- Naia Ōkami, 27, identifies as otherkin therian meaning she is spiritually an animal
- Says that while she barks and howls, she does not believe she is physically a wolf
- Claims she 'spiritually and psychologically identifies' as a British Columbian wolf
A woman who identifies as a wolf says that people often have 'misconceptions' about her her 'spiritual and psychological' life as a animal.
Naia Ōkami, 27, from Seattle, identifies as a British Columbian wolf and regards herself as an otherkin therian - a subculture who believe their soul is that of an animal, rather than a human.
In 2017, Naia came out as a transgender woman on social media and in November 2019, she revealed to her followers that she had legally changed her gender to female.
She insists that despite sometimes barking and howling like a wolf, she is aware she is physically human and maintains a 'serious job' while 'spiritually expressing herself' as an animal.
Appearing on This Morning today, Naia explained that by day she works as an online investigator for a non-profit but still occasionally 'wolfs out' in the woods to connect with her animal psyche.
'I don't physically believe I am a wolf,' she said. 'It's more a spiritual and psychological identification as a wolf, like I'm totally aware I'm human...but by the same token, spiritually I am a wolf.
'I think a lot of people have a misconception that I think I am physically a wolf and obviously I don't. I have a serious job, I pay my bills and taxes this is just how I spiritually express myself.'
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Naia discovered she identified as an animal at a young age, revealing she began researching real-life wolves after constantly 'dream shifting' into the animal. She made her first public appearance as a wolf on US television in 2013.
'I am a British Columbian wolf,' she said. 'It started with dream shifting. That is when I had a dream of myself as a wolf and I could view myself in some of these dreams. I could see myself as an observer, in some of these dreams I was acting as a wolf
'I went from that to looking more about actual wolves, real life wolves. The more I looked, the more and more I began to identify in that way.'
Naia says that her identity as a wolf manifests itself in her day-to-day life by trying to connect her regular activities to her spirituality.
She explained: 'One of the things I do with a non-profit is investigate trafficking and child predators and I always make the joke that as a wolf I'm hunting my prey.
'When I'm in private or with my friends, sometimes I will wolf out in the woods.'
She says that while she won't act like a wolf in ordinary life, media appearances in the US have allowed her express herself more because people know her as the 'wolf girl'.
'When I was in high school, I was a lot more shamelessly expressive, she said. 'I would vocalise, I would howl, that is how I express myself, Nowadays It's a little different,' she explained.
'I can be a little more open publicly, but if I'm at work or in the grocery store I'm not going to bark or howl'.
