Dæmon (His Dark Materials)
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A dæmon in the Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials, is a physical manifestation of the soul of a conscious person. Many characteristics of a daemon match the concepts from other cultures or psychology.
Overview
In Lyra's world, a dæmon takes the form of an animal and has a separate identity despite being an integral part of a person (i.e. they are one entity, though two bodies). "The worst breach of etiquette imaginable" is for humans to touch another person's dæmon, though dæmons can touch each other. A child's dæmon has no fixed form, and changes form according to whim and circumstance. In many universes such as ours, they are not physical and invisible.
As children resolve their mature personalities (approximately the age of puberty), their dæmons "settle" into a form reflective of the person's personality characteristics. For example, a human with a dog dæmon may tend to follow authority, and a person with a cat dæmon may be very independent.
A person's dæmon is usually of the opposite sex to its human, and so can be seen as an external expression of the Jungian concept of the anima or animus. However, in some cases it may be the same sex as the person, which is often believed by readers and fans to indicate that the person is homosexual. Pullman, however, apparently did not intend to convey any such correlation. [link]
It is uncertain when or how a dæmon is "born" or what form they are "born" in. This is never explained. When a person dies, their dæmon appears to fade away, like "atoms of smoke." Likewise, if a dæmon is killed, the human dies.
Generally, a person and their dæmon must stay within a short distance of each other, although witches' dæmons do not. Forcibly separating a person and their dæmon will cause unimaginable pain for both entities, eventually causing death - however, other situations separating them may allow the daemon to gain witch-like mobility. In the trilogy, a special guillotine is used by the General Oblation Board which allowed the two to be separated without killing them. However, this effectively rendered the person a zombie. The separation process also generates a large burst of energy, which was used by Lord Asriel to create a bridge into the world containing Cittàgazze.
In the Danish edition of His Dark Materials the word "dæmon" is changed to "daimon", simply because "dæmon" means "demon" in Danish.
Symbolism of named dæmons
The specific symbolic meanings of each character's dæmon-form are also noted.
| Lyra Belacqua: | Pantalaimon | Moth: the longing of man for God (Carl Jung), first form mentioned | ||
| Ermine: purity (Renaissance Symbology), "favourite" form | ||||
| Pine Marten: grace and empathy (Celtic Myth.), final form | ||||
| Will Parry: | Kirjava | Cat: guardian and protector, especially in confrontational circumstances (Celtic Myth.), final form | ||
| Lord Asriel: | Stelmaria | Snow Leopard: understanding one’s shadow side (Pagan Myth.), associated with the devil (Christian Symbolism), final form | ||
| Marisa Coulter: | never named 1 | Golden monkey (species never named): cleverness and curiosity (Chinese Astrology), final form | ||
| Roger Parslow: | Salcilia | Terrier: fidelity (Celtic Myth.), common form, also explained to be a form suited for servants in the series | ||
| Mary Malone: | never named | Alpine Chough: Lucifer's form upon entering Eden (Paradise Lost), final form | ||
| John Faa: | never named | Crow: the soul of magic and link to the spirit world (alchemical symbol), final form | ||
| Farder Coram: | Sophonax | Cat: final form | ||
| Serafina Pekkala: | Kaisa | Snow Goose: vigilance and protection (Celtic Myth.), final form | ||
| Lee Scoresby: | Hester | Hare: The Moon and Resurrection (Pagan), final form | ||
| The Master: | never named | Raven: Bird used by Odin to collect knowledge, final form |
Dæmons in our dimension
Derived from the concept in His Dark Materials, the belief that one's own dæmon exists and can be communicated with is explained by the website The Dæmon Page. People with this belief have termed themselves dæmians.
Notes
Note 1: In the BBC radio drama by Lavinia Murray, Mrs. Coulter's dæmon was named Ozymandias.See also
External links
- [The Dæmon Page] Asserts and explains the existence of real-world dæmons, possible meanings of forms, etc.
- [The Dæmon Forum] The companion forum to The Daemon Page
- [Of Dæmons and Angels] and [Dæmononolgy], two Bridge to the Stars essays on dæmons
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