Shamans, Daemons and other Guides - "The Golden Compass"; and real Roma, Gypsy Belief Systems

How and why did we evolve from a benign concept of animal guides, companion souls, or daemons; to the malignant. This benign one, the bear, is from our back yard, snacking on sunflower.

Then see "progress" - by so-called advanced civilized institutions that morphed the helpful guides into malignant beings, leading us astray, or doing evil unto us.

Here, note the nice bear concept turned into the evil "hairy one," from our collection of copies of old German prints, all now out of print. The new characterization as bad, and "the hairy one," stems apparently from a mistranslation from the Hebrew by Wycliffe - see .angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Daemon.html.

The bear is also hairy, but that was not bad until later, apparently.


If you see the film, "The Golden Compass," you will find the concept of guide companions to humans fleshed out. And it relates to the concept and location of the soul.

The soul. The soul. Is it inside us or out, open to interference from the outside, or not.

In the film, "The Golden Compass," see //uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL115262120071211; the soul goes with the person, but beside or near, with symbiotic responses, reciprocal; the existence of a soul as guide to independent thought, is to be fostered, or suppressed - a theme in the film.

Click here to see another - a fine daemon found at Gibraltar, looking for his human (that to be another movie) and who attached to this one easily - Gypsies, Roma, Gyptians post.

Daemons. Of interest here is the history of daemons, and if they really relate to Roma - since the film also shows Gyptians with daemons. The characters' souls in the film accompany the people in the form of animals that stay close (except for some exceptions) and, in children, can change form. The soul is not internal in the film. The word "Daemon" is used to refer to the soul-animal - it feels the person's pain, as the person feels the pain inflicted on the daemon. Symbiotic.

These can simply be "familiar spirits." See //www.bartleby.com/68/28/1728.html. Do a search for "daemon" at this site, and see the ancient concepts, including Greek and Egyptian - //www.jungcircle.com/muse/plato.htm. It is like a "genius" concept, an envoy and an interpreter. They can be merely intermediaries. See .angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Daemon.html.

For contemporary Roma belief, see this Czech Republic website on "Religion Among the Roma" at //romove.radio.cz/en/clanek/18906. Read about the souls surviving death, as in many other religions. Souls are also intermediaries, calling to mind the "daemon" concept of such long standing in the world. Their only "saint" is Sara-la-Kali, see

Questions raised: Are animal guides benign or malignant, or need they be either if they are companion souls, and what is the nature of daemons?

Summary: Many cultures tie wisdom of our fellow sentient beings to our own wellbeing. And the term "daemon" has historical ties with benevolence, guardian angels; at least neutrality, as a go-between, man and the gods,. See the Greek and other cultural references here. So, malevolence and fear came later, with institutional needs for them.

Roma, Gypsies. Shamans and animal symbolism also appear in roma belief, see www.journeyfolki.org.uk/FolkArts/SpiritualityShamanism/tabid/687/Default.asp. There has long been an affinity for working with certain animals, such as the horse and the bear, as trainers and traders, and providers of entertainment, see ://www.geocities.com/~Patrin/occupations.htmm (scroll down to animal training).

CONTEMPORARY AND TRADITIONAL DAEMONS - secular and religious. Several applications.

Computer Daemon: In our computer world, a daemon is a program running in the background. See Unix reference at ://www.freebsd.org/copyright/daemon.html. The site addresses the negative connotations that the term "daemon" or "demon" now have:

The Unix handbook, says the site, says: daemon is the older form of the word, a daemon does not itself tilt toward good or evil, but instead "serves to define the person's character." Other cultures, here the Greek, used the term for a personal guardian angel function - with "eudaemonia" meaning "the state of being helped or protected by a kindly spirit."

So, Unix uses the term to cast itself in that role. Hear! Hear! Well done. If you are not a geek, go to Wikipedia at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(computer_software).

The "ae" in daemon is a digraph, linguistically. See //www.bartleby.com/68/44/1844.html. If the letters are connected into one form, they become a ligature. See ://www.bartleby.com/68/52/3652.html. You knew that.

Biblical Demons: Azazel is a name used on several occasions. Read about it at at ://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=100; www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=2203. See also Hello, Fodder, Scapegoats post. The history of "scapegoat" and the mistranslation of "Azazel" are addressed there. So much on a mis-application of a concept.

Greek demons. See ://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-149915/daimon. A Platonic sense of demon is as an intermediary between man and gods. See www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/629.

Judeo-Christian. The demon becomes malignant. See www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/629; and //www.angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Daemon.html

Native Americans. Start on the topic by reading about Native American animal spiritual guide concepts the Manataka Indian Council, //www.manataka.org/page291.html.