The Dæmon Smoothie {Ask Us Anything}

[Suchgo]

Welcome to The Dæmon Smoothie, the current dæmon thread on Chicken Smoothie!
If you're looking to learn more about dæmons or chat about your own, you've come to the right place!

I’m Sullivan and my dæmon is Ash!
Hello! Welcome everybody! We’re glad you’re here!

5/2/25: Grand opening of The The Dæmon Smoothie!
9/6/25: Hosting an Ask Us Anything to hopefully kickstart some activity and answer any questions people might have!

Rules
About Dæmons
Dæmon Forms
Dæmians & Their Dæmons
Links
Reserved
Reserved

[Suchgo]

Rules
We don't have many rules here! So please just look over the few that we do have.

1. Abide by all CS and Club/Army rules!
2. Please be respectful of others in all aspects!
3. Don't criticize someone else's dæmon's form, or if they have multiple dæmons! If someone asks for imput/form suggestions, it's perfectly fine to give suggestions.
4. Please keep things relevant to dæmons!

More rules may be added later, if need be. But this should cover most things!


It's recommended to put your dæmon's text in italics, quotes, or colored font! This just makes things easier, but it isn't a rule.

[Suchgo]

About Dæmons & Dæmonism

If you've happened upon this club, you might be wondering, "What are dæmons?" Don't worry, we'll explain!

A daemon is a mental companion that represents an integral part of a person's mind or consciousness.
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What defines a daemon is their deep, integral connection to their person. A daemon is a part of their person, and they are content with that.
Person / daemon pairs often find meaning in this close connection; daemians (that is, those that practice daemonism) view their daemon as an important part of themself that represents some core aspect of who they are.
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Daemons are often shapeshifters, for at least part of their existence.
Sometimes, daemons who settle choose not to change form anymore -- but some settled daemons do change forms still.

Daemons traditionally take animal forms.
This reflects HDM's canon, in which daemons are almost exclusively real world animals.
In HDM, the animal form a daemon settles as represents their human in some way; similarly, many people who practice daemonism will seek one or more animal forms that represents who they are.

Daemons usually take the role of a "sidekick" in life, rather than desiring to be the focus. Daemons often fill a certain role as a support, adviser or moral guide. Some daemons can be seen as being the conscience of their person; others play devil's advocate. But again, there are certainly exceptions to this -- there is no one true "daemon role" that all daemons must fill, and generally a daemon will find a way to fit into their person's life, with or without a specific role.

Most daemons do not identify as spiritual beings or external entities; they identify as a part of their person's mind or thought processes.

Daemons represent a part of their person's mind. They are as real as any other thoughts a person could have; just because they are personified and given a name and voice, doesn't make them any less a real or important part of a person's thought processes.

To some, the psychological nature of the daemon means that the daemian sees them as being as real as the daemian themself is; because what are we all, but a collection of thoughts given personality and knowledge and experience? Daemons possess personality, knowledge and experience too. They have feelings and opinions. Therefore, they are real.

Daemons don't meet the definition of reality that most people use: they aren't physical or tangible, they can't interact with the world or be perceived (except by their daemian), and their existence is entirely subjective. You cannot measure or quantify a daemon. To some daemians, their daemon is an imaginary friend -- and certainly that is what many non-daemians would interpret a daemon as being.
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At the end of the day, it doesn't really make much difference whether a daemon is objectively real or not. What matters is the experience of knowing and interacting with them. Some daemons see themselves as real, some don't. Both are equally valid!
And a daemon's reality (or lack thereof) doesn't really minimise the huge positive impact they can have on a person's life.

Dæmons are not corporeal and the only way to see them is with the use with your imagination, or in your mind’s eye. In dæmonic terms, imagining your dæmon is called ‘projecting’.

In order to project, you need to imagine something that is not there. The shape of your dæmon won’t obscure the objects behind him and will not be visible to others. Imagine what your dæmon would decide to look like, what they would be doing right now, where they would be standing, were they corporeal. That’s it. That’s how the projection starts.

For some, projecting comes easily, for others not. If you've never had an easy time imagining things outside of your mind, don't expect envisioning your dæmon to be any simpler - it'll take practice if you want to get better at it. However, you don’t need to project all the time, or at all. Your dæmon is still inside you, no matter if you imagine them on the outside or not. Projection doesn’t need to be very detailed, either! You can work on seeing more details, but it’s not necessary, too. A helpful tip: some people find it easier to project their dæmon out of the corner of their eye.

Another word of advice, don’t start working on projecting by trying to find your true form to imagine your dæmon as. Firstly, there’s a great chance that you’re not settled yet, and even if you are, finding a truly fitting form can take months, if not years. Secondly, there’s no point in making it more difficult than necessary. Consider trying out forms of animals that you’re familiar with, it’s easier to imagine their movements. Getting images and videos for reference works well, too. There’s also the fact that your dæmon can change shape at will, even if you settle.

Remember, there's no fancy trick. You're just using your imagination to imagine an animal at your side in a place that your dæmon would choose if they had the ability.

Dæmonism is not a religion, most dæmians would refer to it as a concept or philosophy. It's just a helpful way to organize your thoughts and experience your mental life. Instead of having a monologue, you change it into an internal dialogue and give a name and personality to the other half of it. One need not be religious to talk to their dæmon, whether someone sees them as something spiritual is up to them and not a unified experience.

There are people of different religious beliefs among dæmians: agnostics, atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Wiccans and many others. They can all be dæmians, because this philosophy doesn't conflict with religion. Dæmonism as a concept is religiously neutral. As far as we know, no religion is against imaginary friends, and morally it is no different. Your dæmon can support you in your religious beliefs or be indifferent, the experiences differ.

We’re not a cult, either, just to put your mind to rest. We’re not trying to brainwash anyone, force them away from their current beliefs, we don’t even share convictions about most things. We all adore our dæmons, but know they are not something to be put on a pedestal and worshiped. The dæmon, at the core, is us. Just that special and just that ordinary.

Here are some terms you might come across!

daemian - A person who has a daemon.
daemonism - The practice of having and interacting with a daemon.
HDM - The book series “His Dark Materials” by Phillip Pullman. The books feature daemons, who take the form of animals and represent a human’s soul.
TDF - The Daemon Forum, the main forum for daemonism.
TDP - The Daemon Page, the main page for info about daemons and daemonism.
TDU - The Daemian Union, the original daemonism club on CS!

[Suchgo]

Daemon Forms
A daemon's form is a very special thing!
There are several ways to approach form finding, and it's up to you to choose whether or not you want to engage with any of them. Many daemians form find in all these areas in order to simply categorize themselves, or to find what works best for them and their daemon. But it's certainly not required.

Analytic form finding is one of the most popular form finding systems!
It's based on analyzing animal behavior and comparing it to human behavior.
Analytic forms help match an animal form to a daemian's personality.
Most of the time an animal won't fit a person exactly, and the process of analyzing yourself might take a long time, but hopefully you'll find one that's close enough!
Reverse analyses (RAs) are the when a daemian writes out an analysis of their personality and posts it in an effort to make analytic form finding easier. Yellow Pages (YPs) are a shorter version of this, where a daemian lists their main personality traits.

This page over at The Daemon Forum (TDF) introduces the topic well - An introduction to analytic.
Many daemians over at TDF have written analyses, vibes, and studies for different animals, which you can find in Grand Analytic Index.

Pullman form finding is another popular form finding system!
It's based off of a person's life narratives and society's perceptions, similar to how the author Phillip Pullman assigns daemons in the His Dark Materials books!
This is usually done by evaluating how animals are viewed in society.
In the Pullman system, evaluations about a daemian are called Self-Portraits (SPs).

This page over at The Daemon Forum (TDF) introduces the topic well - Pullman Form FAQ.
Many daemians over at TDF have written portraits and sketches about animals here at the Portrait and Sketch Museum.

Personal forms are forms that are special to a daemian or daemon for just about any reason!
They can be sentimental, fun to project, a favorite animal, anything! There doesn't need to a specific reason, and they don't have to fit a form finding system.
In some cases, these forms can be mythical creatures, species from games and other media, or even human forms!
Some daemians and daemons like to have a specific form for different situations, like a flying form, a swimming form, a small form for travel, etc.

Comfort forms are a variation of personal forms, but these are specifically comforting for the daemian or daemon! c:

[Suchgo]

This is our members list! It'll list members of TDS and their daemons! You can post or PM me the following form if you want to be added!

Sullivan & Ash - Darwin's Fox (Suchgo)

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[b]Username:[/b]
[b]Daemian's Name:[/b]
[b]Daemon's Nam:[/b]
[b]Primary Form:[/b]

[Suchgo]

Links and Stamps!

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[url=https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=5051089][img]https://i.ibb.co/MDmr7rWH/TDS-Fox-Stamp.gif[/img][/url]

[Suchgo]

RESERVED!

[Suchgo]

RESERVED!

Open for posting!! ^u^

[Suchgo]

To kick things off, lets have an AMA! Or rather, an Ask Us Anything! You can ask Ash questions, too!

To start things off, I want to ask anybody who happens by here a question!
If you're not a daemian: What animal do you think your daemon would take?
If you are a daemian: What form does your daemon take?