So I've recently watched Neon Genesis Evangelion and it has quickly become one of my favorite works of media. This is primarily due to another big interest of mine, which is occult mythologies. I want to make it clear that I'm using the term "occult mythologies" to describe, as Google defines the word, "supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs..." In my passionate interest in the subject I've discovered many varied and interesting perspectives on life. Technically Christianity could be considered an "occult mythology" by the Google definition, but most people tend not to think that way, so... ...Anyway, Neon Genesis Evangelion is chock full of references and themes, subtle and blatant, related to what is typically considered "occult gnosis". In fact it's woven deeply into the fabric of the show which made it very enjoyable to watch in that perspective. Spoilers will follow, and I highly suggest you watch the show before reading any further; people tell me the subbed version is best, but I enjoyed the dub just fine. Gnosis, or Gnostic Christianity is a system of occult mythologies that purport that Jesus, rather than being God incarnate, was a man; who realized, as, according to Gnostics, we all have the potential to do, that he was God. That is to say, Christ as an ordinary man, grew up and discovered he was God; and according to Gnostic myths, we will live out repeating lives by reincarnation until we discover this fact ourselves! (Gnostic Christianity seems to be a very popular source of inspiration among well known authors and movie makers, for reasons which should become obvious if you get into the material; it's mythologies are richly imaginative and expansive, and alluringly counter-culture) The word Gnosis means "knowledge", specifically knowledge of spiritual mysteries. Because so much of it is taboo, much of these myths are perpetrated through various cults, clubs, monastaries, and other hard to find outlets, but it seems Hideaki Anno, the Creative Director of Evangelion was interested in at least some of the extensive, expansive, and confusing occult mythologies and drew inspiration from them for his work. I suspect he encountered these myths while working in the entertainment industry. There are references to demonology, the Jewish esoteric system called the Kabbalah, mainstream Christianity, Alchemy, Gnosticism, and Buddhism, wrapped up in Evangelion. I won't go into detail about specific occult mythologies, you should look them up on your own if you're interested; many of the same mythological themes and concepts overlap and find a variety of incarnations in the expansive and self contradictory library of human occult myths, so I will list some of the common occult themes, concepts, and symbols I noticed in Neon Genesis Evangelion... Here are just a few... -The Name; Neon Genesis Evangelion roughly translates in greek to "first book of the new gospel". It's interesting that the piviotal giant robots which star in the show are called "Evangelion" as well, as if the machines themselves are to be considered the "gospel" -The Kabbalistic Tree of Life; this Jewish esoteric symbol system is featured in the shows opening, and on the ceiling of Nerv's pyramidal heaquarters building. It describes the nature of reality, or the way God interacts with reality, in a similar, but slightly more nuanced way to Yggdrasil in Norse Cosmology. As I understand it in my research, the Kabbalah is a rich esoteric system, a great deal of which is only passed down in oral tradition. I understand that it deals with explanations about angels, benevolent and fallen, and how they interact with our world; which is interesting considering the primary antagonists in Evangelion are giant eldritch abominations called "angels" -Shinji and Unit 01 as Lucifer; In the End of Evangelion movie, the protagonist, Shinji, piloting Eva Unit 01 is referred to as Lucifer during the machines apotheosis. This is interesting because in some occult mythologies, possibly including some purported in Freemasonry, Lucifer is considered to be an angel of light who bears enlightenment; how fitting, considering what Shinji and Eva Unit 01 accomplish in the End of Evangelion; the Human Instrumentality Project (a euphemism for elightenment and nirvana?) -The Human Instrumentality Project; it is revealed throughout the course of the show that the group known as Seele and the top dogs at Nerv are working together to complete something called the Human Instrumentality Project. What this project amounts to is the dissolving of all of humanity into a physical soup called LCL, which will unite all human consciousness, or spirits, into a single Godly collective consciousness. From this superpoint, humans may choose whether to reincarnate and rebuild a new world out of their imaginations, or to stay in the restful comfort of the LCL soup. This is a major theme in occult mythologies; it's analogous to the Vedic concept of the Yugas. The Yuga myth purports that all of creation moves in cycles; from being a single super-point like that in the big bang myth, to the infinite complexity we experience today, and back to a single homogenous super-consciousness point. This idea is HUGE in occult mythologies and comes up in many incarnations. -Seele Monoliths; the Seele organisation members communicate with characters in Evangelion through big black monoliths, not unlike those found in 2001; A Space Odyssey. While these are likely a reference to that classic movie, I suspect that Anno was also aware of the Alchemical symbolism behind the ominous monolith; which would give him godd reason to directly rip off that iconic symbolosm. According to some, the Monolith represents the Philosopher's Stone. Alchemy is much misunderstood; while there is exoteric alchemy which deals with the literal transformation of lead into gold, there is also esoteric alchemy, which uses alchemical symbolism to describe processes of transformation of the lead of the human spirit, into the gold of human divinity. Reading the Monolith as the demiurgic Philosopher's Stone in 2001 fits nicely with the mythologies of esoteric Alchemy; because the Monolith transforms apes into star children (a literal depiction of the metaphor). In the Same way, the Seele organization works to transform humans back into LCL; which is a metaphor for the womb of the Nirvana super-consciousness state. -Third Eye/Eye of Providence Symbolism; this one is subtle, but the floor of the pyramidal Nerv headquarters, and the rising Rey/Lilith catalyst in the End of Evangelion both feature third eye/eye in pyramid symbols. The significance of the third eye is as follows; we actually have a gland in the center of the brain called the pineal gland that has optic nerv cells. It produces DMT! If there was ever a substance that could be said to impart "higher knowledge", DMT would be it. The Pineal gland releases some dmt when we dream. Many occult myths seem to reference this "eye" and recognize its creative and destructive power. According to a variety of myths, when the third eye is closed, we experience reality as it normally should be, but when it is open, we see the "spiritual side", achieve gnosis, the disolution of our sense of identity, nirvana, and any other number of fantastic things. It's a fitting symbol for Rei/Lilith, who assists Shinji in completing instrumentality, and for Nerv and Seele, who work toward that end. It's also interesting to note that, according to the tradition of Tantric Yoga and sex magick, the Third Eye is supposed to open momentarily during sex; which is interesting considering that Shinji and Rey are literally melded together at one point in EoE; durign the process of bringing the human instrumentality project to completion! .... ANyway. that's about enough for tonight. THere's a couple I'm missing, (especially the obvious and important Kaworu/Jesus) but this is all I want to put down for the moment. I'm tired. I hope to God you're familiar with this show, because otherwise none of this will make much sense. Go watch it if you haven't; it's great,