The secular angel in contemporary children's literature: David ...

hard for them —despite everything they have been through, this would probably be the
hardest thing they would ever have to endure. As an angel, she can fly extremely fast and is
able to travel through worlds without the use of windows. Lyra and Will become fascinated
and momentarily hopeful at the thought that they too might be able to do so and meet again
one day; however, Xaphania explains that it is very difficult.
“The way you have,” Lyra said, “is it possible for us to learn?” “Yes. You
could learn to do it, as Will’s father did. It uses the faculty of what you call
imagination. […] It is a form of seeing.” […] “And is it like the
alethiometer?” said Will. “Does it take a whole lifetime to learn?” “It takes
long practice, yes. You have to work. Did you think you could snap your
fingers, and have it as a gift? What is worth having is worth working for.”
(Pullman, AS, 494-495)
The angel’s claim that imagination can be used in order to acquire or facilitate the children’s
ability to travel through worlds as angels do is clearly reminiscent of Blake’s belief that
imagination can be used to see beyond what we perceive as real, using our eye as a window,
something that Michael employs in Skellig. In fact, in all three narratives, imagination is
valorised as an unambiguously positive quality, one that the authors are encouraging in their
readers.
Xaphania’s role, however, may not end there. Bernard Schweizer argues that as a female
angel she represents or resembles a female deity that is far more benevolent and worthy of
awe than the Authority himself. Although the author does not wish to introduce a different
kind of God, but completely abolish the very idea of monotheism, his portrayal of Xaphania
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