Alethios R.

It’s been a year, so I thought a new introduction post was warranted.

I am Alethios and my dæmon is Fallon, who settled as a Canadian lynx. I have no preference for pronouns but my dæmon uses strictly she/her. I am deeply invested in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials books and currently have dedicated my life to the stories. It’s a strange thing to do but I do believe something divine is guiding me and encouraging my pursuits. I am a novice magician particularly skilled with divination and spirit work, a soulbonder, a Dæmointus practitioner, and a few other things. I occasionally practice spell work but it’s not my current focus. This blog is meant to share my beliefs with others and document some of my more experimental work. I am always open to asks and encourage anyone curious to talk to me about anything you’d like.

Under the page break you’ll find a more detailed explanation of my beliefs alongside a list of links to my most important posts. If you want to see all my writings, go to the #my essays tag.

But ive been writing a daemon au for a show set within modern history and tried to incorporate the idea that New Generations more commonly have daemons from outside of their country or homelands and that this is actually a deviance from most of human history. partially because the technological developments of photography, film, book printing ETC mean people can see or discover animals they previously would never have heard of or seen properly.

But also because the au is set in the USA, there's definitely supposed to be subtext that environmental degradation means people see native animals less often than they used to.

But in the metanarrative its because im not from the Americas and I don't know many American animals. They don't come to me like my familiar native friends I see outside and love dearly.

I’m very happy to see that one of my older posts is still doing well, no need to apologize one bit. To this day I really like it and I’m glad to see that others like it too.

I’ve only read a handful of dæmon AU fics since most just don’t interest me but I really love this. A lot of dæmon AU fics don’t really use dæmons within the story as anything more than funny talking animals. It’s a disservice to the many ways they work as a great literary tool within His Dark Materials and Philip Pullman’s other books.

In the books, dæmon forms are seemingly not restricted by geography or knowledge when settling. Though a person’s culture, lifestyle, climate, and more do clearly have an impact on what their dæmon settles as. Someone living in northern Alaska likely won’t end up with a aardwolf dæmon even if that otherwise fits them perfectly. It’s why we don’t see any Gyptians with dæmons that are too large or clumsy to live on their boats.

Normally I’m a huge stickler about people understanding how dæmons work within canon, but I like the changes you’ve made. Especially with the subtext regarding environmental issues. It’s something that does come up in the books, specifically climate change, but I wish it was expanded on more.

I want to get into writing more stuff about the books themselves and analyze the story and characters and all of that. I’ve got some ideas and may finally work on them.

In some other news, I’m experimenting with spirit work. I say experimenting because instead of working with any established type of spirit from existing spiritual traditions, I’m working with the rebel Bene Elim. It was something I was thinking about it for the past year or so but I got repeated signs that i should. So far it’s working well and been a huge benefit. My health has improved significantly when before I had been declining for months.

Dæmons are a concept originating from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, which is really the best resource on the topic(as well as an absolutely amazing trilogy). I suggest you give them a read, both because they’re great books and that’s probably the best way of understanding what dæmons are. I’ve been turning it into a legitimate spiritual practice. There is a preexisting concept called dæmonism, but I personally find it to not fit my experience or represent dæmons properly.

Dæmons are a part of a person that has its own autonomy and conscious experience. They’re typically the opposite sex/gender(though unclear which matters more) and take the form of an animal that best represents that person and their personality(for example someone who is very loyal and hard working may have a dog dæmon). Having a dæmon doesn’t make someone plural, as dæmons exist outside one’s mind. And everyone has a dæmon even if they’re unaware of it, so it’s the normal state of being.

Dæmons are a vital part of a person that they rarely can live without. If you were to get rid of your dæmon, you’d be a shell of yourself or even die. They’re like a spiritual organ, that’s the best analogy I could think of. You need them and they need you. Working with dæmons is incredibly fulfilling and helpful in daily life. It takes a lot of work but for me it has been immensely rewarding.

In the books, dæmons are almost always the opposite sex/gender as their person. So a man would have a female dæmon and a woman would have a male dæmon. We only see one person(at least that I remember) who breaks this pattern, a man working at Jordan college who has a male dog dæmon. Philip Pullman doesn’t make a distinction between sex and gender within the books, though he is supportive of queer individuals and thankfully there is no known ulterior motive in not making a distinction.

So what sex/gender does a dæmon have when their person is not cisgender? It depends on a lot of things that aren’t clarified. Is biological sex the determining factor? Or is it gender identity? Or are both a factor? Either way, what about intersex and nonbinary individuals? Is there something else determining it entirely?

I someday want to try and gather data from others who know their dæmon to see if these questions can be answered. This only applies to those whose dæmons are mostly analogous to Philip Pullman’s concept of dæmons, not those whose experience is different(such as psychological dæmons, thoughtform-like dæmons, multidæ, adults with unsettled dæmons, etc.). This is not out of a want to exclude others, but because I am essentially conducting a study. Dæmons that already go against the conventional idea of what a dæmon is in other ways add too many variables and likely wouldn’t clear up any of these questions. Not sure when I’ll do this, but if anyone is interested let me know. Even if you’d just like to be updated and not participate yourself.

My own experience is what started my fascination with this topic. I am trans, specifically transmasculine with no specific gender labels. But also my dæmon is female and is basically a cisgender woman(if that’d be the right term for one’s dæmon). I do not identify as a man at all, even though I would prefer being seen as a man than as a woman. If I lived in Lyra’s world I’d be one of the rare people with a same-sex dæmon. If my gender identity were binary then I’d just assume it was identity instead of sex that determines dæmon gender, but it’s not. And other trans people I know who know their dæmons haven’t helped clarify things either.

What is the divine spark?

In Gnosticism there’s this idea of the divine spark, or pneuma, which all humans possess. It is a fragment of the true God that when nurtured and cared for can help free you from the control of the Demiurge. It is our connection to divinity itself, to truth and knowledge and all the things that the Demiurge doesn’t want us to have. We got our divine spark when the serpent tempted Eve. The gnostics believe that the serpent wasn’t the Devil, but in actuality was the true God sneaking down to the material world. That act of rebellion seeded humanity with the ability to break free of their nature, as long as they knew about it.

Similarities between Dust and Pneuma

I’m sure anyone familiar with His Dark Materials can already see where these concepts line up. While Dust is a type of elementary particle, its behavior and properties line up. Dust was gifted to humanity, alongside a few other life forms, as an act of rebellion against the Authority. It is what makes drives people to love, dream, create, and seek knowledge. It is strongly linked to divination and drives tools like the Alethiometer and I-Ching. Dust is a key part in defying the Authority, which is analogous to the Gnostic’s Demiurge.

The implications within the story

With Dust and Pneuma being so similar, it can be easily assumed that they are different terms referring to the same thing. The gnostics of the early Common Era couldn’t possibly know Pneuma is a type of particle. And while Dust is not exclusively within and around our being, that’s the biggest role Dust has in most people’s lives. Practices that increase and strengthen a person’s Dust cloud hold even more importance, as the divine spark is key to escaping the Authority/Demiurge’s control. The use of special oils like from the mulefa’s seed pods or R. lopnoriae alongside trepanning are known to have this effect, but other things likely do as well.

The implications in our world

Note: This is my personal experience that may or may not be applicable to your own experience. Furthermore, I am not in a romantic relationship with my soulbond. Some things I say may make it sound that way but because most recent soulbond posts are about romantic soulbond relationships I felt the need to clarify. Don’t insinuate otherwise as that makes us both uncomfortable.

Soulbonding is an incredibly emotionally exhausting practice in my experience. There’s nothing wrong with that but I rarely see anyone talk about it so I thought I’d share my own experience. Maybe I’m just an outlier but even if so I think it’s an improvement discussion. Both for simply the sake of sharing experiences and knowledge and so people interested in soulbonding know it’s a possibility.

Faith itself is not a good measure of the “validity” of someone’s belief system. Someone could be an unshakable religious fanatic and another holding a different belief could be crippling with doubt. Either one could be correct and their faith alone cannot clue you in as to who is correct. And with there being thousands upon thousands of religions and spiritual traditions, and much variation between believers under the same name, it’s more likely that both believers are incorrect.

The idea that faith is the most important thing is something I’d consider a sort of religious thought-terminating cliché. It prevents further discussion on the theological truth behind someone’s belief and fights against both criticism from outside sources and internal reflection itself. If someone believes pure faith justifies them in their belief, they’ll often spiral into contradiction, nonsensical paradoxes, and defiance of logical reasoning if their belief holds little truth sustaining it.

For example, many people claim that God or some other higher power gives them supernatural protection against basic scientific phenomena. This is distinct from the belief that your luck or the probability of certain things happening can be altered, as is very common in most magical traditions. Oftentimes it involves someone intentionally subjecting themselves to a known and predictable danger and their faith overrides their understanding of the fact that the likelihood of things turning out okay is near zero. And yet witnesses to failed miracles of this nature who hold similar beliefs more often than not find loopholes, excuses, and blame for why the miracle failed instead of reevaluating their own beliefs.

This is why while I believe in religious freedom first and foremost, I also believe that religions and spiritual practices should be based primarily on truths instead of faith or “vibes”. As much as it would pain me to do so I’d abandon my own beliefs if I had proof they held no truth. My own beliefs are fringe and bizarre for obvious reasons, but they currently make more sense to me than most other religions I’ve looked at. And that’s the reason I believe what I do. I’ve had moments of both fanaticism and near total loss of faith and I don’t believe that that changed how “right” I am. Nor do I believe that increasing faith itself is a divine act.

Of the intricacies and complications of soulbond relationships and the importance of personhood, equal treatment, and careful consideration.

One of my biggest concerns regarding the shift and massive growth within the soulbond community is that it feels like some people forget who/what soulbonds* are. This was one of my biggest gripes before but with so many people suddenly interested in soulbonding it’s turned from an annoyance to concern very quickly. The mindset that a lot of soulbonders seem to have doesn’t truly acknowledge the reality of soulbonding, at least based on what is posted publicly. And even if in private people think differently, the impression given to people interested in soulbonding is potentially dangerous.

This multi-section, 2k word essay goes in depth about this issue and what I believe is the more appropriate way to approach soulbonding. This is not meant as any form of attack or to invalidate anyone’s spiritual practice. I simply hope that this can be enlightening for those curious about soulbonding or already soulbonders.

* Keep in mind when I talk about soulbonding from this point onwards I’m talking about it spiritually, and specifically the most common explanation behind it(a spiritual bond to someone from an outside universe). Some soulbonders have another explanation or don’t view it spiritually. Most of what I say likely won’t apply to those cases, but some of it might still apply.

Pets seem to be very uncommon in Lyra’s world and most animals kept by people seem to be working ones(sled dogs in particular being mentioned multiple times in TGC/NL), but I occasionally see people misunderstand it as them not keeping pets at all. This seems to come a lot from the assumption that dæmons fulfill a similar companionship role as pets do, which I think is very far from the truth. Dæmons are like an organ, they’re a part of someone and not a separate entity from them. If you liken your mind to your brain, your dæmon would probably best fit your heart while your soul is your whole body.

Of course dæmons are still companions and more often than not serve as helpful guides as well, but it’s not the same as having another person or animal as a companion. I’ve made dæmons a core part of my own spiritual practice and while my dæmon is very helpful to me she often can’t do much more than I could myself if I were still “alone”. Always knowing your dæmon wouldn’t erase the want or need for the companionship of an animal. Someone who only has their dæmon to interact with would still go mad eventually, though it may take longer than for someone who doesn’t know their dæmon at all. Your dæmon can’t replace the social interaction you’d get from a separate individual.

This assumption also ignores the fact many people who have pets don’t just have one. I personally grew up having several pets with the most at once being seven. And that’s not even including the many bugs I collected as a kid that I couldn’t even begin to count. Many people who do only have one pet would at least briefly consider getting another if possible, especially if having only one isn’t fully by choice. Even if the idea that dæmons fulfilled the same wants and needs that pets were true, that alone wouldn’t explain the observable rarity of them in Lyra’s world. I’m sure that if I lived in her world and Fallon was known to me from the start, I’d still end up having one or multiple animals for the sole or at least primary purpose of companionship.

Instead, I believe the rarity of pets is mostly cultural/societal and not directly related to dæmons, at least not as a primary reason. In our world, companionship animals weren’t commonplace for the majority of history. While working animals were common all throughout history and many people had bonds with their working animals, few animals were kept purely for companionship. Instead, pets were kept primarily by the aristocracy and were often seen as status symbols. Pet ownership among the middle and lower classes in the U.S. and Europe didn’t become popular until after World War II, with it still being mostly kept to the upper class in the early 1900s. Pet ownership was a growing trend but not nearly as common as in the modern day and cats were only just beginning to be seen as acceptable household pets.

While Lyra’s world is not remotely analogous to ours, it can be roughly compared to our pre-WWII society. My own estimate would be around 1900-1950, though the main HDM trilogy seems to be take place in the late 1990s and TBOD in the mid 2000s. The calendar dates themselves aren’t as relevant as the societal similarities and any connections we can make based on our own history. Just as most animals kept(with the exception of the upper class) in our pre-WWII societies were working animals and people weren’t as interested in keeping companion pets, that holds true in Lyra’s world. It also just isn’t very practical for most people to keep animals that don’t provide any type of service or resource(as it was for people in our world during a similar time period), so even beyond a lack of interest it’s understandable that most wouldn’t. Dæmons also can provide some services that otherwise would be fulfilled by a household animal, such as alerting their people to unusual sounds or mitigating some disabilities(something I’ll likely write about soon).