my awakening story - august 2025
i first found therianthropy and shifting through youtube after falling into a rabbit hole of Teen Werewolves and “how to become a vampire- REAL SPELL” type videos in 2013.
i wish i could remember the name of the channel i found first, but as i listened to her describe what it was like for her to be a wolf, i knew therianthropy would be an all consuming interest of mine for years to come. it was like i was standing too close to a painting before, and now that i had taken a step back, i could see the whole picture.
it was pretty instantaneous that i claimed the label for myself, and also began posting on youtube under the name “laika the timber coyote.” through youtube i found tumblr, and set up here for the first time in 2014. as my channel name at the time says, i was a timber wolf coyote cross. despite that i have slightly changed species now, being a coywolf at that age was something deeply spiritual for me. more of a “traditional” awakening in that i meditated on it- i think i was a more “dedicated” shifter at that age than i am now!
somewhere around 2016-2019 i put therianthropy and shifting down, because my youtube was found by a classmate at my catholic school, and i was “going to be in high school and shouldn’t act or think like this.”
it lingered in my mind.
this is the only thing i would change about my awakening. if i can offer any advice to younger community members: being made fun of does not make it go away. ignoring something does not make it go away.
i was able to reaccept my animality because a friend in high school “introduced” the concept to me (unbeknowst to her i had already known about it for years). it has been an ongoing battle since to figure out my truest self, but i have settled as a coyote.
i have biological remnants of when i was once coyote-bodied, and i am hoping to find out *why* that is the case.