Dæmonism 101 - Vocabulary
Here are some quick definitions of different terms used in the daemonism community!
Daemonism: the practice of having a daemon and interacting with them
Daemon: a part of the self that someone can learn to engage with, often appearing in the form of an animal and sharing a deep bond with their daemian
Daemian: a person who has a daemon (or many), a person who practices daemonism
TDF: The Daemon Forum, the first daemonism community
HDM: His Dark Materials, a book series by Philip Pullman which inspired daemonism and also spawned a movie and TV adaptation
CIE day: coming into existence day, a celebration much like a birthday to celebrate the day a daemon came into existence
Projection: the act of visualizing your daemon
Form: an (typically animal) appearance a daemon takes
Settled form: an animal form that a daemon can take which often represents their human
Settled: a daemon that has a settled form, a human whose daemon has a settled form (the opposite would be unsettled)
Form finding: the process of finding a settled form
Analytical form: a form which is found by analyzing behavioural traits of animals and translating them into human personality traits
Pullman form: a form which is found by analyzing myths and beliefs surrounding animals and comparing them to one’s life story
Personal form: a form which has a personal meaning to the daemian and/or daemon
Comfort form: a form which is comfortable to take for the daemian and/or daemon
Aspirational form: a form which represents something the daemian and/or daemon aspire to be
Analysis: an analysis of an animal's behaviour and translating it into human traits, to help with analytical form finding
Reverse analysis: an analysis of a daemian's personality, to help with analytical form finding (also called RA)
Portrait: an analysis of our social perceptions of an animal and their role in myths/stories, translating them into human traits, to help with Pullman form finding
Self-portrait: an analysis of the way a daemian is perceived and the narrative themes in their life, to help with Pullman form finding