thumb|In [[Northern Lights (Pullman novel)|Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), Lord Asriel travels to the frozen North to investigate the mystery of Dust. Writing in Children's Literature in Education, she suggests that the first trilogy develops John Milton's metaphor of "dark materials" from Paradise Lost "into a 'substance' in which good and evil, and spirit and matter – conceptual opposites that form the basis of religious dualism – coexist." For Pullman, he says, the ethical opposite is the "void", which is "evil".</blockquote>

Other analogs

In Fantasy, Myth and the Measure of Truth, folklore and fantasy scholar William Gray has noted similarities between Pullman's descriptions of Dust and Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, particularly the "Great Dance" passages where "Dust" is described as "at the centre" and "whereof allworlds, and the bodies that are not worlds, are made". However, in their Mythlore article exploring Pullman's self-positioning versus C. S. Lewis, Marek Oziewicz and Daniel Hade point out that Pullman subverts Lewis's redemption story in which death is overcome. (Engraving of Plato's Allegory of the Cave by Jan Saenredam, after Cornelis van Haarlem, 1604)]]

In Northern Lights, Lord Asriel reveals the origin of the term "Dust" to be from a passage from the slightly alternative 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 discovered a field permeating the universe that enabled consciousness, before the discovery of Dust; its existence was predicted, as:

: "the existence of a Rusakov field implies the existence of a related particle". The name "Shadows" was given to the particle by her colleague, Oliver Payne, in references to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Lord Asriel observes that Dust only gathers on adults and not children, leading Lyra to uncover the true meaning of Dust. and metron (measure). In Lyra's world, six alethiometers were constructed. Also known as symbol readers, alethiometers have a ring of 36&nbsp;standard symbols, but are all different; some, for example have more elaborate decoration. Over the course of the books, several alethiometers are shown being read, including by Lyra Belacqua, Hannah Relf, and Fra Pavel.

Each symbol on the rim of an alethiometer has several levels of meaning; for example, the anchor can mean steadfastness, hope, the sea, or other interpretations. To phrase a question, three adjustable levers are pointed at symbols, and the reader has to hold the level of meaning for each symbol in their head. A fourth lever, made of an alloy sensitive to Dust, swings around, stopping on different symbols to give an answer, with the number of times it stops at a given symbol indicating the level of meaning intended.

In La Belle Sauvage, it is said that no more alethiometers can be built, as their construction depends on a rare metal being subjected to special treatment, knowledge of which has been lost. Oxford has an alethiometer in its library, which is read by Hannah Relf, various other universities have one, and one is missing. After the Magisterium attempts to steal one, a secret society opposed to their actions is able to obtain it and give it to Relf to use on their behalf. The missing alethiometer is found by Malcolm Polstead in the pack of Gerard Bonneville and given to the Master of Jordan College for safekeeping.

In Northern Lights, it is this alethiometer which is given by the Master to Lyra, who is able to read it intuitively. At that point in the story, only two other alethiometers are known to have survived.

History within the books

Within the books, Dust came into existence when consciousness did; it was created by consciousness, as well as being conscious. Occasionally, Dust condensed into Angels; the first of these was called The Authority, who told all the angels that subsequently condensed that he was the creator of the multiverse. In the trilogy, Angels are formed from condensing Dust. These angels only appear as winged humans because that is what is expected of them; in reality, they have more complex shapes, similar to "architecture".

About 33,000&nbsp;years prior to the time of the books, Dust had 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. When asked directly, Dust states that this was done by rebel angels for vengeance over the war in heaven. <!-- end "refs=" -->

  • Dust and Panpsychism in His Dark Materials by Attic Philosophy on YouTube