- Take your time. There is no rush in figuring out your hearthome. Understanding your hearthome can deepen your understanding of your alterhumanity. Therefore, it is best that you explore it at your own pace.
- Don’t be afraid to share. While it is not mandatory that you lay out every single detail pertaining to your alterhumanity, I highly encourage that you discuss and archive the experiences that you are comfortable with sharing. Documenting your connection to your hearthome(s) could give you some peace of mind. It can also play a vital role in allowing more insight into this phenomenon within our community.
- Respect the perspective of others, for everyone’s experience is unique. If there is any cautionary suggestion that you should adhere to, it’s to not encroach upon another alterhuman’s connection to their hearthome(s). While education on certain environments, locations or backgrounds is fine when conducted in good faith, that does not give you any leeway to invalidate another alterhuman’s experiences on the matters of their hearthome(s).
- Only you can determine where it is and what it means to you. Following up on the previous bullet point, your connection to your hearthome(s) is completely your own. There is no one who holds authority over what your hearthome “should” be. Chances are you have more than one hearthome, and that's okay. Chances are you don't follow the "canon" surrounding your hearthome, and that's also okay. Furthermore, no one holds authority over how you go about your connection to your hearthome. Whether you're connected through dreams, through emotions or through your species’s living patterns, it is an experience established by you alone.
Where the Heart Belongs: Musings on Hearthomes in the Alterhuman Community
Sivaan of Candlekeep
May 23, 2024
Everyone deserves a place to call home. It is a universal right of all beings. However, what “home” looks like to one may be far different to another. In the case of the alterhuman community, the concept of hearthomes has piqued my interest ever since I had my awakening. Whether one’s species is earthen, mythic or fictional, it is possible for an alterhuman individual to have a hearthome that is in tune with their experience(s). From the sprawling savannahs of the Serengeti to the subterranean reefs of the Coral Triangle, the specificity of one’s hearthome is nearly limitless.
Furthermore, it is critical to note that hearthomes are not strictly earthen. It is possible for an individual’s hearthome to be anywhere else outside of Earth, be it on Mars or Pluto. A hearthome need not be limited to the circumstances of our reality, either; as someone whose draconity is based in the canon of Dungeons and Dragons, it is possible for one’s hearthome to be located in a place of fictional origin in this plane of existence. With these possibilities considered, I decided to explore the matters of hearthomes and their existence across alterhuman experiences.
Although my word is not final in regards to hearthomes, I took it upon myself to write about this specific experience given that I do not see it documented as much. I found a decent amount of discussion pertaining to hearthomes through social media, yet there is a considerable lack of academic coverage of the phenomenon. While this document is more focused on my observations pertaining to the subject, I believe that it would be of benefit for an intercommunal survey to be conducted on hearthomes and their relevance to one’s alterhumanity. Whether or not I embark on that venture has yet to be decided.
Without further ado, I will begin by discussing what a hearthome is. By general definition, a hearthome is a location that an individual harbors a strong personal connection to, despite not physically living there nor having been there. A hearthome can be a location that exists on Earth, on other cosmological bodies in or outside of our solar system, within fictional environments and locations or within mythology. In short, a hearthome can be anywhere and anything.
On the matter of how one is connected to their hearthome, emotional connections are often highlighted when discussing how these places are discovered. That being said, one’s connection to their hearthome does not have to apply to an exclusively emotional context. Considering the vast amount of spiritual experiences within the alterhuman community, it is possible for an individual to have a spiritual connection with their hearthome. It is also possible for a hearthome to be established on the basis of its geographical relevance to one’s alterhuman identity. For example, an individual who is an American Black Bear therianthrope could have the Great Smoky Mountains and its surrounding forestry as a hearthome based on this environment’s natural populace of black bears. Ultimately, like many aspects to alterhumanity, how one relates to their hearthome solely falls on the individual.
In my own case, I may have an emotional connection to the Sword Coast of Fâerun, but I came to identify Candlekeep as my true hearthome based on a series of dreams that I had. When these dreams occur, I am spiritually in my home of Fâerun and am free to interact with my surroundings as a draconic being. I will clarify that I do not experience these dreams on a regular basis; they only tend to occur when something specifically draws me back to Fâerun. For this specific set of dreams, it was under the purpose of finding a place that I could call home. At this point in time, I still considered the city of Waterdeep, the Vault of Dragons and Dragon Tower to be important places to me. This is due to my relation to Aurinax, who’s been a notable resident of all three locales. That being said, I conveyed with him that these places were more like childhood homes of mine. I could always return and lay my head there, but there was a roost of my own out there that awaited me. I would come to find that the fortress of Candlekeep was that exact place. Sure, it has its fair share of mysterious mystics and bookkeeping busybodies to account for. There is never a dull moment when parties of adventurers come to and fro from our campus, but I wouldn’t recommend it if one particularly dislikes monasteries and libraries respectively.
If one is not familiar with Candlekeep, note that it is a large, ancient fortress meant to protect one thing and one thing only: centuries of knowledge. Given my own dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, I knew that this place was exactly what I had been looking for. In my wing of Candlekeep, the walls of my lair house countless tomes. Each shelf towers over all who enter, including myself. Near the ceiling of the tower, I have bedding where I rest; near it lies a large, circular window where the sun can hit my scales if I so pleased. On murkier days, I can hear the waves of the Sea of Swords crashing below Candlekeep, comforting me as I read from my hoard. I see this area as the den of my dwellings. There is no greater home that I could ask for, but it pains me that I can never physically venture to it.
Additionally, Candlekeep is not just a place where I roost. There are dreams in which I act as a sentry to the fortress from time to time. Part of these dreams involve me doing what many of the sages, monks and other members of the Avowed at Candlekeep can’t: communing with Miirym, an undead silver dragon who guarded Candlekeep’s vaults as penance for attempting to steal from them. My wing of the fortress is connected to the lower vaults of Candlekeep, so I don’t have to wander far to work with her. I measure whether or not travelers are able to enter the vaults of Candlekeep, informing my silvery, spectral friend in the process. If any travelers try to damage or make off with our works under dishonorable purposes, then it is Miirym's decision on what becomes of them. It is not your typical suitemate situation, but it works for us whenever I undergo these spiritual journeys.
That is one out of many diverse cases of connecting with one’s hearthome. However, I do ask that my accounts of my hearthome are not viewed as a standard for these experiences. It is important to understand that not every account may be as detailed as mine. Moreover, not every alterhuman may be aware of what their hearthome is or if they even have one. As I mentioned prior, the details of one’s hearthome falls entirely on the individual.
To learn more about hearthomes and their presence within the alterhuman community, resources such as Beyond Humanity and The Alterhuman Dictionary are starting places to consider. These resources cover how hearthomes and other alterhuman experiences are defined. While there are folks who may find more clarity in having a singular definition of something, it is common for our communal resources to emphasize on the wide array of ways in which one can be alterhuman. Thus, there is no one way of defining certain concepts within our community. That being said, it is understandable that such openness can make any research quite taxing.
Based on what I’ve found from my own inquiries, social media is a good place to start in terms of connecting with other alterhumans and learning from their personal experiences. Whether it is through reaching out to alterhuman-specific Discord servers, or directly searching hashtags on hearthomes through platforms like Tumblr, these are just a couple of accessible ways to be in touch with one’s peers and their experiences. I personally recommend reading from the accounts of Fisher, Milo and Alex to gain more understanding on hearthomes and how they relate to one’s alterhumanity. Each post discusses the perspectives that Fisher, Milo and Alex respectively have on where they belong as alterhumans. Another resource that can be considered is the Alterhuman Archive, an extensive database that houses the writings, essays and journals of alterhumans from across all backgrounds and disciplines. I’ve encountered only a handful of submissions that specifically discuss the experience of having a hearthome. Unfortunately, of the submissions I could find, at least two of them no longer have working links. Regardless, the others that are available are still worth reading if one seeks to learn more on this experience through the personal accounts of other alterhumans. I personally recommend "Heart Is Where The Home Is," by Fractal Boundary since the post addresses how hearthome as a term was coined and reflects on the commonality of this experience amongst alterhumans.
With the current resources we have at our disposal, I’ve found that the study of hearthomes is also lacking in proper guidance. Knowing what we know of this phenomenon, there is no harm in providing more assurance to our peers if they suspect that they have a hearthome. I have advice of my own for curious and questioning members to keep in mind:
One’s home can be considered as an extension of oneself. Given that one’s identity can be explored through various facets, it is possible for a hearthome to hold considerable relevance to one’s alterhumanity. Although there are not many academic approaches to examining hearthomes, this can change in due time. There are a great deal of archivists and researchers within the alterhuman community; each of which are dedicated to the histories, accounts and inquiries of our community. If hearthomes are not documented further as of now, I have faith that they will receive their own focus in the future. As I continue to share my writings within this community, I look forward to seeing further exploration into these experiences as a scholar and a fellow alterhuman.