Examining the Storyline of FFVII Based on Its Symbolism (Unmarked Spoilers Within)
While it's well known that Final Fantasy VII draws on Jewish mysticism, establishing a great deal of symbolism with the ancient belief system, the extent of that symbolism is not always realized. I have here attempted to establish an explanation that points out the correlation between in-game events, scenarios, and concepts that are a direct reference to their counterparts in Jewish mysticism. What I have determined from my studies is that the core themes of Final Fantasy VII are taken straight out of the lore of Jewish mysticism, and given an in-game representation. The level of inspiration that these ancient concepts provided for Final Fantasy VII is striking, as are the intricate levels at which they were interwoven throughout the game's story. I hope that with this document, fans of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy as a whole -- as well as those who may simply have an interest in religious symbolism as used in games -- will be able to find a whole new angle by which to examine this groundbreaking title in the Final Fantasy series.
-The Set-Up-
In the Kabbalah, it's stated that man is seperated from God by the sin of the world, and the only way he can return to God is by navigating the paths of the Sephiroth. The Sephiroth, also known as the "Tree of Life," is a spiritual grid that represents the 10 divine emanations of God as projected into the mortal world. These 10 aspects of God are comprised of 22 paths based in seven realms of mortal existance. Along each path, a soul must overcome obstacles to reach the next node, gaining a further understanding of itself and more of its potential -- yet still limited -- understanding of God. If it is triumphant throughout the life of its time as a mortal, it will gain a full understanding of itself and as great an understanding of God as is possible for a mortal being.The soul attains this great understanding when it reaches the central node on the grid, the Tifaret (also spelled as "Tipharet," "Tiferet," and "Tipheret"). From here, the soul will ascend to the seventh and highest realm of conscious mortal existance, where it gains full understanding of itself and may rejoin with God.
Of specific importance to a matter we'll be addressing here are the properties of the Tifaret. As previously mentioned, the Tifaret is the central node on the Tree of Life, and is associated with ascension, as well as representative of beauty and certain virtues and vices. It's virtues are love and balance, while its vices are pride and self-importance. When unbalanced, the Tifaret in an individual will give way to an illusionary dilemma in which they suffer from over-identification with others.
Also of importance to the matter we'll be analyzing here is the name of God, "YHWH"/"JHVH" (commonly written as "Yahweh"/"Jehovah").
(Note: For more information on the Sephiroth and its multitude of properties, visit these webpages:
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Practicus Grade.
Human Energy Science.
Hebrew Tradition.)
-Analyzing the game in regard to symbolism and/or themes of Jewish mysticism-
There are two "Gods" in the story: JENOVA and the Lifestream. For both, there is a concept that involves their "children" rejoining with them: JENOVA has its "Reunion" with the Cells in the Clones drawing them to the creature, and the Lifestream has its Spirit Energy returning to it upon the death of a "child" -- which it gifted with Spirit Energy when its life began -- the Spirit Energy taking back with it the memories of that individual's lifetime, from which the Lifestream will live and grow. One could say that JENOVA is a dark "God" that attempts to conquer the light "God" (the Lifestream). Interestingly enough, in Advent Children, Vincent calls JENOVA "Heaven's dark harbringer." With these concepts in mind, recall the name of God, "Jehovah." "JENOVA" is a corruption of this name, and this is reflected through the creature's defilment of the Planet. Ifalna states that so long as JENOVA remains, the Planet Gaia will never be able to heal.
Moving on, "Sephiroth" means "Numbers" when loosely translated from its Hebrew origin, and in the game we have numbered "Sephiroth Clones." They're naturally drawn back to JENOVA (God calling His children back to Him, and them being led back on a grid of paths that is God's tool, it actually being emanations of God Himself as projected into the mortal world), and it is Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII that guides the Clones "home" to JENOVA, placing them on "paths" to seek out the Black Materia as they do so.
When the Clones finally get to the Northern Crater's Whirlwind Maze, the Crater being the site where the Reunion is to take place, they are killed and knocked into a chasm, no doubt for their Cells to be assimilated by JENOVA, thus the creature fought inside the Planet later bearing the name "JENOVA-SYNTHESIS," a synthesis being defined as the combination of two or more seperate parts into a complex whole. They've rejoined with "God." Also notable is that -- briefly returning to the matter of the "Tree of Life" title -- at the Northern Crater, Sephiroth's body lay at the center of a large tree.
While on the subject of the center of the Tree of Life, let us return to the matter. As mentioned before, the central node on the Tree is called the Tifaret. Interestingly enough, the name bears a very striking resemblance to the first name of the character known as Tifa Lockhart. Tifa is the Tifaret, so to speak, at least for Cloud. In the Lifestream, she helps him find himself, and he comes to fully understand himself, the penultimate goal of following the Sephiroth's paths. One seeks to find an understanding of theirself and then they may ascend to the final realm and rejoin with God.
Through Tifa, Cloud reaches the highest plain of conscious existance, gaining an understanding and acceptance of himself, and, in so doing, is easily able to purge JENOVA and Sephiroth from his mind during the game's ending. In actuality, both Tifa and Cloud constitute a Tifaret. Tifa bears its virtues, while Cloud bears its vices. He also is the one to experience the effects of an unbalanced Tifaret, the illusion of over-identification. In being unwilling to accept himself for who he was, Cloud over-identified himself with that which he felt he must be in order to be special: Someone like Zack. This illusion of imbalance nearly crippled Cloud's mind during the game. With Tifa's help, he was able to overcome it, and accept who he was, thus, achieving balance:
Quote:
Cloud
"Everyone...... I'm sorry. I don't know what to say......"
Red XIII
"Don't say anything, Cloud. All you've been doing is apologizing."
Cloud
"I never was in SOLDIER."
"I made up the stories about what happened to me five years ago, about being in SOLDIER."
"I left my village looking for glory, but never made it in to SOLDIER......"
"I was so ashamed of being so weak; then I heard this story from my friend Zack..."
"And I created an illusion of myself made up of what I had seen in my life....."
"And I continued to play the charade as if it were true."
Barret
"Illusion, huh...? Pretty damn strong for a 'lusion, I'd say."
Cloud
"I'm physically built like someone in SOLDIER."
"Hojo's plan to clone Sephiroth wasn't that difficult."
"It was just the same procedure they use when creating members of SOLDIER."
Cloud
"You see, someone in SOLDIER isn't simply exposed to Mako energy."
"Their bodies are actually injected with Jenova cells......"
"For better or for worse, only the strong can enter SOLDIER."
"It has nothing to do with the Jenova Reunion."
"But weak people...... like me, get lost in the whole thing."
Cloud
"The combination of Jenova cells, Sephiroth's strong will, and my own weaknesses are what created me."
"Everyone knew that. I'm...... Cloud."
Cloud
"......the master of my own illusionary world."
"But I can't remain trapped in an illusion any more......"
"I'm going to live my life without pretending."
Tifa further has a connection to the Tifaret through the name of her final Limit Break and the name of her bar in the Slums of Sector 7, entitled "Final Heaven" and "7th Heaven" respectively. As previously mentioned, the Tifaret grants access to the highest realm of mortal existance, it, thus, being the "Final Heaven" and -- being the seventh realm -- also the "7th Heaven."
Next up for consideration is Bizarro Sephiroth (also known as "Reverse Sephiroth"), the next-to-final form seen of Sephiroth's body, in which it can be observed melding with JENOVA. The name "Reverse Sephiroth"/"Bizarro Sephiroth" is symbolic in the sense that what Sephiroth was doing was a reversal of the religious Sephiroth's purpose. It's supposed to lead to God, the holy of holies. Sephiroth had, indeed, been brought into contact with JENOVA's Cells while a fetus in Lucrecia's womb for the purpose of leading Shin-Ra to the Promised Land. Yet despite all this, here we find him serving as the obstacle to the spell known as "Holy" being released. In symbolically becoming the opposite of what he's supposed to be, this was a "fall from grace," thus the symbolism of a one-winged Angel in the Safer Sephiroth battle that follows the Bizarro battle. It may also be a play on JENOVA assimilating Sephiroth, seeing as how their bodies were melding into one during the battle.
In the battle with Safer Sephiroth, there is not only symbolism in the appearance of the melded form of JENOVA and Sephiroth, but also in its name. As with "Tifaret," "a" and "e" can and are often used interchangeably for Hebrew words. That is also the case with "Safer," which may also be spelled as "Sefer," "Sapher," and "Sepher." In Hebrew, "Sefer" means "Book." Therefore, "Safer Sephiroth" means "Book of Numbers."
When examining the Book of Numbers of the Pentateuch, as seen in both the Bible and theTorah, we find that it involves taking up events after the Israelites had spent nearly an entire year in the Mt. Sinai area, during which time they were promised the land of Canaan should they be obedient to God. This land came to be referred to as "the Promised Land." Worthy of note is that the Book of Numbers picks up in the second month of the second year since the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt. With this in mind, I refer back to there being 22 paths that link the 10 spheres of the Sephiroth ( 2 & 2). Also of note is the fact that the Book of Numbers involves the Israelites ending their settlement in Sinai, preparing to depart to claim the Promised Land of Canaan, and then setting out. In the Safer Sephiroth battle, the player is facing the melded form of JENOVA and Sephiroth, their fusion completed, and, thus, prepared to claim the Promised Land of the Ancients: The Lifestream.
One major point to emphasise is that the Kabbalist Sephiroth is the emanations of God Himself as projected into the mortal world. In Final Fantasy VII, it was much the same case in regard to JENOVA and Sephiroth's relationship. He is essentially the embodiment of JENOVA's will in a Gaian, its "emanations" as projected into the rest of the world. While his own self and possessing his own individuality, Sephiroth is nonetheless another side to JENOVA, a tool that is part of JENOVA itself, even if he is unaware of it.
Finally, I wish to point out the connections to Jewish mysticism as found in Aerith, the Cetra, and the Promised Land. To start with, Aerith is 22 years old and there are 22 paths of the Sephiroth. The Cetra and the Promised Land's explanations are intertwined, so I will here present them together:
Just as an individual following the paths of the Sephiroth and seeking their way back to God must overcome obstacles along the paths in order to achieve this, so too must one do so in seeking their Promised Land. This is demonstrated in-game by the Cetra's journey. It is described as a "harsh, hard journey" at the end of which they would find their Promised Land:
Quote:
Sephiroth
"This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was a
itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on..."
"At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the
Promised Land and supreme happiness."
Referring back to Elder Hargo's comments on the Cetra, again, he states that the "harsh, hard journey" of the Cetra ended when they were allowed to rejoin with the Lifestream:
Quote:
The life of the Ancients is one continuous journey. A journey to grow trees and plants, produce animals, and raise mako energy. Their harsh journeys continued throughout their lives… The place they return to after their long journey… Their burial land is the Promised Land. Huh? Supreme happiness? I believe that, for the Ancients, it was the moment that they were able to return to their planet. At that moment they were released from their fate, and gained their supreme happiness..."
We can connect the matter of rejoining with the Lifestream to the matter of rejoining with the Promised Land in the case of the Cetra based on what Aerith says concerning the Cetra's origins, and what Bugenhagen says concerning Spirit Energy and the cycle of rebirth in Final Fantasy VII:
(Aerith in the Shin-Ra headquarters)
Quote:
Aerith
"All I know is..."
"The Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet."
"And....... then......"
"The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."
(Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon)
Quote:
Bugenhagen
"Well, let's get to the subject."
"Eventually... all humans die. What happens to them after they die?"
"The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much everyone knows. What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls?"
"The soul too returns to the Planet."
"And not only those of humans, but everything on this Planet. In fact, all living things in the universe, are the same."
Bugenhagen
"The spirits that return to the Planet, merge with one another and roam the Planet."
"They roam, converge, and divide, becoming a swell, called the 'Lifestream'."
"Lifestream.... In other words, a path of energy of the souls roaming the Planet."
Bugenhagen
"'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget."
"A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are brought into the world."
"Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the
Planet..."
While this brings up the question of why the journey to die is made so difficult for the Cetra, there may have been any number of cultural assumptions amongst the Cetra that led them to feel that they must do their best to help cultivate life on the Planet in order to rejoin with the Lifestream, or perhaps it was a sense of duty that drove them in such a regard. The game is, sadly, unclear on this matter, nor are hints provided. For all we're made aware, there may have been a cultural assumption amongst the Cetra that they felt they would only be worthy of the return to the Lifestream by helping to cultivate life on the Planet's surface. Whatever the reason, this journey of the Cetra along the paths of the Sephiroth to reach their own personal Promised Land was a journey to the Lifestream, made more difficult for them than it was for other forms of life due to it being the fulfillment of self for these Ancients, with the Promised Land -- and, thus, fulfillment -- being a personal thing that varied in nature from one individual to another, and absolutely could only be reached through overcoming hardship.
(Note: For more information concerning the Promised Land, the Cetra, and this theme of hardship, refer to this webpage: Linkage.)
Something else worthy of note is that the Cetra's migrations mirrors the wanderings of the Israelites that left Egypt in the Pentateuch and Torah. They too sought their Promised Land, the Land of Canaan. It was even referred to as the Promised Land.
I hope that with this I have successfully conveyed the symbolic nature of Final Fantasy VII and provided a new reason to appreciate the thought that lay behind it.
