the Avatar phenomenon

As myths go, the story of the Avatar is my absolute favourite. If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning, it should be quite clear why.

Once I understood the basic concept behind the word, my inexplicable experiences had found their context. Or should I say, I realised I wasn’t crazy after all.

Needless to say, I loved James Cameron’s film, Avatar. The story superbly weaves a number of profound themes totally relevant to today, to deliver truly immersive, spectacular entertainment.

What struck me is that Cameron, like George Lucas, seems to have been a student of mythology:

“And the only myth that is going to be worth thinking about in the immediate future is one that is talking about the planet, not the city, not these people, but the planet, and everybody on it.” [Joseph Campbell, 1904-1987]

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‘Avatar’ delivers a broad environmental message by echoing a prime mythology: Man's need to understand himself and his place in the greater scheme of things.

It's title and story reference an ancient Sanskrit word meaning, "to cross over". That is, to deliberately descend the soul - assumed to be a self-aware conscious energy - into a life-form in a different dimension to experience and contribute to that life-form’s reality.

The simple act of consciousness projecting into another dimension defines the concept. The consciousness becomes the Avatar.

We're replicating the myth not just in new versions of the story, but also in virtual worlds like Second Life (SL), Blue Mars (BM) and various 3D games.

However, I don't agree that all virtual worlds are quite games. A game, by definition, is a structured activity with a specific goal and rules. The only limitations imposed in virtual worlds like SL and BM, are those of technology and people's imaginations.

Like life, the only purpose of the 'game' is to learn how to play. They help us remember who we truly are - the All of the One.

The need to connect with other soul-nodes is an innate one. The Social Networking phenomenon is a clear indicator that there are not only people looking for answers in the heavens to understand the human place, but that souls are looking toward each other to understand their spiritual place. In the end, we're not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.

The film’s box office ultimately confirms the audience’s need to immerse in this kind of mythology. After all, it is the story of who we are.

The ancients – the ones who came up with (or are represented in) the story of the Avatar myth – called this age, the one we live in, The End Times, the time of Awakening.

Which is the real world, which is the dream …?…

अवतार

first glimpse

The first time I got a glimpse of the future, I was three years old. In the balmy inkiness hung countless sparkles of light. As I spun in the spot with my chubby little arms stretched out to the sides reaching out for the world, head thrown back with blond ringlets bouncing up and down on my shoulders and face pointing to eternity, I wondered how far those glowing specks were. What was behind them? What did the end of the night look like? And if there was an end, what came after it(?)

The vision I had that evening was of the mundane bits of family life. The scene played out in a strange kind of fast-forward motion on a see-through holographic-like screen floating in front of my eyes.

For decades I didn't realise how strange it was that my grandmother, my second mother who brought me up, didn't blink an eye when I'd rattle off to her the events of the next day, or week, or month. Nor did she ever say anything once it had all happened just as I said. The first time she made a comment on my visions, and said so much more, things that made me realise that maybe I was different after all, was on her deathbed about a decade later.

Up until then the experience seemed totally natural, normal, if there is such a thing at all. I didn't talk about the visions beyond home, and they quietly unfolded as seen.

Later that same year when my grandmother died, for the very first time I questioned a vision I had. It was one of a handful over my lifetime that was about me personally. And, it was the first. As much as I wanted the vision to be true, I didn't think there was any possibility of it eventuating. All facts pointed to the impossibility.

Within the next few months I was to change hemispheres. The boy in my vision was not going anywhere.

But what do we mere mortals know about the space-time continuum? About 17 years later my life played out the vision. Or is it the other way around(?)