Intercision
The severing of a human from their dæmon, practised on kidnapped children at Bolvangar.
Intercision is the procedure, in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, of severing the bond between a human and their dæmon. In Northern Lights the Gobblers, the Church-funded General Oblation Board headed by Mrs Coulter, experiment on kidnapped children at Bolvangar, their research station in the far north, by cutting them from their dæmons.
Quick Facts
- Target
- Human-Daemon Bonds
Lore & Background
Mrs Coulter tells Lyra that intercision prevents the onset of troubling adult emotions, though it has not yet been perfected. The General Oblation Board at first accomplished the separation by simply tearing child and dæmon apart, which generally resulted in the subject dying of shock. Dust is what connects humans to their dæmons: if the bond between a child and their dæmon is severed, both will eventually die, and if the separation occurs after Dust has settled on the person, the person becomes a lifeless shell.
Reader's Guide
Lyra is captured, taken to Bolvangar and sent to be separated from Pantalaimon, but Mrs Coulter arrives and halts the process just before it can occur. A permanent separation between human and dæmon releases a huge burst of energy, which Lord Asriel harnesses at the end of Northern Lights, severing Roger from his dæmon to blast a hole between two universes. The Subtle Knife was forged from the same alloy used to make the guillotine in Bolvangar, and people whose dæmons have been removed by intercision can pass Spectres without being attacked.
More in Powers, Artifacts & Magic
Elsewhere in His Dark Materials
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