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A while back, I was perusing some forums and ran into the term Otherkin. Otherkin, as described in this book, is "a person who believes that, through either a nonphysical or (much more rarely) physical means, s/he is not entirely human." My reaction was a mix of "that's intriguing," "you've got to be kidding me," and "hmmm, I wonder if any of this applies to me." As I continued to read, I recognized some things that seemed to describe a few friends. Then I discovered Lupa's book A Field Guide to Otherkin. I thought it would make for some entertaining reading. It did. It also is well-researched and well-written. Lupa is writing as a member of the Otherkin community and manages to avoid the trap that some folks fall into when writing about themselves/their beliefs/their lifestyle/etc. She provides a perspective from the "inside" without losing objectivity. There is an understanding that it is rather hard to prove (to yourself or others) that someone is indeed Other, but at the same time there must be honest self-exploration, including research, and that in-depth exploration is not a quick process. I think the sections discussing psychology are likely to be very useful for folks, as there are some litmus tests to help differentiate being Otherkin from concerns about psychological issues.

The book covers the theories on how someone might have become Otherkin: reincarnation, physical explanations, walk-ins (souls entering a body after birth), multiplicity, psychology, personal mythology and metaphor, energy resonance, and magic and spirituality. There is enough depth to the explanations of these various theories that you can get a feel for how comfortable you are with the different approaches, and there is no rule that says only one approach may apply to someone.

There are chapters on some of the different categories of Otherkin. Therianthropes are those whose Other (the non-human part) is an earth-based animal, such as a wolf or cougar. There are also Otherkin with dragons, elves, gryphons, and many others.

Much of the research in the book is based on surveys collected by the author. These provide a lot of information in the form of quotes from Otherkin. It's interesting to hear the different voices and opinions on a subject like this that doesn't have "experts."

I have one small nit to pick. The font used to print web addresses jams all the letters in the URL together and makes it darn hard to read. Give all us near-sighted folks a break and please come up with something more legible next time.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in Otherkin, but also for anyone interested in self-exploration who has an affinity with non-human spirits.