An introduction to phantom limbs

[frameacloud]

Page number 6 of Theri There, originally posted on October 3, 2005.

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Image description: One page of a comic.
Narration: "A 'phantom limb' is the sensation that a limb is physically present when it's not.
"Neurological explanation: the relevant portion of the brain is still there, so it feels as if the limb is still there, too.
"Spiritual explanation: the spirit also stays intact, even if the body doesn't. This has to do with chakras and the astral plane."
The illustration shows a person with no left arm, but a phantom left arm.
"Phantom limbs are also experienced by therianthropes and otherkin. The difference is that these don't follow a human-shaped template. We may feel wings, tail, or any such thing."
The illustration shows a therianthrope with a human physical body, and a gryphon-shaped phantom outline. "We know there's no physical counterpart to these limbs. They're not visible to plain sight, and they pass right through everything, like a ghost."
The same therianthrope goes on a walk, their wing passing through the wall of a nearby building. "However, there are odd exceptions where a phantom limb responds to a physical object as if both were equally tangible." The therianthrope's wing hits a lamppost, making them stumble, saying, "Ow!?"
"There are also instances where people respond to the limbs as if they could see them."
The therianthrope stretches out a wing, and other passerby walk around it.
"Rarest of all, sometimes physical objects respond to the limb's presence."
A dragon therianthrope steps into an elevator, their phantom tail trailing behind them. The door closes on their tail. Someone else says, "Hey, what's jamming the elevator door open?"
End description.

Note from 2005: This is a short introduction to phantom limbs of therianthropes. There is much more to say about them, whether the best known kind (felt by people who have had amputations) as shown in panel 1, or the kind experienced by therianthropes. Panel 4 was suggested by a phoenix who wishes to remain anonymous. Panel 6 was suggested by a friend who had it happen as shown, and I’ve heard very few anecdotes about a paranormal phenomenon of that kind.

Note from 2015: Several folks have asked me about the phrase “phantom limbs,” which I used in my old Theri There comics. In 2005, that was the only name therians gave to that experience of theirs. Now, readers were concerned that it might be wrong to use that name for that experience. It’s a sensitive issue, but it’s also important to address, so I wrote a long blog entry about it: https://frameacloud.tumblr.com/post/731842421775859712/regarding-phantom-limbs

Note from 2023: I updated the link to that blog entry with some new commentary that I wrote today. For another thing, back when I drew this page, I thought of phantom limbs as a paranormal phenomenon. That fit with how my worldview used to embrace the paranormal. My personal worldview has changed and become generally more skeptical as I've continued to ask questions and learn. I still acknowledge that part of the range of these experiences are ones that are strange and difficult to explain.

[Edit October 21, 2023: Added local images, links, and transcript.]

Comments

Re: multiple forms

[slupine.livejournal.com]

*smiles* Thank you for the links, but I don't know how much I will use them. I prefer to talk to the people themselves than to read essays and such. But then, with anything remotely spiritual I tend to like to figure it out on my own these days. Form my own ideas, and THEN ask about it, since doing it the other way round has never been fulfilling in the past. If that makes any sense.

For some reasons those sites make me skeptical. Partly, I think, because there are probably people who go to them and think it's all a game, like an RPG or something that they want to join in on. I feel bad for being such a skeptic in general... even with some people, I can't help but think "you're not what you think you are", though that feeling is rare (usually it happens for people who try to define me as soon as I start telling them what I am). I feel bad. Because how do I know they don't think the same of me? But I never say anything about it, because even if by some freak chance I am right in thinking they are not, it's not my right to shatter their beliefs, no more than it is my right to try and twist someone from their religion. So it remains in my own mind, continuously evaluating from then on every time I speak to them about similar things. But then, it seems to be in my nature to observe people and try to pick them apart. I go by instinct very often, as my intuition doesn't often fail me. I also go by what the dragon staring over my shoulder tells me. He, too, has yet to fail me. I won't go into too much detail about him I guess, because that's yet another realm of weird. Otherkin/therian with a stubborn bratty spirit guardian/guide. *shrugs*

I'm rambling again...

But no, I much prefer talking to people than reading these sites. Just sitting and chatting about it is a lot nicer - it IS a personal experience, after all, so I don't want huge generalizations.

Actually, one of the websites on werewolves, when I first read it, made me think "who the heck are these nutso people and why do they think they're werewolves?" This was after I started feeling wolfish but before I actually knew their definition of werewolf was different from the one I'd grown up with. Now I am one of "those nutso people".