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 human. Many characteristics of a daemon match the concepts from other cultures or psychology.
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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. In other universes such as ours they are invisible. A child's dæmon has no fixed form, and changes according to whim and circumstances, but as children reach puberty their dæmons take a form reflective of the person's personality. This concept is sometimes referred to as a "familiar".
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]
Dæmons share some properties of Fylgja from Norse mythology and of Nahual from Aztec mythology.
It is uncertiain when or how a dæmon is "born" or what form they are "born" in. This is never explained.
Generally a person and their dæmon must stay within a short distance of each other, although witches' dæmons may be remote. Forcing a person and their dæmon to be separated will cause the person to die. However in the trilogy, a special guillotine is used by General Oblation Board, which allowed the two to be separate without killing the person. However this effectively renders him or her 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.), final form | ||
| Mrs. Coulter: | never named Template:Fn | 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: | "the Snake" | Alpine Chough: Lucifer's form upon entering Eden (Paradise Lost), final form | ||
| John Faa: | to be updated | 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 |
Notes
Template:Fnb In the BBC radio drama by Lavinia Murray, Mrs. Coulter's dæmon was named Ozymandias.
See also
External links
- The Dæmon Page
- The Dæmon Forum
- Bridge to the Stars, A His Dark Materials fanpage
- Of Dæmons and Angels, An essay on dæmons
- Dæmononolgy, Another essay on dæmonsfr:Dæmon