Otherkin Glossary

[chaitea]

Because I know I can't understand what some people are going on about half the time with all this wacky slang and crazy terminology.
I had this saved from a while back and it is so up for editing, it's not even funny. Let me know what you want changed or adjusted, and I'll see what I can do about making it member friendly and informative.
As I edit threw, I'll be touching up this first post so I keep everything in one nice spot for viewing.

Last Edited: 4/9/08
I went threw and took out most of the jokes and added in a lot of your suggestions. Keep me posted on any further revisions you feel thing might need.

Angels-
1. Celestial beings who serve their perspective creative force/deity.
2. Entities of order.

Astral (plane) –
Another plane of existence; another region beyond this physical plane
See also Plane

Astral Projection –
The ability to project your subconscious mind or spirit forward in the form of an astral body which may travel beyond the physical plaene

Awakening –
1. The process by which abilities, memories, traits, etc return to an individual to an extent; indicates the point/s of realization that one is not (solely) human.
2. The point in time of one’s realization of their inhumanness or past lives by result of past life memory or gained ability.

Binding –
A magical force used to hold or restrict; to use one’s power to hold or restrict another’s power.

Black Veil –
The 13 Rules of the Vampire Community; a voluntary standard of common sense, etiquette and ideals for the greater vampyre/vampire community.

Bond –
The actual hold attained from either binding or bonding.

Bonding -
The process that connects two people; a process which might form a connection with the binder. May be either consensual or against another's will.

Catalyst-
1 Anything person, object, or event that hastens the process of awakening or self-knowledge.

Chi –
The outer energy of the world that one attunes themselves with.

Demon-
Entities of chaos (important note: chaos does not equal evil).

Donor –
An individual who is allowing another to feed off of their energy or blood willingly.

Elven Princess Syndrome -
1. A term used in the OK community to refer to individuals who make grandiose claims of nobility, magical power, etc. without reasonable backing.
2. Any individual in the OK community that claims to be a well-known, usually fictional, character and claims titles and descriptions such as "Vampire slayer," "Dragon prince," or anything from the following: Anne Rice's novels, "Buffy" or "Angel," Tolkien's and/or other fantasy writers' elves, Dungeons and Dragons, or other such fictional scenarios. It is almost always accompanied by a martyr/persecution complex if the individual's claims are not believed or questioned in any way.
See also Fluff-Bunnies.

Fae-
Can refer to everything from pixies to trolls to phokas. Many resemble Euro-centric mythos, particurarly Celtic, Norse, or German folklore, or modern derivatives such as Tolkien.

Fall, the-
A description of the event by which an angel is punished/excommunicated after they have disobeyed a direct order from their Creator.

Fallen Angels-
An Angel who is banished and cut off from their Creator and realm due to action or inaction which resulted in disobeying a direct order.

Fluff –
1. In regards to anything shallow or superficial; without any particular meaning or value.
2. A description of a meaningless post which contains no useful content or irrelevant details and may cloud the issue or the main concern; a description for someone who is expounding on their ability to perform extraordinary or impossible tasks.

Fluff-Bunnies -
1. A term for an individual who does not use common sense, reason, and/or critical thinking in formulating their beliefs. First started in the pagan subculture, it has spread through the Internet, and become fairly common usage among legitimate communities for their more outrageous members. Said bunnies are usually the most prolific and vocal in their community, to the detriment of legitimate members.
2. Also known as Bunnyism: A social disability in which the individual is, for whatever reason, incapable of logical and critical thinking, especially in regards to a belief system. Said individuals are usually the source for much of their community's bad reputation, as they refuse to: question their beliefs, accept constructive criticism, acknowledge more-qualified people as such, adhere to common courtesy when questioned, admit their own shortcomings, recognize obvious misinformation, research the background and/or proper practices of their particular belief system, or cease spreading the misinformation that they themselves received (i.e. the "Burning Times" in the pagan subculture, vampiric siring through blood-drinking, or hate-riddled dogma among fundamentalist Christians).
3. An individual whose head is full of stuffing.
NOTE: No human group is immune from Bunnyism - even such "mainstream" groups as Christianity have their own "fluff-bunnies." The only cure for Bunnyism is education and/or clue-by-fours.

Hereditary fae-
In some lore, especially in Ireland or Scotland, it is believed that some fae crossed over from Faery to earth and interacted with, and sometimes interbred with, humans. This results in the belief of hereditary fae; the result of this intermingling.
(See also Fae)

Indigo Children –
Refers to children who are alleged to possess paranormal or psionic abilities; an individual who may appear with an indigo-hued aura.

Ki –
The inner energy one focuses.

Kin –
A shorter version of kinfolk; meaning one's family in various senses of the word.
See also Kindred.

Kindred -
1. 'Akin to', in the sense of being related or similar to something.
2. A 'kindred spirit,' an individual or group with similar values and desires to one's own; another who one shares a spiritual connection to.

Lucid dreaming –
Whiling dreaming, one has become aware of their state of consciousness and is able to control their dreams.

Manna –
According to Hebrew texts this is the food of the divine consumed by Angels. Its’ translation is almost “what is this?”

Otherkin -
Individuals who believe (for whatever reason) that they are in some way ‘other’ than human. Be in mind, body, and/or soul.

Otakukin -
An individual who believes they have a spiritual connection to, or are the reincarnation of a character in an anime, manga, or videogame.

Past life memories –
Clips or premonitions from another life; memories that are not from this life or of this time frame yet have been experienced by an individual.

Phantom limb –
The sensation of having limbs or appendages when they are not visibly there; the feeling that an amputated or missing limb is still apart of one’s body; a change in energy patterns surrounding an individual.

Plane –
1. Different energy frequencies.
2. Several common planes are the Physical, Ethereal, Astral, Mental, etc.

Projection –
The ability to send out, or repel your conscious mind from your physical body. The most common form of this is Astral Projection.

Psychic -
Used to describe a person who has greater control over their mind and related abilities than is typical. People considered 'Psychic' may have abilities such as Telepathy, Empathy, Precognition, Clairvoyance, etc.

Role playing -
1. Assuming another role; acting out a character or parts which may have other personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from the individual.
2. Pretending to be an otherkin, not taking it seriously.

Shifting –
Refers to the state of mind or the change in consciousness that a therian experiences in regards to their phenotype (animal side).
a. Astral –
Refers to shifting into one’s animal side while in meditation. This is usually a conscious effort to connect with the inner animal and while shifted, the therian generally retains some form of human thought.
b. Mental –
Can either be intentional or unintentional, refers to the conscious mind of a therian becoming more animal-like; when the animal mind comes to the forefront and I have more animal urges than normal. Can be brought on from external circumstances or extreme emotions.
c. Dream –
Shifting into one’s phenotype while dreaming.

Synesthesia -
A neurological condition in which two or more bodily senses are coupled; a crossover of some of the senses in your brain. For example, coffee may taste yellow and purple is high-pitched. Even though one doesn’t know what purple sounds like, they do because they 'see' the sound all the time. Sort of like thinking of Monday as being blue or yellow.

Spirit Guides –
See totems.

Therian –
An individual who feels that all or part of their soul is that of an animal; they feel that they are that animal, just fixed in a human body.

Totems-
Animal spirits that have something to teach someone; typically there to teach a lesson. They are common in nature based religions.

Troll -
An individual that goes onto a site just to get the members upset and or argue

True form –
1. In reference to what an otherkin may believe their soul form is or what they consider their “natural state” or energy body.
2. Can be in reference to a form that they relate to the most, either one they had in a past life, one they will have when they depart from this one.

Veil –
1. The barrier between the physical and astral planes.
2. A concept used to describe what separates science from magic and myth, the ‘real’ world from a magical reality where kin being in their true forms is possible.

Ward –
A barrier or mark that presses something back; denies entry or access.

Wish Kin –
One who is attracted to the label due to a desire to belonging or romanticism that the banner is depicted as: “better than being normal”.

***

Elementals -
Furry/Feathered or 'animal' Otherkin -
"Mythical" Creatures -
Nature Spirits -
Starperson/ET -
Vampire -
a. Sanguine -
b. Psychic - Feeds off of energy. This energy can be in the form of excess energy from people, energy from the atmosphere or by other means.
c. Inheritor -
d. Ageless/Classical –
Walk-Ins/Soul Exchanges –
A person in a multiple system which came from outside the body.
is where a new spirit enters a body.
A walk-in can be a hostile possession, or a sensitive person can be approached in a more friendly manner and agree to have the guest. Either of these can result in the walk-in having total control or creating a multiple system. Hostile attacks are likely to do neither and just leave a broken, insane person if it isn't driven off and it can't adapt itself to the body. Some people's spirits depart when they are injured and are replaced by a spirit taking the opportunity. This would be a near-death experience in the sense that the body didn't die, though the first soul never returned.
returned.

[Prince]

"2. A goodie two-shoed, sinning group of cloud-humping-hippie choir boys who wear dresses and play harps."

I'm having a whole mess of issues with this. I'm sure its a joke and that's cool but it shouldn't be in the "articles" section for serious viewing if that's the case. Maybe a better definition would be:

2. A being that is positive energy based and serves many facits of the greater benevolent good.

That way its vague enough to fit a varying view of angels.

[Terro]

it was a joke in there actually.

Initially it was to see who would actually read it, you win in that case. She made a note of all these that were in before it was put up on OKA. Now we're just hashing it to put together what we know again.

[Prince]

you win in that case.

Oh boy! Do I get a prize? :3 I want a Kahocookie to put in my sammich bombs!

[Shiari]

I've always wondered at the "positive" energy thing for angels. Why do we not see angels belonging to more malevolent gods? And how come we don't often see angels that belong to other gods in general? O_o Just random thought brought up by this.

I also like how a description of 'dragon' was avoided due to sheer complexity. I would have done the same thing. XD

[misha tia]

I've always wondered at the "positive" energy thing for angels. Why do we not see angels belonging to more malevolent gods? And how come we don't often see angels that belong to other gods in general? O_o Just random thought brought up by this.

I also like how a description of 'dragon' was avoided due to sheer complexity. I would have done the same thing. XD

I know a few angels that see the god they serve that way, the malevolent part that is.

[Rauthiss]

Catalyst-
1. Any substance that is present in a single for before and after a reaction that lowers the activation energy of the chemical reaction (increasing the reaction rate at a given temperature)
2. (As pertaining to OKA) Anything person, object, or event, that hastens the process of awakening or self-knowledge.

(I think this could be changed, just my little nitpicking stuff. )

[Terro]

to Shiari, I think that Angels seem to only be from one source is a result of that is the only source Angels are from. It is my speculation but I believe "Angel" itself describes only the divine servants of a very specific deity, a Valkyrie for instance, would not be an Angel but rather a divine construct or celestial being.

[Shiari]

The question then arrives, are people so caught up in the concept of 'angel' being a being that does the will of a divine, that some of the "angels" out there might instead be creations of a Divine that is not God, yet don't know it? How closely tied into the otherkin label is the human mythology for the angelics? I see all this stuff of choirs and whatnot and it boggles my mind, honestly.

[Terro]

Possible, but most beings that are creations of a divine that is not the being I refer to as the Creator are quite different. I believe the Human mythology or theology of Angels is extremely closely tied in, very similar to our mythology about Dragons, and like I'm sure you are familiar with, there are outliers to those general rules.