The Golden Compass

A novel by the author Phillip Pullman, the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy. Published outside the United States as Northern Lights. Also, an arcane device in the trilogy, shaped like a large compass, used by a main character, Lyra Belacqua. The user directs three needles to lay over certain symbols on the face of device, and to form a question in their mind. The needles then respond to the question, swinging over different symbols to form answers. Any given symbol may have numerous meanings. The compass provides its answers through the 'power' of dust, or elementary particles called shadows.

From Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. See also The Subtle Knife.