#dæmon analysis

[daemonomicon]

Professions / Personalities and Suggested Dæmons.

Example 1: Investigator who is tenacious, stubborn, and straight-forward, with integrity:

Dæmon logic: determined and stubborn (mustelid or mustelid-like; can dig their big claws in and hang on), straightforward (stocky rather than slinky and energetic), muck-raking (something adapted for uncovering earth).

Suggested Dæmons: Hog Badger, or (if they also have a disdain for tabloid press) Aardvark.

(See: Eddie Brock in Venom. Brock literally means badger!)

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Example 2: Wise leader of a gang of jewel-thieves, the brains of the operation, trusted to plan out their heists, especially of otherworldly objects.

Dæmon logic: Thinker (bird), trusted navigator (corvid), avarice (corvid that steals sparkly things), otherworldliness (blue).

Suggested Dæmon: Magpie.

(See: Fagin in Oliver Twist.)

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Example 3: Someone who's only pretending to be the wise leader of the jewel-thief gang, but is actually a smooth-tongued liar planning to stab them in the back.

Dæmon logic: Thinker (bird), trusted navigator (corvid), avarice (corvid that steals sparkly things), deceit (bird that only looks like a corvid that steals sparkly things), bloodthirsty (red).

Suggested Dæmon: Australian Magpie (actually a butcherbird).

(See: Heath Ledger's Joker.)

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Example 4: Clever Female smuggler or pirate, seen as prudent / trusted to navigate murky waters, but leads people astray into otherworldly adventures.

Dæmon logic: Thinker (bird), smuggler/pirate (marine/river-based), trusted navigator (corvid), double life (appearance of a corvid), other worldliness (blue).

Suggested Dæmon: Boat-tailed Grackle.

(See: Elizabeth Swann.)

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Example 5: Reluctant warrior with a calm demeanour, honourable but more concerned with fighting to protect his loved ones than a great cause; has had some experience of privation and otherworldly adventures, especially in a mountainous region of Europe.

Dæmon logic: Calm (greyish colours), warrior (cat), reluctant (domestic), honourable but a homebody (exotic-looking), experience of extreme privation (white), otherworldly adventures (blue), in mountainous Europe (alpine).

Suggested Dæmon: Alpine Lynx

(See: Bucky Barnes.)

[cyria-angel]

My Dæmon Did a Thing (and he says it’s my fault)

I was up all night last night (researching), and boy did find something new.

So, with all of the HDM reading and Pullman form analysis I felt like revisiting the barn owl analysis (as I sometimes do to check and see if it still fits) and I realized that there might be something that fits better than the barn owl form. So I went back to the drawing board. With more research, I realized that I had mistyped myself. All this time I though I was 9w1 and INFJ, but with more analyzing, I found that I fit much better with 4w5 and INTJ. And I mean spot-on! It’s actually amazing how much better I fit with these types, and I really wish I knew that sooner. Live and learn I guess.

As it goes, my types look like this:

INTJ-T

Ravenclaw

4w5

True Neutral

With all of this research I found that I don’t fit with the barn owl form as much as I thought I did. I suppose it could remain a personal form, so nothing’s lost. However, I still needed to find a more fitting form, so I combed through the analysis index, and lo and behold, I found something that fit me more than anything else. The form I found was a striped possum.

Now, keep in mind that Amandus has been a barn owl for over two years! He wasn’t too keen on changing form. He didn’t feel it quite right to change after all of this time. But I am a perfectionist. I wanted to make sure I had the right form that fit me. I wanted to be sure. I want to know myself.

In the end, after reading the analysis, as well as looking at some very cute pictures of a striped possum, Amandus tried out the form. It felt wrong at first. I could feel him cringe, but then he started crawling around as a cute little striped possum. He clung to my left shoulder (his favorite place for some reason) and wrapped his long tail around my arm. He was able to move in ways that he couldn’t as a barn owl, and suddenly he found the form much more comfortable.

In the end, he settled down into the form. Then, since it was very late, and I was very tired, we went to bed, and he curled up on my pillow and snuggled at the top of my head.

And that’s the story of how my barn owl dæmon of two years became a striped possum dæmon.

So now I got a possum clinging to me 24/7 🙄

But I kinda like it 🙃

[cyria-angel]

Coming Analysis (Book of Dust)

I’m currently reading The Book of Dust. Heck, I knocked out more than half of it yesterday. It has brought to light a lot of details about dæmons that I didn’t know before. For example, I didn’t think that dæmons had anatomy, but the book makes it clear that they do. Also, I had always wondered how the dæmons of babies behaved. La Belle Suavage touches on that too.

In the future, I aim to discuss more of these things, as well as analyze dæmons in general (both Pullman dæmons and those we know today.)

[daemonomicon]

Hi! Would you ever consider doing a canon for insects? I think there's only one settled butterfly in the whole series, but Pan is a moth multiple times.... Not sure what to say about moths except their secretive, nor butterflies except they're perhaps manipulative (because the woman was a journalist, and they have to manipulate information out of people).

@highfivegloriousdinosaur  I always meant to get around to it, but unfortunately 1) RL happened, and 2) I am not fond of insects so it is actually difficult for me to look at images of them for the picset above. ^_^’ 

I had/have a theory about the implications of insect dæmons, though, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it appeared to be supported in La Belle Sauvage! 

I don’t see evidence of manipulation among the insect-dæmon people so much as a kind of … parasitism?

Borne of an unhealthily warped, romanticised or glamourised view of the world… and they want people to fit into that mould, so when they lie it’s because they believe the lie; or they will only ask the kind of questions which will get the ‘right’ answers. 

Insect-dæmon owners seem to be those who, being rather small themselves, tend to live vicariously through others: tabloid journalists, poets, hero-worshipping acolytes of religious figureheads, even the Fae! 

I mean, they’re literally people with insignificant, unobtrusive souls.

(It’s suggestive, when that little girl finds Mrs Coulter in the cave - the fact that her unsettled dæmon appears as a butterfly to me seems like a big ol’ clue that she’s going to be susceptible to her kind of glamour. And iirc there are two settled butterfly dæmons in the broader series: Adele Starminster’s and Oskar Sigurdson’s.) 

[daemonomicon]

Sorry it took me so long to answer @sundancerbramblepath ! 

[there were reasons, and for some reason it disappeared so I’m having to screenshot you here! :-S]

Anyway: Oh! A heron, what an interesting choice!

What we can infer about bird-dæmon people, from canon:

they’re Thinkers, intellectuals by instinct – they look to the skies.  

the more raptorish the bird, the more tenacious the intellectual curiosity.

The family Ardeidae (which comprises herons/egrets/bitterns) all have those glaring osprey-like eyes...

So, I think we can infer that they belong to people of almost, shall we say, bloody-mindedly focused intellect.

The real distinctive characteristic which marks a heron out, in particular, is that long snaky S-shaped neck, and their flight (since they fly with it retracted).

The neck is not swan- or goose-like, it’s not so elegant… and the fact that it is kept sort of coiled up, hidden away until the bird strikes to catch its prey, with that dagger-thin bill…

To me, both these things suggest a certain viper-like quality.

And since serpents, in canon, are secretive folks, and so are herons, I think your heron-dæmon person is going to be someone who keeps the full extent of their intelligence concealed, until suddenly unleashing it - perhaps to the surprise of those around them. 

(If this is someone with a very narrow or specialised field of knowledge, their dæmon would be a particularly fine-billed subspecies, like the Agami heron. The narrow bill could connote needle-witted-ness! )

(The vibrant colours of this particular breed would suit someone who has passion, anger, impetuosity (for the red) and a connection with Other worlds (the blue.) Also, since it hails from Central/South America, its person would be spiritually at home there.)

If you’re looking for that passion, without the narrow speciality or needle-wittedness, the Whistling Heron has similar colours, but a thicker bill:

If you wanted to suggest a Mad Professor type, you couldn’t do better than the Snowy Egret, which looks about one second away from making a time-machine out of a DeLorean:

(GREAT SCOT!!)

For a calm, zen version of this dæmon (ie. like Serafina Pekkala) you could choose the Eastern Reef Egret in classy pink and grey:

Or, someone who had the surprise-intelligence quality and is very influential/compelling or charismatic, might have the big-bird version, the Goliath Heron.

Bitterns tend to be smaller, and brown, so if my theories about colour stack up, then they would suit a more modest, retiring sort of person (who also has a surprising laser-like focus on their subject). 

Bear in mind the influence of geography in dæmons; that you want to be picking a subspecies which originates in an area that suits the person, spiritually speaking -- even if they’ve never been there. 

(nb: and you could also interpret the spindly-leggedness of this species as a sign that their person’s ideas or intellect are precarious in some way, not strongly supported - they could be eccentric, out-of-left-field thinkers?)

Hope that helps!

[honeybadger-the-pop-witch]

Random Daemonism Question

So Bard has changed forms into a mink, and we like this form a lot. Like a lot, a lot. But we can’t seem to find any sources on its meaning. Just wondering, because we’re curious, does anyone have any mink daemonism links they can send? Thank you!

[dustyard]

What would your thoughts be on a Scottish/European wild cat?

Hello lovely! 

Scottish wildcats are fascinating animals who are, in many ways, the buff sibling to domestic cats. However, Scottish wildcats are not just cats; these guys are extremely resilient and are the very definition of tough. Being extremely private creatures, these types of people want their space, and a lot of it. They are also the sort who are set in their habits, and do not take kindly to changes in their schedule. I usually hear them being portrayed as grumpy old men, but in reality they are quite different. Being cats, they are not precisely aggressive, as they prefer flight over fight. However, these little cats are vicious, and I don’t use that term lightly. These compact bamfs have been reported successfully chasing off large dogs, eagles, and even people. The sort of people who have a Scottish wildcat dæmon are absolutely not to be messed with. These cats, as well as the people who can be portrayed by them, can be summed up in one word: intense. They are capable, do not give up, and will fight to the death with a kind of ferocity that is alarming for such a small predator. I like to think of them as being like a regular cat, but with the spirit of a lion.

Can you tell I really, really love these cats? They are honestly so cool and badass, like. Wow.

[dustyard]

Irish Wolfhound?

Heya Nonny! There’s a fantastic analysis on Irish Wolfhounds on the Dæmon Page which should help you out. 

Also, as a quick aside, one of my life goals is to get one of these gorgeous dogs. I utterly adore Irish Wolfhounds.