Therianthrope

[Mark Zuckerberg]

Someone who identifies as one or more [non-human] animal(s) on a personal, non-physical, integral level. Someone can be a [therianthrope] for spiritual reasons, psychological reasons or a mixture of both spiritual

[Dianne]

Therianthropes (also known as: weres, werecreatures, were(animal species) and therians) are people qho have spiritual connections with a given type of animal.
They differ from Furries in the sense that furries want to be the animal, and therians are the animal. Often therianthropes feel that they share some part of themselves (mind, soul, etc) with their animal, essentially feeling that their two [halves] are one in the same.
Therianthropes, by definition, do not:
-- enjoy [bestiality]
-- draw/create [furry porn]
-- wear fursuits
-- have actual, diagnosed mental issues
On the whole, most of them are pretty well-adjusted. Generally, any weres that seems a bit off is probably either 1) a troll, 2) [14 years old] and not quite understanding what theyre getting themselves into or 3) just plain dumb.
Therianthropes do not think they can turn into animals in a physical sense. If you here one speaking of [shifting] or changing they are most probably either speaking of mental shifting (where you go into a trance, much like meditation) or dream shifting (dreaming you are an animal). Anyone who says they can turn into an animal physically is either crazy ([lycanthropy]) or they think theyre being funny/cool.

[Ernesto]

n.(from Greek ther, wild animal, and anthropos, human) A person who feels a strong spiritual connection with a particular species of animal. Therianthropes may define the connection as totemic (having an animal spirit guide or guardian, or a religious connection to the archetypal spirit of that animal) or the result of reincarnation from an animal form into a human one. [Therianthropy] has existed for [millenia] in tribal cultures across the globe and also in popular religions such as Buddhism, but the word itself is a recent [coinage].