frameacloud: A white dragon with its tail in a knot. (Heraldry transparent)

Article on otherkin, therians in Le Monde news

Content warnings: none.

May 20 to 28. The newspaper Le Monde (est. 1944) ran an introductory article about otherkin and therianthropes. As the original article is in French, therianthrope Akhila made an English translation of it. The article covers many aspects of the topic, including history. It draws from several print and web sources, as well as interviews.

Sources

Olivier Clairouin. "Pas complètement humains : la vie en ligne des thérians et otherkins." 2014-05-20. Le Monde (online newspaper). http://www.lemonde.fr/cultures-web/article/2014/05/20/pas-completement-humains-la-vie-en-ligne-des-therians-et-otherkins_4410306_4409029.html?xtmc=otherkin&xtcr=1

Olivier Clairouin. Akhila, trans. "Not Completely Human: The Online Life of Therians and Otherkin." 2014-05-28. Beyond Awakening (blog). http://thehornedgate.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/the-online-life-of-therians-and-otherkin/
frameacloud: A white dragon with its tail in a knot. (Heraldry transparent)

Video from flying eagle's point of view



Content warnings: None.

September. Chamonix, Mer De Glace area of the Alps, France: Shown above, a video from the back of an eagle flying through the mountains.

Source


Srachi, "Flying eagle point of view." 2013-09-16. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3QrhdfLCO8
frameacloud: A white dragon with its tail in a knot. (Heraldry transparent)

Dragonslaying in medieval France

Trigger warnings: Religion. Dragon-slaying. Dangerous bodies of water.

July: An anthropologist called EsoterX, in their blog of research about monsters in mythology and folklore, posted a new research article about dragon-slaying in medieval France. EsoterX argues that the "dragons" in these myths were, in reality, dangerous bodies of water, such as floods and whirlpools. In allegory, the saints "slew" these "dragons" by building levees. Later, the allegory was lost, and the myths were taken literally.

This article is not about otherkin. However, it could be of interest to otherkin who identify as dragons, or for whom dragons figure significantly in their spirituality or personal mythology.


Source


EsoterX, "Dragons Check In, But They Don’t Check Out: Saintly Medieval Pest Control in France." 2013-07-21. EsoterX: If Monsters Don't Exist, Why Are They Out To Get Me? http://esoterx.com/2013/07/21/dragons-check-in-but-they-dont-check-out-saintly-medieval-pest-control-in-france

To Dream, Perchance To Soar: a new otherkin novel

Trigger warnings: none.

Guest reporter Avia/Tsu here, updating with a couple of news posts with [livejournal.com profile] waywind's permission.

To Dream, Perchance To Soar is the first published novel by Ashlyn Nafina, known to the otherkin community as [livejournal.com profile] ccfeathers. Ashlyn has been writing since childhood, creating a number of stories for her friends inside the community, and this was not her first long story, but, it is her first that had been written and edited for publishing, with the hope that it will reach the otherkin community as well as others who might identify with the metaphor of the story.

Set in an alternate France, the story stars Parisian girl Aile Molyneaux, who has always known she was not complete without wings. When a strange aurora opens in the sky above her home city, and alien visitors, nicknamed les volants ("the flying ones") by the local people, arrive bringing tales of another world, all she can think about is the possibility that magic is really real... and that means she might too be able to become one of les volants.

But transformation is just the beginning of her story, because les volants, known as Ka'aulele in their own musical and magical language, see transformation as more than just a one-time thing. It shapes you and changes you in spiritual ways. And though Aile does not realise it, her desire to transform placed her in the center of a much bigger quest for change... maybe, related to the reason the Ka'aulele are there at all.

The story is deliberately designed to be sympathetic to the feelings of otherkin, while being at the same time an enjoyable spiritual adventure story for young adults and older.

To Dream, Perchance to Soar, nicknamed by its author as "Soar", is 412 pages long and $14.99 in print, available from Lulu (see Sources). An ebook version should be available in about one week from the author's website (see Sources).


Sources