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.
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[edit] 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 exceptions have been made (for example, between lovers) and dæmons can touch each other freely. A child's dæmon has no fixed form, and changes form according to whim and circumstance. In many universes, such as ours, they are invisible and not physical.
Early editions of Northern Lights briefly mention a deceased scholar with a daemon in the form of a young woman. However, this is changed in later editions.
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. [1]
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 often dies. Similarly, the matter of where a dæmon's name comes from is unclear. Will Parry's dæmon Kirjava has no name initially. The witch Serafina Pekkala names Kirjava (Finnish word, meaning mottled or many-coloured), but there is no indication of whether a similar principle applies to all dæmons.
Generally, a person and his or her dæmon must stay within a short distance of each other, although witches' dæmons do not. Forcibly separating a person from his or her dæmon will cause unimaginable pain for both entities, often 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 renders the person a zombie, to borrow the book's term - a being incapable of independent thought and without any identity. 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.
Cittàgazze has ghost-like creatures called Spectres; these can only be seen by adults, not by children, and they are only attracted to the settled Dust around an adult. After an adult has been attacked by a Spectre, they lose all interest of the world around them, and their dæmon disappears (if it was visible). Lyra, familiar to dæmons and how humans act without them, thinks that Spectres eat adults' dæmons.
In the Danish edition of His Dark Materials the word "dæmon" is changed to "daimon", simply because "dæmon" means "demon" in Danish. In the Spanish edition, the term "dæmon" is changed to "daimonion". The Portuguese translation of the books render the word as "génio" in reference to the familiar spirits in Greco-Roman mythology.
[edit] Symbolism of named dæmons
The specific symbolic meanings of each character's dæmon-form are also noted.
| Character | Dæmon | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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.)[citation needed], 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: | Ozymandias (from BBC Radio) 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: final form; form Satan took when he entered the Garden of Eden in Paradise Lost |
| John Faa: | never named | Crow: the soul of magic and link to the spirit world (alchemical symbol), final form |
| Farder Coram: | Sophonax | Cat: (see above) final form |
| Serafina Pekkala: | Kaisa | Snow Goose: vigilance and protection (Celtic Myth.), final form. The name Kaisa is a female name in Finland, although Kaisa the snow goose is male in the books. |
| Lee Scoresby: | Hester | Hare: The Moon and Resurrection (Pagan), final form |
| The Master (of Jordan College): | Leonor (from BBC Radio) 1 | Raven: Bird used by Odin to collect knowledge, final form |
[edit] Dæmons in our dimension
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Concepts similar to that of the dæmon can be found in several cultures' belief systems. such as Fylgja from Norse mythology, Nahual from Aztec mythology, aku-aku from Easter Island, and familiar spirits from early modern English witchcraft.
Similar to the concept in His Dark Materials, the belief that one's own dæmon exists and can be communicated with is explored by the website The Dæmon Page. People with this belief and who visit this website frequently have termed themselves dæmians. They believe that each person has a dæmon. The person's (single) being can be thought of as two parts, and a dæmon can correspond to the subconscious of the human psyche. The dæmon has no physical form, but one may mentally visualize and project their soul onto the world. [1]
[edit] Notes
Note 1: In the BBC radio drama by Lavinia Murray, Mrs. Coulter's dæmon was named Ozymandias, and the Master's was named Leonor.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Of Dæmons and Angels and Dæmonology, two Bridge to the Stars essays on dæmons
- Livejournal dæmon community
- A internet forum about daemons
