Therianthropy

Therianthropy ( AltGr. Θηρίον therion " wild animal " and ἄνθρωπος anthropos "man" ) refers to the transformation ( so-called Theriomorphose ) of a human into an animal or a being that possesses both human and animal qualities. It happens either in the context of myths or purely spiritual.

The best known form of Therianthropy is known, the transformation into a werewolf, also known as lycanthropy. The term is often extended to other animals and thus used interchangeably to Therianthropy. Other examples are the totemism of certain shamans or the representations of the Egyptian god Ra as a man with a falcon's head.

In the Middle Ages and in many primitive peoples Therianthropy part of the worldview of the people. In the wake of the Enlightenment were people who believed that they could turn into an animal, increasingly classified as mentally ill and thus the term coined clinical lycanthropy. Nowadays, a man who describes himself as therianthrop in the sense of social identification is not considered in medicine as sick, if this identification does not affect the normal life of the person and their environment. Nowadays it has become a subculture of Therianthropen and animal friends in the broadest sense, called furries that communicate frequently via the Internet, developed.