Origins

[Bear Paw]

Hmmm anthro doues go way way back in to the past. I kind of belive it started when the human race ( as it was back then) started too observe the animals around them. We started too think and imitate how they acted working like wolf packs too hunt obseving animals as too what could be eaten what could not if it was safe being out or not. From this sprang up the those who worshiped animals those that would want too be like them or who's charachter portraid some aspect of that animal. This is where I think the seed's of furry might have come from. For us now it would be harder too define I suppose in a world that's becoming more and more detatched from it's humble beginings some just want too stay close too those beginings. For others an animal spirit is part n parcel of who they are, there are many diffrrent reasons for furry now tracing them back too one point at wich they started might be a mighty hard task. Would be intresting too find out though.

[Jadnar]

I was kind of curios as to what you guys think where furriness came from. I think its always been there, ever since sentience came to be anyway. As I can keep thinking back further and further of anthromorphic creatuers that were created, be it the indians to the egyptians.

Though I'm rather curios as to what you guys think.

[DrakonianDanceR]

I have thought about this before, and never really come to any conclusions.  As we know, there are humans bodied beings in this world that are animal spirits - but how can that be?  I'm really not sure, but what is important is that these beings keep the belief strong.  Now, it depends on what exactly you are wanting to think about the origins of.  Some furs are not animal spirits, and are just fans of anthropomorphic art.  As you said, Jadnar, these type of creatures date back to Egyptian times, probably before (I'm not too good on history).  The difficult thing about this, is that anthropomorphic creatures are not seen around today.  I say the same about Dragons - we know they were real, and are still real, but there are no exact Dragons living now, as we know them - only reptiles that are distantly related, and human-bodied beings with their spirits.  So because of these example reasons I gave about Dragons, it is hard to be certain of anything on creatures such as anthropomophic beings.  To summerise, I am not certain on how it all began, as there are different aspects of it to consider.  I like to think of it from a spirit point of view, but that is because of what I am.  Though, doing this makes me none the wiser on how animal spirits found their way into human bodies.

[Benjamin]

I believe they've even found ancient cave artwork that depicts humans that transformed into animals and vice versa.
It's something that's always been a part of human culture, really. Animals have always captured our imaginations, and hybridisation of animals and humans is a fairly popular theme even today, whether most people realise it or not. Animals have always had a great influence on us, evidenced in the symbolism we attach to so many species, such as in ancient heraldry, and the fact that many humans live and work with animals much of the time. Animals enrich our lives in so many ways, and hopefully we enrich theirs as well... if and when we're behaving.
It seems to have been a natural process by which we manage to associate ourselves with the natural world. The imagination is bound to wander and meld things together.
We attach animal traits to ourselves and human traits to animals, both physically and mentally. Humans don't just anthropomorphise animals, we zoomorphise ourselves. '>
 
Benjamin

I've got screaming relatives behind me that I'm trying to drown out with Hawkwind, so I'm probably not going to sound as observant and open-minded as Ben and DD most likely.

As said by everyone so far, signs of anthromorphism can be found as far back as writen history will tell, and most likely further beyond.  Therefore, if anthromorphism has always been an element of human culture, I think the whole concept in general may have began when humans no longer relied entirely on instinct and actually developed an imagination.
We all have our own instincts, but we also have intellect to conflict with it, the balance of which creates our own personalities, all of which are unique.  The anthromorphism begins when we look around and notice that everyone is different, then look around and notice that most animals all behave, for the most part, just as the rest of their kin would.  When that happens, we come to asociate animals with personality traits: friendly as a puppy, stubborn as a mule, ferocious as a tiger (I resent that one), quiet as a mouse, etc.  
It probably began way too far back for us to ever credit a certain race or culture with the beginning of anthromorphism, but if this is the case, it most likely began when people started naming their children after the animals they most closely resembled (Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, etc.)  If named appropriately, that animal in turn becomes their totem, a creature they feel a kinship with, maybe even a relation to.  That's when they become "an animal spirit in a human form."

I'll post more as it comes, but for now I've got the two things that silence a writer better than anything:
1) The notion that one has been rambling on for too long.
2) Writer's cramp.
 

[ayame28]

Hiya!  I think it has to do with animism.  I think that lots of ancient religions, and many modern ones, see energy or souls in every living thing.  If all living things have souls, then why wouldn't we share some of the same characteristics as other beings?  '>

[Bear Paw]

Re-incarnation ( if it's spelt like that) could also explain it. The feelings for the species noww steam from the time when you where in a past llife??.

[Running_Wolf]

I thought it was the idea of Native Americans turning into their totems (always an animal of some sort) that this idea came to be. Maybe I'm wrong...

[Ulario]

The babylonians had stone carvings of bird ox and cat furs before the egyptians.

And just think... us furs were once worshipped '>

[Russano Greenstripe]

Furry fandom was spawned about the mid-70's, from my research. But being a furry? I have a theory and a question about it.

1.  I think it's stemmed from us seeing animals as better than us at a young age. We saw that the cheetah ran faster, the bear was stronger, the cat more nimble, and the ant more industrious. After that, one if two things happened: We either decided to emulate them, or we would artificially close these gaps. The emulators are the furries, and the artificers are everyone else.

2. I have a condition that makes me go the human equivalent to flop-bot, and I heard that 50% of boys and 60% of girls had the same condition. Could there be a connection between this condition and furriness? (I swear, I'm not joking about anything in this post.)

[Skunki]

i think the whole anthropomorphic creatures showed up around the time of the bablylonian empire, but i am not sure on this. i just know that they had anthros as spiritual guides. i also read about it somewhere. the egyptians really didn't have anthros, they just had people with animal heads and tails. the rest of the body was completely human and not covered in fur or anything. i think furries have shown up recently though (within the last 25 or 30 yrs).

[Ulario]

Furries have been around almost since the beginning of our civilization.  The earliest furry art I've seen were from the Babylonians.

[Vernsim]

Hmmm...interesting. I dunno when it started, but I do appreciate the fact that someone actually thinks(or thought) of us little ol furries '>

[Paul Cox]

Nice discussion! I think it is also worth noting that in many earlier worldviews, the human/animal dichotomy was much less serious than in those widespread today (indeed, many are still that way). Humans were often seen as just another species or tribe, the only difference lying in our inability to understand each others' speech. Thus, in such a worldview, all animals were essentially anthropomorphized.

[Skunki]

if you could have the world go back to the days when furries were worshipped, would you really want it to? agreed i dislike how some people despise us, but too much popularity can be a bad thing. first of all, people will have higher expectations of you and if you fail to do what make them think you are cool, the you are "burned" so to speak. "burned" just like you are today when you don't meet someone's expectations. i wouldn't want to be worshipped, but i don't want to be at the bottom of the food chain; i'd think it better if there were a sense of euality among all creatures and if people put aside their petty differences.

[snarfle]

Thinks it can be from any combination of stuff. Wether reading books like "The Sound & The Furry", or "Quozl". Or admiring real animals in nature. Or connecting with some inner flufy thru teddy bears ect. Or reincarnation. Or even recognition of oneself as a cohort, comrade & playmate, of the humans anthromorphic gods & godddesses. Like furries where often dipicted in old writings. Overall I think origin is individualistic & variable. Natural rather then learned inclinations ect. Sometimes mudane, sometimes spiritual, sometimes some mix of both.

As to furries being regarded as gods by humans today. Hum. Can we have pizza as something they bring us? Lol.

[Zarathus]

Eh...its probably always been around if you ask me. As long as people had an imagination, they could have easily thought up these things..