Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
By Donnette Reynolds
8/9/99
This is the second in a series of articles about the hidden meaning behind the Star Wars stories. As stated in the previous article, these stories speak to our subconscious through the use of symbols. The origin of the inspiration for these allegorical tales is not known for certain, but one can surmise they come, if not from some deity or deities, then from those who have evolved beyond our present level and are interested in our welfare and future evolvement.
These stories could be regarded as lessons. They could be regarded as prophecies or even warnings. But I do not believe they are given in a spirit of condemnation, as prophecies of old were given (at least that’s what we’ve been told by the various churches that have interpreted them) but in a spirit of love and a sincere desire to help this world move forward spiritually, materially, physically, and emotionally.
The symbols in Episode I are quite extensive. It would take months, perhaps years, to interpret them all in detail, especially since some of them are rather obscure. But I think it’s important in the here and now to highlight the ones that are the most meaningful for us at this time. It would seem that when a symbol is really important, it is greatly exaggerated, repeated and put "in your face" time and again to make sure that you don’t miss it, subconsciously, if not consciously.
Jar Jar Binks appears to be one of the most controversial characters in the movie because he has annoyed and irritated not only the other characters but the adults reviewing the movie as well. Could this be because he represents adolescents and teenagers? His behavior is often inappropriate; his humor is out of place, and he is difficult to understand. He is gangly, uncoordinated, doesn’t fit in. He’s obviously too big to be a child, yet he doesn’t behave like a mature adult. He’s full of energy he doesn’t know what to do with or how to control. He is clumsy, doesn’t seem to be comfortable with his own body. Because his body is adult size he is expected to behave in a more mature manner than he is capable of, and apparently this is why he has been thrown out of his society. His presence is embarrassing and even costly because of his clumsy mistakes. His world wants to wash its hands of him, pretend he doesn’t exist.
So he now exists just outside of "civilization," left to his own devices, restless, curious. Terry Brooks describes him in his book as "careless of many things, oblivious to others, and in general given over to enjoying life in a haphazard way." He is also confused and frightened, really frightened, because there are so many things he doesn’t understand. He is a jar full of overflowing emotions and energies that he doesn’t know how to handle, and apparently the so-called adults in his world don’t know how to handle him.
The swamp Jar Jar came from represents a neglected emotional world, a muddy morass of ignorance (Gungans = gunk), misinformation and fear. The outer world always reflects the inner so that it would seem that our neglected inner children and adolescents are having problems that are making us more and more uncomfortable because they are reflecting themselves in the problems that we are having with our children and teens in this material world.
One of the tragicomic things that happens in the movie that illustrates an unrealistic approach to child rearing is Boss Nass suddenly deciding to make Jar Jar a general in his army. This is reminiscent of parents telling kids and teenagers to keep quiet and stay out of the way all of their young lives, not training them to gradually accept more and more responsibility as they grow up. Then when they reach chronological adulthood they are expected to all at once be able to handle responsibilities that are far beyond their limited range of experience and understanding. Perhaps Jar Jar was put into this movie to illustrate just how ridiculous and out of touch with reality our child-rearing ideas are. And perhaps that’s why so many people are so uncomfortable with him.
It will be interesting to see if Jar Jar shows up in the next movie and to follow his progress to see how he matures, if he is able to, after all the years of neglect and poor training he has suffered.
In the esoteric world we understand that magical operations will not work without the emotional element. This is illustrated by Queen Amidala going to the Gungans and begging for their help. They are delighted to be recognized at last and are quite willing to help. The problem is their development and maturation has not kept up with that of the intellect, represented by the upper world of Naboo, and so they are not as effective in assisting in defending the planet as they should be. Yet in the end they are happy because they have been recognized by the intellectual world and have established a connection. They are expecting to experience better times to come because of this change.
The thing that is brought to our attention time after time in connection with Queen Amidala—AM-I-DALA (I am a doll)—is her clothing. Every time she appears in a new scene, she is wearing some fantastic outfit, hairdo and/or headdress. All of her robes, headdresses and hairdos give the appearance of being extremely heavy and uncomfortable, not to mention highly constricting. Many have a Japanese influence, which seems to fit what she is trying to portray, as Japan has been known through the centuries down to the present time as a country steeped in tradition, which is what all this regalia is supposed to represent, traditions for women.
One can’t help wondering how she is able to do her job when it must take hours for her to dress each day. It’s as if she is saying, "Look at all the restrictions that women have been weighed down with, even women in authority." It is hard to imagine that men of authority throughout the Republic take her very seriously. She appears, on the surface, to be a vain woman more interested in her wardrobe than her world.
Later, when we get to know her, we find out that she is actually a very able leader, a brilliant strategist who is courageous and cool-headed in the face of extreme adversity. She frequently switches places with one of her handmaidens in order to lead a more active life and to gather firsthand information that is vital to her success as a ruler. The fact that no one looks at her closely enough to recognize this deception is very telling. We see what we expect to see, and apparently, when all is said and done, we don’t expect any real leadership from women.
The message here seems to be, "Hey, females, forget about traditional roles for women. Use the talents that you were given, traditional or not." Amidala has traits that we usually attribute to men and uses them well, yet she has not lost her femininity. Brooks repeats time and again in his book that she is a beautiful, feminine, tiny doll-like creature. The motherly aspect of her personality is also illustrated by her kind compassion for Anakin and Jar Jar. She always takes time to listen to what they have to say and to comfort them. We see that her fighting outfit, although much easier to move around in than her robes of state, is quite feminine in design. Only the heavy boots she wears have a masculine cut. You will also notice that although she uses weapons and uses them well, she never uses a light saber, nor does any woman in any Star Wars movie. This is a symbol of pure masculine energy, the exclusive province of males possibly showing that there are some areas best left to males alone just as there are some areas best left to females alone.
Anakin’s mother, Shmi Skywalker, represents the other end of the scale where woman is in total servitude with little hope of escape. It is appropriate that she lives in the desert, which represents the survival level of life. There are still countries in our supposedly modern world where life is lived on this level today. Even in this situation she has a certain strength for she is morphogenic, able to create a child without a father.
Anakin Skywalker represents an opportunity for growth and development. He lives in the desert, meaning raw nature, life in the raw. He is, to quote an old cliché, a "diamond in the rough." He has potential, but has to be honed and polished. Anakin is a mechanical genius and a natural psychic who is being given an opportunity to pass out of the tribal phase of evolution and progress to the phase where he is a self-actualized individual. This is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, and no better illustration of its difficulty could be given than the ordeals one has to pass through to become a Jedi Knight, as described in detail in the brilliant article by N. P. Jamilla, "On Becoming a Jedi" which you can read on this web site.
One of the main themes, if not the main theme of all of the Star Wars stories is fear and what happens when we let it take control of our lives. Our attention is returned to this theme once again when Yoda expresses grave doubts about Anakin’s future. Yoda says he feels the fear and sense of separation that is within the boy. He tells him of the inevitable consequences when fear is allowed to take over. This is a theme that runs through more than one allegorical sci-fi fantasy. We see in The Dune Chronicles, touted by some as the greatest science-fiction series of all time, that when the prince is tested by being forced to put his hand in the burning box, he repeats the "Litany Against Fear." "Fear is the mind killer," he says. "Fear is the little death that leads to total obliteration…"
Anakin’s spinning movements when he is in the fighter ship suggest going into trance. Some spiritual groups, such as the Sufis, use spinning movements for just that purpose. Also this is the sensation that has been reported by persons just before going into trance. While in this trance, Anakin is able to find his way into the heart of the control ship and destroy it from within.
We don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet, as we don’t have Episodes 2 and 3, but with what we do have, we can surmise that the "balance" that the Jedi Knights and Council are talking about that Anakin might possibly be the one to bring is actually brought about not through him directly but through the twin children he begets. This suggests that this is not the generation that will produce human beings who are fully developed spiritually, but the seeds are being sown.
There is also an indication that too much dependence on technology is folly and will lead to destruction in the end, witness the explosion of the control ship that caused the shutdown of all the battle droids in an instant and left the dark side helpless. Perhaps overdependence on technology will be the downfall of the "dark side" of this world someday. It might be their signature too, the way we can know exactly who they are.
I didn’t recognize the significance of C-3PO when I wrote the first article. It was based on having seen the movie only. But when I read the "Episode I" book and saw his name written as See-Threepio I realized he must represent the third eye. The Brooks book says that for all of Anakin’s sensing and intuitional talents he doesn’t understand the language of the Jawas, but See-Threepio does, an extra sense. He said the droid was given a number because the droid made a third member of his family after himself and his mother. Threepio only had one good eye in the beginning showing that the third eye was incompletely developed. (Actually there is a lot of ancient mythology about one-eyed seers). The book says that protocol droids are known to be temperamental, meaning that the psychic senses don’t always work the way you want when you want them to.
C-3PO also seems to represent the conscious mind through his incessant chattering. Anakin leaves him behind when he goes to train with the Jedi Knights indicating that he is embarking on a spiritual odyssey where meditation plays an important part. The constant chattering of the conscious mind is the greatest obstacle to meditation. Qui-Gon tells Anakin that when he learns to quiet his mind (C-3P0), he will be able to hear the midi-chlorians, the essence of all life, speaking to him.
If we take the letters out of R2D2 we have 22, the number of the master builder in numerology. This little astromech droid represents the physical body, especially the autonomic nervous system which consists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (R2 and D2) that regulate the body automatically and without our conscious effort. R2D2 certainly is "sympathetic" towards humans. He does everything he can to support their endeavors. He works ceaselessly to assist them and to keep their vehicles in repair just as the autonomic nervous system works to keep our bodies, which are our vehicles, in repair no matter what stupid things we do, how we abuse them, what inappropriate fuel we put in them. Come what may, he keeps on keeping on until he is completely exhausted. Anakin didn’t know how to operate the starfighter any more than we know how to operate our physical bodies. If it weren’t for the help of R2D2, he would have been destroyed.
In Brooks’ book he makes many references to the lush greenness of Naboo. In contrast, Coruscant, which literally means glittering and gleaming (in this case as in glass and steel), is nothing more than an asphalt jungle. It would seem to me that Naboo represents our threatened environment. Things don’t look good for Naboo when the very seat of the Republic is in a place where there is total disregard for the environment. In fact, the government seems to be the cause of the problem.
In Moslem mythology a jinni is a powerful spirit. Qui or chi is energy. So Qui-Gon Jinn seems to mean a powerful spirit whose energy is ebbing. We are told in the book that he is nearing sixty years of age and his strength is beginning to diminish. Although he is one of the most able swordsmen in the Jedi order, he is not able to fend off Darth Maul (black mauler) for lack of stamina.
Sith is all too close to scythe, what the grim reaper has always been depicted as holding in his hand. The Siths certainly must represent destruction and death.
Obi-Wan Kenobi has been discussed in my previous article, which you can see on this web site. He and the Jedi Knights have also been expanded on in the previously referenced article by N. P. Jamilla so that little else need be said here. I might add, though, that his name might also mean "To know is to be, and to be is to know." Obi-Wan was given Qui-Gon’s light saber after his death, indicating that part of Qui-Gon would pass to his apprentice. But the releasing of the white doves at his funeral indicated that his soul, his true essence, returned to the Force.
Yoda (yoga) is the embodiment of wisdom. Yoga is one of the most ancient of systems of religious philosophy requiring intense mental and physical discipline in order to attain union with the universal spirit (the Force).
These are my interpretations of some of the symbols in Episode I. I hope that they have given you Star Wars fans food for thought. I expect that some of you, once you see what I have written, will come up with ideas of your own for the meanings of the symbols or for ways to expand on my interpretations. If that happens, then I have done my job.
(Donnette Reynolds has been a student of metaphysics and the occult for the past 27 years and a member of and studied with organizations such as Astara, Church of Light, B.O.T.A., Colegio Aero de Astrologica.)