(no subject)

[bzarcher]

Because I'm trying to figure out if someone's utterly full of shit or not.

Those people who read regularly who consider themselves furries (and you can comment anonymously if you wish), would you consider being a furry something that is a matter of spirituality more than it is a release/fantasy or sexual fetish?

If you feel it is? That's fine. Totally cool. If not? Be honest.

But I'm curious what you guys think.

Comments

[volemaster.livejournal.com]

Spirituality, eh? Uh huh.

I'd be more curious to here exactly what about it is "spiritual". I assume, after all, that the claim being made is that the furry thing brings a spirituality to [sex?] that is otherwise absent. So... uh... what is that?

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

To quote the posted in question: For furries, a good many of them see themselves in spirit as an animal because they identify with qualities of that animal. It's rather totemic.

I'd never heard that claim, ever, before. Hence my curiousity.

[gearhead.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

Well.

I know of at least one or two people who think like that, honestly considering it a sort of totemic deal. I can understand it, somewhat, and their point of view.. but it honestly isn't much of my thing.

It might stem from the fact that people have made consistant attempts to grind the 'animal' out of humanity over the past good while.

Not my bag. But I can look across the street and see where they're coming from.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

*nods* I can see the reclaiming animal nature arguement, but it still seems a somewhat limited field...

We'll see. I certainly don't object to anything except the blanket claimings. :D

[gearhead.livejournal.com]

As a general rule, I don't buy into blanket claims about anything.

There are times that I seriously doubt the statement 'the sun always rises' just for the sake of being perverse about the matter.

But I'm naturally a rather skeptical person.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Have you /seen/ how much rain Ohio's been getting this week? I'd say the sun certainly has been underperforming out here...

[ixx.livejournal.com]

From what I can tell, it really depends. "Therianthropes" consider themselves to be animals reincarnated as humans, and they have differing views on why that is and what to do about it. As with furries, some are quite cool and some are full of it. :) But, the Therians tend to lean towards Neopaganism, Wicca and Native American stuff spiritually, and while it is Not My Bag Baby, it seems like it can be pretty neat. I vaguely follow the exploits of a couple Therian (or "were") artists, and you might enjoy reading some of kyoht and goldenwolfen. Even if you don't agree with everything they have to say, they don't seem like they're any nuttier than the rest of us. Overall, though... furry is a fandom. It means different things to different people, and it encompasses a lot of subgroups and diverse individuals.

Oooo, 2 cents anyone?

[windsinger.livejournal.com]

Ixx did a pretty good job of what I was gonna say (thanks, saved my fingers some energy. ^^).
I'll add to it, though, being therian.
I wouldn't say I'm reincarnated. More of a 'stuck' feeling. We are rather heavily spiritual, though.

As for furs... There may be, but I haven't seen one that connects their animal/avatar with something spiritual yet.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. :D I think both of you made some good points and definitions that the poster in question lacked, especially since she made some statements that seem intended as blankets for the fandom itself.

Thanks to both!

[spiralpegasus.livejournal.com]

As you defined it above, very much spiritual - though perhaps a little release.

(And definitely not fetish.)

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

But can that be applied to the community at large, or just a faction of it? The fact that our unnamed commentor is saying this applies to 'most' is a claim which I find a bit wobbly.

I'll freely accept that parts of the community may take that view, and we've had some good examples. But the community at large?

[ladylysander.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure where my definitions lay.

For me, Furry isn't a 'Spiritual Thing' (I'm not religious, save that thanks to Dogma, I'm now able to sum up my feelings on the subject as, 'It's not what you believe, it's the faith you put into it.') and it's not a sexual thing.

Well, not entirely. I do find the feeling of fur on my skin to be a turn on.

But anyway, back to the point. For me, Furry.. Just is. I've never really felt I'm human. I just.. I don't. I know I am.. But I've always felt more at home imagining myself as an animal, seeing myself as something else.

I wouldn't say I'm a Theran, as someone else pointed out. I'm not reincarnated or anything. I just... When I look at my self image, I see a Gargoyle, a Wolf, a Mouse, more than I do a human.

I guess I don't make much sense.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

No worries. You contributed and were honest. That's all I asked for, and thank you. :D

[avylin.livejournal.com]

Lots of people have beaten me to the punch, but ir-un-regardless...

It depends on who you ask. Everybody has a different approach to it, and you're going to find extremes on both ends and everything in between.

Me, I'm pretty squarely in the middle. I've always liked anthros (or 'animal people' before I was familiar with the term anthro, or furry, or what-have-you), and took like a fish to water when I stumbled onto furry fandom. (Though I was busy in dragon fandom before that, which is how I got here.) Back then, I had my head a little more in the clouds about spiritual matters and was still hunting for more of an identity, so I believed- or at least told myself that I believed- that the whole dragon/furry thing was definitely about spirituality.

But, eh. I'm older now and don't really see it that way, since I'm sort of a spiritual black hole. I do like animals a lot, and I do identify with a few very strongly (I like bats, natch), but I don't think there's any sort of mystical connection, I don't think I'm anything unusual inside, and I don't see how I could have been something else in a past life. Any kinship I share with the furry creatures of the world is only through the common ancestor of primordial ooze we share a few beeeellion generations back.

So for me, furry is more like a hobby. It's something I like, something to put my creative juices (spare as they are) into and something I can enjoy. More importantly, it's a big community I can consider myself a part of (even if I spend as much time bitching about it as I do participating).

And, hey. The porn doesn't hurt.

If someone else wants to enjoy some spiritual element, more power to them- and I'm in no place to deny them that or tell 'em it's not true. But eh, that much just isn't for me.

(Man, that was wordy.)

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Eh. Wordy is good. Well thought out, etx.

This is what I even suspect at least some of the non-sectarian view might be. I dunno.