In 2009, I suggested that the religion of the film’s extraterrestrials had significant similarities with the ideas of an Italian esoteric community.
by Massimo Introvigne
The 2009 James Cameron film “Avatar” will have a sequel in December, followed by three more installments. Meanwhile, audiences in several countries can watch again from September 22 a remastered edition of the first movie.
When it came out, I published an article in the daily newspaper owned by the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, “Avvenire,” which was commented by several other media, where I compared the mythology of “Avatar” with the ideas of an Italian community, Damanhur. Since Damanhur had its anti-cult enemies, they immediately attacked my article calling it propaganda for the community (which it wasn’t). Happily, they were largely ignored.
What was my point, exactly? James Cameron’s film combined an incredible technology, which can be only appreciated in 3D and on the big screen (much less in TV or on a computer), with an all-in-all very simple plot and New Age ideology. The Na’vi, the peaceful inhabitants of the planet Pandora, are attacked by mercenaries from Planet Earth hired by a multinational. The cute extraterrestrials are a transparent metaphor for all those who are “different.” The simple message is that those who look different may be better than us—and show a superior respect for the environment.
What interested me in 2009 was that in the movie the moral superiority of the Na’vi was derived from their religion, which was presented as superior to those prevailing on Planet Earth. Navi’s religion unites rather than dividing, and is monistic rather than dualistic. It does not distinguish between Creator and creatures, and it venerates Eywa, the Mother or the All, a collective mind of the universe that reveals itself through an extremely dense network of interconnections. Everything is connected with everything else, and the Na’vi shamans perform miracles, including healings, because they are able to enter the lines of connection and attune themselves with Eywa.
Na’vi religion is pantheistic, but pantheism is revisited with an ecological and New Age flavor. The reference to New Age is obvious, and it is more convincing than the hypothesis that the Na’vi religion is a slightly modified variation of Hinduism, a comment that in 2009 made the front pages of several Indian daily newspapers. However, “New Age” is a generic expression. There are many different New Age authors, groups, and communities.
I was not the only scholar who, watching “Avatar,” can’t help but notice that the New Age group that came closest to the Na’vi’s way of thinking was not in the United States or in Cameron’s native Canada. It was near Turin, Italy. It was Damanhur, the “Aquarian” center founded in 1976 in the Valchiusella valley by Oberto Airaudi (1950–2013), famous for its large underground temple. Despite how much its “citizens,” as they prefer to call themselves, dislike this label, Damanhur represents the largest New Age community in the world.
The hypothesis that Cameron could have been inspired by Damanhur was not so far-fetched. Books and videos about Damanhur in English were very common when he created his movie in the North American New Age circuit. The story of the underground temple that the community, quite incredibly, succeeded in keeping secret until 1992 had fascinated even large newspapers. The similarities were significant. Like the underground temple of Damanhur, the center of power and spirituality of the Na’vi is hidden—inside an enormous tree.
Like the Damanhurians, the Na’vi have their sacred language, and the use of it, both in Cameron’s film and at Damanhur in Valchiusella, helps to indicate the difference with those who are not part of the community. Both the Na’vi and the Damanhurian citizens emphasize the value of being part of a “people,” an identity that is not only ethnic but initiatic, and the outcome of a free choice, as the main character in the film demonstrates.
The Damanhurians greet each other, recognizing the deep communion that exists between them, with the words, “Con te” (With you), not with the usual “Good morning.” The Na’vi do the same by saying “I see you.” At Damanhur, every member of the community establishes a special bilateral connection with an animal or a plant (or both), taking on its name. Amongst the Na’vi, every warrior becomes a warrior by choosing a winged animal to ride, and by being chosen by it at the same time.
The Damanhurian citizens, wrote the founder Airaudi, become “drops that are conscious of themselves and of all the other drops forming the sea of Being.” The Na’vi would agree. Both the Na’vi and the Damanhurians believe pantheistically in a great All, where each manifestation of nature and life is in connection with all the others. Like the Na’vi, the Damanhurians attempt to interact with these connections, including through the use of special symbols, and claim to achieve results, including in the field of healing.
Obviously, I had no evidence that Cameron or somebody in his team knew about Damanhur. I was also aware that there were other communities and movements with similar ideas. Mine was just a hypothesis. Yet, I found the similarities somewhat significant.
Still in doubt? Check out “Damanhur: An Esoteric Community Open to the World,” edited by Stefania Palmisano and Nicola Pannofino and soon to be published by Palgrave Macmillan (I have a chapter in it but is about Damanhur’s school, not “Avatar”). You will learn a lot more about Damanhur and the Damanhurians, and in the end will be able to answer the question about “Avatar” by yourself.
