The question about Rebirth on the front page made this thought pop into my  head. Those of you who are familiar with any of the concepts in the subject line, what are your thoughts and opinions on them? Do you, or do you know anyone who, incorporate(s) those things into your/their Pagan practices?

I'll try to summarize them the best I can for anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about. I know very little about Otherkin, so here's what a website about them has to say: "Otherkin (aka Fairth, Metahuman, and sometimes overlapping with Vampires and Furries) are those people who believe themselves to be spiritually and/or physically other than human." (No idea why that won't stop being mint green.)

Soulbonds are different. I used to be slightly into this a LONG time ago, so I might not have my facts straight, but the gist of it is that a soulbond is another being  SEPARATE from you, whose voice you can hear in your mind because of a strong bond between the two of you. I remember that most of the time, it was people's characters who would bond with them (sometimes other people's characters, like those in popular media), which was what made the bond so strange. It would be a separate voice with its own distinct identity. It would tell you something and you'd be like, "lolwut?" and later on you'd find out it was true, or suited them perfectly.

It was said that perhaps soulbonds were not really the characters that their hosts imagined them to be, but were actually Old Souls or random deceased persons who had decided to reach out to living people. In other words, that maybe you didn't create any characters--you were actually bonding with someone who was once real. (In the case of popular characters, I have no idea. I'm not sure what to think of those people. I don't automatically discredit them because I've experienced some things that can't be explained, myself.)

***Here's one more thing, but I don't know what they're called. I've had one friend, who had other similar friends, who believed that they were reincarnations of people who had died during their own lifetimes. How is that possible, you ask? They all said that the other soul "came to them," usually right after a traumatic experience. For example, one of them had the other soul come to her while she was hospitalized for some injuries. These individuals instinctively knew that they had just been "reborn" and were really that other person, so they wanted to BECOME that person.

I was never quite sure I believed them, because the people they claimed to be reincarnations of were widely-known musicians of another country, with many fans. It would have been like someone claiming they were the reincarnation of Elvis. At the same time, though, there I was with my enigmatic Soulbonds, so it never felt right to completely brush them off as crazy.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts, and I'm definitely interested in learning more about all of these things if you have any  more info.

Well, I've been exploring the world of Therians and Otherkin for a little while, since I had my past life regression of a Whale.  I can believe someone having the soul of a wolf or a bear or a whale due to my own experience and strange sensations.  But in the case of Otherkin....I don't believe in Elves, Fae (as others see them), Griffins, angels, or demons, so I can't take someone for granted who believes they are a Reborn God or Elemental, or whatever.  I just smile and nod and move on.  They believe they are, whatever.  I'm not a psychologist, nor do I know them.  If they're not harming others, who am I to say they're wrong?  I'll just write about it in my BOM instead of drilling them and making them feel stupid.  Until I have an experience with a Dragon, then I'll give them a little bit more leeway.  For now, it's one of those, "Oh, that's cool" or a "What the eff?".

I've racked my brain with trying to be open-minded and all-things-all-possible and other beings and creatures existing on other planes of existence, but there's a moment when you have to drawn the line for sanity reasons.  It's a battle between Logic, Faith, and Desire.  How many of these people are being genuine?  How many are role-playing or just crazy?  Especially those who believe they're a fictional characters reborn/reincarnate (what's that called?  Otakukin?).  I dunno.  As for Otakukin, I think they just want to be that other person so badly that they believe it.  (I'm sure those same people may look at me and my experiences and think I'm delusional too, whatever.  It is what it is.)

But there was one person who said that they didn't believe in reincarnation or rebirth, yet knew they were an Elf in a Human's body.  Huh?  Or some who've made similar statements then turned around and said we (Witches) were crazy or fake.  To each your own, I guess.

Nor do I think you can be in this lifetime and yet have someone else soul, traumatic experience or not.  Unless you physically die and someone hops into your body, but would you have your memories?  I doubt it; this isn't exactly X-Men, nor are you exactly Professor X.  And how often would that even happen? Then again, this is the first time I've heard of this concept, so I'm not remotely an expert.

Yes, I was a whale in a past life, yes I have strange occurances, but I'm not 100% okay with calling myself a Whale Therian (I have on those communities, but I'm still iffy about it).  I've experienced Astral- and Cameo-shifts before, and I know I was a Whale in a past life.  I'm still not comfortable with the concept due to lack of understanding, despite the sites I've read, concepts I've studied, and people I've communicated with (people i feel are legit Therians).  Maybe I'm just not meant to understand it right now?  I dunno.  As you can tell I'm still on the line.  I believe more in Therianism; I think Otherkinism is more fantasy; and I find Otukukin's to be delusional.

Who knows?  Perhaps we're all just role-playing.

Heh, I hadn't heard of Otakukin before. I'll usually just give someone the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think I can go that far for someone who truly believes they are the living incarnation of a fictional character. If they approach it with a sense of humor, though, and live AS IF they were that character because they believe it makes them a better person, that doesn't sound so bad.

Honestly, I worry about people who believe they are the reincarnation of a famous person who lived during their lifetime, or a character. From my amateurish research of abuse and mental illness, this sounds a lot like dissociation, or just like someone who hates themselves so much that they NEED to be someone other than themselves to live happily, and they subconsciously choose someone whom they idolize or identify with. The thought makes me sad :(

Otherkin interest me because I once stumbled upon a page about them written by an intelligent-sounding Pagan. She knew that she was born a human and had a human body, but spiritually she was a reincarnated Dragon, or something like that. She explained her experience so eloquently that I found it intriguing and pretty believable. I wish I knew where that page was!

I had some vivid and unexplainable experiences with what I sometimes consider Soulbonds when I was 19, so I try to be open-minded up to a point. (I'm not 100% ok with using that term either, Witchfire!) Sometimes I wonder if I made it up, but then I re-read the records I made of the things they said, and the things that happened, and I have no doubt that those things did not come from me. Who knows? There are so many issues regarding spirituality and magic that can't be explained by science or facts yet.

I agree with you with the mental disorders as well as it being okay if you modeling yourself after so-and-so to better yourself.  I try to give people the benefit a doubt too, for all I know on some other plane of existence, these beings and creatures do exist.  But for my own knowledge, existence, and experience, I have to drawn the line somewhere; especially with Otakukins; many of those people just seem obsessed with Anime--a lot of them are Anime characters.  Instead of confronting them, I just move on.  I don't even read why they feel they're, I dunno, Cloud from FF7 or Sailor Moon, or some obscure character (I'm not into too much Anime).

I found a page of a woman who was a Therian of some small bird....but I can't remember what...  But I felt good energies and familarity in her stories.  That and she wasn't a Wolf.  It seems like if you're a Therian, you're always a Wolf (for real, almost all Therians--real or fake--are Wolves).  lol.  For all of my searches, I'm the only Whale.  :-)

Then again I've come across others "Awakenings" where they sound legit, but the energy is all wrong.  Role-playing or just story telling.  Shame you can't remember where you read about that Dragon Otherkin.  Sounds like an interesting read.  :-)

Hmm... I've always felt different, but I wouldn't say I felt like I was something other than human (though being an elf, maybe of the Tolkein variety, would be AWESOME). I'm more open to saying I'm an "old soul". I think I've lived many lives, so I see the world as someone much older might. And it might sound completely insane, but I feel like one of those past lives may have been that of Anne Boleyn (yes, Queen Anne, one of King Henry VIII's doomed ladies -- I know, I sound like a nut). I've always felt this deep connection to her and her story, since the day I first heard her name. It was like a little spark was lit inside of me, like an instant recognition of something REALLY familiar, like I was actually hearing about myself. Again, I know that's weird-sounding, buuuut it could certainly be worse, haha.

Yeah, you could say you're Vegeta from Dragonball Z.  ;-)   Yes, I too have an old soul, so does my BFF who knows that she was alive in the 1920's - 1960's - She feels she was a lounge singer who was about to marry a man who ended up dying in the war.  And no, it doesn't sound weird.  :-)

I know I am fully "human."  As far as I can tell I have no direct connections with any animal or creature of non-human status where that status actively rubs off on me.  I also take it at the benefit of the doubt when I'm told that others are otherkin (or similar), because I have met a few who was, as far as I could tell, definitely not human on the inside... Run into one Fae/Fae-like creature and it's difficult to forget the man surrounding it.

That being said... My soul is OLD.  How I know that... I believe in what you call "soulbonds," but I call them guides.  I have two primary guides... sometimes they annoy me, but they always end up being correct in the end.  It was one of these guides which prepared me (without me consciously realizing it) and the other which directly initiated me into the world of magick and energy working (or however the reader desires to understand the topic).  I won't ever forget that night, if only because one of them keeps yapping at me any time I don't try to shut her out.  They told me my soul is old, and apparently they follow it around during incarnations of particular importance...

Take that all as you will.

I understand how people have a hard time believing in reincarnation, otherkin, and... well, whatever else people come up with to say they are. Some of those people seem really out of it, though. I think a lot of people just want attention, and call themselves princesses and kings, and expect everyone to bow to them, no matter how much of an idiot they act like. Then again, I've had some good experiences with others. Some people on the internet actually do have brains. Obvious now, but there was a time when I began to wonder...

I'm afraid I am one of them. About twelve years or so ago. I don't know when it started, since I've always felt the phantom limbs, and most of the time I dream my body being a dragon's. I don't really expect to be believed, and don't mind. Draconic (http://www.draconic.com/) is a site for otherkin dragons. I almost never go there anymore, since I don't think I need the support of others like me anymore. That, and I don't care for the owner shoving his political comments in there.

Those believing they are fictional characters... I don't believe that. Seems a little hypocritical to me, since people say dragons are fictional, too, but I can't really help it. (Some) Dragons are real to me, while things showing up in cartoon fantasies and science fiction movies are usually not.

I guess that's my two cents.

On the whole it's not any stranger than some of the stuff in the bible or other scripture. That's for few folks I've known at least who aren't out of their minds. Others, well, they make the space opera in scientology sound reasonable by comparison when they really get started. Myself, I can get invoking animalistic qualities, such was the case with berserkers, and psychosomatic science even backs that to an extent, but when it crosses into thinking you have the spirit of an animal, and particularly a cryptid or mythological creature, I have a much harder time not laughing hysterically at such a notion.

I've spent probably the last 10 yrs in and out of groups talking about otherkin. I used to run a site called Realmscape, and spent time on otherkin forums. It is absolutely one of the studies that I am passionate about. I used to feel like my faith was slowed, or awkwardly stagnated and that I wasn't properly incorporating otherkin into my spirituality. After a while I stopped worrying about it, and eventually it all came together. I don't do any rituals specific to dragons, fae, etc. But I do draw on certain aspects of myself for certain types of magic. I think sometimes things come out in everyday habit, and we might not even realize it.

"But there was one person who said that they didn't believe in reincarnation or rebirth, yet knew they were an Elf in a Human's body.  Huh?  Or some who've made similar statements then turned around and said we (Witches) were crazy or fake.  To each your own, I guess."

I used to be friends with a guy who held firm that he had only ever lived as a Tuatha de Danaan, and yet was here on earth in a human body. I don't doubt he did live once as a tuatha de danaan, but I found it very hard to believe that's all he had ever been.

"Yeah, you could say you're Vegeta from Dragonball Z.  ;-) "

I think that's where I feel a huge amt of disconnect and very disingenuous. When people say that they were / are a cartoon character. It seems a lot more plausible, imo, to say that there is something about (insert character here) that reminds me of another time and place. And then to build from there in whatever way is best - whether it is research, meditation, etc.

About 'soulbonding', I've heard of it before. It sounds a lot like channeling or mediumship.

I am not generally a community-based individual. When it comes to my local pagan community, I show up to the STL Pagan Picnic once a year, and that's it for me. And one year that my husband and I were there, someone was doing a lecture/workshop on otherkin. This was the most disappointing thing I'd ever been privy to. My husband has a serious affinity for birds, the way I do for fae and dragonkind. So I was a bit ticked off when the guy conducting the session showed that he was only concerned with dragons and faes.  I would have thought he would want to get input and hear stories from people who are different, but I guess that's just me.

Thank you, it's nice to hear opinions from someone who enjoys studying this topic!

That's unfortunate that the workshop you went to was so limited. Maybe he didn't know what to say about other kinds of otherkin? But then I guess you could argue that he should have known more in order to host a workshop in the first place...heh.

Absolutely!