The Therian Timeline

Selma, AL 36701
wolf@theriantimeline.com

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The Modern Therian Community

What does "Therian" mean?

"Therian" is the shortened form of "therianthrope". "Therianthrope" is the general form of "lycanthrope". A lycanthrope, of course, is a Werewolf. But not every Therian is "wolf", hence the need for a general term.

It's rather unfortunate that the first image most people have when they hear "werewolf" is that of a fictional monster from movies and books. But the fiction was inspired by a truth. Before the 15th century there were Werewolves and now, again, there are Werewolves.

What I know (what I have observed in the Therian Community).

Some time in the 20th century (or before), some people began realizing, as children, that there was something different about them. They lived life more intentionally, paid more attention to what was going on around them, were more empathic, and felt as though they did not quite fit in with the people around them. On the other hand, they identified very well with various nonhuman animals - often to the point of conceptualizing themselves as nonhuman.

But they were not dysfunctional. On the average, they got along well with their families, they had friends, they succeeded in school, many worked for themselves, many worked for others, and they were happy and well adjusted. But they were unique, as far as they knew, and they kept their differences a secret.

November 16, 1992, a Usenet Newsgroup was founded for fans of horror movies so that they could discuss werewolf movies - it was called alt.horror.werewolves or AHWW. Soon, the administrators noticed that the discussions had turned from movies to the members' private lives. The Weres had found each other.

I have noticed that in the groups of Therians that I have been associated with, they seem to have certain predispositions, such as a high incidence of an unusual tooth form called "shovel teeth" and a tendency toward autoimmune disorders and migraines.

What they tell me (what I've read).

Before the Werewolf Trials of the later Middle Ages when thousands of mentally ill or simply despised people were tortured to death by the Inquisition for being "werewolves", there really were people known as "werewolves". Far from being insane, they were respected in their communities. They even had a special position in the church - they were called the Dogs of God and Saint Peter's Wolves. Traditions of these non-monstrous werewolves remain today in Eastern Europe.

What I think (My opinion - it's not the only one around).

There are many diverse explanations for Therianism. My own belief is that Therians are a genetic continuation of the old Weres who have awakened due to population and environmental pressures in modern society.

The Time Line

I have been digging through dusty old research libraries and downloading snippets of information about therianthropy for about 30 years. This time line is a result of the historical data I have collected.

The study of the history of the Therian Community is more like archeology than history. Much information was lost during the Inquisition. Information survived better in areas where the Roman Catholic Church had not gained a strong foothold. The British Isles and Northern and Eastern Europe remain rich in Therian lore - those places are also where most actual history survives.

Like archeology, in the study of Therian history, all that exist are, for the most part, fragments and hints. No individual fragment can be trusted. Each individual piece must be validated and interpreted by noting its place in known history and its relationship to the other pieces. As fragments stack up, patterns become evident, picture emerge.

And like any history, this one must continuously be revised as new information appears.

Who am I?

My name is Payton Wolf Bailey VanZandt. As an advocate for the Therian Community, I do not use web names. I don't keep my Wereism a secret.
I am a Werewolf who lives in the southeastern United States and am registered on the Werelist. Currently, I organize events for the Southeast Howl. I also provide other services to the Therian Community, including this site.

I am a vocational evaluator and am respected in my field. I am also a Christian evangelist who works mostly with fringe societies in the United States. I was a founding member of the local Christian Motorcyclists Association chapter. I perform much community volunteer service with the church, the Boy Scouts, and the local Department of Human Resources. I am also a founding member of the Citizens Against Violence.

I can be contacted at:
wvanzandtwolf_v@yahoo.com

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I have begun adding sound files to accompany the texts in this website. They will be in audio galleries in each section. There will be sound files containing the texts and extra commentaries, discussions, interviews and panels.

Whats new?

6/17/18 I've added a Tips for Pastoral Counselors section to the Guide for Professionals.

5/31/18 I've started a user manual for DANSYS - DANSYS for Students - and it will grow by installments. The first section is in the Excursion>LabBooks page.

5/21/18 I have added another page to the Stat Files explaining how to analyze nominal data.

5/3/18 Version 2.0 of DANSYS is out with it's user guide. It features correlation procedures, contour charts, phasors, and more graphics, programming, and mathematics.

4/25/18 I have added a Tips for Clients page to the Guide for Professionals section.

4/24/18 There's a new pafe in the Stat Files about hypothesis testing.

4/8/18 I've added a page on descriptive and exploratory statistics to the Stat Files.

3/9/18 Tips for Therapists and Counselors, a "cheatsheet" of tips for psychological professionals with therian clients, is up in the Guide for Professionals section.

3/3/18 Finally! I have the statistical spreadsheet, DANSYS, it's first extension, DANSYSX Version 1.0, and both user guides (or, at least the first part of the DANSYS user guide) up on the LabBooks page. Thei'r free downloads and opensource, so feel free to download them and modify them to your heart's content.

2/20/18 I've added another page to the Stat Files. This one is about sampling and estimation, and that terribly confusing topic, the confidence interval.

2/10/18 I've added a new section to the Timline - Guide for Professionals. It currently contains a guide for professionals who have therian clients and for the clients. Hopefully, that will fill the gap left by the disappearance of the Theta website. I've also updated the Psychology labbook, including a section about measuring stimuli.

12/1/17 The ToolBook now contains a Psychology page with a kymograph, which can be used to display memory items in sequence. I have also made some corrections in DANSYS and DANSYSX. For instance, the INTEGRATOR command now works, and it works quickly!

6/21/17 DANSYSX version 1.0 is finished and available under Excursions>LabBooks. If offers extnsive complex mathematics and combinatorial functions, the beginning of a graphics suit that allows generation of graphics from scratch or programmatically, 2-way and 3-way crosstabulation routines, ntile conversion, and a Monte Carlo function that will generate sampling statistics. I'll be working on a user guide along with the one for basic DANSYS. Also, I'm working on an assembly language like programming language that can be coded on a spreadsheet. That's more fun and games and isn't really functional yet but, if you want to play with it, be my guess. The looping structure doesn't work yet.

5/29/17 There's a new section in the StatFiles on Distributions.

4/21/17 I have decided to post the extended version of DANSYS, DANSYSX, as it stands to date. The newest version isn't finished but it does have the two new crosstabulation programs XTab and XTab3 (the three way contingency table analysis procedure), a collection of complex math functions that can easily be used in Basic programs, and some new combinatorial functions. I'm working on a from-scratch graphics utility but it will be awhile before it is at the point that it will be useful.

A new section in the Logic LabBook has been added on "definitions".

1/19/17 I have started a new blog called Adventuring: The Bear Creek Commentaries. It's not about Weres. It's about adventuring and lifelong learning. Here's a link:

Adventuring: The Bear Creek Commentaries

1/13/17 There is now a mathematics overview in the Stat Files called "The Basics"

10/7/16 I've added ToolBook to the Excursions>LabBooks page. It's a speadsheet with several tools in it (hence, the name). Currently, it has timers, counters, a line measuring utility, and randomizers. I plan for it to grow over time.

8/31/16 I've updated a few things - added some entries to the bibliography, added a section to the Observation and Recording LabBook on Visual Field. I'm also working on a new blog for general objects. It will be about adventuring - especially hiking for llifelong learners. I'll be telling stories and describing my adventures in Colorado and in the Southeast. There'll be pictures. I'm getting a covey of articles together so I'll have a backlog to get started. I want to keep a good flow. I also placed DANSYS under a GNU license so it should be safe for people to download and use.

2/12/16 Several things this time...I've posted my first installment of Were Society (the sociology of the Were community) under the Therianthropy section. I've also added my Excursions LabBook which is a record of my randomized explorations, the first being a study of regional councils. On the same page (Excursions>LabBooks) I've started a section called toolswhere I have links to ..... well, tools. There is now a free statistics spreadsheet for LibreOffice Calc (it will also work with OpenOffice). I'm pretty pleased with it. There are also some links to some favorite free downloads.

8/31/15 I've added the mathematics LabBook which currently contains a discussiion of the counting numbers and counting; fun with fingers and abaci!

8/11/15 One of my hobbies is statistics and I am constantly dismayed at how many people dread involvment with statistics. I is one of those courses in college that everyone dreads. So, I am starting a section on statistics. Perhaps, also there will be some budding Were researchers in college that the page will help navigate through the world of data.

7/3/15 I have the Psychology LabBook up. The first part is introductory and has a section on equiping your computer to do psychological demonstrations.

3/13/15 I've uploaded the first module in the Logic, debate, and problem solving LabBook on the Excursions>LabBooks page. It's pretty introductory but it has some good resources and I'll be addressing definition on the next cycle. But, for now, I'll be working on the Psychology LabBook. Stay tuned.

12/20/14 Since my retirement, I don't cook much, but I live with a bunch of Weres who do. To showcase their creations, there's a new section under the Stuff Files - look for the Werewolf Gourmet page. There'll be old tfamily recipes, unique creations, and international flair. This is a great way for me to end the old year and bring in the new!

12/15/14 I have added two links to documents on my website. On the LabBooks page, I've added a link to the first part of my Philosophy tutorial which includes tips on critical thinking and especially on how to evaluate your own beliefs. In the Original Music section on the Other mp3s page, I've placed a link to the old (huge) Robert Service's Canada album.

11/30/2014 I have completed the audio files for The Mind of the Were and they are posted.

10/23/14 I have completed The Mind of the Were (for now). There are currently three research reports on therianthropy that I am waiting on to come out and, when they do, I will summarize them on that page. I will try to tackle Were sociology next. I'll also try to get a sound file out for the rest of The Mind of the Were, but that will take a while because our House is about to move and I need to wait until that's over with before I start recording sound files.

I have also started a new project in my Excursions section - a series of "LabBooks" to share my continuing education experiences. The first one (I'm working on six) is about observing the world and communicating your observations. The first section, which is in the posted spreadsheet, is a basic exploration of light and vision. Future additions will deal with field of vision, color vision, other aspects of visual observation and then the other senses, how to augment your senses with equipment and how to record and share information. I'm having fun with this and I hope you do too. It's in the Excursions section on the LabBooks page.

5/23/14 The latest article from the Therianthropy Research Group is out and I have included it in my Bibliogrpahy (Grivell, 2014).

4/7/14 I've been in Colorado since Christmas Eve 2014 and I'm having a blast. As for the Timeline, I'm adding a little here and a little there - especially to the Therianthropy page. I really want to keep you folks up on the research and substantive information about the Were community as it happens - knowledge is power and all that (I think that's the way it goes - maybe I'm thinking about "with great power comes ...." well, let's not plagerize here.) One big addition is the Links page. It's not a complete listing of sources by any means but it has my favorites - it can be added to (so send me an email if you have any suggestions), and remember, links are not forever. If one dies and I don't realize it, let me know and I'll delete it.

11/3/13 I am in the midst of a big (big!) move - from Alabama to Colorado. In fact, I am retiring, and my life is total chaos; therfore, all of my projects are on hold until after the beginning of the new year. I'm not sure what will happen to the International Wok since I will be living with other people, perhaps they will be adventurous enough to join me but there will be other dietary restrictions which may allow me to focus more on work on a section about special diets. I will also continue the outdoor cooking section as time and circumstances allow. And I have more material for The Mind of the Were. Hope to see you in 2014. Have great holidays and may your new year be better than any that has gone before.

7/20/13 I have added a section that considers language to The Mind of the Were along with the sound file, more bibliographic entries, and the Benninese meal under The International Wok B.

7/5/13 The Belizean meal is up and here it is time for my Benin meal. I'll be doing that tomorrow and, hopefully, I'll have it up by next month. I'm also frequently adding to The Mind of a Were,

6/2/13 Both the sections about theriotypes and shifting are up in The Mind of a Were in the Therianthropy section. I will add the audio for the secction on shiftings soon.

4/5/13 There's a new Were forum which shows great potential of bringing back the old Werelist - the one that's there for all Weres, the one that originally was geared toward helping Weres find each other in real life. I don't know about you but I'm excited. It's called Forest Horizon and the address is http://werebeastcommunity.proboards.com

Check them out.

3/2/13 You might have noticed that I've changed the name of the Christianity and Weres section to "Religion and Weres". I've begun an exploration of the religious/spiritual/shamanic implications of the Were community. The essay, Christianity and Weres is still there, but I've included some past poll and canvass data concerning the religions of Weres and a recorded discussion with the author of Creatures of the Night, Dr. Gregory Reece and myself.

1/21/13 I've added everal new sections to the Shamanism section and a Belgian meal (which turned out very nicely) to The International Wok - B.

1/5/13 I have added the first half of the shamanism page along with it's sound files. I apologize for the errors. I've gone through the files and made sure that they are minor and are not so as to change my meaning. Still, I am not a professional narrator, am dyslexic, and am losing my vision, so this kind of work is rather difficult for me.

I've also added three old recordings to the Original Compositions section under Other mp3s. One is a recirding of an older version of The Werewolf: A Love Song.

Happy New Year and may 2013 be better for you than any year that preceeded it!

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Selma, AL 36701
wolf@theriantimeline.com