The books in this section mention us (and our communities) directly, often by name. Preferably, these books are even written by us.

     For the most part, Daniel Cohen (born in 1936, author of over a hundred non-fiction books for children and young adults) has written an ordinary book for young adults about werewolves and other shapeshifters in European mythology and modern movies. That is, until it gets to chapter twelve, which is seven pages long and is titled “Werewolves of the Internet,” and is about the therianthropic members of the newsgroup alt.horror.werewolves, the name of which is sometimes abbreviated to AHWW. Part of this chapter is spent explaining what the newfangled Internet is. Cohen tells about the more ordinary discussions on the newsgroup, such as telling jokes. Some of his information comes from the alt.horror.werewolves FAQ, which he mentions. The newsgroup sounds like it was relatively mellow ten years ago, with estimates of only forty active members (102). However, he also quotes and interviews some of the people in that newsgroup who believe themselves to be werewolves. Cohen portrays them in a non-judgmental, positive light.

     Cohen gives a few examples of how some of the members of the newsgroup identify themselves as werewolves, although he never attaches any names to the quotes, nor does he cite any particular threads or dates of discussions. He does mention some names, unattached to what the people were saying: “Those on the werewolf net tend to favor lupine or exotic names like Volk, Vladwolf, Katmandu, and Lord Kelkemen” (102). (Cohen phrased this in such a way that I'd initially assumed he meant like those names, not that those were actual examples, so at first I thought he'd never named any names at all.) Cohen summarizes the way the AHWW members see their relation to werewolves:

It's not that all of those on AHWW believe that they actually are werewolves, or even that it is possible for anyone to physically change from human to wolf, or any other sort of animal. But most are more than willing to entertain that possibility (104).

     Instead, Cohen dwells on one particularly odd and untypical example: he interviewed an individual (not named in the book) who claimed to have inherited the ability to physically shape-shift into a wolf, which he'd done on several occasions. The individual said he'd made himself an Alpha-leader of a pack of other werewolves across America, which had come into violent conflict with other packs (105-106). Most of the people familiar with therianthropy nowadays will either snicker or groan at reading about that interview... it sounds like Cohen was unfortunate enough to interview a person with dishonest claims, as his story sounds increasingly unlikely to be true. Cohen shows no reaction to the story, skeptical or otherwise. Cohen is more relaxed about it than most of the people within the therianthropic communities would be, who are usually quick to drive out such fakes before they can cause any harm, as fakes are a common annoyance in the communities. Something about the way Cohen talks about it implies that he deeply wanted to hear of a real physical shapeshifter. He warmly welcomes any hint in that direction, without criticizing or asking for evidence.

     Cohen closes the chapter about alt.horror.werewolves on a pleasantly romantic view of the newsgroup's werewolves, which sees them as being a positive follow-up for the preceding chapters about how the view of [were]wolves has changed over time:

They don't see themselves as ‘ravening beasts,’ and monsters, something diabolical and unnatural. On the contrary, they think of themselves as somehow being closer to true nature than ordinary folk [...] Just as society's view of the wolf has changed from that of a fierce and dangerous adversary to that of a severely threatened symbol of the wild, so the view of werewolves may be changing as well. These werewolves of the Internet may be the werewolves for the twenty-first century. (106-107)

     Therianthrope responses and aftermath: A search through the archives of alt.horror.werewolves using http://groups.google.com shows a lot of people's reactions to Cohen's "Werewolves" after it was published. Although many conversations have disappeared from the archives, plenty references to it remain. The book looked pretty bad from the perspective of contemporary alt.horror.werewolves members. Although the book's tone was positive, they all objected to Cohen's choice to linger on the story of the self-proclaimed Alpha.

     That peculiar individual interviewed by Cohen is doubtlessly agreed to be a fellow who called himself “Lord Kelkemen von WhiteWolf, Alpha Wolf of Roseburg.” Kelkemen was active in the newsgroup from late 1994 to early 1995, right when Cohen popped in to ask if anyone knew about physical shapeshifting. During his short time on AHWW, Kelkemen demanded respect while calling people names, threatened to kill any weres who came into his pack's territory, failed to ever persuade any of the members that he was for real, and then left in a huff. The members of the newsgroup regarded him with both irritation and amusement. Kelkemen was already long gone before the book was published in 1996. In the archives of the newsgroup where Cohen's book is discussed after it came out, the members figure Cohen must have focused on Kelkemen out of all of the weres who'd e-mailed him because Kelkemen presented the most sensational story. As Flenser said in alt.horror.werewolves on July 1, 1998 when the topic of Cohen's book came up again: “A number of folks emailed Cohen - not knowing any better he decided to go with the self-proclaimed lord of AHWW.” Regarding Cohen's focus on Kelkemen, the AHWW members' reactions range from amusement to bitterness, and chagrin at the realization that the book may create a wave of confused newcomers in the newsgroup.

     Later on, there were indeed several posts made by people who'd heard of the newsgroup through the book. Some of the young, misguided readers asked to be put in contact with that physical-shapeshifting guy, because they'd love to be part of his pack. Kelkemen was much less convincing in conversation than as he was presented in the book. (You can almost believe his story the way Cohen charmingly retells it, but when Kelkemen himself is talking on the newsgroup, you'd need a big push to fall for it.) In the case of Kelkemen, one angry irritating person can have endless repercussions, and-- as we see-- can still be talked about a decade later.

     Some other long threads on alt.horror.werewolves talk about a special on TV called “Legends of the Werewolves” on Friday 13th in November 1998, which interviewed several authors of werewolf things. That including interviewing Cohen about his “Werewolves” book. According to a post on the newsgroup by Barbara “Moonwolf” Turner made on the day after it aired, the special mentions werewolves being on the Internet. However, it wasn't about alt.horror.werewolves, but rather was about the role-playing game “Werewolf: The Apocalypse.”

     Rosalyn Greene mentioned Cohen's book in her considerably more controversial book, The Magic of Shapeshifting (2000). Greene was writing somewhat dishonest things about whether “shifters” may be found on the Internet, and then she added in a footnote saying: “Daniel Cohen has also spoken of the shifter movement and its traces on the Internet, though there are some inaccuracies in his account, probably accountable to the fact that he himself admits that he is inexperienced in computers and ignorant about the Internet” (Greene 226) followed by a page citation for Cohen's book. Oddly, she went without mentioning alt.horror.werewolves or shifters.org in that context, which is where some of her information is said to have been plagiarized from. However, that's a complaint to be dealt with when I review her book below.

     Relevance to otherkin and therianthrope book list: C (It's there, but not enough to accurately inform.)

     Overall quality rating: B- (That rating went down after I looked at the discussions on the newsgroup and realized how bad of journalism Cohen had done, not citing names and focusing on the lone weirdo to represent the whole group.)

     Of interest to: therianthropes, people interested in the history of alt.horror.werewolves, people interested in werewolves.

     (Note: I'll soon be re-reading Greene's book to create a review which more adequately discusses my-- and other people's-- concerns about her book's flaws and virtues.)

     This controversial book is about animal spirituality and shapeshifting of various kinds, primarily what we know as spiritual therianthropy. Why is it so controversial? For one, there's the author's belief that physical shapeshifting is possible. For another, this book has been accused of plagiarism: many of her ideas are suspected of having been taken from online therianthropy websites such as shifters.org without acknowledgment. Plagiarism is one of the worst acts that an author can commit.

     Greene mentions the online therianthrope community, but despite how many of her ideas and terminologies are clearly based on it, she has disdain and disillusionment for the online community; she speaks primarily of the “shifter” community instead, which is apparently some offline group, nearly identical to therianthropes. I'm not sure whether I think there is an independent group that calls themselves shifters-it's possible-or if Greene was just using shifter as a synonym for therianthrope in an attempt at making her plagiarism less obvious.

     Greene is wolf-centric, even as werewolves go. The Magic of Shapeshifting may be offensive to people whose animal sides are foxes, since the author considers foxes to be a spiritual proto-wolf, believing that shifters progress through a series of species. This progression of were-sides isn't an idea I've seen reflected much in the therianthrope community. (Perhaps that's a more common belief among shifters instead? With each independent group, there are different ideas.) She avoids talking about those with mythological creatures for theriotypes, upon whom she spends only a paragraph or so.

     She does go into detail on some subjects which I haven't seen mentioned on any therianthropy websites, such as “bilocation shifting,” and some elaborate and fascinating ideas about the etheric anatomy of shifters. Elevating the controversial qualities of her book, she maintains that physical shapeshifting is real, which is a rare/unpopular belief even in the therianthrope community. She doesn't just claim it; she explains how she believes it's possible, describing how it works, based on spiritualism and chi-gong. She examines folklore, which she believes may actually be historical incidents of shapeshifting, rather than fiction. She uses anecdotes from other shifters who she has known. She compares shapeshifting to the other sorts of things that people may believe in, and argues that shapeshifting is--relatively speaking--only a little weirder, if at all.

     When reading this book cover-to-cover, I did find her more unusual ideas to be interesting, enjoyable, innovative, well-researched, and the references were properly cited: in-text citations, footnotes, bibliography, and all. However, and the lack of skepticism when she's considering subjects like medieval folklore or physical shapeshifting is annoying, and the plagiarism is angering... why would she cite her sources perfectly for half of the material, and not for the other half!? Take this book with a grain of salt, if you take it at all. It's an unpopular book to like, due to the two main controversial points; however, I'd say you should at least check it out from the library and carefully read it straight through, just for the experience, instead of shunning the book because you're taking someone else's word for it. It's not perfect, but I'm glad that I read it.

     Other therian responses: On January 15, 2006, Cypher wrote in the Werelist.com forums:

“As for The Magic of Shapeshifting, I have heard that it was written by three people, not one, thus the varying quality throughout the book. Quite a bit of information is wrong, as she seems to think commoners from the middle ages were fonts of scientific knowledge. I did like her quite extensive section on physical shifting as it's the only theory I've heard so far that would remotely be possible. Considering no one really talks about it anymore, I found it a refreshing addition to the book that otherwise would have been material you could find online anywhere.” (Quoted with permission.)

“The only book that I know of in print [on the subject of therianthropy] is Rosalyn Green's "The Magic of Shapeshifting". It's not worth the paper it's printed on IMHO. If you want to read it, feel free, but consider it more fiction than fact. Most of the information in her book was ripped from the various therianthropic sources around, without credit mind you. Then she goes and says the 'shifter community' (which it has never been called) is a cult and should be avoided, and real info on shifters is in the furry community. The only *good* info she has in her book was taken from online sites, you'd be better off sticking with them.” (Quoted with permission.)

     Overall quality rating: ? (Rating could vary depending on how much of it may be plagiarized.)

     Of interest to: therianthropes, draconics, otherkin, furry lifestylers, “shifters” (if that group actually exists) and maybe animal totemists. Not appropriate for people who are unfamiliar with therianthropy, since she writes assuming that the reader already has personal experience with her subject and she isn't trying to explain it to people who don't.

     Other content: This is a fairly complete book about Pagan handfasting rituals, symbolism, safety, and so on. Both of the authors have written books on Paganism before, sometimes working together. I've enjoyed their books and essays before, so it's good. It's just not a book to pick up if you'd like to learn something about otherkin; that's not its subject.

     Otherkin content: This book does mention otherkin, but only in one passing sentence on page 219: “Many of the guests were ‘Otherkin’-- people who believe that their souls are linked somehow to those of mythical creatures.” (Observe page 219, as shown in Google Book Search.) That's all it says about otherkin; there are no further explanations. The context is a handfasting ritual meant to be reminiscent the magical realm of Faery, with glitter, costumes, and quotes from Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream.”

     Overall quality rating: A

     Otherkin content: D (Present but not of interest in and of itself.)

     Of interest to: Pagans, Wiccans, and so on.

     The Therian Temple seems to have appeared in August 2006 and is a controversial religion based around therianthropy and magic. (I'd like to clarify that therianthropy itself is not a religion, although in most people's cases it is a spiritual belief.) Some therianthropes have seen the temple as having too many of the key traits of a dangerous cult described in the The Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame. Many therians responded negatively when they heard of the temple, and are concerned, angered, or see the temple as amusingly wrong, so there's been an explosion of discussion about it on many therian forums... including some on the WereList where an active member of the temple (or someone claiming to be one) participated and was subsequently banned by the administrator. Lupa wrote of her initial concerns about the Therian Temple, which sums up most people's concerns. The Therian Temple has a brief rebuttal of the common concerns of cultishness in its FAQ.

     The Therian Temple sells their Therian Bible only to people who have taken an oath and applied for membership. The book is desktop published and 24 pages long. Lupa acquired a copy of the Therian Bible and wrote a review of it. She quells some fears that people have had about it, since it's evidently not as bad as everyone had imagined.

     Short review: This book on advanced Paganism by an experienced Pagan author has a positive introductory chapter about Otherkin, calling them by that name. The otherkin-related section is only nine pages long (since the rest of the chapter explores fae-related magic such as glamour) and is written to introduce the concept of otherkin to non-otherkin. While the author is apparently not an otherkin herself, she believes in otherkin, has a positive view of them, has a few as friends, and quotes a few. She focuses almost exclusively on those who spiritually identify as fae or elves. Do get it if you're interested in Wiccan/Pagan magic and the Veil between realities, as that portion is excellent! This is a true Paganism 102 book.

     Long review: I heard this book had a chapter about otherkin in it, so I checked it out. The chapter in question is called “Fae Blood, Fae Magic,” and is 24 pages long. The chapter is indeed about otherkin, even calling them by that name, but it's only a brief introduction aimed at people unfamiliar with (and skeptical towards) otherkin. Only nine pages of this chapter are entirely about otherkin. The rest of the chapter, for the most part, returns to discussion of the Veil without mentioning the Otherkin again, just like most of the rest of the book.

     These nine pages focus almost exclusively on fae (but not those of fae blood or other magical physical traits, which she never mentions in the chapter itself... Polson only talks about people who have souls of mythical beings) although she passingly mentions otherkin of other species, by the means of listing a few and saying no further. In those nine pages, in four separate instances she brings up the outsider's assumption that otherkin must be crazy. For the most part she attempts to debunk that by saying that we Pagans do those things too, so it's okay. Polson says that she personally believes in the otherkin, as she's sensed something distinctly "other" about those she's met in person. She tells about glamourbombing, and also about otherkin communities she's interacted with online. It's satisfactorily accurate, although there is a slight mistake: “outside the Internet [...] real physical communities of people who identify themselves as Otherkin are beginning to form” (95). Actually, I've heard that whole otherkin communities existed prior to the Internet, not the other way around, but that's not common knowledge.

     If you're an otherkin, don't get this book for the otherkin chapter in it. You already know all the stuff she said, since it's an introduction for outsiders. However, do get the book if you're interested in Paganism/Wicca, and especially if you're interested in interacting with the Veil between realities, which the book describes as being an actual thing which can be torn and mended. The information about the Veil looks quite good, so you may well find that part useful.

     The rest of the book: I've read the book from cover to cover now. I loved it! It's been a while since I've read a paganism book that grabbed my attention like that. This genuinely is an advanced Paganism book, as indicated. Some of its other subjects include these: Historically correct introduction to what Wicca and Paganism actually are. (Admitting to origins in 1950's, etc, and still a very positive representation.) What quantum physics signifies for metaphysics, magic, reality, and psychic things. (I've seen that relation explained before, but this was a particularly excellent one! Lengthy and well-supported.) The Veil between worlds. (Lots of in-depth information, anecdotes, and warnings for caution.) Fairly politically correct introduction to shamanism and information about sweat lodges. Instructions for "invisibility," which is a way of bending your aura so that people and animals tend not to notice you. Energy signatures: choosing them and using them. More brief than I would have liked. Channeling or hosting gods, and some other things about interacting with divine entities. Lots of caution-warnings, and anecdotes about the author's hosting of Bast. Trusting your intuition. Group energy. What tends to go wrong with large rituals, preventing or fixing those mistakes, and what can go really right with large rituals.

     Overall quality rating: A

     Otherkin content: B

     Of interest to: Pagans, Wiccans, magicians, witches, people who've never heard of otherkin before. Helpful for explaining to Pagan friends about what it means to be an otherkin.

     Cyberia is a non-fiction book from the early Nineties about the emerging subcultures and movements that were/are oriented around technology, drugs, psychology, spirituality, and the future. The journalist and author Rushkoff traveled around meeting and interviewing (in person) various eccentric and unique personages. I read through the whole book back in 1998 or so, and picked it up again just now to find a page citation for the purposes of this book list. While Cyberia was an educational read, I was disappointed by its preference for focusing mostly on drugs... its presentation leads you to expect it to be oriented more towards computers rather than endless (and sometimes uncomfortably candid) discussions of hallucinogens and the people who use them. The “cyber-” connection is primarily made in imaginative metaphor and futuristic theory. The best thing I can do to sum up the book's focus and world-view is to tell you what can be seen on its back cover: Timothy Leary liked it. Fans of Timothy Leary will also enjoy Cyberia.

     With all of the diverse movements and individuals passingly mentioned throughout the book, it's no surprise that any reader can stumble across something familiar, or a movement which later became better-known or changed rather than quickly fading out. In the eleventh chapter, “Neopagan Technology,” the author interviewed a particular neopagan “who believes he's a direct descendant of the magical 'Shee' beings, is Green Fire, an impish and androgynous twenty-something-year-old whose Peter Pan gestures belie the gravity with which he approaches his mission: to save the planet by bringing back the Shee, the ancient fairie race that originally inhabited Ireland...” (145). The rest of the chapter follows Green Fire as he describes meditation and trance. The book doesn't go into any more detail about Green Fire's identification with the Shee, or Sidhe.

     Green Fire would probably be considered a hereditary otherkin, by our terminology. As the word “otherkin” is not mentioned, I can only wonder if he was/is familiar with that community. It sounds likely to me that he must have run into other otherkin at some point. The earliest otherkin groups were mostly elves, fae, and sidhe. The way he talks about having a mission is characteristic of the starseed subculture and is not currently typical of the otherkin community, so it also seems likely that he was familiar with starseeds and/or their literature. Now that I've read some of the writings of the Silver Elves, it seems possible that Green Fire may have been involved with them. I'm not seeing any personal websites for Green Fire in my searches so far... Green Fire, if you're out there, do you have any feedback on how you felt about your appearance in this book? (If anyone else knows of Green Fire's current online residence, I would like to include a link in my review.)

     While my copy of Cyberia was a hardcover from the library, a free online copy of Cyberia may be read on the author's official website. Thank you, Mr. Rushkoff!

     Overall quality rating of this book: A-

     Amount and quality of otherkin or therianthrope content: C+ (Unambiguously present and defined, but not explored much, so it's not worth seeking out the book specifically for its otherkin content.)

     Has a chapter about otherkin. My review of this book is in progress.