Awakening

Awakening
Coined by	unknown
Wherecoined	unknown
Status	Current
Date coined	unknown
Alternative forms	Awakened
Part of Speech	* Noun: "My awakening happened when..." * Verb: "I'm awakening to memories of another life..."
Community used by	otherkin, vampires, therians
Antonyms	Going back to sleep

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. Due both to the association with roleplaying games, and the metaphysical tone of the word, some therians and otherkin prefer not to use the term, or simply dislike it but use it anyway.

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."