Daemons

I had dinner with my group of girlfriends in Kobe this week and we got onto the topic of Philip Pullman's "Dark Materials" series, otherwise known as the Golden Compass trilogy. I finished the books last week and was surprised by how much I enjoyed them (especially since I was one of those kids who never really got into Narnia or sci-fi), so it was fun to discuss the story with friends who have also read them, hear their reactions to the ending, etc. We also talked about what our daemons would be if we had one.

In the [Golden Compass] story, the main character, Lyra, lives in a world where humans' souls exist outside their body in the form of an animal. There is a spiritual and physical tie between the two being, which makes it virtually impossible to separate a human and their talking animal-daemon. When you're a child, the daemon takes on different animal shapes, but it eventually settles into one form - that best represents your personality - upon puberty.

When I asked what my girlfriends thought my daemon would "settle" as, I was surprised when two of the four girls immediatly replied, "a cat!" A third said a butterfly, which I could see, but one of the cat girls said she saw some kind of lynx or bobcat and everyone seemed to agree with that.

This little group of women is pretty spread out, so we don't all get to see each other that often, and there are better friendships between different people, but we try to meet as a group and for "girls' night" often enough (it's sort of like breakfasts on Sex & The City) that I feel really comfortable with all the girls and think they have a good idea of my personality. Interesting that they would see me as catlike....

Anyways, if you want to see what your daemon would be (or learn more about the novels & film), take the little quiz (see "Daemons") on the Golden Compass* website.