U-DO, Lost Jerusalem, and Animus


by Moonstone 04

Okay, I'm going to attempt to get this across while making sense.  XD  Keep in mind, this is all conjecture, all statements my opinion.

It began with this picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/moonstone04/fallingchaos.jpg

This picture has continued to intrigue me since it was revealed nearly a year ago.  What does it mean?  What is that red thing he's holding...it looked too suspiciously like U-DO for me to dismiss.  

I batted around a few ideas, but nothing that I could get an honest footing on.  Then Chaoslace, bless her soul, translated Pied Piper, and so much more became clear regarding U-DO and the UMN.

Since I have to start somewhere, I'll just drop the bomb I've been sitting on for a long time, and only recently entertained openly as a real possibility:  U-DO is chaos.

The big, bad, bringer of chaos, destruction, and madness often inflicted on our characters is the dark Jungian Shadow of sweet little chaos.  We finally have a little more meaning behind that nickname.  U-DO is a male entity, we know this because Wilhelm addresses it as such.  (According to Jung, the Shadow is always the same gender as the one it belongs to.)

The Shadow is the dark side of the subconscious, which is sometimes compared to Freud's Id. (Eh...that sounds familiar, doesn't it? )  It is the negative, shameful and primitive aspects of a person that they don't like about themselves, so they repress it, hide it away in the depths of their subconscious in what is known as the Shadow.

more on Shadow:
http://www.insomnium.co.uk/text/jungshadow.htm
http://www.reconnections.net/shadow2.htm

some background on gnosticism:
http://home.pon.net/craigmorse/Final-Sophia-Thesis.htm
http://northernway.org/sophia.html
http://www.magdalene.org/gnostic.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul#Christian_Gnosticism:_Valentinus
http://www.gnostique.net/Valentinus/sophiaandeve.html

Just as Fei held the part of the Gnostic savior Christ in 'Gears, chaos appears to be playing the same part in 'Saga.  They are both looking to save Sophia, and both seem to have a dark side.  (Also, both Id and U-DO are portrayed with a red aura.)  Fei wasn't aware of Id, and it's possible chaos isn't aware of U-DO (as a part of him), but it's hard to say. The leaked documents say that U-DO is missing a part of himself, and this is the reason he went nuts during the Miltian Conflict (Something was pulled down), and that he is still seeking that part of himself.

My first impression is that maybe that part of himself was chaos, but given the time period, I believe that part is related to KOS-MOS.  Personally, I think chaos was pulled down during the time of Kenya dig.  In both the dig and the Miltian Conflict, a beam of light was sent into the sky, followed by rain.  The time after the Kenya dig was known as T.C., or Transcend Christ. (Beyond, or after the return of Christ?) In Revelation, when Christ returns, the world will end.  And Earth did end up going 'poof.'

Voyager describes U-DO as the 'end of the world', or the beginning, depending on how it's viewed.  In Revelation, Jesus describes himself, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."  Xenogears also opens with this quote.  ^_^

Voyager tells of a place beyond U-DO that is literally the core of the entire collective unconsciousness.  It's literally the center of the universe, the source of existance.  It's unreachable because of U-DO, it's what just about everyone is after, Lost Jerusalem.  (This could also be equated with the unknowable god of Gnosticism.)

Jin speaks of it in ep2:

I relieved an operative of this disc.  And though I was only able to decode it partially, I discovered that all manner of data from all existing phenomena is gathered together within an area of space.  And beyond that lies a special place only described in the Y-Data.

The true Lost Jerusalem isn't just a place or a planet, although it's that as well.  I think the true "Lost Jerusalem" is KOS-MOS' true self, Sophia/Mary Magdalene.  Her consciousness is what's trapped and sleeping at the core.  She's the Lost Jerusalem everyone is after.  Interestingly enough, here's a few quotes from the end of Revelation:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (21:2) And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. (21:10) And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (21:11) Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; (21:12) And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (21:13) On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. (21:14) And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The twelve tribes and twelve apostles, sound familiar? ^^

It may be that KOS-MOS' consciousness can only be awakened at the core location of the pleroma, since that's where she's literally waiting.  (Which is why they need to find the coordinates.)  The same way that chaos was once pulled down at the same spot.  Maybe they've been trying otherwise, but getting nowhere with emulators (Ariadne) and only fractured pieces with the original Zohar in the wrong location (Miltia).  Not sure of all the reaons for this.  Some like Yuriev are probably looking for immortality (bypassing U-DO's death), others like Wilhelm may be looking to become god themselves and be all knowing.  He's spoken before of the only truth coming from standing outside of the world.

Wilhelm:  Only those who stand in a place beyond that point can comprehend the true essence and gain knowledge of absolute truth.  Her awakening -- KOS-MOS' awakening -- will lead us to that summit. Don't you agree?

Then of course:

Wilhelm:  When the path to Lost Jerusalem is opened, KOS-MOS will awaken.

The UMN as a man-made structure was built as a containment for the Zohar according to the ODM, which likely involved restraining the force behind the Zohar that was causing the phenomenon. (Which would've been the existance there).  Maybe in controlling it, they also created that "prison of the soul" that various characters in the series talk about. And this is why Nephilim wants you to release Cecilly and Cathe (another Zohar control device) for the sake of all consciousness.  

This prison would be KOS-MOS' prison, but as all souls are part of the collective unconsciousness she encompasses, it would ultimately affect everyone who dies and becomes trapped in it.  

In Gnostic texts, Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene as the pleroma:

"Excellent, Mariam, thou blessed one, thou Pleroma or thou all-blessed Pleroma, who will be blessed among all generations".
http://www.magdalene.org/gnostic.htm

Maybe that's why the realians are needed and the birth rate is going down, no one can be reborn naturally once they become too ensnared in whatever the trap is.  This may be why those who get too up close and personal with U-DO freak out at endless death (with the exception of Albedo, who was part of Yuriev's obsessive experiments to counter U-DO, so...).  Maybe this is also why people who are teleported through the UMN come out as vegetables, their souls are unable to escape it.

In this respect, maybe gnosis are like escaped prisoners.  But they're still still trying to reach the source themselves, being lost souls, they're drawn towards portals (Zohar and emulators) regardless of whether they're open, and the wave length that sounds like the core (Song of Nephilim).  

Speaking of Lost Jerusalem, Jerusalem is a city in the land of Canaan.  One of the few things we really know about "Canaan" is that it detects what's been called everything from "shining will" to "essense" and in some cases, a drug.  I think this substance is Animus, and that's what I'm going to refer to it from now on partially for convience's sake.

All the "people of the Zohar", the Abraxians, contain at least a trace of Animus.  This is possibly due to exposure to the Zohar over thousands of years as guardians of the object, but it's hard to say.  It's possible everyone possesses this, but not at those levels.  But for some reason the Abraxians are special like that.  It would appear that possessing Animus allows them to control the Zohar to some extent.  Although Voyager proved that those with high amounts of Animus can do even more...he was able to activate the Zohar by himself, although he wasn't able to do more than wake up U-DO. High concentrations of Animus also seems to cause other powers and affects.

I believe that Animus (in Jung, the male aspect of a female) is in some way, like sparks of Sophia's light in Gnosticism, that was blown into humans to give them the divine light of life.  Meaning it's related to KOS-MOS' being.  In turn, I believe the Anima relics (again in Jung, the female aspect of a male) are likewise associated with chaos in some way.

It may be that Animus is needed to operate the Zohar into opening the path to Lost Jerusalem.  It's the one force that seems able to manipulate U-DO.  When Red Testament asks Wilhelm if Albedo could become one with U-DO on his own, it's replied that even though Albedo can affect it somewhat (Yuriev probably used the Animus he had Voyager harvesting for him in URTV creation), he didn't have enough power on his own.  Then said that was what the Testaments were for.  And we do see Testaments manipulate U-DO in ep2. We learned in Pied Piper that Testaments possess the "shining will", or Animus that is brighter than that of normal people.

We see during the fight between Canaan and Pellegri that Anima reacts to other Anima, probably due to having the same wavelength.  I don't see why the same couldn't be true of Animus.  So Canaan isn't just a person, but Animus used to detect other Animus.  If Animus could also be seen as a soul, he is then a realian with a soul.  (I believe the same can be said of MOMO due to Mizrahi's experiments, although she is not a Canaan model.) Canaan possesses some of "Lost Jerusalem" within him.

Just for the heck of it, let's dissect everyone's favorite Grahf saying using the above.  XD

"My fist is the divine breath!"

The main characters in Xeno tend to be fist fighters with divine power.  

"Blossom, o fallen seed, and draw upon thy hidden powers!"

This definitely sounds like the light of Sophia.  It also sounds a little like chaos' ether quote towards the end there.  ^^;

"Grant unto thee the power of the glorious 'Mother of Destruction'!"

Grahf powers up the 'light of Sophia' or Animus within a person, even if it's extremely small.  Everyone else has been making parallels between KOS-MOS and the 'Mother of Destruction' thing for a long time, so I don't think that needs much explaining.  >.>