What role do prana, the vital energy of Hinduism, or Japanese ki play within the narrative universe of Star Warsmade up of movies, series and open-world video games?
Like other numinous manifestations from various religions and mythologies, prana or ki inject transcendence into the battles between the Jedi and the Sith and, by extension, the entertainment industry. But at the same time, these concepts are projected, mixed, to global audiences as part of a new form of faith: mass esotericism.
In the wake of mass culture
in his book Apocalyptic and integratedUmberto Eco introduces the concept of mass culture. He defines it as that of a modernity committed to commercializing the artistic and creative expressions and manifestations of an increasingly globalized humanity.
In the global marquee of culture, creative forms, the fruit of human ingenuity, are degraded or reduced by creatives and advertisers. The purpose of reducing prices is to facilitate mass consumption. Cultural products should appeal to any consumer, no matter if they are from India or live in the southern tip of America.
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Just as culture has globalized, so have religions, as explained Thomas A. Tweed in his work Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion. Religious beliefs, ideas, and practices cross borders and are uprooted from the cultural and geographic contexts where they emerged.
Ubiquitous deities
It is no longer an eccentricity for a Japanese to worship the Odinic gods. Nor does it mean that a Spaniard listens to Bob Marley and embraces the Rastafarian faith. Religions have become ubiquitous and now roam freely on the Internet. The so-called world market of religions is partly set up on the web.
Religions, like culture, have become commercialized. Without the consent of the hierophants of sacred knowledge and symbology (priests, monks, shamans), entertainment creatives (novelists, screenwriters, filmmakers, manga artists, comic artists, video game developers) have given birth to what we call esotericism. of masses.
Both mass esotericism and mass culture recreate, for popular consumption, narratives in which celestial, demonic, elemental beings, divinities, wizards, witches and even aliens appear.
One of the most finished products of this mass esotericism is, without a doubt, the science fiction saga Star Warsby screenwriter and filmmaker George Lucas. This galactic western recreates the mythical confrontation between the champions of good and light, the Jedi, and the servants of the dark side, the Sith.
Joseph Campbell and his hero with a thousand faces
Both factions are trained in the ancient knowledge of the use of “force.” Lucas, who read Joseph Campbell wellparticularly his work, The hero with a thousand facestook up a concept, already translocalized, from Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism referring to a universal energy. This receives various names (prana, chi, ki, among others) and represents the source of existence and the unity factor of creatures. A reference that connects with the mass esotericism.
Mass esotericism has popularized an endless number of religious, mythological and even metaphysical notions, ideas and symbols that had already been disseminated by its predecessor, the New Age. But through mass esotericism, this universe of ideas has managed to reach a larger audience. It has done so almost in a subliminal way because these notions, symbols and beliefs are disseminated in cultural products that are made, not precisely to indoctrinate, but to entertain.
Japan and mass esotericism
One of the cultures that has most developed this mass esotericism is the Japanese. Many of today’s young adult millennials learned about Greek gods from the Knights of the Zodiac. Centenial youth participated in comic conventions dressed as Naruto characters and practiced, in their “performing,” complicated mudras to activate their chakra.
For their part, alpha adolescents dream of defeating Japanese mythological demons like those that appear in Demon Slayerthe manga that has given rise to series and the most watched film in the history of Japan.
From “darks” and “wiccans” to posthumans and aliens
Mass esotericism is subject to the laws of the market and not to the missionary ideals of traditional religions. See how “dark” became fashionable at the time with the film adaptations of Anne Rice’s books, especially Interview with the Vampire.
In that vein, films like Young people and witches (1996), at the time, made esoteric “Wiccan” literature and merchandise popular. Many young women wanted to be initiated into Celtic magic and be part of a coven.
This esotericism also makes transhumanism its own, recreating on paper or images the stories of posthumans. An example is the characters created by Warren Ellis in his graphic novel Supergod. He also turns to ufological esotericism in search of inspiration, as was the case with Jack Kirby and his Eternals.
Perhaps a religion of tomorrow of transhumans, posthumans, aliens and pagan gods awaits us. Many of them will undoubtedly inhabit the metaverse that is yet to come.
A religious imaginary far from monotheism
As long as there is no shortage of gamers who delve into occult knowledge with video games like Dark Soul or Elden Ring and comic book fans persist in their love for stories of demons and antiheroes like Spawn and Darkness, an increasingly globalized religious imaginary will continue to operate. and eventually less theistic or attached to the principles of historical and traditional monotheism.
The religiosity corresponding to this new religious imaginary based on mass esotericism is more playful, informal, dedogmatized and dependent on the world market of religions.
Only time will allow us to verify the hypothesis that this mass esotericism becomes the germ of a new religiosity. But the act of believing is already inevitably linked to the act of consuming.
