Therianthropy
Therianthropy is the mythological ability or affliction of individuals to metamorphose into animals or hybrids by means of shapeshifting. It is possible that cave drawings found at Cave of the Trois-Frères, in France, depict ancient beliefs in the concept.[1]
This article is about the mythological ability. For people who identify as not entirely human, see Otherkin.The best-known form of therianthropy, called lycanthropy, is found in stories of werewolves.
Etymology
The term therianthropy comes from the Greek thēríon θηρίον, meaning 'wild animal' or 'beast' (implicitly mammalian), and anthrōpos ἄνθρωπος, meaning 'human being'. It was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Europe as early as 1901.[2] Sometimes the term zoanthropy is used instead.[3]
Therianthropy was used to describe spiritual beliefs in animal transformation in a 1915 Japanese publication, A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era.[4] One source, The Human Predator, raises the possibility the term may have been used as early as the 16th century in criminal trials of suspected werewolves.[5]
History of therianthropy and theriocephaly
Therianthropy refers to the fantastical, or mythological, ability of some humans to change into animals.[6] Therianthropes are said to change forms via shapeshifting. Therianthropy has long existed in mythology, and seems to be depicted in ancient cave drawings[7] such as The Sorcerer, a pictograph executed at the Palaeolithic cave drawings found in the Pyrenees at the Cave of the Trois-Frères, France, archeological site.
Theriocephaly (Greek "animal headedness") refers to beings that have an animal head attached to an anthropomorphic, or human, body; for example, the animal-headed forms of gods depicted in ancient Egyptian religion (such as Ra, Sobek, Anubis).
Fiction
In literary criticism, the ability of a fictional character to transform into an animal or human–animal hybrid is called animorphism. It is a common trope in the fantasy genre. In some cases, the transformation is involuntary, caused by magic, a curse, or some other supernatural force,[21] while in other cases, the transformation is voluntary and controllable. Animorphism may be used to explore themes of identity[22] and belonging. It has also be used to examine the relationship between humans and animals,[23] and to drive considerations about wider issues relating to animal rights.[24][25]
Psychiatric aspects
Among a sampled set of psychiatric patients, the belief of being part animal, or clinical lycanthropy, is generally associated with severe psychosis but not always with any specific psychiatric diagnosis or neurological findings.[26] Others regard clinical lycanthropy as a delusion in the sense of the self-disorder found in affective and schizophrenic disorders, or as a symptom of other psychiatric disorders.[27]