Thoughts on Form

Many daemians are of the opinion that a daemon’s form has some symbolic and definitive meaning as to the daemian’s character. Now, I wouldn’t shoot that argument down entirely. There is, I’m sure, a reason why an introvert’s daemon is a dove, rather than a peacock. But can you really tell so much about a person by examining their daemon?

Animals, themselves, don’t have human personalities. Each species, of course, has its own characteristics and habits that may lend to a perception of a collective personality (except in the case of a sponge), but this is incredibly general. Each individual of the species, if the specie’s development is enough to allow it, has its own distinctive personality, just like humans do.

Can you, then, to assign a personality type to a type of animal? Given, a gorilla will be much more violent than a hedgehog, but a silverback male will generally be more violent than a female member of his herd.

So I guess I have an opinion in the middle of two views on symbolism. A cat fits me for several reasons: independence, spontaneity, loyalty, expression. But, then again, cats are so different. No two are alike, as any cat owner could tell you. So then, what is the point in comparing me to the personality of Sef’s form when there can be no definitive personality.

Maybe it’s easier to generalize with wild animals, who haven’t been made more human by a domestic setting. Domestic cats, now, have no habitat. They may be living in a posh penthouse, or in a dumpster. Maybe that has something to do with my inability to pin their “personality” down. Or maybe it’s just that I’m too much of a realist about animals to get caught up in that. Who knows?