Lupa

Truthfully, I wasn't really expecting to get much out of this one as opposed to her "Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone." Well, I was wrong. I have spent some time haunting the edges of the Otherkin community, and I was one of the 130 survey respondents, so the basic information wasn't new. That being said, I still learned a /great/ deal from the book. More importantly, (in my humble opinion, anyway), it inspired some more self reflection and musings that will be chewed on for a while.

Lupa's show more writing style, as I've come to expect, is fluid and conversational, making the book very pleasurable to read. The entire text is peppered with anecdotes from Lupa and the survey respondents, as well as plenty of outside sources. Everything was covered very nicely, with plenty of different views given. Each of the Otherkin "types" is given a chapter, and while the mythology/lore opening sections occasionally went into a bit too much detail, they were overall an excellent part of the text I wasn't expecting.

I highly recommend it for both Otherkin and curious non-kin. The origin theories chapter is definitely a must-read for anyone wanting to discuss Otherkin seriously. show less

I regard this book as a gentle read. I initially didn't leave a review because I didn't have strong opinion or analysis to express. However, it is worth mentioning that Lupa gives excellent qualitative descriptions about ecological topics like bioregions, along side descriptions to help you open yourself to seeing the world in a spiritual like. It's wonderful to not only think about the natural world as a home, but to break it down by address--I'm in the Beaver Lake watershed in the Boston show more Mountains, a part of the Ozark Mountains within the Mississippi greater watershed.

Some spirituality books can be too "off" for me, which is part of the reason why I describe this book as "gentle." Lupa's views or her narrative don't grate me and are actually close to my own beliefs. Applying the concept of totems as a lens to see the world with evokes a sense of history, personally and culturally. Maybe some criticize that it's cultural misappropriation, but once upon a time, no matter where your ancestors were, they likely worshiped totems. No one culture owned the idea. I think revitalizing and personalizing the idea is a good way to appreciate so much about the world--human and natural, material or spiritual. show less

So, this is a bit out of the norm.

[a:Lupa|77563|Lupa|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1416906058p2/77563.jpg] is a practicioner of therioshamanism and this book is pretty much an introduction to that combined with a healthy dose of chaos magick. It's an interesting text, and I suppose a good one for a beginner? I don't really know enough about it to comment too deeply, since I've not read many occult texts of that nature. I found it informative, interesting enough to keep me reading and show more pondering it. From an anthropology standpoint it's fascinating that people believe in this and practice it regularly. I don't really think I could practice much of it, even out of curiosity, since I'm so darn bad at meditation. Oh well?

It's interesting, informative, but probably not for anyone above novice level, let's say. Her blog is fascinating and goes far more in depth on the different shamanic aspects of her belief and practices. I highly recommend it for the curious and she's quite fun to talk to. show less

This set of essays concerning varying sides and contacts with the use and nature of cultural appropriation was great eye opening read. This is far from a cut and dry debate easy enough to cut through and lay down the ethics. It is a tough and gray on grey issue which posses many topics within religious, practices, art, and other aspects of culture. It doesn’t just involved one culture but many depending on the individual cases.

As an animist, this whole book was a serious foray into some show more important issue for me. This subject is not easily over come because of cultural appropriation comes in so many shades and forms throughout our world. It takes a lot of thought and study and this book was a nice overview at things pagans of all walks can and do face. Some more than others.

A great book and a great read. show less