Baby daemons, etc.

[TheLadyofShalott]

I was wondering if someone could have a daemon that was like a fawn or a colt. If they had a cattepillar would it turn into a butterfly? Would it mean that they have young souls if you had a yound daemon? Is someone's daemon the same in every incarnation because their soul is the same?

[Will]

Er...every incarnation?

[Daniel]

Well, what would it mean to have a "young soul"? If there's some innate difference between adults and children besides fixedness of personality, a young animal could best represent someone, so in theory their dæmon could settle as one. If what we think of as "childlike" is really innocence and fickleness, it wouldn't make sense for a dæmon to settle if their human's nature was still "young."

About the reincarnation: I don't think a dæmon would necessarily have the same form in every life. For one thing, that would negate the whole idea that children's natures are not set in stone. It would also mean that you'd see far less correlation between environment growing up and personality, since people would be born with their personality (although it might be hidden while they're child) instead of developing it slowly.

[Will]

Someone might be reincarnated and then be fated to go on to develop the same personality, if you see what I mean. The environment and upbringing might conspire to bring this about.

[eloquent]

Yeah, I think the person's preset personality would have a strong bearing on their daemon's ultimate form, but environment and experience would have a comparably strong bearing on this. The whole basis of human adaptability is that we are (in part) made who we are by what is around us.

[TheLadyofShalott]

A young soul is person that hasn't been through many lives (i.e. reincarnation). I agree that the daemon might be different because you wouldn't have the same personalities every incarnation.

[Will]

That's interesting... So the soul develops a little bit each time it's reincarnated? So you start off being immature and by the end you come back as a venerable monk or something.

[Carina]

That makes sense, in an interesting sort of way...
but...
would your dæmon take the same form in every new "life" you had?

[Daniel]

Someone might be reincarnated and then be fated to go on to develop the same personality, if you see what I mean. The environment and upbringing might conspire to bring this about.

I guess that could happen, but I was assuming that people have free will and that people's actions were a major influence on personality development. Unless someone could be "fated" to set a specific example for you, you wouldn't be fated to develop any specific personality.

A young soul is person that hasn't been through many lives (i.e. reincarnation). I agree that the daemon might be different because you wouldn't have the same personalities every incarnation.

Oh, I thought it meant something like "young at heart." I always thought that there was no start to the cycle reincarnations, but I guess you could hypothesize either way. How would such a soul be different from one that's been through more lives, though?

That's interesting... So the soul develops a little bit each time it's reincarnated? So you start off being immature and by the end you come back as a venerable monk or something.

Well, there might not be any direction to it. It might not be that your soul becomes more mature, it might just become different.