Dæmons Are Weird (but also amazing)

I want to talk about dæmons.

And why shouldn’t I? Dæmons are fascinating creatures. I really can’t wrap my head around the idea of them. You might think right off the bat “they’re an animal representation of your soul” and be done, but honestly, isn’t that just so weird?

Think about it. A dæmon is an animal representation of your soul. What does that even mean? Your soul is what encapsulates everything about who you are. Your soul which, in Lyra’s world, is not a part of you. I mean, it’s a part of you, certainly, but you and it are physically separate. Your soul walks and flies around and can do so out of your reach, if not too far. Your soul talking to another person’s soul is entirely normal. You talk to your soul and your soul talks back and your soul is your dearest friend and companion.

Except your soul is also so intrinsically a part of you that if you lose it, what’s left? A thoughtless soldier? A half-child?

The concept of a dæmon is weird, is what I’m trying to say, and I still can’t grasp what having one is like. I’m not sure if I’ll ever figure it out. Which is actually quite unfortunate because people having dæmons leads to one of my favorite things about Lyra’s world.

It’s really simple: people love their dæmons.

I mean, obviously. People love their dæmons because their dæmons are their best friends who have always been there and would never leave. Dæmons are an unwavering source of support, often act as protection, and are their souls. What’s not to love?

The thing is, in our world, plenty of people find plenty of things not to love. If people love their dæmons, they love manifestations of their entire selves.

We don’t see much self-doubt (as in doubting what you might do because of who you are) in Lyra’s world. Lyra regrets some of her actions (such as not listening to the alethiometer and unwittingly betraying Roger), but she doesn’t beat herself up about it; she chooses to learn from them. Lee is horrified that he must kill, but Hester supports him, and he continues because he ultimately believes he’s doing the right thing.

The people in Lyra’s world have to face who they truly are every day, but that’s okay; they love who they truly are. And I think that’s pretty amazing.

3 responses to “Dæmons Are Weird (but also amazing)”

  1. remashha Avatar
    remashha

    Your post made me wonder if watching one’s daemon change forms as they grow up would be the same as watching oneself mature. For example, as Lyra matures, Pan repeatedly returns to several forms (wildcat, ermine, etc). Does Lyra notice this? Would noticing the common states of one’s soul affect their personality, their choices, or even their willingness to appreciate their self?

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    1. yonuc Avatar
      yonuc

      My post has less regard for their shape than the common relationship between person and dæmon. I didn’t really take shape into account, which does complicate things since you have to watch who you’re turning into.
      However, to me, it seems to be one of those things that you sort of notice, but it’s so normal that you don’t necessarily pay attention. You might see that someone has a snake dæmon, but that doesn’t make you immediately go “untrustworthy” (unlike many readers). So I don’t think there would be a conscious lack of self-appreciation or influence to choices.

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  2. medhafaustnagar Avatar
    medhafaustnagar

    Until reading this post I didn’t realize the likely role that daemons play in self-esteem and mental health. The fact that folks in Lyra’s world have a manifestation of themselves that they love probably decreases things like self-hate, as you pointed out. What’s interesting to me is in Will’s world–and ours *hopefully*– we still have souls. We have daemons, but because they are internal we don’t end up getting the warm fuzzies. Perhaps in Lyra’s world daemons’ traits are the ones that their human most likes about themselves (even if it’s buried deeply in the human).

    Back to mental health I wonder how the stats (you know if those existed) of mental health issues in Lyra’s world would compare to those in ours. Would daemons make finals easier?

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