Frequently Asked Questions

About Otherkin

1. What are Otherkin?

Otherkin are a sub-culture of the human community, a group of people who share the common feeling of not being quite normal. Or to be more specific - of having a non-human soul. Their bodies are human. They look, smell, taste and feel human - but deep inside they know that they are not, that they are something different entirely. These people find that they resonate deeply with one of several races commonly portrayed as fictional, mythological, fantastical or just down-right imaginal. But Otherkin believe that quite the opposite is true. A common idea is the possibility that these common myths and legends that are prevalent amongst so many of earths cultures actually hold some grain of truth, and that these 'races' or beings do exist - either on another plane, in another time, or way, way back in history and have long since left this world. The Veil is a common term used to describe the barrier or boundary between the world of the mundane (i.e. this one) and the other realms with which 'Kin associate.

2. What types of Otherkin are there?

Otherkin come in many shapes and forms, some of the most common are listed here.

- Dragon
- Griffin
- Phoenix
- Elven (see Elvish Cultures below)
- Fae
- Sidhe
- Tuatha De Dannan
- Therian
- Vampire
- Otaku

I would like to direct attention towards the Elvish kin-type for a moment as this group is the one to which our community is geared. The Elvish kin-type tends to refer to a large number of smaller cultures, some of which also branch into their own smaller groups. I will attempt to identify the main components of these here.

Elvish Cultures:

The two biggest sub-castes are the Elenari and the Eldar. The Elenari are a community of elves who are believed to have orientated from another planetary system(s). There are five races that I know of, quite possibly more as my research on the subject in more recent days has been lesser than previous years. The races that I know of are the Listari, Draestari, Kalthilas, Tulari and Dai'Ari. The Adrastai also fall under the Elenari umbrella but are a caste of warriors within the Elenari tribes.

The second largest Elven group are named the Eldar and associate with the ,mythology of Tolkien's Middle Earth, more specifically with the Elven races. They do not necessarily claim that the books are truth, but rather, similar to other Otherkin-types, they suggest that there is a grain of truth in the work that relates to a race or realm where elves of the Tolkien Legendarium exist in some form. The Eldar races either classify themselves simply as Eldar, or distinguish themselves as Quendi, Sindarin, Noldor and several other Elvish race names given with the Legendarium.

The Tuatha De Dannan are sometime classed amongst the Elven kin-types, although they themselves hold traits of both the Elven and Fae realms. Similarly the Sidhe are often also classed together with elves due to their close relationship with the Fae realm, and their common mythological associations with Elves or as being the Celtic equivalent of Elves. Some may disagree with this, I am simply putting down what information I have relating to the common views within the Otherkin community. If this is incorrect, please inform me so that I may update it.

3. How do I know if I am Otherkin?

There are no physical lists of traits that one can refer to in order to indentify oneself as Otherkin. It is something that many people simply must feel within themselves. I can not, nor can anyone else, say to you that you are or are not Otherkin - one must engage in deep self contemplation and thought in order to decide for themselves whether or not they resonate with this or that kin-type, if any at all.

However, that said, there are a few experiences that 'Kin have reported, some of which are strikingly similar to one another. The most common one is that of re-occurring dreams, and past life memories. Usually these surface in dream and meditations, although some 'Kin may have gone through Past Life Regression in order to unlock memories buried within their subconscious. As all Kin tend to belief in re-incarnation, t is a common thought that the memories of one's past lives and identities in other realms may be held inside the memory banks of the spiritual body, and may be accessible from our current position with enough persistence and discipline. However, I personally would not recommend anyone engaging in Past Life Regression. If you are ready to receive a memory and in a position spiritually to deal with the contents of that memory, then something will come up, like a bubble rising through water, to the top of your subconscious where it can then be awakened and viewed through dream and thought. However, these memories are quite often suppressed and hidden for a reason. And digging around in them because you are curious is not an advisable thing to do. Some kin have reported traumatic memories from past lives, some kin come from home world torn apart by war and atrocities - think about what these kinds of memories can do to an already fragile mind when they are all opened at once in a rush. Also, consider, along with the past memories and the knowledge of a previous life will also come a longing to go back to that life. Many kin experience a sensation of remoteness, or disconnectedness from what they know - regaining memories of previous home worlds and lives is only going to exacerbate this, and could plunge a person into a severe depressive state, or perhaps the reverse. Think carefully before taking the plunge to unlock things that you have locked away yourself for good reason.

Other traits that Kin have reported include strange dietary intolerances, or aversions and allergies to substances such as specific metals, or synthetic materials not of the natural world. The Vampire kin types report an increased sensitivity to the sun and a raised level of photosensitivity amongst some of their members. And the majority of kin-types have reported a large, undeniable attraction, almost magnetic, to the mythology, fiction and folklore surrounding their specific kin-type. For example, Dragon-kin are often drawn inexplicably towards all things related to Dragons, fiction, mythology, art work etc. Whilst elves find a huge attraction towards all things Elven, and are often also drawn towards nature in a strong manner, the same way that Vampire kin-types are often drawn towards the night time hours.

4. How do I tell if someone else is Otherkin? How can I tell if they are really telling the truth or is they are simply role-playing?

There is no way to physically tell whether or not someone is or isn't Otherkin. The best, and only accurate way, is to observe their behaviour around you and within the communities and make your own decisions from there.

There are a few common signs that someone is a Purple Dragon, although it may be possible that they are simply confusing several things, or still trying to work out their identity. It is advise, especially within the CM (Chasing Memories) community to give everyone a fair chance. Some people are young, others are confused, and others really are taking advantage of our patience.

These are the most common activities engaged in by Purple Dragon's:

- Claims of royalty or nobility (aka Elven Princess Syndrome)
- Claims of superhuman powers (for example, physical shape shifting, flight, superhuman speeds, x-ray vision etc)
- Super-Polymorphs (these can simply be Otherkin who just don't know what they are, but can also be those people who want to be everything all at once, wishful thinkers, or those who want to feel rare/special)
- Fictional character Otherkin (these are the people who claim repeatedly to be an identity from a common fictional book or film - i.e. Elrond, Arwen etc. Please note that there are Kin-types who associate with 'fictional' mythologies such as Tolkien but they resonate with the cultures described therein - not with the individual characters. Otaku-Kin will be discussed further down)

5. What is a Purple Dragon?

As described above, Purple Dragon's tend to be those people who claim to be something utterly ridiculous or simply too out-of-this-world to be believed. Elven Princess Syndrome falls under this heading also - that is, those Kin who continually claim to belong to a Royal line and state that they are some log lost princess of such and such a realm, and we should all drop to our knees in worship.

Nobility amongst Otherkin is a rare as it is amongst past life memories amongst true humans.

6. Aren't you all just a little crazy? Watched one too many movies I think...

Not really. Just because it doesn't quite fit with what you believe doesn't make us crazy. Otherkin ted to associate strongly with fictional works because that is where our Kin types are most often portrayed within modern culture. The most common references to Elves are within fantasy fiction so is it little wonder that we would be considered a little crazy when the only time humans ever come into contact with our identified races is through belittled, fictional forms.

So yes, perhaps it does look like we are a little nuts and simply watch too many TV shows or read too many books - but this is how our people first come into contact with their true selves.

It is right to question yourself, after all, mad people don't consider themselves mad - but don't dismiss the possibility based on the general view that fiction in fiction and myths are simply bed-time stories for little children. The myths had to come from somewhere, and modern fiction is simply built upon those myths - the grain of truth flows through it all.

7. Why are people Otherkin? What causes it? How do I become one?

I'll answer that last question first because it has the simplest answer: No. You are either Otherkin or you are not. Although I can understand the attraction for some. There is no way to turn someone into an Otherkin, but it is possible to Awaken someone who is one - which I will discuss further on.

As for what causes it and why we are what we are... Why are humans born human? Humans have human souls. They originate from this world and they reincarnate into it. Otherkin on the other hand have non-human souls, that is souls that originate from some other place or time. Sidhe and Tuatha De Dannan may have originally originated upon this world before humanity became so prevalent - but you'd have to look into their mythology to study that one. The rest of us, Dragon kin, Elf kin, and others alike are still debating out origins.

The common idea is that they originate from another realm or perhaps another planet. Certainly the Elenarian cultures identify commonly as originating from a different star system and having travelled here to either escape the destruction of their home world, or to escape a long time war there, and have landed upon Earth and taken up human bodies until the time is right for them to return or find a new home.

There are other ideas however; some of which involve us choosing to come here as some right of passage on our home worlds where we will return once our human time is done, or have come here by choice to carry out some mission relating to the human race. Again, we will return at the end of it to continue our lives. Some suggest that all incarnations are circular and that we rotate from planet to planet, race to race and that our associations in this life are simply referring back to our last incarnation elsewhere and not our true race.

But what is clear is that no-body knows for certain how or why we are here. We simply have to deal with the fact that we are and live with it. If there is a possibility for us to go home in the future then perhaps we will take it. If we are stuck here for good - well, there isn't exactly much we can do about it is there?

It is important for Kin not only to accept who they are and work to understand themselves and their past, but also to focus on the present. We are here on earth, living mundane human lives - we can not, no matter how much we wish it, travel back in time or change what we are right now. The best thing is to learn to live with it. By all means let your Kin nature become part of your life, don't suppress it or run away from it, but don't forget that we live in a human world and we each have human lives to live - live them, don't waste them. This moment is a gift, accept it graciously, and learn from it. Perhaps that is the real reason we are here.

8. What does it mean to Awaken?

Awakening is the term given to the time period when Kin become aware of their non-human natures. This period can be a lifelong curve for some, and a shorter period for others depending on the depths of the past life, the distance from it in terms of human incarnations and others, and the acceptance of the person involved. Most Kin go through a very long Awakening process, which usually involved past life dreams, meditations and recollections, the discovering of certain affinities, skills and interests and a questioning of oneself and ones purpose.

Awakenings can be very traumatic for some, depending on the amount of resistance within the person and on their experiences in past lives, and some may even suppress it completely rather than face the possibilities.

9. How long does an Awakening last?

An Awakening can last anything from a few months to an entire lifetime, although many Kin state years as a common time length. It tends to depend on the person and their willingness to accept and explore who and what they are as much as the amount of detail held within past lives and the level of trauma experienced also. Many people have quite strong blocks to prevent them from regaining their past memories, and other simply refuse to go there - this is usually a safety mechanism put in place by the person before re-incarnation which tends to slow down the Awakening process. If this is the case, don't push it. You are going slow for a reason.

10. Have you told anyone else about being Otherkin? How do I go about 'coming out' to someone?

Personally, no, I haven't. Mainly because of the fact that the people around me are not so accepting of that kind of possibility and I'm not brave enough to do it.

I think 'coming out' is really a matter of personal choice and I have no advice that I can give myself about it. Your best bet is to talk with others around the Otherkin community and find out how they have or would go about it.

I personally wouldn't, because I don't believe that people are ready to hear it just yet and you simply run the risk of being ridiculed, dismissed and quite possibly sent for a mental health assessment. But if you know that you can trust your loved ones to take you seriously, and you really feel that keeping it hidden is causing you more harm than good, then think about getting some advice and doing it. I don't think that your spiritual kin-type needs to be anyone else's business but your own, and although I don't advise suppressing it, it shouldn't, in most cases, make too much of a disruptive impact on your daily life to accept it and let it out. Most people will simply accept you as you are, if not a little eccentric, and leave it at that.

11. What are Otaku-Kin?

Although I haven't had a great deal of experience with them, Otaku Kin are people who believe themselves to be incarnations of Anime characters. Although I am sure that there should be (if there isn't already) a term for similar people who believe they are incarnations of any character, anime or not. Now, although I accept that fictional works may or may not hold grains of truth in them, and accept that some Kin will associate themselves with world within fictional works, I find it difficult to understand and apply credibility to those who claim to be specific people who are really simply creations of the writer or artists imagination.

It is not physically possible for twelve people to associate themselves as one particular anime character - not unless the have some way in which said characters 'spirit' could be split into fragments and each fragment sent out to incarnate a human body. But that sounds a little far fetched to me.

I hate to say it, as open minded as I try to be, but I do not believe that Otaku-Kin class as Otherkin or are anything other than wishful thinkers looking for an escape from this reality. And the same goes for those people who claim to be fictional characters from any other piece of work. If I had a single dollar for every Arwen and Elrond that I have come across in my time, I would be a very rich young woman by now.

By all means, engage in what you will, but please understand that those claiming to be specific singular characters from fictional works and/or anime will not be taken so seriously by myself nor encouraged with the Chasing Memories community.

12. How about people calling themselves Noldor/Quendi/Sindarin etc?

This may at first glance seem similar to the Otaku question, and you may be expecting a similar response. However, I may be about to surprise you. I am going to discuss Tolkien's races first as that is the question at hand, but this applies to almost any fictional work that has based itself upon mythology.

Whilst claiming to be a specific character from the Tolkien Legendarium is dubious at best and outright ridiculous at worst, associating with the races themselves is slightly different. There are a couple of opinions flying around as to why Tolkien is so often a focal point of Awakening Otherkin, from him being influenced by the Valar to write the books, to him being Otherkin himself, and of course the fact that he used a strong mythological research base to found his cultures. Either one of those may or may not be possible depending on the lengths to which you are willing to stretch your belief.

But the most acceptable option to consider is the idea that he built all of his work on a strong mythological foundation. Now, we have already discussed how myths must have originated somewhere and therefore may hold some grain of truth that gives key to our Otherkin identities. If Tolkien did base his work on myths and legends, is it not possible that that same grain of truth is present through his works as is there in the myths he used to start with?

I do accept that people will associate themselves with the elves of Tolkien's world, these people are not BPG's, and have as much credibility behind them as do the rest of the Otherkin races. It is a case of being open minded and accepting that work portrayed today does tend to come from a common foundation.

The same goes for those Kin who identify as Dragons, Griffins or any other 'mythological fantasy race'. Thought they may be drawn towards their Otherkin identities through means of fictional books and films; those fictional sources draw on common, ancient myths and legends from all over the world, and may indeed hold the same grain of truth as the original myths do.