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project_shiftConsidering the notable lack of decent places to go and look up therianthropy terms anymore, and that the few left that can be dug up somewhere online are generally way oversimplified or outdated, I ended up writing these definitions a few months ago for someone else who was looking for presentable definitions to put on a therianthropy information site. So, I decided that maybe they could prove useful for Project Shift. Also, if anyone has any other therianthropy terms they'd like to see defined for this project, you can mention them here, and if I don't feel comfortable or otherwise interested enough in writing a definition for one (or more) of them I'll let you all know and it/they can be added to a list of definitions needing to be written.
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These definitions are supplied for primarily educational reasons for people who come across or are part of the “therianthropy community” online. They are not designed as convenient labels to be applied to a person needlessly, though they can be used of course to aid in better, quicker, and more practical communication to other people (therian or not) about therianthropy or one’s personal therianthropy. However, the definitions provided are not completely set-in-stone and are designed as simplified versions of the experience, concept, etc. they pertain to but each may encompass some things not mentioned in these definitions. There are many occurrences of people misunderstanding therianthropy terminology, so resources with definitions of that terminology need to be available somewhere online rather than terms being left as too highly self-defined and thus hindering the benefits of having them as terms.
Contherianthropy: this term was defined initially by Lion Templin in 1997 with his essays on the subject, and the word derived from the Latin “constans” meaning unchanging/constant. It came about in controversy at the time from people in the community claiming that it was mandatory for therians to shift, but Lion Templin’s term of contherianthropy brought about a concept that was new and is now widely accepted in the therian community.
That concept is that a therian can be so integrated with his/her ‘animal aspect’ (regardless of the number of “theriotypes”, per se) that the therian does not shift, instead they remain in a “constant” humanimal mindset. And thus contherians are also recognized by the consequential effect of that full mental integration: they do not mental shift (to their ‘animal aspect’, for lack of there being anything to “shift into”). However, contherians have too often been defined by their lack of shifts rather than by their full humanimal integration that causes an incapacity for therianthropic mental shifts (this may also, in some or all cases, extend to phantom shifts with the animal phantom sensations, if any, remaining constant instead of temporary and shifting).
There is, though, a lot of confusion, misuse, and some controversy over the exact definition of this term as applied to an individual’s therianthropy, which should be kept in mind if used to describe one’s personal therianthropy. The definition of a “mental shift” is not well defined, regardless of what definition I have come across, and thus it’s difficult to define what constitutes (in experience beyond words) what is not mental shifting. I won’t be the one to make that call for individuals.
Suntherianthropy: this is a term defined by a single therian to describe his type of therianthropy, though it can and has been appropriately applied to other therians. It is pronounced “soon-therian” and derived from the Greek word “sun” meaning ‘with’, and used to indicate ‘with animal’ as the term suntherian. There’s also a syntherian variation used sometimes because of the two prefixes having the same meaning, though the creator of the term preferred the pronunciation of suntherian (many people, however, prefer the syntherian variation because of the more appropriate prefix). WordWolf, the creator of this term, defined it in 2005 as:
”This is similar to contherianthropy. In fact, it is what is USUALLY meant by contherianthropy.
A SUNTHERIAN is a therian whose therioside (primary or sole therioside) is integrated into his baseline personality.
HOWEVER, that integration does not prevent him/her from having minor fluctuations of mood that feel slightly more animal, or slightly less animal. He/she can feel them both at the same time, human and animal. He/she can NOT m-shift into his/her base theriotype
(whether primary or sole.)”
The extent of this term’s definition is not well defined, and as with contherianthropy, deciding what does and does not constitute a mental shift is too subjective of an answer to be written here in a clear, concise definition.
Types of Shifts
There are more types of shifts than listed and defined here, but these are the key ones used in discussions and writings pertaining to therianthropy. And thus these terms listed do not encompass the full expanse of ways in which a person (therian or not) can experience “shifts” to a non-human creature. They are limiting, and though terms have been made for some other types of shifts, they are rather redundant and/or needless (since the term is self-explanatory, as some of these listed are, but the ones listed are generally used more often anyway), and nevertheless they don’t cover all the shifting manifestations of therianthropy. Also keep in mind that these shifts are not exclusively therianthropic and can be experienced by people who aren’t therians or by therians to animals that aren’t of their theriotype(s). These shifts can also come in the manner of being voluntary or involuntary.
Mental Shift (m-shift): this term indicates a change in mindset toward a non-human creature. That change/shift can be very mild, to very strong, and any level in-between.
Many therians tend to understand mental shifting as being an extreme shift in mindset toward one’s theriotype (or other animal) when that is actually only one type of manifestation of it, and it happens to be the seemingly more uncommon type. Most m-shifting is the mild to moderate types when part of a human mindset/mentality is maintained. Some people can signify these shifts in supposed percentages of %human, %[theriotype], etc., but not everyone who experiences m-shifting can or will denote theirs with percentages.
It is unclear and undecided by consensus on whether ‘minor fluctuations’ toward or away from the animal mindset should be considered a type of mental shift, mainly because they do mention some level (albeit very minor) of mental ‘change’. There are also the implications that people sometimes see in the concept of m-shifting with them assuming that it indicates a notable separation from the ‘therioside’ and the person, when instead mental shifts do not have to exclude integration of the theriotype(s) with the human or self. Also, the boundaries as to what is and is not a mental shift have not been clearly defined by a therian community consensus. The term’s definitions are often so vague or ambiguous that they could be applied to more or less than mental shifting itself might actually encompass.
Phantom Shift (ph-shift): the term is based off of the “phantom limb” experience that some amputees have, but this is only a similar, obviously not the same, occurrence. It is when a person feels a non-human body part attached to or super-imposed on their human body.
The specific ways in which these can be experienced varies vastly, but included amongst them are a diversity of levels of ‘realism’, some being very minor to some even being so intense that the phantom part feels almost or entirely “real” regardless of the fact it is not physical. Some phantom parts are constant, but the ones referred to in this definition are those that are temporary and ‘shift’ in and out of occurrence. Other effects associated with some phantom parts include pain or discomfort in/on or associated with the phantom part, movement (voluntary or involuntary) of the phantom body part, and reactions to outside ‘real’ stimuli such as objects, sounds, movement of other things, and so forth.
Astral Shift: when a person shifts his/her astral body to the ‘form’ of a non-human animal, whether it be of a person’s theriotype or some other type of animal.
Dream Shift: self-explanatory, but this is a shift that occurs as the person shifting partially or entirely into his/her theriotype(s) or any other non-human animal within the dream. If the person shifts to an animal that is a theriotype of his/hers then it is a therianthropic dream shift, and if it’s to some other type of animal then it’s, of course, non-therianthropic (as applicable to other types of shifts).
Physical Shift (p-shift): this type of shift is widely and often highly believed to not be possible to occur, but because of its usage on therianthropy sites and boards it’s defined here. As the name indicates, a physical shift is a shift that would occur with the person’s physical body changing partially or entirely into a non-human animal. Some people claim that because they experience color changes in their irises that it is or maybe a very minor physical shift, but well-made arguments have been made against that notion and other claims of actually physically shapeshifting, in part or whole.
Cameo Shift: used to indicate a shift not of a person’s theriotype(s) (like a “cameo appearance” in some forms of media). This term is not used widely much anymore, and the term itself is actually meant to denote that the person is experiencing shifts to an animal that the person doesn’t ‘usually’ shift into—the animal is a rarer occurrence to shift for the person. However, that latter description gives implications that an animal shifted to non-rarely (even if not necessarily on a regular basis) would be a theriotype, when instead shifting does not define a therianthrope nor his/her theriotype(s), and thus a more frequent occurrence of shifting to a non-therianthropic animal could be from the person experiencing some other form of animal connection, animal spirituality, or such similar things.
These definitions are supplied for primarily educational reasons for people who come across or are part of the “therianthropy community” online. They are not designed as convenient labels to be applied to a person needlessly, though they can be used of course to aid in better, quicker, and more practical communication to other people (therian or not) about therianthropy or one’s personal therianthropy. However, the definitions provided are not completely set-in-stone and are designed as simplified versions of the experience, concept, etc. they pertain to but each may encompass some things not mentioned in these definitions. There are many occurrences of people misunderstanding therianthropy terminology, so resources with definitions of that terminology need to be available somewhere online rather than terms being left as too highly self-defined and thus hindering the benefits of having them as terms.
Contherianthropy: this term was defined initially by Lion Templin in 1997 with his essays on the subject, and the word derived from the Latin “constans” meaning unchanging/constant. It came about in controversy at the time from people in the community claiming that it was mandatory for therians to shift, but Lion Templin’s term of contherianthropy brought about a concept that was new and is now widely accepted in the therian community.
That concept is that a therian can be so integrated with his/her ‘animal aspect’ (regardless of the number of “theriotypes”, per se) that the therian does not shift, instead they remain in a “constant” humanimal mindset. And thus contherians are also recognized by the consequential effect of that full mental integration: they do not mental shift (to their ‘animal aspect’, for lack of there being anything to “shift into”). However, contherians have too often been defined by their lack of shifts rather than by their full humanimal integration that causes an incapacity for therianthropic mental shifts (this may also, in some or all cases, extend to phantom shifts with the animal phantom sensations, if any, remaining constant instead of temporary and shifting).
There is, though, a lot of confusion, misuse, and some controversy over the exact definition of this term as applied to an individual’s therianthropy, which should be kept in mind if used to describe one’s personal therianthropy. The definition of a “mental shift” is not well defined, regardless of what definition I have come across, and thus it’s difficult to define what constitutes (in experience beyond words) what is not mental shifting. I won’t be the one to make that call for individuals.
Suntherianthropy: this is a term defined by a single therian to describe his type of therianthropy, though it can and has been appropriately applied to other therians. It is pronounced “soon-therian” and derived from the Greek word “sun” meaning ‘with’, and used to indicate ‘with animal’ as the term suntherian. There’s also a syntherian variation used sometimes because of the two prefixes having the same meaning, though the creator of the term preferred the pronunciation of suntherian (many people, however, prefer the syntherian variation because of the more appropriate prefix). WordWolf, the creator of this term, defined it in 2005 as:
”This is similar to contherianthropy. In fact, it is what is USUALLY meant by contherianthropy.
A SUNTHERIAN is a therian whose therioside (primary or sole therioside) is integrated into his baseline personality.
HOWEVER, that integration does not prevent him/her from having minor fluctuations of mood that feel slightly more animal, or slightly less animal. He/she can feel them both at the same time, human and animal. He/she can NOT m-shift into his/her base theriotype
(whether primary or sole.)”
The extent of this term’s definition is not well defined, and as with contherianthropy, deciding what does and does not constitute a mental shift is too subjective of an answer to be written here in a clear, concise definition.
Types of Shifts
There are more types of shifts than listed and defined here, but these are the key ones used in discussions and writings pertaining to therianthropy. And thus these terms listed do not encompass the full expanse of ways in which a person (therian or not) can experience “shifts” to a non-human creature. They are limiting, and though terms have been made for some other types of shifts, they are rather redundant and/or needless (since the term is self-explanatory, as some of these listed are, but the ones listed are generally used more often anyway), and nevertheless they don’t cover all the shifting manifestations of therianthropy. Also keep in mind that these shifts are not exclusively therianthropic and can be experienced by people who aren’t therians or by therians to animals that aren’t of their theriotype(s). These shifts can also come in the manner of being voluntary or involuntary.
Mental Shift (m-shift): this term indicates a change in mindset toward a non-human creature. That change/shift can be very mild, to very strong, and any level in-between.
Many therians tend to understand mental shifting as being an extreme shift in mindset toward one’s theriotype (or other animal) when that is actually only one type of manifestation of it, and it happens to be the seemingly more uncommon type. Most m-shifting is the mild to moderate types when part of a human mindset/mentality is maintained. Some people can signify these shifts in supposed percentages of %human, %[theriotype], etc., but not everyone who experiences m-shifting can or will denote theirs with percentages.
It is unclear and undecided by consensus on whether ‘minor fluctuations’ toward or away from the animal mindset should be considered a type of mental shift, mainly because they do mention some level (albeit very minor) of mental ‘change’. There are also the implications that people sometimes see in the concept of m-shifting with them assuming that it indicates a notable separation from the ‘therioside’ and the person, when instead mental shifts do not have to exclude integration of the theriotype(s) with the human or self. Also, the boundaries as to what is and is not a mental shift have not been clearly defined by a therian community consensus. The term’s definitions are often so vague or ambiguous that they could be applied to more or less than mental shifting itself might actually encompass.
Phantom Shift (ph-shift): the term is based off of the “phantom limb” experience that some amputees have, but this is only a similar, obviously not the same, occurrence. It is when a person feels a non-human body part attached to or super-imposed on their human body.
The specific ways in which these can be experienced varies vastly, but included amongst them are a diversity of levels of ‘realism’, some being very minor to some even being so intense that the phantom part feels almost or entirely “real” regardless of the fact it is not physical. Some phantom parts are constant, but the ones referred to in this definition are those that are temporary and ‘shift’ in and out of occurrence. Other effects associated with some phantom parts include pain or discomfort in/on or associated with the phantom part, movement (voluntary or involuntary) of the phantom body part, and reactions to outside ‘real’ stimuli such as objects, sounds, movement of other things, and so forth.
Astral Shift: when a person shifts his/her astral body to the ‘form’ of a non-human animal, whether it be of a person’s theriotype or some other type of animal.
Dream Shift: self-explanatory, but this is a shift that occurs as the person shifting partially or entirely into his/her theriotype(s) or any other non-human animal within the dream. If the person shifts to an animal that is a theriotype of his/hers then it is a therianthropic dream shift, and if it’s to some other type of animal then it’s, of course, non-therianthropic (as applicable to other types of shifts).
Physical Shift (p-shift): this type of shift is widely and often highly believed to not be possible to occur, but because of its usage on therianthropy sites and boards it’s defined here. As the name indicates, a physical shift is a shift that would occur with the person’s physical body changing partially or entirely into a non-human animal. Some people claim that because they experience color changes in their irises that it is or maybe a very minor physical shift, but well-made arguments have been made against that notion and other claims of actually physically shapeshifting, in part or whole.
Cameo Shift: used to indicate a shift not of a person’s theriotype(s) (like a “cameo appearance” in some forms of media). This term is not used widely much anymore, and the term itself is actually meant to denote that the person is experiencing shifts to an animal that the person doesn’t ‘usually’ shift into—the animal is a rarer occurrence to shift for the person. However, that latter description gives implications that an animal shifted to non-rarely (even if not necessarily on a regular basis) would be a theriotype, when instead shifting does not define a therianthrope nor his/her theriotype(s), and thus a more frequent occurrence of shifting to a non-therianthropic animal could be from the person experiencing some other form of animal connection, animal spirituality, or such similar things.
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