Christian Letter to Eywa

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

Dear Eywa,

I remain hopeful that you will write me back, even while I am assailed by doubts.  I don't expect a piece of paper in my mailbox or a communiqué from pandora.com, so I think your correspondence will take the form of answers from devotees here on Earth.  Amidst the clamor and chaos of their own voices, I think I will be able to discern your self-disclosure, so I welcome them all.

First, let me admit that I am very curious about you!  A sentient being unlike Humans or the Na'vi is an intellectual puzzle for me.  What is your experience of self?  Do you feel loneliness that there is no one else of your kind, or is the myriad memories of the Na'vi you've accumulated as well as the constant input from an entire planet enough to satisfy such urges?  What is your earliest memory?  I gather that your regulate the balance of life on Pandora, but what processes require your conscience attention and which are automatic, like humans not beating their own hearts versus raising their hand?  Grace Augustine said that the connections between trees is like the connections between neurons for us, but are the other plants (and the animals) part of your "body" in ways analogous to the other organ systems of human beings?  I would love to sit down and hear you describe your thoughts and actions beginning when Jake Sully spoke to you about the impending human attack, to the dispatching of so many animals to intervene in the conflict.

But whether or not I get all those curiosities satisfied, we still have a lot of things about which we may talk.  As you know, nothing occurs in a vacuum; everything happens in a context, in an ecosystem.  Your existence strikes human beings in a certain way because of our history.  Some people have even wanted to translate your name (instead of simply transliterating it) as Gaia, an ancient Greek goddess who was the anthropomorphized earth.  Therefore, I will prioritize my questions to you in a certain way.  I could phrase things delicately, but I don't think you will be offended by directness: Why do you permit the Na'vi to worship you?

A majority of human beings are monotheists, that is, they believe in one God who created the universe and the Laws of Nature.  In simplest form, He is the reason there is something, and not nothing!  Of course, you are due much respect, honor, deference and authority.  You preside over a planet in a way we can scarcely comprehend.  But you are not Ultimate, as you yourself must know.  What you and I have in common -- same as Prometheus and porcupines -- is that we owe our initial and continued existence to Another.  You may have shepherded the life and death of all organisms on Pandora, but you are not the inventor of nitrogen, nor the reason the half-life of Uranium-238 is 4.5 billion years.  As such, worship is not due you.

I will, nevertheless, caveat my objection.  Here on Earth, we lack tsaheylu -- the bond -- which the Na'vi have to other animals on Pandora.  Our interconnectedness is abstract and ephemeral.  It is a recent development to think of "symbiont circles" or "ecological systems".  But it is still proper to delineate individual organisms and species within an ecology.  Hence, the Tree Song is metaphorical, an overstatement to correct a failure of interdependency:

We are all seeds Of the Great Tree, Whose strength is in our legs Like the mighty trunks, In our arms As sheltering branches, In our eyes The blue-flower Which unfolds to the sun. We are all seeds Of the Great Tree Whose song is within us.

Utralä aNawm ayrina' lu ayoeng, A peyä tìtxur mì hinam awngeyä Na aysangek afkeu, Mì pun Na ayvul ahusawnu, Mì aynar Na seze A 'ong ne tsawke. Utralä aNawm ayrina' lu ayoeng, A peyä tìrol mì awnga.

"Plants and animals" are categories developed on Earth; they may not apply well on Pandora.  Neologisms like "planimals" and "aniplants" are more appropriate much of the time.  But the Na'vi and Humans transcend these categories.  We are not seeds of the Great Tree in and of ourselves.  The non-sentient world feeds and sustains us without subsuming our inherent nature.  We cannot live without food, but in eating it we do not become food.  'Purpose' makes us different from everything else in the universe, and in that we are akin to God.

Thank you again for your self-disclosure up to this point, and I look forward to our continued exchanges.

God be with you,

Eltu Lefngap Makto

[Zefanaya]

I have been thinking about this for a long time. I am a believer (Pentecostal Christian. but I hate titles, I also quite enjoy science, especially theoretical physics), I struggled with the idea of Eywa and was why I was initially against the film. For the sake of argument, Eywa is real. Here's how I think things went down.

Eywa's Coming To Be: Just as we were created by God and saved form out sin by Jesus, I think Eywa is a created being. She, may have been created by God to govern over a planet and keep people devoted. She however, is governed by God. Now the only problem I have with my theory is: "You shall have no other gods before me". IF the Bible only applies to humans, then maybe this rule does not apply to the Na'vi. However this screams contradiction to me and God does not ever contradict Himself. He is all powerful though and if he so desired, then this could have happened.

The Na'vi: Created creatures. Created by God, perhaps for on other reason then to (eventually) show humans how amazing He is.

So far this is all I have. I believe in other life, but I also believe that God would never let life worship a false god.

God and the Son be with you.

[Human No More]

Eywa is a consciousness as part of a neural network.
As far as I know, there is no mention of life anywhere but Earth in the vast majority of mythology.

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

Eywa is a consciousness as part of a neural network.
As far as I know, there is no mention of life anywhere but Earth in the vast majority of mythology.

Any thoughts on the worship of Eywa?

[Na'vin Nos'feratxu]

You have just said, what I have struggled to form words for...

I believe in our hearts we all long for the Na'vi life.
Everything it comes with...If we had a choice between all that we know here and now...and a choice between being Na'vi, we would all choose to be Na'vi.
We would all choose it, because Eywa is all that exists in worship....

God as we know him, does not interact with us...If he does, we never know it.
Eywa however interacts COMPLETELY with her people, the animals, plants....everything.

Its because we as Man cannot connect with anything on our planet...That we long to be Na'vi, to have that connection!!!
God expects us to just have Faith...and Faith alone. I hard life to live with so many Evils and other religions that make us question Gods purpose....

To be Na'vi, would make life simple and enjoyable! To connect with those around you, in love, afterlife, the animals...Having a connection that we as Humans simply can never have...

I have many questions, after my life is over. I look forward to having them answered...
One of them will be.....Will you make Pandora? And will you make me Na'vi!!!

[Human No More]

Eywa is a consciousness as part of a neural network.
As far as I know, there is no mention of life anywhere but Earth in the vast majority of mythology.

Any thoughts on the worship of Eywa?

Personally, I would say that doesn't preclude her being a lifeform. There isn't a human equivalent - Eywa is an important part of the Na'vi's lives, but it doesn't mean she has any special powers.

[Na'vin Nos'feratxu]

Eywa is a consciousness as part of a neural network.
As far as I know, there is no mention of life anywhere but Earth in the vast majority of mythology.

Any thoughts on the worship of Eywa?

Personally, I would say that doesn't preclude her being a lifeform. There isn't a human equivalent - Eywa is an important part of the Na'vi's lives, but it doesn't mean she has any special powers.

But she has the ability to listen to Jake Sully's words of warning...
And send many creatures of Pandora to the Na'vi aid...
Thats a power...

[Human No More]

It's biologically explainable. She can't do the things mentioned in human mythology though.

[Zefanaya]

It's biologically explainable. She can't do the things mentioned in human mythology though.

What about the transfer of "spirit". The conciseness is mostly electrical signals, and tsaheylu appears to be a fiber optic network if you will. But form a Christian perspective, the spirt would die and only the thoughts and memories of Jake would be in the body. Keep in mind, even though the spirit is who we are, it is also unique. The spirit and mind are connected and separate. According to some scholars. Don't ask for references I don't have them.

[Lolet]

I have been thinking about this for a long time. I am a believer (Pentecostal Christian. but I hate titles, I also quite enjoy science, especially theoretical physics), I struggled with the idea of Eywa and was why I was initially against the film. For the sake of argument, Eywa is real. Here's how I think things went down.

Eywa's Coming To Be: Just as we were created by God and saved form out sin by Jesus, I think Eywa is a created being. She, may have been created by God to govern over a planet and keep people devoted. She however, is governed by God. Now the only problem I have with my theory is: "You shall have no other gods before me". IF the Bible only applies to humans, then maybe this rule does not apply to the Na'vi. However this screams contradiction to me and God does not ever contradict Himself. He is all powerful though and if he so desired, then this could have happened.

The Na'vi: Created creatures. Created by God, perhaps for on other reason then to (eventually) show humans how amazing He is.

So far this is all I have. I believe in other life, but I also believe that God would never let life worship a false god.

God and the Son be with you.

I always figured that Na'vi, not being made in the form of God, were made in the form of Eywa. And therefore they worship her, a gift from God. Not a very well thought out theory, I know.  

[ExLibrisMortis]

I believe in other life, but I also believe that God would never let life worship a false god.

Of course He lets people worship "false" Gods, but that doesn't mean he condones them for doing so. It's all about that freedom of choice.

But she has the ability to listen to Jake Sully's words of warning...
And send many creatures of Pandora to the Na'vi aid...
Thats a power...

Is that her listening to Jake, or is it just a biological entity reacting to a situation that threatens its survival?

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

I always figured that Na'vi, not being made in the form of God, were made in the form of Eywa. And therefore they worship her, a gift from God. Not a very well thought out theory, I know. 

First, I dig the sig; meuniltìrantokx can be friends! 
Second, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, being made in the image of God has to do with sapience and sentience.  The fact that humans and Na'vi have language and thought in common points to an essential nature in common.  Communication with the completely alien is self-contradictory.  If anything, Eywa is more like the Ainur of Tolkien (cp. to angels).  Monotheistic religions forbid the worship of angels, only reverence.

[ExLibrisMortis]

But whether or not I get all those curiosities satisfied, we still have a lot of things about which we may talk.  As you know, nothing occurs in a vacuum; everything happens in a context, in an ecosystem.  Your existence strikes human beings in a certain way because of our history.  Some people have even wanted to translate your name (instead of simply transliterating it) as Gaia, an ancient Greek goddess who was the anthropomorphized earth.  Therefore, I will prioritize my questions to you in a certain way.  I could phrase things delicately, but I don't think you will be offended by directness: Why do you permit the Na'vi to worship you?

2 things here. Is Eywa an entity that watches over a planet, or is it just the planet itself?

The Term Eywa, or the Idea of Eywa, is that an actual being, or is it a reverence that the Na'vi have for the planet that calls for the recognition of something that doesn't exist? I mean, look at the a lot of the ancient cultures. They respected and revered nature so much that they made Gods out of things they saw that were noteworthy. Pele, the Hawaiian God of the Volcanoe, was a personification of the power and tenacity of the Volcano. It's not an actual person, but just a personification.

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

2 things here. Is Eywa an entity that watches over a planet, or is it just the planet itself?

The Term Eywa, or the Idea of Eywa, is that an actual being, or is it a reverence that the Na'vi have for the planet that calls for the recognition of something that doesn't exist? I mean, look at the a lot of the ancient cultures. They respected and revered nature so much that they made Gods out of things they saw that were noteworthy. Pele, the Hawaiian God of the Volcanoe, was a personification of the power and tenacity of the Volcano. It's not an actual person, but just a personification.

If I may cease to be "in universe" for a moment...
Eywa was created to be a deliberate extension of the Gaia concept ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis ).  On Earth, it's a physics or metaphysical idea; either a radical theory of science or part of ancient religions.  Rather than be so tenuous and vague, Cameron extended the concept and made it more concrete by adding superconductive tree-roots as neurons and physical connections with pony-tails.  That way, Gaia isn't vague and amorphous (like the concept is on Earth) but some kind of meta-organism.  Basically, she is interconnectedness incarnate.  In the movie, we are expected to conclude she is a real "person".

[ExLibrisMortis]

Well initially, I'd like to ask for the source on that one. Because in all my time spent revolving around avatar I've never heard that before.

Secondly, are we really expected to believe that she is an actual person? My point being is that all the "actions" that she "did" are easily seen as mechanisms that were triggered by very specific events. Pointing back to the interconnectedness, it could just be that she is an evolved being that is more a collective conscious, made up of all the life on Pandora coming together. Imagine each neuron in our brain being like a tree on pandora. Then you'll get what I'm trying to say.

Also, the way the Na'vi revere "Eywa" is very reminiscent of our ancient cultures here on Earth. Where they watched the beauty around them and the ferocity of Nature and personified it, so that they could connect with it even more. Grace says she's real, yes, but that was the initial experience of a scientist whom had chosen not to believe for quite some time. Also, is what she felt really Eywa, or is it her interpretation of the feeling of the collective conscious that makes up what is known, of termed, Eywa?

[Zefanaya]

I believe in other life, but I also believe that God would never let life worship a false god.

Of course He lets people worship "false" Gods, but that doesn't mean he condones them for doing so. It's all about that freedom of choice.

But she has the ability to listen to Jake Sully's words of warning...
And send many creatures of Pandora to the Na'vi aid...
Thats a power...

Is that her listening to Jake, or is it just a biological entity reacting to a situation that threatens its survival?

Your right, free will. You a believer?

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

ExLibrisMortis, I take your point, but do you get mine?  The Na'vi worship Eywa (just like primitive humans worshiped Gaia or 100 other Mother Goddesses) as creator and sustainer of Life.  At most, she is a very advanced process which manages life on Pandora.  But she owes her existence to something else and isn't responsible mechanisms she maintains.  The real God of the Universe invented space-time, matter, energy, physics, ethics, love and life.  Compared to Him, Eywa (whatever she is) is ultimately on the same level as we are, relatively speaking.  She is not Creator, she is part of Creation.

[Eyawng te Klltepayu]

I don't think that there is much to gain from this. Eywa is a sentient superorganism worshipped as a deity. Human concepts of a deity are different because we do not live on a planet with lifeforms like that to act as a nucleus for human beliefs.

When Jake speaks of humans having 'killed their mother,' he does so metaphorically. The human connection to nature is to tsaheylu as Gaia is to Eywa.

[Eltu Lefngap Makto]

I don't think that there is much to gain from this. Eywa is a super-organism worshipped as a deity. Human concepts of a deity are different because we do not live on a planet with lifeforms like that to act as a nucleus for human beliefs.

Whether Eywa is actually a life-form or just an idea, she is worshiped.  On Earth, the lack of (continuing) physicality to Gaia, Zeus, Buddha, Success, Money, Careerism and a hundred other, non-Absolute Things "acts as a nucleus for human beliefs".  We all found our lives on some principle which is not Ultimate, which is the essence of worship.

[Eyawng te Klltepayu]

I'm wary of any debate in which people start capitalizing words like ultimate and absolute.