed. Really, it makes me look at those communities with a bit of a newfound respect - not because they may be ASD people, but because now there's some sort of logic that explains why these people are the way they are and do the things they do vs. well, just sorta thinking they're some kinda freaks. Harmless, but freaks. Not that they're any less of a freak (or statistical outlier if you want to get all academic about it), but at least now it makes more sense why they may be the kind of freaks they are.

The first time I learned about Otherkin was well over a decade ago now. This guy in my math class claimed to be one and I guess he felt a connection to me or something? I have no idea why he told me about it. But I do understand that feeling of not belonging, of wanting to find a place where one belongs and is accepted, where others are relatable.

From all the people I've known who feel like they are either Otherkin or Furry, or even Anime characters, they are by far not "Ordinary." There is something there. Saying they're just ordinary people who are tired of being ordinary is like telling anyone on the spectrum that they're only on the spectrum because they don't want to be neurotypical.

The spectrum really exists. You aren't on the spectrum because you feel like you belong there, or feel connected to it. Well, you can say you are but that doesn't make you on the spectrum. You can also say you are a faery or a werewolf or an angel or a space alien if you want, but that doesn't make you one. In other words, if someone not on the spectrum wants to pretend they are on the spectrum, that doesn't make them on the spectrum. If someone wants to pretend they are some sort of werewolf, faery or vampire, that doesn't make them a werewolf, faery or vampire. It just means they are pretending they are one and they want you to pretend it too.