Take 6 - The One With the Most Exquisite Creatures
Description: The most exquisite creatures! Ok, we are biased. This is the episode where we discuss the "ae" daemons. The creatures in the All Souls Trilogy that maybe don't get a lot of attention paid to them. We had some audio issues in this episode, but we powered through! So for now Valerie will sound like she's calling in via satellite from the moon (the show must go on!)SPOILER ALERT! We (The Daemons) approach this podcast with an assumption that the listener has read The All Souls Trilogy, including A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. If you haven't, and you don't mind, we certainly don't mind! :) Let's do this.
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1. Show notes:
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| This ^ described daemons to us so much -- so much so, we decided to put it on the front of our t-shirts! |
- We'll start with the basics: The books in discussion are A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. Together they make The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.
- Our Daemon Guides to the All Souls Trilogy are available for download: ADOW, SON, TBOL
- If you'd like a ready-reference from the author herself, be sure to download the All Souls Real-Time Reading companion (free e-book at online booksellers via Penguin and Headline books).
- Deborah Harkness usually conducts a real-time reading on her Facebook Page (starting in September), and shares her posts across social media. Check out her website for all of her social media links, and of course all that she has to offer her readers!
- To see what's available on the web as far as the All Souls universe fandom, check our links page.
* We apologize for the audio in this episode 😐. We had some technical difficulties (it affected this episode and one other). Therefore, Valerie sounds like she's calling into the show from outer space via satellite - aka, the computer's built-in microphone was used (the same mic you would use while using Facetime or Skype --- not meant for recording a podcast). There was also some audio bleed in the episode so you'll hear some echoing of words. We did what we could post-production to make it bearable (adjusting volumes and levels). We have since identified and corrected the problem! What Would Philippe Do (WWPD)? He would adjust accordingly and proceed as planned. That's what we did here. The show must go on. Thanking you for your patience in advance!
* Thanks to our Discussers! (01:07) Thank you, Laura, Michelle, Aly (her email is read later in the episode), and finally Alyssa, who says her previous experience with demon characters were from shows like Supernatural, Buffy & Angel, and the book series by Kelley Armstrong, Women of the Otherworld.
* Quotes from A Discovery of Witches outlining our introduction to daemons by Diana (02:57):
"There are also daemons—creative, artistic creatures who walk a tightrope between madness and genius. “Rock stars and serial killers” was how my aunt described these strange, perplexing beings. And there are vampires, ancient and beautiful, who feed on blood and will charm you utterly if they don’t kill you first. When a daemon takes a look, I feel the slight, unnerving pressure of a kiss."
"Even though they’d followed me around college, I knew even less about daemons than I did about vampires. Few seemed to understand the creatures, and Sarah had never been able to answer my questions about them. Based on her accounts, daemons constituted a criminal underclass. Their superabundance of cleverness and creativity led them to lie, steal, cheat, and even kill, because they felt they could get away with it. Even more troublesome, as far as Sarah was concerned, were the conditions of their birth. There was no telling where or when a daemon would crop up, since they were typically born to human parents. To my aunt this only compounded their already marginal position in the hierarchy of beings. She valued a witch’s family traditions and bloodlines, and she didn’t approve of daemonic unpredictability."
* Hamish and Agatha's laments on their place in the world (04:19):
Hamish: “Oh, yes, I forgot.” Hamish’s temper snapped. “Nobody cares what daemons do. But a vampire and a witch? That’s important. You’re the creatures who really matter in this world.”
Agatha: “And where do daemons come from? How are we made? Why are we here?” Her brown eyes snapped. “Do you know where your power comes from? Do you?”* Classical mythology on daemons: As Deb has explained in her writings, the "daemon" vs. what was later known as "demons" (taken on by Christianity) wind up being essentially two different things. The easiest thing for us to point you to is this wiki page on it (or else we'd be listing over 100 different sources, and these Daemons don't have time for all of that 😂!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(classical_mythology)
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head.
“Nobody knows,” she said wistfully. “Every day we wonder. Humans thought daemons were guardian angels at first. Then they believed we were gods, bound to the earth and victims of our own passions. Humans hated us because we were different and abandoned their children if they turned out to be daemons. They accused us of possessing their souls and making them insane. Daemons are brilliant, but we’re not vicious—not like the vampires.” Her voice was clearly angry now, though it never lifted above a murmur. “We would never make someone insane. Even more than witches, we’re victims of human fear and envy.”
* Dionysus (06:48) - Wikipedia link here: Click!
* Libation - or 'pouring one out for my dead homies' (07:15) is actually listed on this Wikipedia page as such:
"Modern customs:Visit the page to see the full listing on Libation (no, we didn't edit it!).
In Cuba a widespread custom is to spill a drop or two of rum from one's glass while saying "para los santos" (‘for the Saints’) This custom is similar to the practise of Visayans living on Mindanao, the Philippines, where they spill a capful of rum as soon as the bottle is opened while saying "para sa yawa" (’for the Devil').[43]
In Russia and surrounding countries, it is an old tradition to pour vodka onto a grave, an act possibly connected with dziady custom.
In the contemporary United States, there is a tradition of pouring libations of malt liquor from a forty before drinking, which is particularly associated with African-American rappers. This is referred to as "tipping" to one's [dead] homies (friends),[44] or "pouring one out".[45] This is referenced in various songs, such as the 1993 "Gangsta Lean (This Is For My Homies)" by DRS ("I tip my 40 to your memory"), and sometimes accompanied by ritual expressions such as "One for me, and one for my homies" as well as the 1994 song "Pour Out a Little Liquor" by 2Pac. This is occasionally parodied, as in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).[46] This can also be seen in HBO's period drama series Boardwalk Empire, when character Jimmy Darmody pours a beverage on the ground "to the lost," referencing deceased World War I veterans.[citation needed] The act is also shown in the animated television series The Simpsons in the episode Kill the Alligator and Run, where Kid Rock is seen to pour from a 40 oz."
* It is implied that Sophie's dad may have been a weaver (19:40) by the following quote from A Discovery of Witches:
“This is for you, too.” Sophie drew a small, lumpy object out of the pocket of her cardigan. It was wrapped in oilcloth secured with string. “When the baby quickened, I knew for sure it belonged to you. The baby knows, too. Maybe that’s what made Agatha so worried. And of course we have to figure out what to do, since the baby is a witch. Nathaniel’s mom thought you might have some ideas.”
We watched in silence while Sophie picked at the knots. “Sorry,” she muttered. “My dad tied it up. He was in the navy.”
* Hamish's lovely gardens (19:40):
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| Beautiful gardens at Chatelherault Country Park in Scotland. Chatelherault is the inspiration for Hamish's lodge. |
~ Quote from chapter 9, A Discovery of Witches
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Jeff Greenstein: "When Marta & David & Jeff & I did 'Dream On', we used to spend a lot of time thinking about titles, because they were on-screen at the top of each episode. On "Friends", we decided that was a waste of time. We figured, why not name each episode after the thing that people will ostensibly be talking about around the water-cooler the next day?"
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