by Adnarel

They say awakening is a big deal.
They call it a significant.

A “Life altering event.”
Bells and whistles, a bright ray of light, “Laaa Dee Da” and we’re all happy.

It begins with a flash, and ends just as quickly.
Or, so they say…
Not lets not contradict them.
How about, for a moment, we do contradict them.
I’ve met a lot of Otherkin in my time, which isn’t long (if you consider my twenty-one years of human life to be “my time”) and in all my talks with them, I have never met an individual Otherkin who has described an awakening like the one above. Websites are filled with stories of shifting experiences, snap to awakenings, and violent realizations.

Sorry, people. It just doesn’t happen that way.

Or at least, it usually doesn’t.

There are no claps of thunder, no booming voice from the sky, not even ‘visions’ that are sometimes described on some kin sites. No, not at all. Nothing reveals all in a single, glorified moment. No, Kinship is something much more dynamic and subtle.
It seems that the vast majority of awakenings are actually anticipated, or at least, it comes as no surprise. Most Otherkin discover their kinships early in life. Generally, from the time they are children, they feel a close bond to their kin. Through the later stages of childhood and into early adolescence, the bond, the feeling, does not seem to go away. If there is enough positive push toward creative thinking, the kin will begin a process of deep self exploration, thereby, through their creativity, connecting with their kinside. From there, there seems to be an urge for the Otherkin to connect with people/Kin on the same level, and they then go in search of others, (usually on the net) for them to connect to. It’s the best way for some new kin to come to terms with their kinship; the best way to discover even more about themselves that they did not know. Thus, creativity is nurtured, and from creativity comes the dearest type of magic known to us. Kinship in itself is magical, never “mundane,” thus, it is important that all Otherkin realize that they are special and important. In most cases a big awakening is not a factor in this.
Sometimes, (this is very tragic…) The creativity of an individual Otherkin, from their childhood, is not valued and nurtured.
This can be the result of an emotionally unavailable home situation, fear of not being “cool” and fitting in, or even abuse. I’ve also noticed a disturbing trend in the way that conventional educational systems teach us to be ‘productive members of society’. They are essentially educating the creativity out of us by making us remember useless facts and streams of information. This limits our potential. Think of how much better school would have been if you had been told to sit for an hour and daydream.
There are many factors that contribute to what I call the “Capped Soda-Bottle Scenario”. We all know when you take a soda with a cap on it, and shake it up, then try to open it, it comes flying out at you from a million different directions. The same thing applies to repressed kinship. The awakening of an individual who’s creativity has been stifled, I think, could the source of a lot of these types stories. While I have never interviewed or spoken with anyone who has had this kind of semi-violent/violent awakening, It has been the subject of a great many awakening stories. Ill present an example or two, along with the ‘occurrences’ that happen with such awakenings.
Usually, this type of awakening is triggered by a significant life event. A marriage, a death, great joy, or extreme sorrow, even religious experiences. Like the bottle being shaken up, the cap has to come off before it can explode.
Afterwards, this type of awakening manifests itself in dreams, sometimes ‘visions’. These visions, rather then induced through gentle meditation, are induced by stress or other outside factors. The dreams will always be relevant to the kinship in question. (IMPORTANT NOTE: visions and terrifying dreams can also be the sign of a serious medical problem. If you feel something is not right or you are frightened, I urge you to seek professional medical attention. I am not a pshrink or doctor (other then my massage degree) and cannot diagnose symptoms. This is best left to a professional.) Sometimes, the dreams are accompanied by sleepwalking, restlessness, and other sensations that are generally kin specific. I have heard of wolf-kin awakenings where the individual wakes up on their front porch, covered in brambles after a midnight run, and they have no memory of. Obviously, these situations can be a cause for concern, especially for the kin involved.
These are symptoms generally associated with awakening:

(Note: Not having some of these doesn’t mean you’re not Otherkin. If you feel you are, you are. Don’t worry about what anyone says.)

  • Longing for a home that has no relevance to current dwelling situations
  • Identification with an entity not typically regarded as human.
  • Feeling of phantom limbs. (Usually for non humanoid type kin: tails, wings, etc.)
  • Sudden change in food preferences (usually to something kin specific)
  • Comparable tolerances to heat and cold. (Example; Some types of dragons seem to be able to tolerate heat/cold better then ‘normal’ people do.)
  • Lucid dreams
  • Environmental sensitivity (longing for an environment you could/would feel an affinity/connection with. This seems to be common with fae and nature spirits)
  • A strong motivation and tendency toward magick.
  • Love of _____________ type being. Deep sense of belonging to that particular species/kind.

Just to name a few.
I hope this helps clarify things.
On a side note, these aren’t the “only” types of kinship awakenings. As always, we encourage you to share your stories and ideas with us.