1. If dæmons were physical in our dimension (as it is now), don't you think there'd be a problem of insufficient room for them? Some people might think, yeah - there'd be huge dæmons all over the place, and those people would just have to find a way to deal. But I got to thinking about how a dæmon wouldn't likely settle as something that would complicate their human's life. If they were bound to settle as a large creature, it wouldn't happen until an appropriate time. For example, I'd imagine a dolphin soul wouldn't settle as this form permanently until his human lived by the sea. Or one wouldn't settle as a deer unless the person had moved out into the country and bought a roomy house.

In our dimension, I think a dæmon follows these rules. Like Rookie will whimper or cry out if he bumps into someone besides me, and becomes a form that makes sense for the situation and space available. He knows he can't fit in my winter coat's pocket as an ermine, so he curls up in there as a gerbil instead.

If schools were just as crowded, and vehicles and buildings and all that weren't modified enough.. dæmons in our dimension would be relatively smaller than those in Lyra's world. And even when I think of the settled dæmons I know of, most follow this rule. Kristen's magpie, Felicia's cat, Jon's hawk, Zak's falcon, my mom's raccoon, Becca's ferret... Of course there are some exceptions, like Regi's wolf and Astra's grizzly bear.

The largest dæmon I've been in the vicinity of is probably Reeko: Meagan's snow leopard. (I don't think he was completely settled earlier this year, but maybe he is now.) And this form is okay for her lifestyle. Meagan is being home schooled, so she doesn't have to worry about seeing Reeko bump into student after student. Meg is also an introvert, so you're not likely to find her crammed into a car with many other people. The snow leopard would have enough space in her home to be comfortable. It all works out fine.

As I said before, those in Lyra's world have more space; less-populated towns and such. Whereas my "alternate self" could settle as a fox, Rookie is... almost forced to stay as Japoro throughout the day, rather than the coyote. Five days a week I'm going down a hallway with a kid to each side of me, and a dozen more in front and behind. Rookie being the canine at these times and NOT touching someone else would be near impossible. But as Japoro he can float above me (he's too scared to even do that), or sit on my shoulder if the place we're at isn't so bad.

So anyway... it's just something I thought about. I like pondering how our society would be altered if our heart's heart didn't just speak to us from inside, but we could also hear their voices in the air around us. I might write an essay on the topic one day, but it'd be hard. So much ground to cover..

I'm not expecting many (if any) of you to reply to this, but if you do, I'm curious to know what your dæmon's settled form is. If physical, would he or she be alright where you live?

edit: Now, I expect a person with, say, a whale dæmon would feel themselves irreversibly compelled to be near the ocean. There's that urge to settle at the right time, and they'd do all they could to facilitate it. The person, if old enough, would technically already "be settled" in personality, but I'm just saying that their dæmon wouldn't likely manifest the form until the time was right. I don't imagine an elephant dæmon would decide to settle in a cramped tent and squash their human to death - it would happen once they were out in the open. So basically I'm saying that I don't think settling is something that has to happen at a precise minute on the clock, but can be 'delayed' for circumstance.



2. Like Celierra said, the best solution for not having your dæmon become irritated in crowds is to NOT project them at these times. (But when you're concentrating on not seeing them, the opposite usually happens.. It just plain sucks.) With a medium-sized settled dæmon like Kerry's feline, another option is to let them walk beside you, but stay calm and remember they aren't technically there; he's inside you. Maybe, while in the hallways, imagine your dæmon as a kind of ghost. No one around can affect his stride but you. He just glides right through/past them. Rookie only becomes "transparent" when he doesn't have a choice.

Like Jonathan seemed to touch on, a dæmon can't really be touched by something you don't notice, and even if you DO, it doesn't count. Our dæmons are all about our internal environment; they can only affect us through emotions, and in retrospect, they can only be touched emotionally, not physically. (It's just that sometimes I can't help but wonder if my dæmon's being tainted by me imagining his tail brush a stranger's leg.) It's something that I've thought about before, but it really confuses me.. If everyone that had some profound effect on me "touched" my dæmon, than the number of people would be in the dozens instead of solely two (as I think it is). How does your dæmon technically touch someone, and how does another touch yours?

I think in our dimension someone can't touch your dæmon without you wanting them to. And also, your dæmon doesn't really make contact with another human unless it's something you give the okay to, and really feel in your heart. Maybe Rookie hasn't touched anyone, actually.. I know I saw him kiss Dean Coursen's hand respectfully - trying to convey all the respect and gratitude he felt towards this human being in that moment of silence. He also imagined himself hugging and lightly kissing Meagan a few times, because we both really loved and cared for her... But maybe even those weren't powerful enough.

edit: To revise the above (as it's years old), the truth is our dæmons don't have a physical body, so they can't touch anyone in the normal sense of the word. There is no definite, absolute contact from dæmon to person - it's all subjective. For me and my husband, I believe our dæmons have touched through us. Since we both wanted to touch the other's dæmon, and concentrated fully on that happening, I am content saying my husband's the only person who's touched Rookie. Indeed, he's the only person I would let touch my dæmon. But there's no objective rule as to whether someone has or hasn't touched your dæmon. You decide. You make it meaningful.



3. You're right, Kerry. Anyone who speaks with their dæmon has probably wished at one point or another that their companion were tangible. I know I have.. but it's not something I worry about very often. Or at least it just doesn't pain me to my core like it might others. I'm so accustomed to imagining his form, (all my life - if you count the years when he wasn't called my dæmon), that I can only think of the down-sides to him being physical. Examples: My cousins looking at me as immature rather than unique when Rookie becomes Japoro, all the dæmons not having enough room to keep from bumping into another human, silly kids trying to pretend their soul is settled as something it's not. (Can't you imagine? Some child gets stuck at a camp for a week, and the entire time he's there he makes his non-settled dæmon stay in snow leopard form, rather than the sheltie collie form she's most comfortable with.)

I'm afraid that if Rookie were physical, maybe he wouldn't be able to become anything but a creature that exists in reality. All his most common forms aren't something I can find in a forest or grassland. No more Japoro, griffin, Renamon... Heck, he might not even be able to have any animated features, like his mouth or eyes. It just wouldn't be the same. Those forms would be replaced by an ermine, hawk, fox, etc. Eh. No fun.

Of course, if things were always this way I couldn't miss it any, but I think I prefer what I have. Besides, Rookie is always digging his claws into my back or biting my shoulder. If that set of needle teeth he owns were real, I'd have ten times the amount of scars. ^^; At least when he's just a projection, my dæmon can do what he wants and be what he wants. There's no boundaries to hold 'im back.

If anyone could see your dæmon, in some ways they'd be just like you. Confined in their body; not allowed to be true to themselves, because this might get their human in trouble. o.o Someone makes me feel stupid at my high school, n' Rookie's likely to bare his fangs and snap out insults so that I don't feel like a weakling. But if he were truly beside me he wouldn't growl at anyone unless under extreme circumstances. Not wanting a confrontation, he'd instead be forced to simply frown and act as if he weren't too bothered. And he certainly wouldn't sing to songs all the time if others were in the room. We hate thinking everyone's eyes are on us, so it would be too uncomfortable to have him perfectly portray the depressed emotions in a song with my mother or friends watching. (Like right now he's singing along to "Simple Things." The lyrics are about an alcoholic who realizes his mistakes lost him his family. I have to listen to something when writing, and my dæmon can't help but sing to it. =P)

Some might think it'd be worth any setbacks to have their dæmon be physical, if only to have that extra bit of comfort their body against you would bring. I say it's not necessary. Rookie has helped me through so much without a single kiss actually leaving a mark on my cheek. And I can always feel his soft fur under my palm if I really need to. I just have to concentrate on what it'd be like.. Though this might not be as solid as the warmth from my cat or dog, it's there just the same.