Therianthropy
Therianthropy (from n.
therianthrope and adj.
therianthropic, part man and part beast, from the
Greek therion, Θηριον, meaning "wild animal" or "beast", and
anthrōpos, ανθρωπος, meaning "man") refers to the
metamorphosis of
humans into animals.
[1] Therianthropes have long existed in
mythology, appearing in ancient cave drawings
[2] such as
the Sorcerer at
Les Trois Frères.
The term
therianthropy was used to refer to animal transformation folklore of Asia and Europe as early as 1901.
[3] Therianthropy was also used to describe spiritual belief in animal transformation in 1915
[4] and one source
[5] raises the possibility the term may have been used in the 16th century in criminal trials of suspected werewolves.
The "
new-age" notion of "spiritual theriantropy" developed among the
Usenet group
alt.horror.werewolves (ca. 1992).
[6] Some Usenet users began publicly asserting that they were part animal. It turned out that some were only joking, but others were apparently serious about the assertions, which were subject to ongoing discussion.
[7] Such people initially called themselves
lycanthropes, but since the word more accurately describes wolf-people, the word
therianthropes became more popular.