Read more: Announce possible gathering of Dominican “therians”
In these videos, which accumulate thousands of views on the internet, you can see ‘therians’ masked or dressed in dog, cat, fox or snake costumes, imitating their movements and sounds. Some even interact with real animals in parks and public places. There are ‘therians’ who spend large sums of money to look like an animal, such as Toco, a Japanese man who paid 12,000 euros to achieve his “dream”: to become a border collie dog with a hyper-realistic canine suit with which he walks around Tokyo, to the astonished gaze of pedestrians and other dogs.“I identify with a wolf”
Most ‘therians’, however, only use a mask, tail, or ears as a sign of identity. This is the case of Fin -fictional name-, a 17-year-old from Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona) who has been part of this community for nine years and identifies with an albino gray wolf. “I feel connected to this animal, I feel that I could easily have been one in my past life,” explains to EFE Fin, who arrives at the interview dressed in a mask made by him, furry ears and a long white tail. Make sure you usually put on these accessories to go out, although he doesn’t usually run on all fours, at least in public. Fin is aware that his clothing causes strangeness and enjoys seeing how people react to him. He understands that they joke about his appearance or criticize him, but he regrets “the irrational attacks of anger” that ‘therians’ sometimes suffer. Therians do not consider themselves animals as such, but they claim to feel a deep connection with them on a spiritual level. “Being ‘therian’ means identifying psychologically, spiritually, or neurologically as a non-human animal. It’s not a ‘hobby’, costume, or choice, it’s an integral part of the person’s identity,” explains the Argentine Therian Community on its website. Fin confirms this, who has felt ‘therian’ since he was 8 years old: “People think we believe we are animals and that we go on all fours all day, but it’s actually a spiritual connection, nothing more.”From Latin America to Spain, with increasing popularity
The ‘therian’ phenomenon has been booming for years in Latin American countries like Mexico, Uruguay or Argentina and has now reached Spain, where the first gatherings of followers have been organized: this Friday will be in Bilbao and Saturday’s appointment is in Barcelona. Far from the ‘boom’ that the phenomenon is experiencing in Argentina, Fin explains that in Barcelona there are currently very few ‘therians’ and that is why it is difficult to organize meetups. But the visibility of ‘therians’ is increasing, as is the curiosity and surprise generated by their way of acting. Health psychologist Claudia Rossy explained to EFE that some young people join this community out of curiosity, because they have seen it on social media and feel “well received” in the group, while others “describe a real deep connection with an animal soul.”If ‘therians’ can “lead a normal life” and this feeling does not affect them functionally, the expert points out, then there would be no problem. “But one must be very aware of the evolution because it is during adolescence when one develops their identity as a human being,” she underlines.
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