by Turktien

The quest to find a label for oneself seems to be a common obsession among newly awakened and younger kin. Labels, labels, labels. Dictionary.com defines a label as “An item used to identify something or someone”. In relation to otherkin, I define the word ‘label’ as the need for the human brain to grasp something just out of reach. As if putting a name on something brings it into the realm of understanding. I consider this a flaw among many kin, young and old, newbies and veterans.

To make myself clear, let me define otherkin the way that I percieve it. An otherkin is typically described as a non-human soul in a human body. I agree with that to a point. The problem here is in the wording. A soul is simply that, a soul. I do not beieve that there is such a thing as an elven soul, or a draconic soul, etc. I do believe, however, that many of us have strong connections to the type of being that we were originally incarnated as.

Think of it this way, you are on a soul quest. Your soul is on a quest to perfection. I believe that a soul begins ‘perfect’ in a raw form. However, what good is perfection without experience? Consider your first incarnation as a trial run. You use this first run to establish experiences and ground-rules for yourself. This is why one would feel so tied to this original form. This is the only form in which the soul learns for the first time. It’s not that hard to believe considering most of us remember the first time we drove, but who recalls each subsequent drive with the same detail?

I do believe that some of us have unique experiences in different forms as we go on. This would explain those with feelings of hybridization. Your first incarnation could have been as an elf and sometime later you may experience significant events in a life as, say, a dragon. Developing a strong connection to this draconic lifetime would easily give someone gravitation to both creatures.

I think it is inhibitive to cast labels on oneself. If you are here, by choice or for other reasons, you are here because you or someone(thing) else decided that you had something to gain by living a life as a human. If you insist on being an elf or a fae or something else or a combination therein, you are defeating the purpose. I’m not saying that we should not share our beliefs, experiences, and memories. I’m simply suggesting that we should focus more on why we are here and where we are going rather than where we’ve been.

I also believe that labeling oneself is especially damaging to those newly awakened. I have seen so many establish themselves in, say, a vampiric lifestyle only to learn that they are not that and simply share traits. This can cause major issues for them and I have seen many turn away and pretend that nothing has happened. Could you imagine being sure you are different but demanding that you are not? That’s enough to drive one mad. We must focus on the fact that being kin does not mean that we are elves or dragons or vampires. We are wandering souls. Souls that are visitors on this planet/timeline, not natives. It is important to remember where we came from and equally important is to keep in mind that we are not here to remember and recollect. We are here to learn and grow.

To learn and grow at the soul level, we must take what we do know from the past and use it’s influence to lead us on our path in this life. Use memories that you gain from all lives, not just the ones that you feel strongest connections to. We, as kin, should concentrate on applying our memories to our current life and less about reminiscing of days gone by. This is how we grow. This is what we are meant to be.

In closing, I would like to say that, while I frown upon labeling oneself, I am not completely against it. I just feel that, in labeling yourself, you should keep in mind that you are not inhuman. Simply because you did not inhabit a human body from the beginning does not mean that you are not human now. Sure, some of us exhibit some seemingly inhuman abilities, but are there not humans that also exhibit these same abilities? I do believe it is very important to share origins. I think that if a certain kin was originally an elf and another also, then they have much to share. That kind of connection can often further the growing of their souls. Please, take care in labeling yourself and, when you do, always keep in mind exactly what a label is.

I wrote this sometime ago out of frustration. I just feel like many kin rush to label themselves. It’s not as important as many of us make it out to be. We are simply this: Kin. That’s it! We’re Kin! What else is there? Like I said, origins are important, but we are Kin and that’s MOST important. I hope this blurb of mine gets my point across. I hope this gives those that feel pressure to label themselves a sigh of relief. I recall the turmoil and pressure that I felt when I awoke. It seemed like I was not “part of the crowd” when I began searching. Everyone else knew what they were. I dodged back and forth from one label to another and this only added to confusion. I just hope that maybe someone will read this and realize that there’s much more to being kin than just having a fancy name to call yourself. Thanks for reading!