Hey! I've been trying to figure out what my daemon is for a while, my ideas have been and orangutan, kapabara, Saint Bernard and elephant. But I can never really properly figure out what it is and stick to it, I'm a creative individual whos a carer. Do you have any tips on how you found yours?
hey, great question! i love hearing how people found their daemons so if anyone has any stories definitely share in the comments/reblogs!
i think a lot of people have a hard time settling on a daemon because we're such fluid individuals. while elements of personality do remain consistent over the lifetime, i would argue that our perception of ourself or our level of introspection can be malleable. particularly since picking a daemon has so much to do with it feeling like a right fit! i've personally gone between fossa (pre-therapy haha), red squirrel, sussex spaniel, tufted titmouse, and golden lion tamarin. most people in the community have had even forms they think were settled shift, and some people don't even ascribe to the idea of a settled form at all. for me, i enjoy the idea of a stable form since like i've stated before i'm into daemonism as an element of personality.
it's also definitely not easy since daemon form analysis is subjective. TDF's daemon analyses have gotten really thorough in the recent years and they've started including citations and vetting of analyses and vibes, but ultimately they're written by a person or a small group of people with their own interpretations of animal behavior. it's probably why the book series (with its "pullman forms") relies more on a person's archetype and environment rather than personality.
i really think the best daemon form is one that spans elements of both of these. i've started to begin form-finding by asking people about what archetype they feel they fill in life. you describe yourself as creative and a carer. those are two values that you feel are central to your identity and need to be reflected in your daemon, and the forms you're looking at really exemplify the caretaker persona. since you have a shortlist already, i think you should examine how you associate with these different species. they all have overlapping traits that you relate to, and while you can absolutely go in and start looking at if you have any traits incompatible with these species, your hesitation to settle on a form might be not completely resonating with the animals themselves.
i'd ask yourself two types of questions:
1. what's my gut say? my issue with my last form, the tufted titmouse, was that i never felt much like a bird person. it doesn't matter if when it comes down to the veryyy last hair to split the tufted titmouse fits better than my current form if it's not an animal i relate to. not to say people should just pick their favorite animals -- which is valid if that's how you want to approach daemonism, but really so much of the fun is discovering new animals you love and relate to! but when you have a handful of forms that all fit, examining which you feel drawn to is a great mechanism to narrow them down. your associations with the animal are just as, if not more, important than what other people write up. each species means something to you and that's wrapped up in finding a form that feels right.
2. which best fits how i want to be seen? if your daemon is your identity, which relates the most to how you want others to understand you at a glance? the elephant has a very difference presence than the saint bernard, for example. this links back to the first question, but finding a form that feels right relies so much on one that feels like the part of you that you truly are or wish you could be. in my experience, people who get attached to their forms are those who are proud of what their daemon represents, whether it be a lion or a dung beetle. in the original series (and for fictional characters!) i think the concept of shame, duplicity, and dislike of the self intersecting with one's daemon presentation is really interesting to ponder. but for you, a real person with a narrative that deserves to be celebrated, i think the key to finding your perfect daemon is recognizing what you love about yourself and want to share with the world.
anyway that was a little rambling but i hope it helped somewhat! there's nothing wrong to attaching yourself to a form and then shifting it, or having a few forms that you associate with yourself, or never picking just a handful of forms. some people even make multiple daemons to represent different facets of their identity. but if you're looking for the excitement of blurting out the weirdest animal possible during a "what animal do you think you'd be" icebreaker, start by thinking about which one you'd be most happy to say! :)
