It needs to be portrayed as an object with many layers of meaning and with an ability to communicate to humans. But like the daemons, the golden compass is more complex than just a fancy tool or a magic wand. One of the joys of the book is that Lyra, who is just a child, discovers how to use the alethiometer and uses it for good while greedy adults attempt to acquire and use the golden compass for evil. The alethiometer only works when the user of it can clear his or her mind and descend into a deep level of consciousness.

The AlethiometerĪlso known as the golden compass, this small contraption has the ability to answer questions and tell the future through a series of moving hands and pictures. On the reverse side, they will also have to show the agony of a human being separated from his or her daemon. The challenge that filmmakers have here is to create lifelike animals who not only have human qualities but also existentially complete their human companions. Daemons of children can easily change form, but once a child reaches adolescence, their daemon settles into a fixed animal form. Daemons and their humans have a close personal bond and are more than just kindred friends the daemon is, in a sense, an extension of the human’s conscience, will, and feelings. Daemons and their humans cannot withstand much physical distance between each other and both will experience great pain if they become too far apart. A daemon is a physical extension of a person’s soul in the form of an animal that can speak, think, and sense its human’s emotions. One of the most important things in the books is the humans’ daemons.

His dark materials book series