weโre curious, does anybody have any recommendations for good blogs to follow that primarily post animal content?
can be animal facts, real life pictures of animals or animal-focused art blogs!! we wanna see more animal stuff on our dash, & maybe have a good variety for projection practice!!
(itโd also be nice to follow some daemonism blogs that reblog dae forms too!)
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Here are two forms I had also considered for my fitting symbolic form. I find the first one to be quite funny as my final result was just out of focus all along.
This ended up being a no after we dug deeper than the surface and looked past their exterior. Wild dogs fit me well but I idolize people who remind me of coyotes souls. I love humor but lack it and find sarcasm and whit to be the best thing on this planet. Characters I say I am like but truthfully cannot compare to in those categories like Cayde6 or Archer.
I like the idea of being the center of attention but in reality I am a very quiet guy unless others engage with me.I wouldn't stand out or want to stand out unless it was my intention to do so. I do not like the idea of social communities but also am drawn to them out of boredom and then become defensive of those in it. But what I am most interested in protecting is the peace. If people under my watch are upset or getting manipulated I will not stand for it because it could effect me. However much like a cat I can leave without second thought. Cats are still very self serving and detached in my eyes.
However if Kit is anything to use as an example people can and do feel safe under my watch. They know they can rely on me and I am a soft guy underneath it all. I say I am too selfish to be self sacrificing but I think in truth I probably am more prone to it than I want to admit. Denying it is all part of the tough guy act I have.
I do not build communities but if I was the one living this life to its fullest I would have invested in music. Learning the drums and being in a band. Music creates communities left and right and I think this little detail would still fit in with the ocelot even though I very much keep to myself.
I am lazy and often imagine myself to be a mess in how my hair or clothes would be on the daily. But then I look at the possibility of being seen by others, the feeling of needing to uphold my standards for myself, and look as damn good as I know I am. So I'd probably actually have class. My style would be striking and make a damn good impression even if I look bored as hell. My hair wouldn't be a mess, it would be a stylish mess. If I was in a band or just having a casual day my style probably would be different than the usual Joe around here. Perhaps how I talk would be more disarming than my appearance though. Who knows. Maybe I'd have a glare that could kill someone. A guy can dream.
The description of this test was highly accurate for myself
But I needed to compare it to the current interpretations on the daemon forum as well to be truly thorough about all of this. Perhaps later on Iโll create a full comparison sheet and why wild cats fit me so well. Ocelot is indeed the wild cat we knew I was and now can spot clearly. ;)
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Are you still taking requests? If so, I might request a coupleโs moodboard: an ENFJ 2w3 Slytherin with a black-winged starling daemon, and an ESFP 7w6 Gryffindor with an American flamingo daemon! Thanks in advance!!!
We'd like to include some stuff about our own practice of daemonism on this blog too, buuuut it's hard to figure out what to write about off the top of our head so we're gonna repurpose the 30 days of daemonism challenge from TDF for this (note: the link requires an active forum account to view). Not aiming to do these every day though, we're wayyy too flaky for that! '^^
Question one:
What is your current daemon form and why?
Aka's pretty whimsical in form choice when ae's projected. He definitely doesn't stick just to the forms which fit me, though ae uses those as "defaults". Ae doesn't have much personal connection to the forms which fit me, but ae likes "showing off how cool I am". So the forms don't "belong" to Aka; instead, ae uses them as a way of expressing aes affection for me (which is far more affection than I have for myself, if I'm being honest asjhdsjkahd),,
Lately, of forms which represent me, Aka's been favouring the polar bear. Until recently we had white-phase kermode bear as my symbolic form, and a black-phase American black bear before that. I did think kermode would be my settled symbolic form, at least for a while, but changes in our plural system led to some personal realisations that made me reconsider.
We're still not entirely sure whether polar bear will be what sticks, but out of bears, I think it works best. The biggest difference between a polar bear and a white kermode, to my mind, is the actual danger they pose. American black bears aren't very aggressive. They're viewed as more "safe" than most bears; they're easily scared off by loud noises and such. Polar bears are off at the other end of the spectrum โ they are, after all, one of few predators that will still actively hunt human beings.
The change represents the realisation that I'm not quite as soft and gentle as I thought I was, and that's not necessarily been an easy realisation for me. It was Aka who picked out the polar bear form for now, because it's an animal which can represent both warmth and coldness, and an animal where those two ideas are deeply connected. Polar bears can be seen as both protective and caring, and intimidating and aggressive... and, like most bears, you see the greatest ferocity from them when you threaten the thing they protect.
I often use form-finding to work through my understanding of myself. It makes the whole process of introspection feel safer and more positive, and gives me something to find joy in at the end. Even though I do kind of wish the kermode bear still felt right for me, the understanding of myself I can find through the polar bear feels more complete, and there's comfort in that as well. And if things change again in the future, that's okay too!
And of course, I have Aka by my side through it all. Ae always keeps me on track. Ae reminds me that no matter who I am, and no matter what I find in here, myself is not a bad person to be. <3
A previously made an info post introducing the concept of form-finding in daemonism โ that is, a process of looking for animals that represent who you are, which you can identify as your fitting daemon forms.
I'd like to make a few posts going over some different approaches to this!
There's a few established form-finding systems in the community (though they definitely aren't the limits of how form-finding can be done). Using a system is not mandatory, and a daemon's form isn't less valid or real if you choose not to use a system to find it.
The systems are handy if you want to find an unconventional daemon form โ something you wouldn't think about otherwise; and they can be helpful too if you just don't know what kind of animal might represent you candidly. They also provide a bit more structure if you want to take a deeply introspective approach to finding a meaningful daemon form.
The most well-established form-finding system is called analytic. That's the one I'm gonna focus on here!
Analytic is, without a doubt, the least intuitive of the form-finding systems โ it requires a bit of knowledge and study to really understand how it works. That's because the analytic system is entirely unique! It's unintuitive because it's just genuinely doesn't resemble any other approach to "animal personification" you're likely to find.
The Basics
Analytic works by interpreting animal behaviours as human personality traits.
So: analytic represents a specific thing about a person (their personality traits) and it draws this meaning from a specific place (animal behaviour). It doesn't use conventional symbolism at all, unlike the other two systems.
Analytic can be hard to learn, but it's very rewarding! That said, it isn't a good fit for everyone and that's okay. The kind of introspection on your own behavioural patterns which analytic form-finding calls for can be a real challenge, because it's not a way we're usually taught to look at ourselves.
Interpreting animals in an analytic way is also a pretty specialised skill, though it's one you can learn!
How It Works
Analytic interpretation, at its heart, builds on a speculative idea of "why" animals might act in certain ways. Even though literal animal behaviours rarely apply to human personality, their underlying motives can! This concept can be built on, through interpretation โ so that, from a deep look into an animal's behaviours, you can piece together an idea of what sort of person that animal might align with.
It's not a science, even though we draw from scientific research a lot on the animal behaviour side. The interpretation of the behaviour is more personal and artful โ not everyone would interpret the same animal the same way. This means not everyone with the same analytic form would necessarily relate to that animal in the same way, because each might interpret its behaviours differently. This isn't a flaw in the system; it's actually a big part of what makes it work!
An Example
I've written a quick example of how I interpret behaviour, to try and get the idea across a bit better. For this I've chosen (at random) the snow leopard, Panthera uncia.
Snow leopards are solitary animals which are primarily active in the early morning and early evening. Like many large carnivores, they spend a lot of time resting; for this, snow leopards often choose high cliffs and ridges, which provide good visibility and shelter from the wind. Though solitary, they scent mark their home ranges and travel routes โ communicating to others their presence and identity. They don't defend a territory, so their ranges often overlap with others, but they avoid making direct contact except for reproduction. (Source: Wikipedia)
Being solitary as they are, I think a snow leopard would represent someone who's quite comfortable in their own company, and on the flip side, probably isn't a big fan of intense social situations. Snow leopards do keep tabs on their neighbours though, which is the purpose of the scent marks โ so I think they wouldn't be entirely reclusive, but might need a lot of down time after socialising, to rest and process.
I think they'd prefer to keep socialisation low-key; maybe they're the sort of person who'd rather quiet companionship over active discussion or playful banter. They seem like they'd value keeping tabs on what's happening around them, even if they're not always going to directly engage.
Between the scent marking and the animal's preference for resting in places with good visibility, I think they'd be quite attentive to their surroundings โ the sort of person who'd pick up on the little things and find them important enough to remember. So maybe they wouldn't be eager to go to someone's birthday party, but they might be the kind of person to remember a specific thing their friend wants and surprise them with it on the day. They'd probably appreciate friends who can respect their need for space, calm, and privacy.
Where To Learn More
So, say you're one of the specific few people who finds this idea very cool (it's niche for a reason!): you might be wondering where to go next, to learn more or even get involved.
The best way to really get an understanding of what the analytic system does is to read analyses. This is where I suggest anyone start, because it can give you an idea of whether the concept really appeals to you before you put in any work to learn it!
My most recent full analysis was of the sika deer. Full analyses like this include the reasoning behind each interpretation, so you can get an idea of where the trait came from, or the reason for interpreting the behaviour that way. The Daemon Forum houses a huge repository of analytic interpretations which anyone can look through, either by using the index or just browsing! This index includes long-form interpretations (called analyses), as well as mid-sized studies and short vibes.
If you wanted to try your hand at finding an analytic form, or were interested in learning to interpret, your best next step would be to join the community. Analytic is a collaborative creation, and can be pretty hard to learn on your own. You can get into analytic even if you don't have a daemon, or have interest in any other aspects of daemonism practice. Given that it's a subcommunity of an already pretty niche group, it's a pretty small bunch of us who work with this system and we're always happy to have new folks get involved!
There's also an array of analytic resources on TDF that can't be accessed without an activated forum account, including my main analytic guide which digs into the concept in more detail. The discord server has a channel for it too! (I hang around there a lot and I love talking about analytic). :D
Last Thoughts
Because of the way analytic works โ and its complete disregard for conventional symbolism โ you can end up with some really unique, unexpected results. That's part of the fun of it!
However, it's not gonna appeal to everyone and I think you do have to approach it with a bit of an open mind. Usually, your fitting analytic form isn't going to be an animal you already love. Sometimes it won't even be an animal you've heard of (and it may well even be an animal you dislike).
Finding an analytic form can also be a pretty long process, though it varies. It took me years! So, in a sense, it's not just a thing you do โ it's an entire journey, likely with highs and lows and unexpected turns along the way (and even when you think you've reached the end, you might just experience something which changes how you see yourself enough that you're right back at it again)!
So, in short, analytic isn't always going to be the right approach for everyone and that's okay. If you read this and feel nothing but a dawning horror: don't worry, you don't have to do any of this! Only if you think it sound interesting, cool, or fun. (Some of us do find this fun. This has been a major hobby of mine since I was a teenager. Yes, I am weird).
If you're looking for something which you can connect with more intuitively โ something which matches your overall vibe, or which other people would understand a bit easier โ then the pullman or symbolic systems would likely have more appeal. I'll be making separate posts about those later!
Or you can find a daemon form without any system! The most important thing is that your daemon form/s feel meaningful to you; you should always choose whichever approach feels right for you, first and foremost. c: