User:ACB Smith/sandbox/Dust

In Philip Pullman's writings, Dust or Rusakov Particles are elementary particles associated with consciousness that are integral to the plot. Dust features in the multiverse of worlds written about in His Dark Materials, The Book of Dust, and two companion volumes. Because Dust is attracted to consciousness, especially after maturation, the Church within the series associates it with original sin and seeks its end. Pullman described Dust in a 2017 interview as “an analogy of consciousness, and consciousness is this extraordinary property we have as human beings”.

Naming
In Northern Lights, Lord Asriel reveals the origins of the term "Dust" to be from a passage from the slightly alternate version of the Bible in Lyra's world: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return". Dust was previously known (in Lyra Belacqua's universe) as 'Rusakov particles' named after their discoverer, Boris Mikhailovitch Rusakov. Rusakov discovers a field permeating the universe enabling consciousness; before the discovery of Dust, it's existence is predicted, as "the existence of a Rusakov field implies the existence of a related particle".

Mary Malone researches Dust in an alternate universe, referring to it as "Shadows". This name was given to the particle by her colleage, Oliver Payne, in references to the Allegory of the Cave, involving "Shadows on the wall". She belielves that Dust is dark matter. The Mulefa, who are able to see Dust directly, use the word "sraf" accompanied by a leftward flick of the trunk (or arm for humans) to describe it.

Functions
Dust is attracted to objects that have been formed by consciousness, and by special photographic emulsions can be viewed. It is particularly attracted to consciousnesses that have matured; in the case of humans in Lyra's world, this happens when their Dæmon is fixed in shape. For the mulefa, this happens when adolescents start using wheels. Dust is also what connects humans to their dæmons. If the bond between a child and their dæmon is severed (as through Intercision), both the child and the dæmon will eventually die. If the separation occurs after Dust has settled on the person (that is, after adolescence), the person becomes a lifeless shell.

Dust is able to communicate with humans via several methods shown throughout His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust. In Lyra's world, six alethiometers were constructed. Also known as symbol readers, alethiometers have a ring of 36 symbols, each of which with many meanings. Using three adjustable arms, a question is asked, and then a fourth arm is moved by Dust to give an answer. Over the course of the books, several alethiometers are shown being read, including by Lyra Belacqua, Hannah Relf. Mary Malone is able to construct a computer programme that, when paired with a detector, can communicate with Dust by typed questions. Later, she uses I Ching divination, also confirmed to be a method of communicating with Dust.

In Pullman's trilogy, Angels are formed when Dust condenses. It's noted that they only appear as winged humans because that's what is expected; in reality, they are much more complex shapes, more similar to "architecture".

History
Dust came into existence when consciousness did, as it is created by consciousness as well as being itself conscious. About 33,000 years ago, Dust induced changes in sapient species, including humans and mulefa, to allow them to interact better, conferring more consciousness. For the mulefa, this was the start of their oral history and memory as a species.

Dust condenses into Angels; the first of these was called The Authority, and told all future angels that he was the creator of the multiverse.

300 years before the start of His Dark Materials, scientists in Cittagazze created the Subtle Knife, which allowed them to travel between worlds. However, Dust was lost in the cracks of these windows into the void between universes, and the mulefa noticed that their trees, which depend on dust for fertilisation, started producing fewer seeds.

In Lyra's world, the Bible describes the eating of the apple of knowledge in the Garden of Eden as causing Adam and Eve's dæmons to settle into one shape. The discovery that Dust settles on humans after adolescence, when their dæmons settle, causes the Church to associate it with Original Sin and to demonise it. To that end, they begin a series of experiments on children involving the separation of dæmons.