"I'm Telling You, It's A Real Animal!"

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Today, I’m seeing a shiny meme on Find Your Dæmon. For those of you who don’t know, a dæmon, in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, is an animal manifestation of one’s soul. When you are a child your dæmon is ever-changing; when you hit a certain point in puberty, it settles down into one animal form that somehow reflects your personality.

 

I considered doing this meme, but I realized that it would be silly, because I know what my dæmon is—I knew almost soon as I found out what one was, years ago. It is, unfortunately, what ursulav would dub a Charismatic Mammal, but it has slightly less charisma than what you might expect, and it goddamn fits.

 

My dæmon is a puma.*

 

I’ve always been a cat person—not just a person who prefers cats, but a person for whom the descriptive term “cat” applies—so I knew that I was some sort of cat. At first I thought it might be an outright lion—that was the only confusion I had, between lion and mountain lion. Come on—lions get along better in small communities of mostly females, and the females are grouchy. They sleep 18 hours a day. And they’re carnivores. Sounds an awful lot like me. But while I’m built stocky and less than sleek and graceful like, say, a margay, I realized I certainly couldn’t be counted as a Big Cat. And therefore, I realized that the puma—a big cat who isn’t actually a Big Cat, who cannot roar but who can yowl** and purr—shared something with me. And while I try to be multicultural, in many respects I’m aggressively American, especially as far as my aesthetic sense of nature is concerned—I love the puma’s habitats, all of them. And I am a predator, but not the dominant predator anywhere I go.

 

And therefore, my dæmon, my animal avatar, is a puma.

 

I still sleep like a lion, however. Or perhaps a koala. Or a sloth. I am the sort of puma that would grow moss ...

So tell me, my friends ... ignore the meme. What, according to you, is your dæmon? And why?


Discussion Question: Do dæmons depend on the region the person lives in? Do you have to know what the animal is to have it as a dæmon? Does someone who knows about more animals get a wider variety of dæmon possibilities? And what about mythical animals? Can you have those?

 

 

*Or a cougar, or a mountain lion, or a catamount, etc., etc. …

 

**There’s a reason one of their names is the “mountain screamer”: although they don’t make them often, the noises they make are positively blood-curdling. As I’ve mentioned before when talking about sound effects, pumas don’t sound like big roary cats or scary bears or predators, or even like Chewbacca. They sound like giant mutant housecats from SPACE.

Comments

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Chameleon.

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

Most likely a cat of some kind, but I'm not altogether sure what.

Either that or a magpie.

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Mine's an Amarok.

UUhhh.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Which raises the question of how mythical creatures would fit into the daemon matrix. (I believe yours is, because you know yourself, but I wonder how Pullman would have worked that.)

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Well, if I had to pick a runner-up, it'd be the biting pear, but somehow that's not quite a valid animal either, haha. I'm not capable of normal things, I think!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

What, like this? :)

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Exactly, and all of its weird but silly derivations.

[bluetara2020.livejournal.com]

No idea what mine would be. But I suppose one day I'll find out.

Or something.

And I don't think that daemons are dependant on geography (though it probably wouldn't hurt and would be more prevalant.) or knowledge for that matter.

And if daemons aren't dependant on geography and you subscribe to the belief that mythological animals are just on another plane of existance, which goes into theoretical quantum physics (I think), than I daresay that mythological creatures would also be possible...though less likely to physically manifest.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I do remember that at one point in the book they're trying to figure out what Lyra's daemon has settled as, and Will is the one who comes up with the answer.

I have a story that blatantly rips off daemons, and one of the superphysicists says it has to do with the psychology of the universe the people live in. Nobody wants to even TOUCH that.

[enigmania.livejournal.com]

Apparently, according to Uwe, I am a degu.

Which actually makes sense, given how much I identified with my pet gerbils as a kid. Huh.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

A carnivorous rodent, huh? Points for your hidden predation!

[lookingforwater.livejournal.com]

Where is the meme?

[lookingforwater.livejournal.com]

Aha, nevermind, found it on my own.

Honestly? I've always felt myself to have a certain dragonish flair. And this was since before the internet, back when I was a little kid, so I feel rather confident in my decision. Dragons start out young and furious and joyful, but not quite in control of their flame or wings. They only become grizzled sages with the passage of many years, when they've learned that the open sky will still be there tomorrow and there will always be knights to roast. They're arrogant, domineering, and like very few people, but are extremely loyal to those they do like and their arrogance is mitigated by a deep understanding of their cosmic insignificance and tends to be mostly their impatience with the petty disputes of everyone around them. Which isn't to say they're always right, either. Often they get so wrapped up in the big picture that the small details sneak up and bite them on their scaly ass, causing much mirth to their companions. Older and wiser dragons learn to work around this tendency and make a joke of their own failings.

Of course, dragons, being fictional, can be anything you want them to be... but these were the dragons I dreamed of as a child, and they're what I consider myself.

If fictional beings are disqualified, I'm a fruit bat.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

If you think you're a dragon, that's good enough for me.

I'm really intrigued by your version of dragons. One of my stories involves a dragon who spends about half her time in a human(ish) form, and her personality is rather like that. (Arrogant, deliberately flouts society's rules, and smokes an acrid pipe to remind everyone that she's a goddamn DRAGON.) Actually, her student is a hobbit, and that seems to work well--she teaches him the grand mysteries of science and magic, and he keeps her in line with the small niceties she forgets. I like their dynamic.

If you have any stories about your dragons up online, let me know!

[lookingforwater.livejournal.com]

I created a huge dragon civilization once, but I never wrote anything about it. I've been holding off on writing fantasy until I have the perfect setting - if I can just shoehorn dragons into my current one, I think I'll have it. Though maybe not. My dragons are special, and I want them to have the best story I can come up with.

Speaking of which, my first post about my new orcish playground should be coming up soon, depending on how much finals destroy mah mind and soul. If you want to see the bare beginnings of the possibility of the germination of the current world, you could check here., but it's evolved drastically since then. You can see the beginnings of my world under the Generic FantasyLand disguise, though.

[die-monster.livejournal.com]

Definitely a canine, and probably a dog. Loyal, fun-loving, lazy, greedy, compassionate, omnivorous, and I enjoy riding in the backs of pickups. Har.

[shadesofmauve]

Ooh...your list of questions sound very like those I've been asking myself about the weyrr (were) creatures on my world. Their shape is supposed to relate to their nature, similarly to a daemon. I've always loved the deamon concept, except for the servant/dog thing.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

That bugged me, too.

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in the supernatural or even the mystical.

Having said that, surely you can guess what my spirit animal is? I got into Wicca for a little while between losing christianity and finding atheism, which is when I 'found' him.
Oddly enough, now that I think spirit animals are as much bunk as any of the other trappings of any religion, I find blackbirds watching me on a regular basis, and feel invisible ones perching on my shoulder issuing edicts, pronouncements, warnings and judgements upon me all too often.
I figure it's an odd little neurosis, but hardly a dangerous one. :)

Btw, physically and psychologically I am more of a lion. Very much a Leo, you know? Which is, once again, so much flowery words with no substance. :)

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Dude, have you READ His Dark Materials? You're talking to a hardcore atheist here about an even more hardcore atheist series, and daemons are still cool. Myth and symbolism are still fascinating, and they're all about metaphor. Cougars couldn't give a flying fuck about me, but that doesn't mean I can't feel some love for them. 'Taint mystical, it's just interesting.

I draw the line at astrology, though. My general response to "What's your sign?" is "Sharks--No Swimming."

[shadesofmauve]

Speaking of Pullman's philosophy/theology, I'm really, really interested to see how much protest the movie draws. If Harry Potter gets more in the way of rabid-christian-protest than the Golden Compass...well, the protesters are even dumber than I thought.

Pullman's dust concept is still the best descriptor of the universe for me. I adore those books.

And I'm a sort of cat, btw. I've often identified with tigers, partly because they like water, and because for awihle I felt rather in need of a friend animal that could beat the living shit out of someone. And then eat them. But I'm afraid I'm actually closer to the most gregarious, friendly kind of housecat.

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even heard of it til today.
You were the first to post about this. Since then, everyone and their brother has done the meme. I figured I'd run it as well. Unfortunately, I'm apparently a weasel. ;)

[gondolinchick01.livejournal.com]

You're sure your daemon isn't a warthog?

:P In all seriousness, that really fits. I cannot for the life of me, however, think of what my daemon would be. Many people have tried to give me one, with little success--I've heard variously a cat, a chinchilla, a rabbit and a parrot and have no idea who to believe.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Only if I were Polynesian ...

[crazykawaii.livejournal.com]

Red-tailed hawk.

The question that always interested me (before I read The Amber Spyglass, anyways) is when exactly does your daemon settle? I figured puberty = physical = getting your period (I never thought what the equivalent might be for boys). Never considered otherwise until I asked a 16-year-old friend who said his hadn't settled yet.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Probably Different For Everybody.

I wonder if some people's don't settle--like if there's a disorder like that or something, coinciding with a mental/physical ailment? *intrigued by possibilities*

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

...I got an Ocelot. Is a very lovely fellow.

I think I'd probably really end up with a small tweety bird or a gerbil, in truth.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

I'm some sort of cat. Definitely.

And I have lots of random puma trivia if you like--my Sibling was, until fairly recently (as I may have mentioned), a zookeeper, and her former zoo has two pumas. So yeah, lots of puma trivia.

Like, for instance, they like watermelon. And they chirp when they're happy.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Always love trivia. The chirping makes sense, but the watermelon? BLINDSIDED me. Although I had a cat who liked pea soup, so you never know ...

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Apparently it's pretty well known in the zoology community and shows up fairly often in enrichment journals (giving zoo animals things to entertain them, make their lives more interesting, etc., is called enrichment). My sister's housecat will climb humans after watermelon, and our childhood cats adored muskmelon, so it didn't strike us as all that odd but we have specialized experiences to draw on.

Freddy and Jackie also like oregano, and straw that had been used by various sorts of farm animals (miniature horses, donkeys, llamas, etc.). The keepers would stuff burlap bags full of the used straw and chuck them into the enclosure for the cats to play with. A full-grown cougar playing with a burlap bag stuffed with dirty straw looks remarkably like a housecat playing with a catnip mouse.

[viizou.livejournal.com]

I'm really not sure what to answer. I'm too clumsy to be a cat, too cuddly to be a rabbit, not frisky enough to be a dog, and I'm too meek to be one of the big predators. All I know is it'd have to be a land-based animal: I'm not particularly fond of heights and I haven't swam in years.

Is there an land animal out there that's on the quiet side, grows cuddly once it gets used to you and tends to bump into things a lot? And is a little odd if you stare at it too long?