Pam making the bond.
Last month I shared my excitement over the largest viewed movie in history, Avatar. Since then I have seen the movie two more times to make sure what I thought I saw and heard was truly present. If you haven’t seen the movie yet some of what I want to share in this article may escape you but the central messages are universal that sing in each person’s soul and THAT cannot pass you by.
One of the main complaints I have heard about this movie is “too much violence” and if you see it in three-D it seems even more intense. I don’t think the violence was a way to get folks through the door as it is with some movie makers. What is so obvious in Avatar is the stark contrast between the violent, destructive, robotic killing military machine and the forest of larger-than-life plants that glow and pulse with life that the Nav’i (the inhabitants of the planet Pandora) can connect and communicate with. Granted the Nav’i have their moments of aggression but out of necessity to save the interconnected web of life that they are intricately a part of. The choice is obvious when presented with the diametrically opposed ways of life.
Pam making the bond.
The main theme and message in Avatar is about connecting with all of life including the natural world, the people that are a part of this, the animals, the plants and the ancestors who came before. The Nav’i bond with trees, animals and each other through a fiber optic sort of ponytail that makes a connection and once the bond is made the energies of the two are merged and the Nav’i can help direct the energy. The first bond is what sets the tone for the relationship so it is important for your heart to be true in your intentions. Suddenly light bulbs began to go off and I realized that Avatar, the movie, is a Hollywood version of the deeply shamanic way of working through heart, soul and spirit that many are now engaging in especially in their work with plant spirits. When we learn to communicate and build relationship with plants and their spirits we are learning to merge and that first encounter of experiencing, through depth perception in the heart, the resonance of the plant is so important because it is what our cells remember as the way connection is made. We connect with life-giving spirit through the heart and let our minds serve the heart by directing the energy of spirit just as Jake (a human in a Nav’i body) is instructed by Neytiri to “make the bond” with the ‘ikran’ while having clear intention with the first flight which seals their bond for life.
As we begin to open to other dimensions we look for signs or what some would call synchronicities to help guide us just as Neytiri acknowledged the message from the Soul Tree as its seeds alighted on Jake’s body indicating he was being chosen for something big. I instruct my students to pay attention to when something crosses their path the third time, especially a plant, as this is how the plant gets your attention making you aware there is something here for you to know or understand.
The Nav’i do not merely look at each other or plants or life, they “see” into the soul of life. When Neytiri tells Jake “I see you” she means she sees all of him, his heart, soul and spirit. I’m reminded of my teacher, Martín Prechtel and his teachings on “seeing” the Holy, the Divine, spirit in all of life. Again, “seeing” as opposed to looking is another shamanic way of walking in the world by seeing into the essence of life including the light essence of the forest. In the New York Times article by Carol Kaesuk Yoon she says, “It (Avatar) has recreated what is the heart of biology: the naked, heart-stopping wonder of really seeing the living world.”
When the death squads arrive and attempt to destroy life as the Nav’i know it on Pandora (all for a valuable mineral called ‘unobtainium’ – another obvious message) Jake bonds with the Soul Tree and asks Eywa, their female deity, for help as Jake’s uncertain he and the Nav’i can counter this amazingly destructive force that has unleashed its seeming all pervasive power over them. Just as we ask for help from our animal guides, plant allies and spirit helpers when we need it, Jake asked and Eywa responded reminding us that the greatest force there is that of the Divine AND all we have to do is ask for help.
The Nav’i refer to Jake, an earthly human whose DNA is mixed to have the resemblance of a Nav’i body, as a Dreamwalker. Indeed, Jake’s human body stays inside an encapsulated machine while his Nav’i body walks in their world. At some point Jake says he’s not sure anymore which is real and which is illusion but he clearly makes a choice to have his soul fully inhabited in a Nav’i body. As the exponentially greater healing power of the Nav’i connecting together to ensure the transfer of Jake’s soul into his Nav’i body is complete the stunning end of the film hits us one more time with a loud and clear message – WAKE UP ! Jake’s opened eyes startle us into realizing that we must wake-up from the illusion of life-killing ways into the real world of connection to all that is life-affirming taking our place in the interconnected web as avatars, spiritual beings inhabiting human bodies.
Why is this highly techno movie appealing to young and old, democrat and republican, hippie and yuppie, country folk and city folk? Because it is answering our soul’s longing to come home to the Earth and the spirit inherent in all life. I look forward to the sequel when the archaic war machine is only a legend and our heart rejoices in being filled with our true essential nature as an integral thread in the vast web of creation.