“That was a god imposter. It’s scary. Real gods are born of true connections, either between people or people and nature. But nowadays so many people exclude or envy one another. Those cold souls, with their feelings of apathy, rage and despair will grow over time into entities that will stand alone and stop at nothing to become the new modern-day god of calamity. There’s no faith or goodness or light inside them. No joy or purpose. They’re just empty.”
On its face, the concept
of imposter gods of this nature as a modern creating seems unlikely unless
modernity is defined as an era that proceeds man’s mythical innocence as is a
seemingly common implication with the narrative of many myths. Regardless, I
believe it is reasonable to think of such imposter gods occurring in greater
frequency in relation to developments in recent history and their impact on
humanity and its modes of being embodied by the individual. If we look at, perhaps,
the various sorts of alienation—be they Marxist, ethnic, religious, creed, or
of other varieties of alienation—and how they separate positive connections
between individuals, then in many scenarios we can likely
observe how these conceptual imposter gods arise in relation to alienation or division in general.
Firstly,
I would like to note how well this concept easily lends itself to a sort of
neo-platonic lens. Borrowing from Manly P. Hall, so long as there exists
humanness, there is a degree of separation. Gods are able to mingle with one
another freely because they are of the same spiritual fabric, so to speak, but
being as they are superior, they are able to mingle with All (Hall 286). Whereas
man is totally or with some exceptions confined to the material plane. Man is
unable to attain godhood “because man is separate from man that he is not a god”,
if he can overcome the limitations of the material, then he becomes more
god-like in some sense (Hall 287). Imposter gods within the movie’s framework
are perhaps disconnected more than what may be considered normal—spiritually
and materially. Implicitly, perhaps through means of visual tactic, those most
likely to become imposter gods are those that escapist in some sense or caught
up in their sense of self and/or lack of awareness of the Other. The movie
notably depicts a crowd on the busy streets of a Japanese city with people
appearing not present in the moment, a Buddhist shrine in disrepair, a,
perhaps, oblivious and busy business man walking into the main character
without any sort acknowledgement, a salary man littering, someone very absorbed
in their laptop (likely playing a game), a man appearing visibly annoyed at a
crying baby in a pram on the train, and the main character, overcome with
emotions, pushing their dad down. Each of these depictions have meanings one
can infer and most of them seem to have a similar idea behind them. One who is
not living as if they are present in the moment like those busybodies on busy
streets can be conceptualized as one who is disconnected (or disinterested) in
the present; to be aware of the unfolding present even if one is very familiar
with the route by routine is to retreat from the happenings (as banal as they
may appear) and to see and feel without quite seeing or feeling. Keeping in
mind the interconnectedness of things and coming to realize or experiencing the
relations objects, sights, ideas, or people have to one another is to practice
connectedness—to stay in tune with the flow.
Shrines in disrepair
quickly suggest spiritual malaise of a people—a show of a lack of faith. With
the busybodies not present in the moment, we can borrow the concept of maya or
the act of mistaking the material (Jupiterian or inferior) self for the real I
or Self. Similarly, those lacking faith can be said to be too focused on the
material world that are imperfect forms of the platonic higher forms. Not
realizing the material world is comparably a shadow world to these higher forms
and disregarding the spiritual realm from which they descend, they come to a false
knowledge that the material world is the starting point from which something
can be considered Good when they are perhaps more akin to fragmentary
potentials of their source. Assuming that intellect is the “highest manifestation
of matter”, it is also a lower and incomplete form with a tendency of looking
inward toward to the physical (the illusions) instead of outward where the
spiritual intellect orients its contemplation and grasps at the Self (real-I)
and Reality, allowing shrines to falter represents the turning inward as the
Jupiterian self, mistaking the shadows as real forms, is inclined to do (Hall 18).
With outward outlook, seeing these illusions and those blinded by maya, the
conceptual soul or light that animates one’s self can be likened to the sort of
fire that resides within Hel-heim: burning so low that they may go out at any
moment—near death (Hall 11). Within neo-platonic thought, it is often said that
the Monad or Deity is light (somewhat representing enlightenment) and the
notion of hell is darkness (ignorance, a lack of light or enlightenment). To
confuse the self with Self is to shirk off into the darkness and into Hel-heim,
in some manner. Further, to forget that the individual is like you and is of
the same matter or essence as you are by means of, say, inconveniencing them
and not by maintaining a positive connection with them is to disconnect
yourself from the interconnectedness of the space we all reside in within the
Dot (from which space, matter, and spirit come into being within space). If we
assume the self dislikes to inconvenience itself, it is due to maya that the
self is able to inconvenience another self. The mistaken but partially real or
material degree of separation between the two selves serves as a buffer that
allows one to not realize how it is as if they are inconveniencing their own
self. Again, imposter gods can be said to embody a lack of connectedness,
whereas real gods are born of true connections. Cold souls with their Hel-heim
like kindling of a spirit, consciously or unconsciously, stand alone and stop
at nothing to become gods of calamity. It can be said that these imposter gods
seek to negate the Self with the self, unable to look outward, toward spirit,
toward the all-pervasive connectedness of all things. If they have faith, then
it is a faith of the material—of the shadow.
There can be more said of
how, say, the depiction of someone being well absorbed in their laptop can
represent a rather new means by which there is a degree of both separation and
connectedness. The virtual world presents, maybe, a new separation that is
neither material nor spiritual. Maya can take a new form and perhaps there are
new lower or intermediate forms—not quite material and not quite spiritual (or supranatural).
However, like there are communities outside of the virtual world, connectedness
of some form or degree can be found in these virtual spaces as can the lack of
connectedness exist in these virtual spaces. It may not be farfetched to see
the virtual space as a simulacrum or mirror of (or transparent glass between)
the non-virtual space. The implications of what is made possible (and not
possible) in the virtual space is worthy of another essay. However, in regard
to the movie, it is often a means by which one neglects, perhaps, both the
material and spiritual world but still looks inward by means of the lower intellect
governed by Jupiter. A lack of faith, darkness, apathy, and a cold soul in
aggregation is the seed sown and reaped by the lower intellect. Those familiar
with the virtual space are well familiar with the imposter gods in the form
hellish spiders that spin their grandiose and/or pathetic webs within the
interwebs and innerwebs which ensnare the spider itself and/or unsuspecting
individuals.
Moving onward, these
imposter gods are said to be empty. Perhaps empty in the sense that they manage
to rid themselves of any inkling of their spiritual seeds and thus able to only
fixate on the material world, neglecting their relation to spirit as well as
lacking faith. Standing in contrast or negation of the imposter god is Kanna,
the main character, on a journey to fulfill her mother’s and more recently her
own role as a courier for the gods and their annual gathering in the sacred
land of Izumo. Kanna serves as an intermediary or means by which connections
are made. She is connected to her mother in her thought and is constantly
reminded of her throughout her journey in such a way that she is inspired to
complete the task and to grow as a person. Kanna is also connected to what can be
said to be the spiritual world as well by aid of her mother’s wristband of
sorts and interacts with various beings normally invisible to the human eye:
oni (demons), kami (gods), and imposter gods. While she struggles to come to
terms with her self and whether she can really go on without her mother, she nonetheless
manages to overcome her self and preconceived notions of limitations preventing
her from reaching the destination. It is seemingly unspoken in that the, say,
divine beings do not believe a human child is able to fulfill the role of collecting
the gifts from the gods at the many shrines and to bring them to Izumo. Near
the end of the movie, however, the enemy-turned-friend oni notes “maybe a human
child is the perfect choice for an idaten after all.” Idaten here are descendants
of the gods, Kanna’s mother was one as well, but they lack the powers of the
gods. Given the nature of the film being aimed toward a younger audience and how
these films often emphasize how the youth overflow with (good) faith, hope,
energy, and action, we can say it is well within the cultural narrative that
the young are not yet blinded by Jupiter and maya. To be old, in some sense, is
to overemphasize the realness of difficulties and the material world in such a
way one is made inert whereas the young can and will seek to overcome perceived
shadows. Not yet lacking faith, they push onward and look outward, not yet
overcome with the awareness of the degrees of separation between individuals.
Initially Kanna is disappointed by being unable to see her mother again by
having accomplished a task for the gods, a god notes how the gods in their
matchmaking cannot undo what has already come to pass but it can create the
ties that bind people together. Yet Kanna says that she managed to see her
mother by means of going through with this task, what may be implied here is
that by living out an experience that her mother had gone through herself, she
comes to understand her mother better and it is through this experience (and
the thoughts/imagination that accompany the experience) that she manages to deepen
a connection with her mother despite her no longer residing in space as she
once did. Her mother is indeed with her even now. She rejoices in having been
able to meet the two divine beings she befriended, made connections with,
alongside the journey.
Having completed her task,
one could perhaps make use of the concept of the importance of works and redemption
by means of good works. Good works, having to need to proceed faith, can only
occur when faith is had in the self and the divinity of self. Love, too, is a method
for redemption and Kanna manages to utilize both methods in completing her task,
further separating herself from the imposter gods who were unable to perform
such tasks. It can be said Kanna embodies the Orphic Egg in that she embodies
the beautiful, the virtuous, and the necessary by means of her performance. Perhaps
too, she is a step closer to her god-like nature or divine self by being what
the imposter god is not: connected, caring, hopeful, faithful, warm, and
inclusive.
Hall, M. P., & Wookey,
H. W. (2005). Lectures on Ancient philosophy: Companion to the secret
teachings of all ages. Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin.
