30 Days of Otherkin: Kintype – Interactions

Writing this post feels odd, since I feel a lot of non-otherkin pagans could write a post like this. I have not heard enough people talk about their interactions with their various deities, to know if my answer would be any different than a human follower’s.

I interact not only with gods and goddesses, but other entities such as angels, demons, and on rarer occasion, the fae. As far as the kind of interaction goes, they fall into three main categories for me:

Incarnations

In case any of my readers are not aware, I am far from the only person who believes they are an incarnate deity (or angel/demon/other spirit). The biggest chunk of my interactions come from my friends who are also incarnates. Sometimes these interactions are profound and deep, intellectual and emotional discussions on our pasts and common experiences. But most of these interactions are like any other human interactions. Sticking packaging tape on my fellow incarnate and partner, Z. Walking around a garden and eating BBQ while talking about flowers and taking pictures. Having the cops pull over to ask us what we are doing sitting in the middle of dead grass near a house we were talking about the history of.

I treasure these interactions. Getting to have the balance between the spiritual abstract, and daily life, is beautiful, and a steady reminder of community.

Elsewhere

With these kind of interactions, I either do journey work to go Elsewhere (astral, spiritworld, what-have-you), or I get yanked from my body to go there, or I do a kind of bi-location. Originally when I did this, I had to lay down, focus, and let the journeying come to me that way. Nowadays, I am able to be both there and here at the same time, although it can be really disorienting. I sometimes also go Elsewhere when I dream.

These interactions seem to be pretty clear and immersive. They can be as faint as just feeling energies, to as involved as using all six senses (where feeling energy is the sixth). I can feel the sand beneath my feet; smell the distant flowers; hear the voice of Ariadne speaking to me; see the contrast of her skin and the sunset; taste the salt on the air. The memory of these experiences are just as concrete and vivid as the memories I have of interacting with a friend or a relative after the fact.

Sometimes this kind of interaction is a good thing. But considering some of the stuff I engage in Elsewhere, it can also be nightmarish. This is also not a steady thing for me. I tend to not go places purposefully very often, but rather wait to be called there. Also, depending on my mood and what is going on in my life, it may not be easy for me to do. So I go through intense periods of a lot of journeywork like this, to periods of really quiet time. (Right now I am in a more quiet faze).

Grounded Here – Hoverers

With these interactions, the deities and/or spirits visit me. In our apartment, outside on the sidewalk, in the shower – most of the time it results in me complaining.

These visits are usually more subtle than the journeywork interactions. Feeling the entity’s energy, and hearing them talk to me telepathically, often without words even (which is how I tend to think; with emotions and feelings, not words). I can tell it is them and not just me talking to myself, because the things they say are radically different than the things I say to myself, and it is not uncommon for them to say things that I do not know (or do not know that I know, at least).

But there are the not-so-subtle times. Times when I physically see them, luckily usually for just a few seconds. Actually hear them (this has been mostly restricted to the Birch Lady, and Lucifer so far – both whom I would rather not interact with 99.9% of the time). Have them mess with things, like how Dionysus seems fond of possessing technology. Phantom scents are a big thing, too. Marigold/Honeysuckle means Thanatos; Wine means Dionysus, you get the idea.

Mixed

Not really its own category, but the above three classifications are not always clear-cut. The first time I met Susanoo, it started with my Diet Coke tasting like seawater, and ended with me very clearly interacting with him Elsewhere. One of my interactions with Sariel where I pissed him off (it is not hard to do, let me tell you) and he injured me Elsewhere, led to matching physical pain for a while in my body. I have interacted with my incarnate friends Elsewhere, and I have met people I originally met Elsewhere, here in bodies later.

So the categories are more for ease of explanation, than hard and fast rule. All of this is pretty well integrated in my daily life. When I was working in libraries, I was also hearing Sariel snark at me about my lack of good posture. When I work on an art project, it is not unusual to have someone pop in and give me feedback (especially if my project pertains to them). This integration and balance of interactions is key, for me.