Awakening

Awakening is a term used by the otherkin, therian, and vampire communities to describe the process of becoming aware of the fact that they are in some way other than human. The term itself likely derived from the roleplaying game Mage: The Ascension by White Wolf first published in 1993.

Awakening often takes place during the teen years, though it can occur earlier or later, and may involve experiences such as an awareness of one's astral form being nonhuman, the development of a need to feed on blood or energy, the development of metaphysical gifts such as empathy, or even the recovery of memories from nonhuman past lives.

Some groups, such as the Lostkin Project use the term awakening more narrowly, to refer to "the process of reclaiming memories of other lives, and/or powers generally attributed to the Fae."