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Accepted Paper:

Influences of the Damanhur Community in the Representation of the Na'vi Religion in James Cameron's "Avatar:"  
Chiara Valente (Università degli studi di Salerno)

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Paper short abstract:

The following paper is dedicated to the possibility that the Na'vi religion may have been inspired by the community of Damanhur.

Paper long abstract:

What can blue extra-terrestrials more than two meters tall who live on an imaginary planet 4.37 light years from the Earth ever have in common with an ecological and independent community that is located into a valley one hour away from Turin? James Cameron, director acclaimed for his sci-fi movies, made sure that these two populations, very distant from each other, had points in common thanks to his film "Avatar." Like in any self-respecting civilization, a pantheistic religion was also represented within the film in which all the inhabitants of Pandora (Na'vi) refer to the goddess Eywa who connects everything into a huge tree (Tree of Souls). Instead, regarding the inhabitants of Damanhur, everything is connected through "synchronic lines" crossing the land that unites men to nature. Both of these religions believe in the preservation of nature, which is itself connected with the humans/Na'vi and above all both carry out a community-type life - some sleep in a Tree House, some in common dormitories. The Damanhurians study natural medicines and use them, which the Na'vi also do as they are a simple community (almost at a prehistoric level). Very often the Damanhurians have women at the head of their nucleus and sometimes the 'tsahik' (spirit leader) of the Na'vi it's a woman. They both produce totems, and Damanhurians also give themselves an animal-type name. The following paper is dedicated to the possibility that the Na'vi religion may have been inspired by the community of Damanhur, because in America books and videos dealing with the community, where the center of spiritual power is enclosed in an underground temple, are very popular in the New Age circuit.

Panel OP57
Religious Symbols in the New Media
  Session 1 Thursday 7 September, 2023, -