A little thread about some thoughts I'm having since the Natlan AQ
soo thinking about one of the deciphered lines Gosoythoth says during the AQ and how it calls the Seelie "banished creations", I started looking a little deeper into a few other interactions we had with the Seelie..
I found it slightly weird that the Lord of the Night kept mentioning how she is an angel so she HAS TO serve humans, and Ronova agrees with her, as if they are programmed to always help the humans and so it makes sense that she can't work against that.
Adding this to how Ixlel, a dragon trapped in a statue that we meet during one of the Ochkanatlan world quests, reminded me so much of the Seelie: in the way she had helped a ruler over humans discover things from beyond their knowledge (like with Remus, Deshret, etc), and Ixlel has a name that basically makes it seem like they're a machine: Type-L Self-Regulating Overseer Array Integrated Processing Unit (or Ixlel, thanks to Paimon)
and since so much of what the Heavenly Principles created seems to have been based on (if not stolen from) dragon tech, I'm basically thinking that the Seelie may have been sort of AI creations programmed to serve humanity.
Plus the way "paimon is paimon" always seems like such an impersonal introduction by Paimon, and her name being so close to the desert boss ASIMON. So if Paimon has ties to heaven she could have also been created in this way, her job: Guide!
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I think the Seelie may have been created as servants of humanity (maybe they already existed and were reprogrammed by the heavenly principles to serve their purposes) and that is why they would have taken humanity's side in the end, and cursed by the heavens.
The chemical wedding is an allegory used in alchemical writings to refer to the union of opposites, particularly a union that produces a new and improved product, the Rebis.
One popular version of the allegorical wedding takes place between the Red King, the active principle (sulfur) that shapes the material and passive principle of the White Queen (mercury). However, this allegory can refer to the union of sun and moon, silver and gold, or even body and spirit.
The Rebis refers to the end product of the magnum opus, and is typically depicted as a hermaphrodite.
The child of the chemical marriage is sometimes called the philosopher’s child and fun fact, is associated with the myth of Orion and his three fathers (Jupiter, Mercury, and Neptune). The myth is very different but I can’t help but think of the Simurgh.
Though the chemical marriage allegory is very much referring to marriage and procreation, etc, in the context of Genshin, it’s used more to refer to a union of opposites, or a collaboration between two types of being, which will be elaborated on later. Of the four examples I will be going through, only two of these relationships have any kind of (canon) romantic associations attached to them. Basically what i’m trying to say is that this is definitely not about ships please don’t eat me.
It’s a well established trend in the history of Teyvat that there have been many god-king-like beings associated with gold or the sun, who had some kind of relationship with a knowledgeable and moon-associated woman, who then dies tragically during the god-king’s quest to Change The World.
And now, in thematic order, I present the doomed pairings:
Imunlaukr and the princess of Sal Vindagnyr
Imunlaukr is an outlander, destined to wield the Snow Tombed Starsilver sword to “shatter ice and snow.” The wiki cites a stanza where this name is used as a kenning for a sword. Imunlaukr tried to save Sal Vind from the catastrophic ice and snow caused by the Skyfrost Nail hitting an Irminsul tree, but he failed. Sal Vind had a princess who was also the daughter of the priestess of Vindagnyr, and was “born beneath this white tree” (Frostbearer). She is described as being “bright as the moonlight,” and had the gift of prophecy, painting her visions as frescos on the walls of the city - you can see them in the room where you find the Starsilver sword.
Guizhong and Zhongli
According to the Stone Tablet Compilations: Vol. I, Rex Lapis descended to Liyue. This isn’t the same descending as Descenders, and it has been argued that a better translation would be ‘demoted,’ but this has similarities to the way Deshret and Remus are described as founding their kingdoms. Rex Lapis is also called Deus Auri, the Golden God, and in the Dialogue of the Desert Sages description, it says that “transformation into gold and Mora is the sole province of Deus Auri.” Guizhong’s moon connection is on the weaker end, but she is strongly associated with glaze lilies, a flower that only blooms at night, like the Nilotpala, or Lunar, lotuses. She gave Zhongli a stone dumbbell, the Memory of Dust, which contains her “wisdom.” Zhongli is still unable to unlock it, and before Guizhong’s death, she told him to forget about its contents.
On a more superficial note, Zhongli and Guizhong have a color scheme that will also be part of the pattern discussed here- black and gold and blue and white.
Remus and Sybilla
Sybilla was the former “envoy that protected the silver tree,” but she had lost her “mind and form.” However, she still retained her gift of prophecy, and told Remus about his destiny to found Remuria (and its inevitable downfall). Sybila’s loss of her physical form and mind is reminiscent of the Aranara stories about how Seelies were cursed to lose their body and intelligence if they fell in love with a human.
After making an arrangement with Remus, the silver tree that Sybilla was protecting transformed into a golden ship, which according to The History of the Decline and Fall of Remuria , was called Fortuna, and with it, Remus “descended” onto Meropis.
Together with Sybilla, Remus created Phobos, the Great/Golden Symphony. Phobos is the name of one of the moons of Mars, the red planet. Combined with the Primordial Sea-derived ichor, it would allow his people to shed their physical forms and transcend their prophesied doom. Sybilla even sacrificed her life to make the symphony possible, but she wasn’t completely dead in the end, and her lack of “persona” led to the Symphony going awry.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY, the Golden Troupe of Remuria used a magical technique Rene called the “seal of chymical marriage,” and which I think was used to seal the Primordial Sea. Rene would later attempt to reverse its power to Evangelion-ify the people of Fontaine.
We don’t know what Remus or Sybilla actually looked like, but the color scheme of both the Remuria based artifact sets are white/blue/gold and black/blue/gold.
Decarabian and Amos
Decarabian was the god-king and founder of Mondstadt approximately 2600 years ago. He created a wind barrier to protect his people from the storms outside (and from Andrius), and in an effort to keep his people safe, micromanaged their lives, even banning certain kinds of music that could incite rebellion (Song of Broken Pines). Interestingly, his goal to protect his people is described as a ‘dream’ multiple times in item descriptions.
The Scattered Piece of Decarabian's Dream: He tried so hard to make his dream come true, and so the fragments of that dream are still mighty.
Fragment of Decarabian’s Epic: If it were not for the song of freedom that shattered the city in an instant, Decarabian's dream would have gone on forever.
I wonder if this is meant to be another incidence of the literal power of music, like Remus’s symphony, or the Source Song.
|Decarabian had a human lover named Amos, although from her perspective, he did not understand her or her mortal love, or even the (lack of) devotion of his people. This reminds me of Scylla telling Remus that as a Usurper, he is cursed to love humanity. But maybe not understand them, which would be both of these god-kings’ downfalls.
Though Amos was human, she also seems to have had prophetic dreams: "I dreamt of ocean waves and sand, of lush forests and land." "I dreamt of boars playing in berry bushes, of a towering spire." These words she spoke to the God King in a soft tone, but they were left unheard. (Amos’ Bow) Eventually, she would join the rebellion against him, and attempt to assassinate him. Amos also fits into the blue and white color scheme, and has a feather ornament similar to Lumine in her hair:
And we come to the piece de resistance. The ultimate example. One of the weirdest things in genshin lore (in a good way). I present:
Whatever TF is Going on With Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers
In The Lay of Al-Ahmar, Deshret is described as a “son of the sky,” with abilities that earned him the reverence of the tribes in the desert. One of his titles, Al-Ahmar, is Arabic for “the red one.” Deshret dreamed of creating a utopia for humans, and the final manifestation of that dream was the (failed) Golden Slumber, where like Remus, he attempted to separate his mind from his body. God-kings and their hiveminds….
Deshret received assistance in the form of access to forbidden knowledge from the Goddess of Flowers, also known as Nabu Malikata. The title Nabu refers to the Babylonian god of wisdom, who is associated with the planet Mercury in Babylonian astronomy. The title ‘Nabu’ has the same linguistic root as the Arabic ‘nabiyy’ (نبي) and Hebrew ‘navi’ (נביא), meaning prophet.
According to Arama, the Goddess of Flowers was a survivor of the Seelie race. After her exile, she wandered the desert, where her blood turned into streams of water that allowed gardens of water lilies to grow, which in turn birthed the Jinn. Additionally, wherever she stepped, purple flowers called Padisarahs, described as “bearing semblance to the moon,” bloomed (Flower of Paradise Lost). Together with Deshret, she founded Ay-Khanoum, meaning "[City of the] Moon Maiden.”
In addition to being known as “the red one,” Deshret is also known as the “Lord of Sand.” Combined with the Goddess of Flowers association with both water and mercury, I consider their respective titles to be a reference to Ibn Umayl’s Silvery Water and Starry Earth, a 10th century alchemical text. The ‘silvery water’ refers to mercury, or quicksilver, and the ‘starry earth’ is sulfur. This text is also referenced in the refinement materials for Dialogue of the Desert Sages, where this time the mercury-looking material is called “exalted earth.” The mercury-sulfur theory of metals was popular in medieval Islamic alchemy, and it refers to the idea that all metals are formed in the earth out of a combination of these two elements.
Like Sybilla, it’s implied the Goddess of Flowers sacrificed her life to help Deshret fulfill his goals.
Secret Keeper’s Magic Bottle: "I shall fashion you a bridge to allow you to slake your deepest wants. But you must fear not the crystalline sapphire nail..."
"I will deliver you unto higher knowledge. But as I have warned, you are fated to lose much in this exchange..."
"Nevertheless, hide my lesson in your heart. Remember the punishment that once was inflicted on the fallen envoys of heaven."
"Know this: if there is to be hope in this world, it will be found kindling within mortals most ordinary." Wreathed in darkness, she guided her dearest friend toward the path to understanding all there was to know about the skies and the abyss. Using her body as a conduit and offering the oasis in trade, she let the dazzling radiance consume her to see his deepest desires be made manifest…
It’s not clear exactly when she died, as other sources of in-game info attribute her death to the “malice of the burning sun and yellow sand,” as well as imply her death was part of a larger plan she had (Oasis Garden weapon mats). That being said, the Flower of Paradise Lost description states that after she performed this exchange, she was never seen again. As for the color scheme mentioned earlier, we don’t know what Deshret or the Goddess of Flowers looked like. Our only hints as to their human forms are the Gilded Dreams TCG card/artifact design, and a throwaway line in the Sumeru Archon Quest where Nilou says her stage costume is inspired by legends about how the Goddess of Flowers dressed.
As of 4.7, we also have the Flower of Paradise Lost TCG card, which may depicted the Goddess of Flowers. The color scheme is purple and white, but the woman in the art is wearing a dress that looks similar to Guizhongs (delulu). The crown on this card has little wings, which are reminiscent of the winged helmet Mercury is sometimes depicted as wearing.
The defining feature of the chemical marriage is that the metaphorical union produces something greater than the sum of its parts. Sybilla and the Goddess of Flower’s sacrifices allowed the fulfillment of plans that were intended to create new worlds, something I would consider greater than the combination of god and Seelie minds. Another common thread in these transactions is wisdom, or lack thereof, with both Goddess of Flowers and Guizhong offering wisdom, and Sybilla saying that she no longer has hers - although that didn’t stop her from becoming part of Phobos. This theme of wisdom also has alchemical significance, since the philosopher’s stone is the lapis philosophorum; the 'stone of wisdom'.
I’ve written a theory about the philosopher’s stone and Descenders and alchemy, including the chemical wedding motif, in the Narzissekreuz Ordo questions: you can check it out here. Two points that I want to carry over to this theory is that a) there is evidence to suggest that the philosopher’s stone and a Descender are the same in Teyvat and b) the ability to successfully change Fortuna (fate) is directly linked with Descender status.
I’m not saying that Deshret and Remus were trying to become Descenders, but there are clear thematic parallels with their goals, and Rene’s goals. Additionally, these four examples are not the only time a union resulted in world changing consequences. Records of Jueyun recounts the story of the traveler from afar and the seelie:
At a far-flung moment in the distant past, the ancestor of the seelie met a traveler from afar, with whom they swore an oath of union witnessed by the three sisters of the Lunar Palace. Just thirty days later, a sudden disaster struck. The seelie and their lover fled into exile as the world collapsed around them, fleeing until the terrible calamity caught up with and seized them. Their cruel punishment was to be separated from each other for eternity and to have their memories wiped without a trace.
The book goes on to directly connect this union with the curse of the Seelies that Arama mentions: The graceful but heartbroken seelie and the sisters grew more sullen and withdrawn with each passing day, to the point where their wondrous forms withered away, leaving fragments of their former selves scattered in the mountains and ruins, where they turned into tiny little life forms. They had forgotten so much, lost so much, and been stripped of their voices and wisdom, yet they continued to sing the same songs of grief. Because of this, still harboring a shred of the deep love they once had for their long-lost lover, they will act as guides to travelers who stop in the mountain mist, seeking to retrace their memories of an ancient story in long-abandoned ruins, disused makeup cabinets, and now-undecipherable poetry.
Moonlight Bamboo forest has another version of the story, where the three moon sisters loved the “stars of daybreak,” and after some kind of cataclysmic event, only one (dead) moon remained in the sky. Mitternacht’s Waltz also described a sword shattering one of the moons: Two of the three bright moons that caused the perfumed sea of the primordial universe to shine and stirred up the beasts of the Arianrhod Realm were shredded by a sword that tore the horizon asunder, left in smithereens too small even for the mystical sight of the Prinzessin.
Ever since the Narzissenkreuz quests, I am very suspicious of all swords mentioned in lore.
If we put all these themes and narratives together, another possible metaphorical union emerges:
Since the dawn of Genshin lore, there have been various theories regarding the duality in the designs of the twins, with some also suggesting that they are two separate halves of one being. However, I’d like to propose the opposite: if the twins follow the path of their fellow black/gold and blue/white predecessors, then it seems likely a fusion that is also a sacrifice is in the future for our protagonist.
There are other similarities between the twins and the god-king/seelie pairs. The twins have sun and moon symbolism on their clothes, constellations, and swords: Aether’s has a star (sun) shaped hilt and Lumine’s a moon. The Traveler is frequently described as being ‘golden’ (ex. Golden Nara), and Liloupar says that they remind her of Deshret.
The Traveler is already a Descender, but they definitely don’t seem to have the strength or knowledge to exercise their world-equivalent Will yet - and maybe their sibling who has been spending time in the Abyss and has learned the “truth of this world” can help. In that case, the knowledge of the Abyss-aligned twin would fulfill the role of the Seelie knowledge in this pair, helping the Traveler complete their power-up.
But what about Paimon, the emergency food?
She's the dove, representing the spirit and- [is dragged offstage].
P.S. I didn’t know where to fit this in, but I think Before Sun and Moon is also referring to a chemical wedding. Sun -> sulfur and gold, Moon -> mercury and silver. The title could be an incomplete phrase, and actually be something like “Before Sun and Moon joined.”
Ever since the desert lore was released, and comparing it to other ancient civilizations.. I've been thinking about what if the curse of the wilderness is not actually laid by Celestia?
What if it's a case of people believing a sort of "natural disaster" is a punishment from heaven? something very common in human history but also in genshin's history from what we've seen; like the desert people believing the curse of Shiruyeh was.. well a curse related to Shiruyeh, and not Liloupar punishing the people by using abyssal power as well (a curse that left people to become creatures who lost their language and faces.. so just like hillichurls)
So far, all the destroyed civilizations we've heard of had something in common, their humans or gods somehow in one way or another made contact with the Abyss (forbidden knowledge)…
We can go as far as the tiara artifacts civilization; the envoys of heaven talked directly with the people, but once they stopped answering them, humans looked for answers "in the deep places of the earth" (see the last sentences of the artifacts):
Tiara of Thunder is an Artifact in the set Prayers for Wisdom. They say that,Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations
Tiara of Frost is an Artifact in the set Prayers to Springtime. They say that,The line of chief priests have always seen this same sight as
Tiara of Flame is an Artifact in the set Prayers for Illumination. They say that,Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelat
Tiara of Torrents is an Artifact in the set Prayers for Destiny. They say that,Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelatio
We hear of it through the Sal Vindagnyr ppl who used to receive blessings from the skies until they suddenly stopped, where a celestial nail fell (possibly to stop some abyssal corruption?) and where we see their last scribe turned into a lawachurl..
What if each time, it came back to people being doomed to fall into temptation as it says in Before Sun and Moon:
You are either satisfied with living under the rule of the heavens, or you make contact with the Abyss and suffer the consequences, the heavens throw a nail wherever they need to patch up an "abyssal leak" not really caring for survivors - but the people are already touched by the corruption, they turn into monsters and lose "their faces and language". Those witnessing it assume it is a divine punishment but if the people were dangerous and had to be punished why wouldn't they kill them and stop their ideas from spreading like has happened with khaenri'ahns and the Abyss Order?
The hillichurl themselves are attracted to the power of the abyss from what we've seen, praying and walking towards the "crystal", and even their beliefs could possibly be tied to it (a little outdates thread i wrote about their belief in "One"), why would celestia curse them with something that attracts them to the very thing they seem to always be fighting?
I think the wilderness curse is an effect caused by contact with abyss power/goo, possibly affecting different humans/creatures differently, and all this time it was simply seen like a punishment from the gods..
always easier to put the blame on something/someone else rather than just accepting it's nature doing it's thing or worse, it's your own very fault. Oh, the arrogation of mankind!!
this is a theory i wrote on twitter early 2023 and have since just found more and more things that confirm it, wanted to have it written in tumblr as well but here's the original thread:
Kabbalah in the Worldbuilding of Genshin Impact; Part 2: Descending to the Garden
Written by Sabre (@paimoff on twitter) and Schwan (@abyssalschwan on twitter)
This theory assumes you’ve completed the Fontaine Archon Quests, as well the Narzissenkreuz questlines. If you haven’t, you will be a) very confused and b) very spoiled.
A Tale of Four Descenders
Four entered the pardes (orchard/garden)...one looked and died, one looked and went mad, one looked and cut down the saplings (apostatized), and one came in peace and left in peace [1].
This Jewish legend appears in multiple locations throughout the Talmud and its commentaries, and is associated with two pre-Kabbalah schools of Jewish mysticism known as Merkabah (chariot) and Hekhalot (palaces) mysticism. Both depicted visions of the throne of God (chariot) and the heavenly palaces, and provided instructions for how one might ascend to heaven to receive some kind of revelation or knowledge. The orchard/garden represents esoteric Torah (Jewish law) knowledge; this is why the euphemism for apostatizing is to “cut down the saplings.” (I know he says “blasphemy” (which is different), but this is reminiscent of what Dottore says at the end of Winter Night's Lazzo.)
The pardes legend first appears as a warning to scholars about the consequences of teaching about the “chariot” to disciples who are not ready. Though it's not mentioned in this specific text, this process of meditating to ascend to the palaces of God is referred to as “descending” in the writings of the Merkabah mystics [2].
In other words, this legend tells the story of four descenders.
In the conclusion of the Sumeru Archon Quests, Nahida tells the Traveler about the existence of the “Descenders." Based on the information she got from Dottore in exchange for her Gnosis, she shares that:
Descenders are “external beings, ones that don’t belong to this world”
There are at least four of them, and the Traveler is the fourth
According to the Fatui, the Traveler's twin is not a Descender
The Traveler is not recorded in Irminsul, but their twin is
Nahida speculates that the First Descender is the Heavenly Principles, but the identity of the second and third are unknown to her. At that point though, we still didn’t know what it was that Descenders do, or what the exact criteria for being one is, only that it couldn’t be as simple as just being from outside Teyvat.
The Fontaine World Quest series about the Narzissenkreuz Ordo fills in some pieces of the puzzle; specifically an additional criterion to be a Descender: they must be someone with a will “that can rival an entire world.”
In retrospect, Inversion of Genesis also hinted at the role of a Descender; The Traveler witnesses the results of someone attempting to change fate and/or the world and failing.
Nahida: Changing the world, changing the past, changing the fates of other people... These are not simple things to accomplish.
Nahida: What you were looking for is complete annihilation... But this is just a fantasy. Even if The Balladeer is removed from existence, the world will not heed your will. (Inversion of Genesis)
For most people, actually “changing the world” is impossible. But for a Descender, it might be different.
Will
...Though the results are nothing impressive, this is because the object they chose was pure elemental force, which lacks any will whatsoever. Like the difference between the Director (Lyris) and a Hydro Slime, perhaps?
...Actually thought of a possible breakthrough during the process... Even though the calculated result is unchanged, but if the refinement method is reflected... If the power of... then maybe we can extract the "will" within. Using this method... resist the impact… (Excerpts from Rene's Investigation Notes)
...The true source of the mysterious power unique to this place that the locals call Khvarena is unknown. But based on its ability to eliminate or reverse the influence of the Abyss (in fact, it is a type of annihilation reaction), the two powers are of the same level, that is to say, they are of the same order in terms of rules...
...In other words, both possess the power to "re-write the rules"...
...Regrettably, be it Abyss or Khvarena, all current users are stuck in an "unconscious" stage of being influenced and overwritten by their power… (Bizarre Transcript)
The Gavireh Lajavard region of the Sumeru desert introduced us to the writings of Rene, a precocious researcher with world-saving ambitions and not nearly enough adult supervision, as well as his only slightly Abyss-corrupted bestie Jakob. Like the Khaenri'ahns before him, Rene was searching for a power that had a “will,” believing it necessary to save Fontaine from an unspecified disaster that we would later learn is The ProphecyTM. During their time in the desert (which was right after the cataclysm), Rene determined that both Abyssal and Khvarena power have a will, but pure elemental energy did not.
Some time after their trip to Sumeru, Rene and Jakob would found the Narzissenkreuz Ordo, with the goal of finding a way to save Fontainians from being dissolved in the primordial sea-laced floodwaters. They would do this by dissolving all humans in Fontaine with primordial seawater in a controlled manner, melding everyone together into one Oceanid-like being to survive the apocalypse (think Human Instrumentality Project from Evangelion).
Rene had predicted the coming apocalypse with something he called his “world-formula,” and in addition to predicting the doom of Fontaine, it also informed him that “unlike the world depicted in these ancient texts, there will be no more new civilizations born.” The only way this could be changed would be by introducing a new “‘variable’ from outside the system” into the formula (Enigmatic Page 1). Rene’s goal was to become this variable, i.e., a Descender.
Four Worlds
The Tower of Ipsissimus comes from an old concept from the ancient Fontainian kingdom of Remuria, and was used to describe a powerful will that could rule, sustain, and destroy the world.
This tower was designed by the Narzissenkreuz Ordo, and it represents the evolution of the human soul and the infinite mysteries of the world.
The Narzissenkreuz Ordo believes that people continuously refine themselves through samsara cycles. These include Hyperborea, Natlantean, Remuria, and the first half of the fourth samsara (Khraun-Arya), which we are presently experiencing. Please take note that these are just names given to these eras by the Ordo based on ancient texts, and this evolution refers to spiritual evolution. There is no intent here to antagonize any research results obtained by the Akademiya. The human spirit undergoes the loss of paradise, the defeat of evil dragons, the original sin and baptism, and finally, freedom from the gods.
The term samsara is typically used to refer to the cyclic nature of reality, and can be used to describe concepts like reincarnation. It is not, however, referring to time loops. There is A Lot to unpack about this note, but for the purposes of this theory we will be focusing on the concept of these “four samsaras” and their relationship with the concept of a Descender, specifically that there seems to be the same number of samsaras as Descenders.
You may be wondering - this is Kabbalah world structure theory and we’ve yet to discuss Kabbalah. Well, it’s time now! But before we can get into specifics, we first need to review some terms discussed in Part 1 and then go through some basics of Lurianic Kabbalah.
Ah, the irony of calling anything about Lurianic Kabbalah “basics.” Caveat that what follows will be a simplification of concepts that are very difficult to grasp (I definitely don’t know what’s going on).
Creation of the World, Kabbalah Edition
Previously, we compared the “limitless light” emanated by God to create the world to the power of elemental energy, and compared the sefirot of the Tree of Life to the seven elements. The sefirot are components of this divine light (like light passing through a prism and refracting) and represent attributes of God that are used to create the world. The sefirot are traditionally depicted together in the form of a tree, which maps out their relationships with each other. For more details on the similarities between Kabbalah and Genshin worldbuilding, consult Part 1 (link) if you haven't read it yet.
Kabbalah focuses on describing the relationship between the infinite God and the finite universe and how it was created, with variations between different schools of thought. In this theory, we’ll be primarily focusing on the ideas of the Kabbalist Isaac Luria. The central idea of Luria’s philosophy was a concept he called Seder Hishtalshelut, or “Order of Evolution,” which refers to the cycles of “exile” and “redemption” (creation and destruction) the world is eternally experiencing. In the Lurianic system, time isn’t linear; the world was created in the past, but it’s also being created now.
The beginning of this Order of Evolution is referred to as the Tzimtzum, or Contraction. This refers to the contracting of the infinite God to make a space where reality could be created. Once this is created, a ray of divine light enters the void and begins to emanate reality. This is similar to the concept of the Pleroma in Gnosticism. The further the divine light gets from the source, the more it starts to break down into separate parts. More specifically, it breaks down into the Four Worlds, which represent stages of the evolution of reality, but also stages of the spiritual evolution of the human consciousness.
The Four Worlds are:
0. Adam Kadmon - Primordial (Original) Man
1. Atziluth - Emanation
2. Beriah - Creation
3. Yetzirah - Formation
4. Assiah - Action
Material reality is distinct from these four worlds; the ‘real’ world emanates out of the fourth world, Assiah. Each of these four worlds have their own sefirot structure, which in themselves contain additional sefirot, on and on, like a fractal. Luria called these recursive structures “tree systems” [3]. In Genshin terms, this is like how we have Irminsul, the world tree, but also the other smaller Irminsul trees in domains.
(Fun Fact: this schematic is sometimes called Jacob's ladder)
The system of the Four Worlds and their nuances are very interesting in themselves, but for the purpose of this theory, we’ll be focusing on the 0th world, Adam Kadmon, and the symbolism associated with this concept in both Kabbalah and general Jewish philosophy.
Primordial (Hu)Man
The concept of an ‘original man’ is discussed in Philo’s commentary of Genesis, where he describes this being as androgynous, connected to the concept of Logos, and the Idea/Form of humanity in contrast to the ‘earthly man.’ Philo’s definition of the Logos was something closer to the concept of a demiurge-a being responsible for creation of the world. Logos literally means ‘word’ or ‘reason’, and otherwise typically refers to divine reason, or the word of God.
It’s important to note that here the use of the word ‘man’ refers to a human being, not specifically a male person. Though often described as a man, the Primordial Man of Kabbalah is considered androgynous (like the Primordial One of Genshin).
The Zohar (a foundational work of Kabbalah) describes the Primordial Man as the “image of everything that is above [in heaven] and below [upon earth]; therefore did the Holy Ancient [God] select it for His own form.” The Primordial Man is the personification of the 10 sefirot together and represents a microcosm of the universe (macrocosm) [4].
Narzissenkreuz: I... I sense "reason." Visitors, are you the successors to Narzissenkreuz, or are you a threat?
Narzissenkreuz: Is "Reason" that which grants you such strength?
Narzissenkreuz: No, I have noticed. Have you always been in that realm that I pursue? O, you who are equal to a world! (Waking From the Great Dream)
Man, as he was before his fall [first sin], is conceived as a cosmic being which contains the whole world in itself (Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pg. 215)
Lurianic Kabbalah considers the Primordial Man to be the highest level manifestation of God that can be conceptualized by humans. The world of Adam Kadmon precedes the emanation of the lower Four Worlds, but each of these worlds have their own corresponding anthropomorphic figure as well [5]. In contrast to the worlds that follow Adam Kadmon, the sefirot of Adam Kadmon are not in a Tree of Life configuration, but rather in the configuration known as “upright,’ arranged in the shape of the human body.
The concept of a Primordial Man exists in other religions and mythologies as well. There’s the Gnostic Anthropos, Adam Kasia of Mandaeism, the ‘Universal Man’ (al-Insān al-Kāmil) of Sufism who functions as an Axis Mundi, the world-soul of Platonism, Gayomart of Zoroastrianism, and more. The symbolism of the human body as mediator between the divine and the material world is not unique to Kabbalah. Kabbalah’s version of the World Tree and Primordial Man both function similarly to the Axis Mundi; they are the same emanations of the divine, just arranged in different configurations.
Will and the Primordial Man
In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon represents the will of God, specifically the will to create. The blueprint for the creation of the world is contained within this being/world, all superimposed together into a “primordial thought.” Within Adam Kadmon, there is no distinction between the individual sefirot, or rather, between anything at all. Everything is contained with this world/thought, but there is no time, no space, and no limitations. WIthout limitations, individual beings and concepts cannot be created. Therefore, the unity of Adam Kadmon had to be broken; specifically into the 10 sefirot, which could then assemble themselves into new configurations and continue the process of creation [6].
Narzissenkreuz: The witness of all, the recorder of all, the designer of all.
Narzissenkreuz: Only one who is worth a world can bear that title. (Waking From the Great Dream)
If the righteous wish to do so, they can create a world.
(Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 65b)
Back in Part 1, we compared pure elemental energy to Kabbalah’s divine light of creation and the ten sefirot to the seven elements. If we apply this analogy to Adam Kadmon, doesn’t a being that could (theoretically) resonate with all elements and would eventually meet their end by being broken up into many pieces sound familiar?
At the end of Act V of the Fontaine Archon Quest, Skirk tells Neuvillette that the Gnoses are actually the “remains of the Third Descender.” Neuvillette, the Traveler, and Paimon speculate that this is possible because as a Descender, they would have also had the same unique compatibility with the elements as the Traveler. Neuvillette’s character stories refer to the remains of the Third Descender as the “seven remembrances,” which were used to create a new “order” for the world, with “all fragments of the primordial…driven to devour each other.”
Rene’s notes in the Tower of Ipsissimus directly tell us that there is a connection between the concept of the Primordial Man and Descenders:
"Lies beneath the great sea" is, itself, an interesting phrase. It comes from ancient Sumeru texts, and should be read as "Narayana*," which also means "primordial human."
This, too, is my goal, for not all that comes from beyond may be as one that "descends." That title belongs only to wills that can rival an entire world.
That is what I seek, the way to become just such a will, one that can protect the world, sustain the world, destroy the world, and create the world.
[*Narayana (Sanskrit: नारायण, romanized: Nārāyaṇa) is one of the forms and names of Vishnu, depicted as sleeping under the celestial waters, and is associated with creation. This reference aligns with Rene’s goal of using the power of the Primordial Sea to make himself a Descender. ]
In summary, we have four Descenders, we have four samsaras, and we have four symbolic worlds that are only able to exist due to the destruction of a 0th world known as the Primordial Man, who represents the totality of the divine Will to create the world and the Idea of humanity.
Keep all this information in mind, because before we can discuss the connections between samsaras, Descenders, and the Primordial Man, we must take a detour into alchemy and psychology.
Primordial God Impact
Genshin Impact has always been about the primordial - it’s literally in the name: 原神, or yuan shen, which means ‘original god.’ Many other in-game items share this descriptor, including primogems (原石), Primordial Seawater (原始胎海之水), and the Primordial One (原初的那一位). The same characters are also used in the note from the Tower of Ipsissimus when referring to the ‘primordial human’: 原初之人, which as it turns out, is exactly the same word used for the Primordial Human Project.
The Primordial Human Project has been mentioned exactly once, in a cutscene from the Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event in version 2.3. There, Albedo refered to his doppelganger who had been wreaking havoc on Dragonspine as the “failure of the Primordial Human Project.” Albedo implied that he is the “survivor” of an experiment associated with the Primordial Human Project and considers it to be related to his origins as a creation of Rhinedottir, aka the alchemist Gold.
We know very little about Rhinedottir and her motivations. She’s a practitioner of the Art of Khemia, a member of the Hexenzirkel, is labeled a sinner and blamed for the appearance of monsters during the Cataclysm, made a dragon named Durin and sent him to Teyvat during said Cataclysm, where he caused destruction everywhere he went while thinking he was playing, and might have also made Elynas, who had a similar fate. According to Skirk, she, like Skirk’s master, is “pursuing some form of perfection.”
The Great Work
Rhinedottir’s alchemical research was focused on the creation of new life and she was familiar with an alchemical text called the Opus Magnum, which she left behind for Albedo to study. The Opus Magnum is a reference to the real life Magnum Opus, or Great Work, which refers to the alchemical process of creating the philosopher’s stone from the prima materia (original matter). The process typically goes as follows: nigredo (blackness), albedo (whiteness), citrinitas (yellowing) and rubedo (redness).
Later Western alchemy would merge the citrinitas and rubedo steps into just rubedo, or include additional steps, such as the peacock’s tail stage between nigredo and albedo. Notably, the order of the last two steps in this process is reversed in the version of the process Albedo learned from Rhinedottir: rubedo is third, with citrinitas last.
This reordering isn’t universal in Teyvat: Rene’s notes disparage this choice, saying that Khaenri’ah is distracted from the true goal of the process:
..."Red" is the foundational principle, the philosopher's stone*, while "yellow" represents gold and mortal temptation. Yellow is simply bait. Red is the final goal. However, Khaenri'ah would likely seek the truth for gold's sake before turning that truth into a bread production pipeline…
[*This is the first and so far, only, time the phrase “philosopher’s stone” has been directly mentioned in-game.]
Rene has a somewhat ironic take on the Khaenri’ahn alchemical philosophy, given that Albedo’s character stories specifically say “Khaenri'ah was an underground realm, with precious few natural fauna. As such, its alchemy focused more heavily on the creation of life.” Rene often has strong opinions - but why would he care about the order of the Magnum Opus?
The Chymical Wedding of Rene de Petrichor
A recurring motif of the Great Work is the ‘chemical wedding.’ This refers to a union of opposites; male and female, sun and moon, fire and water, sulfur (Red King) and mercury (White Queen), etc, and is often depicted as taking place in a fountain. Here, in this drawing from a copy of the Ripley Scroll, sulfur and mercury wed and form the androgynous (like the primordial man) ‘philosophical child,’ which is philosophical mercury.
Philosophical mercury is the underlying principle or “divine flow” that makes alchemy and transmutation possible. Therefore, the goal of the Great Work was to pin down this mercury into matter through the four (or more) stages of the Great Work and make the philosopher’s stone [7,8].
"The Stone that is Mercury, is cast upon the Earth, exalted on Mountains, resides in the Air, and is nourished in the Waters." (Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens. 1617.) The cubes represent prima materia. ;)
The chemical wedding is also used as a motif throughout the story of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. The Book of Revealing includes a schematic of the “Seal of Chymical Marriage,” which consists of a “Tree of Emanation'' and the “Four Orthants,” and was used to seal the Primordial Sea. The Tree of Emanation component is, of course, a version of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life - for more ramblings, feel free to check out my twitter thread here.
The Narzissenkreuz Ordo is likely intended to be a reference to the real life Rosicrucian Order, and the name of the seal a reference to an important text for this order called the “Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz.”
Other possible references to chemical weddings include Lyris being referred to as the ‘Red Empress,’ Rene using her power to dissolve himself and be reborn through the water, and Mary-Ann and Lyris fusing and eventually producing “pure water” aka Ann.
Actually, when you dig into it, there are many suspicious interactions between sun and moon-coded gods in Genshin lore, as well as the doomed wedding of the Seelie and the traveler from afar. My Name For Now made a really interesting video about this, so if you would like more information and speculation, check it out here.
The Philosopher’s Stone and the Self
The philosopher’s stone is the Holy Grail of alchemy: an alchemical substance that can transmute base metals into silver or gold, make someone immortal, cure all illness, make a homunculus, and more. The stone represents perfection and spiritual refinement, either of nature through alchemy, or of the self (the alchemist) [8].
Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, considered the steps of the Magnum Opus to represent the process of the individuation of the self from the collective unconscious. The similarities between his interpretation of alchemical symbolism and the ideals of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo deserve their own separate analysis, but in brief: Jung defined the collective unconscious to be the shared unconscious mind between humans, full of basic instincts and archetypes, which are primordial symbols that exist in many mythologies throughout the world. Jung compared the collective unconscious to the alchemical symbolism of water, which he describes as “wisdom and knowledge, truth and spirit, and its source was in the inner man [9].”
The process of individuation separates aspects of the personality from the unconscious (the water) and then eventually integrates all components together, to form the individual self, which can now bring “order” to the unconscious (at least on a personal level)[10]. In other words, the Jungian interpretation of the Magnum Opus is that the final product, the philosopher's stone, is the Self.
If we apply this symbolism to Rene’s journey, it appears he was attempting to refine himself into a philosopher’s stone, which would explain why he was so interested in the work of the Khaenri’ahn alchemists. As he stated multiple times, his goal was to become a “primordial human,” whose will “can rival an entire world.”
Rene’s philosopher’s stone is a Descender.
The Primordial Human Project
After Rene’s failed attempt to dissolve himself in Primordial Water and be reborn using Lyris’s power, Jakob turned to his own research to try to save Rene and complete his rebirth. In his log of this time period, Jakob wrote:
...I've been interpreting the data in search of a solution and sharing the results with Rene. There has still been no response, but I can already envision his response with perfect clarity: criticizing the Universitas Magistrorum for putting the cart before the horse, neglecting the fundamental principles underlying everything, and diving straight into the details of how to put those techniques to use... How they inverted even the alchemical stages for other purposes…
...It seems that there was an alchemist from Khaenri'ah named "R" who joined a secret order. From what fragmentary records exist, it appears that they made significant headway.
There are two items of note here; the first is the mention of Universitas Magistrorum, which previously had only been mentioned in a namecard description.
The card description reads "O Almighty Sovereign, the Universitas Magistrorum has provided the predictions you requested: The two stars have been captured by the world's gravity…” which may be referencing Khaenri’ah’s summoning of the twins (Inversion of Genesis).
From the context of Jakob’s notes, we can infer that this organization was also utilizing some form of the Magnum Opus for an unknown purpose.
The second item of note is the mention of the alchemist “R,” who is almost definitely Rhinedottir, and the “significant headway” that she and this mysterious “secret order” made. It’s very likely that Jakob is interested in Rhinedottir’s work simply because he wants to make a new body for Rene; the log also mentions Remurian golems and experiments with prosthetic limbs. However, the mention of her and the Universitas Magistrorum in the same context, with Jakob’s commentary on the reversed order of the Magnum Opus, gave me the idea that sparked this whole theory (descent into madness):
Is it possible that Rhinedottir’s Primordial Human Project was intended to make a Descender?
Sometimes, very important lore gets buried in character stories. For example, the first time the term “primordial (hu)man” shows up - which is in Albedo’s fifth character story.
This art of creation was known as "The Art of Khemia."
Albedo had learned of this in his youth from reading his master's notes.
The next stage after "soil" is "chalk," which was also something his master had mentioned.
"Chalk is the spotless soil, and was used to make primordial man."
Now, Albedo understands alchemy in far greater depth than he did in the beginning, and his knowledge on the subject is far more comprehensive.
"From soil was birthed chalk."
The profundity of this statement is well understood by Albedo now.
Albedo is also the “chalk”; Rhinedottir gave him the title of Kreideprinz, or Chalk Prince. She seems to have a habit of naming her creations after types of soil. Durin was ‘humus,’ the Riftwolves are ‘alfisol,’ and Albedo is ‘cretaceus’. According to her, earth is “the basis of all life” and the “accumulated memories of time and lives,” so it makes sense she’d use soil as the starting material for her alchemical creations.
Albedo seems to be aware of the Traveler’s unique status, although he never names them as a Descender. During his Story Quest, Albedo studies the Traveler to get insight on how to help an alien flower bloom.
Albedo: The only other life form that, like you, has come here from afar, is the seed that I mentioned. Under the effects of Teyvat's natural laws, it isn't even able to sprout, let alone bloom.
Albedo: But after I observed you, I had another idea.
Albedo: Imitating you helped to inspire my alchemy, and so...
Albedo: Is not nurturing otherworldly life also nurturing the world itself?
Following the experiments he performs on them, he reveals to the player that he lied about some of their test results, and even compares himself to the Traveler.
Albedo: I made a point throughout of telling them how ordinary the results were...
Albedo: But what was that sediment I saw forming at the bottom of the vial? It should not have been there... What could it mean?
Albedo: Those born of earth are bound by its imperfections, but those born of chalk are free of impurities... You and I are alike, both composed of a substance that has yet to be fully defined...
This leaves us with questions. Assuming Albedo is similar to the ‘primordial human’, what is his role? Is he a Descender, or is he meant to work to become one eventually, like Rene tried to do?
Let’s return for a moment to the Primordial Man and Adam Kadmon. Earlier, we discussed the symbolism of Adam Kadmon; this being represents the divine will to create, also known as the “primordial thought,” as well as the Idea of humanity. Adam Kadmon is the potential for creation unified together, with no distinctions between any concepts. Hermeticism and alchemy have a similar concept, succinctly summed up in the phrase “the all is one,” which can be found written on one of the earlier alchemical drawings of an ouroboros by Cleopatra the Alchemist [11].
In Gnosticism and alchemy, this symbol refers to unity of all material and spiritual things, as well the eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation as things change form [12].
Rhinedottir shared this philosophy, as evidenced by the description for Cinnabar Spindle, Albedo’s sword.
Separate the dust in the flames with joy, and extract the exquisite from the crude.
For all in the universe comes from a single source, and all things may be derived from a single thought.
The weapon description also contains instructions for Albedo that likely tie into his expected role as a success of the Primordial Human Project.
You must pursue that which your elder brother, the one-horned white horse, could not accomplish.
Reach the far side of philosophy, and create a new destiny for myself and your brothers…
Albedo’s final assignment from Rhinedottir is to learn the “truth and the meaning of this world,” a phrase echoed by the Abyss Twin in We Will Be Reunited. Knowledge is literally power in Teyvat: both Nibelung the Dragon King and later, Deshret, utilized Forbidden Knowledge, also referred to as a “power of darkness from outside of this world”, believing it to be the only effective power to defeat the Heavenly Principles. In fact, it’s even possible that the Dragon King was one of the Descenders despite presumably being native to Teyvat. The process of acquiring the Forbidden Knowledge could have evolved him to true Descender status, although this power appears to be incompatible with Teyvat, especially in the wrong hands.
The power of the Forbidden Knowledge is similar to the metaphorical garden of the pardes myth, where out of four “descenders,” only one was able to safely leave, with the esoteric knowledge gained. The philosopher's stone also represents knowledge-it is the lapis philosophorum; literally the 'stone of wisdom'. Knowledge is also how one ascends in Gnosticism, i.e, achieving gnosis.
Perhaps this is the true method to create a Descender and Albedo’s future role: once he reaches the far side of philosophy (learns the truth and meaning of the world) and ‘evolves’ and ‘refines’ himself from albedo through rubedo and citrinitas to the philosopher’s stone, he can change destiny.
This sounds familiar…
Fortuna and Evolution
Rene’s calculations of the world-formula predicted that following the fulfillment of Fontaine’s prophecy, there would be no new civilizations formed from the ruins, as there presumably had been in the past following similar disasters. Rene believed the only way around this was for him to become a Descender, and save Fontaine from the disaster, beginning a new age. It’s implied in the text of the Book of Revealing (the version in the WQ) that the fulfillment of the prophecy would spell disaster for all of Teyvat, not just Fontaine, but even if that were not the intent of Celestia, we can use this example as an analogy for the world-formula of Teyvat.
Rene directly compared the world-formula to the Remurian concept of Fortuna:
Kingdoms rise and fall, and when a civilization is annihilated, a new one will be born after from the ashes, which these books refer to as "Fortuna"... It's somewhat rudimentary, but theoretically at least, it bears striking resemblance to the computational scheme I have formulated and termed "world-formula"...
Let’s spin the wheel of Fortuna and return to the beginning, where we first discussed the four samsara cycles of spiritual evolution and the Four Worlds. Although the samsara cycles don’t refer directly to actual historical events, their names are based on ancient texts. It’s not a large leap in logic to suggest that each of the four samsaras refers to eras in Teyvat’s history- what others in the lore community have been referring to as ‘root-cycles.’ For example, the defeat of evil dragons associated with the Natlantean samsara could refer to the war between the Primordial One and the vishaps described in Before Sun and Moon, or the war between the Heavenly Principles and the Dragon King (which might be the same thing!). The events associated with each samsara must be what ends the samsara, since the fourth, Khraun-Arya, is the current, and represents freedom from the gods, which has not happened yet.
Given that the Descenders can (theoretically) change the result of the world-formula/Fortuna, it can’t be a coincidence that there are the same number of Descenders as there are known samsaras. In addition, if the four samsaras of Teyvat function like the Four Worlds of Kabbalah, that means that a samsara-ending event would be something that results in the evolution of the world. Apep says that during the war between the Dragon King and the Heavenly Principles, Teyvat was in danger of collapsing, and that the victor of the war would “inherit the right to shape the world”. This sounds a lot like Rene’s definition of a Descender: one that can protect the world, sustain the world, destroy the world, and create the world.
The death and disassembly of the Third Descender led to a significant change in the “order” of Teyvat when the Gnoses were created to replace the “ruined” functions of the Heavenly Principles. Put another way, Descenders are able to evolve Teyvat into its next stage of evolution.
The fate of the Third Descender and ruined functions of the Heavenly Principles suggest another, alarming component to the relationship between samsaras and Descenders. It could be that as part of the process, a Descender must replace or repair an aspect of the mechanisms that maintain Teyvat. Don’t worry about the Traveler though; the fourth descender of the pardes legend gets to leave the garden in peace.
On the other hand, the first Descender in the legend is the one who dies, and in Genshin it’s the third, so maybe the list isn’t exactly in order. Of course, this comparison to the legend is partly a joke, but it is very interesting that the metaphor for apostatizing is uprooting trees….
Khaenri’ah’s World-Formula
We know from Rene’s notes that Khaenri’ah had their own version of a world-formula, or at least, their records contained information Rene could use to reverse engineer their predictions. We don’t actually know what he found there, but based on the name he gave the fourth samsara and the whole “freedom from the gods” thing, it seems they were trying to evolve Teyvat into the next samsara and make this freedom a reality. We also know that the Khaenri’ahns were searching for a specific kind of power, a power they referred to as both a “perpetual” energy source and a “secret from beyond the skies” that could “throw off the shackles imposed by this world's laws.” This power from “beyond the skies” is thought to be some form of Abyssal power, and the Khaenri’ahns who used it seem aware of a will contained in that power, a “dogma from beyond the heavens.” In fact, it’s possible that this power is the same as the Forbidden Knowledge brought in by Nibelung, which also had an influence on Apep’s behavior when they were infected with it after eating Deshret.
It appears that Khaenri’ah was familiar with something similar to the concept of a Descender, which makes Chlothar’s words to the Traveler in Caribert all the more impactful.
Chlothar: I never imagined that you, of all people, would deny the Abyss... How ridiculous!
Chlothar: We once believed that you would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah.
Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension...
Chlothar: ...And the one who controls the Abyss can control everything!
Chlothar: We yearned for that future. We looked to you to take us there.
The Future
As mentioned previously, the Four Worlds of Kabbalah are all precursors to the actual material reality, which will be emanated (created) from the fourth world. Luria believed that our world was not yet completely realized and needed another spiritual push from humanity to be actualized. (The mechanics of this won’t be discussed here - so consider this a teaser for Part 3 of Kabbalah theory.) Therefore in Kabbalistic terms, this fifth samara, this fifth world, would be the final and true reality for Teyvat.
This would be why Khaenri’ah needed a Descender or even merely a power that could defy the Heavenly Principles. That was why they summoned the twins, and why projects like the Primordial Human Project existed. It’s ironic that in their desire to remake the world in the image of their dreams, where they were free from the gods and the Heavenly Principles, they chose in the end to bind themselves to a will from beyond the sky, which ended up in catastrophe.
As the letter in the Khaenri’ahn ruins of Gavireh Lajavard says: “The gods are untrustworthy and the demons, ineffable. If there is one thing that can pry open the corners of this hollow world, then it can only be human will.”
Congrats on making it to the end! As you can see, this was already reaching a ridiculous word count, so there were some things I had to leave out, or only briefly touch on. So here are some people and concepts I pretended didn't exist so this didn't get (more) convoluted, but you should read about them:
Crowley and True Will, Nietzsche and the overman, Zoroastrianism as a whole, but particularly their version of the Primordial Man, William Blake's prophecies (his Auguries of Innocence is a big inspiration for the artifact lore), Schopenhauer and Will, Atman and Brahman, Plato's concept of the world-soul, SWORDS (in Genshin lore), the Holy Grail legend, and shoutout to Otto Apocalypse the real First Descender.
I do want to point out that some of the (real) people on this list, like Crowley, either were terrible people who believed terrible things, or had their philosophy used for terrible things. This also applies to other inspirations for the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. Please keep that in mind when engaging with these people's work.
On a lighter note:
Sabre’s Fun Fact Science Corner aka Miscellaneous Stuff I Need to Put Somewhere
I didn't want to have to get into explaining the lore of another piece of media but yes, this theory was inspired by a binge watch of the last arc of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, transmutation circles and philosopher’s stone and all
On the topic of FMAB, the The Black Serpent Knights archive description states: “The long years and a curse seems to have robbed them of their reason and memory. Now, all that remains within that armor is the will to ‘fight for something, someone, and some matter.’” Funnily enough, the subtitle of the Knights is ‘Aldric’ - Alphonse Elric, anyone?
Caribert becomes the Loom of Fate to “weave his own destiny anew”, Albedo has the Cinnabar Spindle and instructions to create a new destiny - I’m sensing a theme here
Rene believed that getting a Vision was a bad thing in the process of actualizing your Will, and resulted in you selling your fate to the world. So he developed a ritual to remove a Vision from an allogene (this is only mentioned in passing by Caterpillar). So even though Albedo has a Vision, he’s not out of the running to become a Descender. But also Rene was wrong about stuff so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The anthropomorphic imagery in Lurianic Kabbalah can get pretty bizarre, but in a fun way if you're into Genshin lore. Adam Kadmon is described as emanating divine light out of his face, specifically his eyes, to create the next world. Genshin eyeball lore is my roman empire.
As a full elemental dragon, Apep had a “world” inside their body. Rhinedottir seems to like dragons a lot; I wonder if she considers them to be similar to the primordial human. Also, there's evidence that the Traveler's elemental abilities mimic those of the elemental dragons, rather than the archons.
[4.0]: A Theory On Rhinedottir, Alchemy, and the Meaning of Sin
“One thought may end all calamity, and there will always be thoughts that may transcend time.” -The Meaning of Aeons
“Separate the dust in the flames with joy, and extract the exquisite from the crude. For all in the universe comes from a single source, and all things may be derived from a single thought.” -Cinnabar Spindle
I’ve been wanting to do some Rhinedottir speculations for a while. With the new Ancient Colors world quest in Fontaine, I think now is a good time to propose a theory about this mysterious member of the Hexenzirkel, her approach to alchemy, and the reason she is a “sinner,” especially within the context of one of the Archon Quest’s central questions: what does it mean to be “born with sin”?
SPOILERS: Up to Act II of the Fontaine AQ (just Primordial Sea stuff), and Ancient Colors.
Although Rhinedottir is never mentioned by name in Ancient Colors, all of the signs of her are there: Mamere’s identity as an artist, Elynas’ otherworldliness and similarities to Durin, and the differences between the Melusine’s perception of the world and our perception of it (or their aesthetics, which we will touch on later). Ancient Colors is trying to remind us of Dragonspine and, if you were playing during this time, Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, and I believe it is doing so because it is key to the secret of the Primordial Sea and the prophecy of Fontaine.
We’ve heard Rhinedottir’s perspective only twice so far, and that was in the Windblume festival from this last year and in Cinnabar Spindle’s lore. Though we still don’t know much about her, she does identify herself as a “mother” of many children, and that she is raising the only son she has left. This, of course, is Albedo.
We also know that she is considered a "sinner" at the center of the Cataclysm who unleashed "an army of shadowy monsters" onto Teyvat, but we have very little grasp of what is exactly is meant by "sinner," and what if any consequences this title has had on her since then. Though every Hexenzirkel witch will be very important to uncovering the truth of Teyvat, Rhinedottir presents a particularly interesting case as the only one whose activities may have caused cataclysmic destruction, as opposed to Alice's general mischief and strange sense of humor.
It’s almost nothing to go off of, but I hope to demonstrate in this speculative theory that it’s more than enough to arrive at some answers.
Psychoanalysis 101, Round 2
To better explain what Durin, Elynas, and Rhinedottir’s other children are, we need to use an analogy rooted in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of dream interpretation. This is a super TL;DR version of it and way oversimplified, but if you’re interested I wrote a more detailed theory about the significance of dreams in Genshin that has a full explanation of it there. (Also, it should be said that these were just Freud’s theories, please do not take any of the following as an accurate description of the human psyche and how it works. We are just having some fun for the sake of media analysis.)
Freud thought that dreams are the mind’s means of expressing unfulfilled wishes, and that the psychological purpose of dreaming is to “fulfill” those wishes. In A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, he gives an example of this through a little girl’s dream where she was sailing on a lake: this dream was born out of an unfulfilled wish in her waking life, where she had to stop sailing on the lake despite wishing to continue. Hence, “I wish to sail on the lake” becomes “I am sailing on the lake” through the dream.
Further, Freud thought these unfulfilled wishes are “forgotten” in our unconscious mind when we are awake, censored by the ego to protect our conscious mind, but that at night this censorship is weakened. This is what allows a dream to occur while we sleep.
These unfulfilled wishes are often more complicated than a childish wish to keep sailing on a lake. Think about it this way: a wish is, at its core, a thought in our head, or a desire. What do we do with the thoughts we don’t like, the ones that are unbecoming of us or are unacceptable to fulfill?
We deny them.
Specifically, we repress them into the unconscious, where they are forgotten. Thing is, even if we temporarily forget these thoughts, they won’t just disappear from existence - they fester in the unconscious, waiting to be expressed. The dream, therefore, is the unfulfilled wish/repressed thought’s attempt to cross the boundary from the unconscious mind into the conscious mind - to be acknowledged, or indeed remembered.
“Unfulfilled Wishes”
Making sense so far? If so, try to think of Teyvat like this: everything that is visible, everything above ground that the light touches and that can be perceived is like the ego and conscious mind. All of these things are what you’re aware of, things that you “know” and can make sense of, things that you understand, things that fit into rules and laws and order.
Now, think of everything in Genshin that is “unseen” and “unknown”: the Abyss, the spaces underground, forbidden knowledge, things that are “not from this world,” from beyond the firmament…these are like things from the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts that we deny in ourselves because they may reveal a truth we are unwilling to face. These things are comparatively chaotic in nature, things we’d rather avoid, or things that we wish to forget.
We know that Elynas’ and Durin’s bodies are composed of matter that’s foreign to Teyvat, and that this is a major reason why they are incompatible with Teyvat and cause its destruction. This would make them more similar to a repressed thought, something that we don’t understand or know, and attempting to understand it destabilizes our sense of self, our “truth.” It follows that their home, the Abyss, is most similar to our unconscious mind, and Teyvat is most similar to our conscious mind.
Elynas: Before I was born, I floated in the cosmic darkness. It was cold there, and lonely. I was so sad, then, and I would often cry.
So, as their mother, who or what is Rhinedottir in this analogy? Well, we can be a lot more specific than calling her a “sinner.” In fact, she’s a dreamer, and alchemy is the medium through which she “dreams”:
This was a story from long ago...
Unborn life, unfulfilled wishes,
Tragic dreams at the edge of the universal darkness that could never come true,
Indwell my body, and descend unto this world.
Then, my lovely children,
Like rainwater flowing into creeks, and plants growing towards the sun,
Go unto a lovely place, and display your own beauty there with pride.
This is a memory, a memory that a child named Durin had of his mother…
"Thank you, Mother, thank you."
"You gave me wings to soar and a mighty form."
"Mother, I wish to go to a land of lovely songs,"
"I will tell them about you, Mother, and about everyone else."
"I shall tell them that the place where I was born is beautiful."
-Festering Desire
Rhinedottir’s children, then, are like thoughts or ideas that she is bringing to life, or “making conscious,” by moving them from the Abyss to Teyvat. It may even be the reason why the sword from The Chalk Prince and the Dragon is called Festering Desire in the first place - it’s a reference to the idea of repressed thoughts, wishes, and desires festering in the unconscious.
Should the analogy hold true, it provides some insight into what her intentions may have been in creating her Abyssal dragons. But before that, we need to take a little detour into Enkanomiya and brush up on some lore.
Denouement of Sin
Eboshi: However, the heavenly order seemed to not wish for those who remembered all this to remain on the earth. We searched and searched for a road of return, but there was none to be found.
Remember these hologram-looking dudes? They are the Shades of Tokoyo, also known as Sinshades. They are described as afterimages of the former citizens of Byakuyakoku preserved by Istaroth’s favor, specifically those citizens’ most powerful emotions, and they are only visible during Evernight:
Eboshi: Due to the phenomenon known as Sinshades, the “past,” “history,” and “truth” of Enkanomiya would endure even if left to their own devices.
Eboshi: As such, great effort was expended, not that we might remember, but that we might “forget.” Lady Sangonomiya was of this view.
Like a dream, Sinshades only appear at night, and they are a kind of embodiment of history or “truth” that Watatsumi Island has chosen to forget, representing the thoughts and emotions of those who once lived in Enkanomiya. Using Freud’s theory of dream interpretation as a framework, Enkanomiya then functions as Watatsumi Island’s unconscious mind.
Put another way, if all Sinshades are the result of strong emotions preserved in time through Istaroth’s favor, then those emotions are like thoughts, and that would make the Sinshade a “physical” form or expression of those thoughts. So, when we call the afterimages the “Sins of Tokoyo,” we are in effect calling them the “Dreams of Tokoyo,” because they are the thoughts and emotions of Enkanomiya given form, and that’s what dreams do: they convey thoughts and feelings through a series of images.
Through the Sinshades, we see an implicit association with the concepts of dreaming and sinning in Genshin’s worldbuilding, and through them we understand that they are not so different from one another.
A Brief Note on Aesthetics
Jakob: Look at your feet. Blood, flowing like a river, fertilizing the very dust of the earth with their filthy fat.
It may have struck you how various Melusine perceived reality in a way that greatly differs from the things we see, as if at times their perception was “flipped,” if not somewhat strange. By the end of Ancient Colors, it’s clear that this is due to the Melusine being born of Elynas, who is not from this world. A similar phenomenon can be seen in both Durin and Elynas, the former imagining itself dancing with the people of Mondstadt before it “woke up” from this dream to Dvalin’s fangs in its neck, and the latter realizing that the things that it finds fun are destructive and harmful to the people of this world.
This is a part of the commentary present in several world quests and commissions in Fontaine that deal with “aesthetics,” or one’s own sense of beauty. Aesthetics are principles that differ on both large and small social scales, varying between groups of people and between individuals (see Salsa’s and Ubu’s aesthetic disagreement), and they can change throughout time as values change. In other words, they are informed by perspectives.
For example, think of what we know so far about the Primordial Sea. Neuvillette wonders how the Primordial Sea could be capable of giving life and then “suddenly reversing itself” so that it instead “devours life,” but this is just his judgment of what the sea does, and ultimately his perspective. Many others view the properties of the Primordial Sea differently from him: to them, the prophecy is comforting because it signals a “return,” or a “homecoming.” To take it a step further, Neuvillette may be making an assumption by stating that the sea has reversed itself. Perhaps this is just how the sea is, perhaps this is its “truth.”
Verenata: The "truth" will not be limited or constrained by the eyes and perspectives of the viewer, and won't be distorted by what is in their heart. It objectively exists, and it just is...like the white sand, like the bones of seastars, like the waves that crash and pound...those are "truth."
But I don’t need to tell you that differences in perspective aren’t always a comfortable experience. Just look at Jakob, who saw the rushing currents in Elynas as its blood. To the player, who has been swimming around in that for a couple of hours by that point, this idea is horrifying. However, when we consider Jakob’s perspective, his “truth,” it undoubtedly expands our understanding of Elynas as a being that is dead, so to speak, but that is also capable of being revived given the appropriate stimulus. Jakob’s "truth" broadens our perspective and deepens our understanding.
So if we return to the other ever-present metaphor of alchemy as a form of painting, we can also see that Rhinedottir’s aesthetic sense greatly differs from what is acceptable and compatible with Teyvat. But, just like Mamere, she paints regardless of whether her paintings are understood by a greater audience. In time, aesthetics may change again, and perhaps her art will be received differently when that time comes.
Concluding Thoughts
(A pool full of Water from the Primordial Sea. Countless sins were born of it…)
So, that is why I think Rhinedottir was deemed a sinner. She sinned by “dreaming” up these chaotic life forms that were not from this world, bringing them into being through the Art of Khemia, and telling those chaotic life forms that they were beautiful, too, that the ordered and lawful world of Teyvat just needed to realize how beautiful they were. Maybe Rhinedottir was dreaming of a new world, one where her children’s wishes could be fulfilled, where they could exist with everyone, and maybe creating that world required the destruction of this one. You could also think of her as someone who has introduced “external variables” into Teyvat, which, hmmm..:
“...No matter how many times I derive it, the result remains the same, though this result is not expected... Unlike the world depicted in these ancient texts, there will be no more new civilizations born... Unless we consider introducing "variables" from outside the system... If it was that sort of power, there might be a chance…” -Enigmatic Page I, Book of Esoteric Revelations
In this way, her “children” (thoughts) were all “born with sin,” or are born from sin (dreams). If Rhinedottir is a dreamer, then alchemy is the way that she dreams: it allows her to give forms to these thoughts. And if you buy that, then there are some serious implications to consider from this whole notion of Fontainians being “born with sin,” and just what exactly the Primordial Sea might be. Definitely something to think about while we wait for 4.1.
One last point that is more of an aside than anything else: Rhinedottir’s only remaining child is Albedo, but through this lens we see that he is not just the culmination of the Primordial Human Project, the creation of a human through the power of alchemy, but also the only known example of Rhinedottir’s “ideas” that coexists with Teyvat as it is now. As for her known extant grandchildren, they have integrated with Fontainian society and don’t seem to cause them any trouble. I wonder if she knew something like that could happen?
But…that’s just my take on it so far. What do you think?
(also, fun fact: there is a parallel storyline to this one unfolding in Honkai Star Rail right now as it relates to being deemed a “sinner” for creating life, and another parallel storyline in Honkai Impact 3rd about creation and rebirth and “returning home to the sea” and I just love when Hoyoverse connects their games like that)
Sources
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
Kabbalah in the Worldbuilding of Genshin Impact; Part 1: The Tree of Life, the Universe, and Everything
Written by Schwan (@abyssalschwan on twitter) and Sabre (trashcanlore, @paimoff on twitter)
During the Sumeru Archon Quests, we learned that the Irminsul is a (real! (ish)) tree that grows upside down, seemingly underground, and that the roots of the tree are the Ley Lines, which extend throughout Teyvat and the Abyss. Irminsul stores all knowledge and memories in the world, and the Ley Lines are the mechanism by which the tree acquires this information. Ley Lines move elemental energy through Teyvat, which acts as both a storage medium for information but also a source power that can be utilized for combat, alchemy, an energy source (Azosite), etc.
The origin of the name Irminsul (unique to the Western localizations) in combination with the many names from Norse mythology associated with Khaenri'ah, suggest that the inspiration for Irminsul is Yggdrasil, the world tree and central axis of the cosmos in Norse mythology. Here we propose an additional inspiration for Irminsul and the associated worldbuilding and elemental system of Teyvat: The Kabbalistic Tree of Life. In this model, Teyvat’s elemental energy is comparable to the creative energy described by Kabbalah as the foundation for the creation of reality and the world. Specific attributes of elemental energy can be channeled by unique individuals in Teyvat and these attributes manifest as distinct elements, which can be directly compared to the 10 sefirot, or emanations, described in Kabbalistic literature.
What is Kabbalah?
Kabbalah (lit. received, tradition) is a school of thought originating in Jewish mysticism. In general, Kabbalah focuses on the relationship between the infinite (God) and the finite universe and how it was created. The goal of studying this mysticism can vary depending on the group studying and their motivations. Many of the esoteric and religious influences on Genshin lore and worldbuilding were influenced by Kabbalah, or vice versa. These include Gnosticism, Hermeticism, alchemy, Freemasonry, the occultist branches of Theosophy and Thelema (Golden Dawn), astrology, symbolic interpretation of the tarot (also specific to the Golden Dawn) and more [2]. In short, Kabbalah is everywhere. Additionally, its concepts are used as symbolism in several pieces of media that directly or indirectly inspired Genshin and other games in the Hoyoverse.
If you have frequented Genshin lore topics, you might have heard that one of the main sources of inspiration for it is Gnosticism. The problem is, Gnosticism is a bit vague or contradictory when it comes to how the world was created and how the whole existence thing works. At this current moment in the storyline of Genshin, we have very little information on the very beginning of existence in Teyvat. This information seems to be a crucial part of the “truth of the world” and appears to be purposefully hidden by powerful factions like Celestia. This entire theory was born out of trying to make sense of what little we know about the creation of Teyvat and comparing it to esoteric commentaries on the well known creation myth of the Torah (Old Testament). The “Biblical world structure” interpretation of Teyvat has been around since the early days of Genshin lore and with good reason; there are frequent mentions of the firmament, as well as the name Teyvat sounding very similar to the Biblical Hebrew word for ‘ark’ (although the grammar is a bit mangled). There are also several references to stories from the Bible in in-game texts, including Before Sun and Moon.
Kabbalah generally focuses on understanding and describing the process of how the world was created and the underlying principles of reality, as well as how spiritual practice can change that reality (either metaphorically or literally). To summarize something very complex, Kabbalah describes the “true nature of God,” which is equal with the entirety of existence, as something very vast and completely impossible to grasp. This incomprehensible infinity emits an “limitless light” that is the origin of all creation. Elemental energy (the ubiquitous source of everything in Teyvat) is often found compared to light, something we’ll discuss in more detail later. The “limitless light” of Kabbalah is way too powerful for existence to bear, much like how elemental energy is to normal, non-Vision having humans. That’s why this light needed to be “filtered” down. This happens through the process of creation, which passes the light through the spiritual attributes that form the Tree of Life, which is like a sort of diagram for how the universe came into being [3].
The Tree of Life
The tree of life and its 10+ nodes, known as sefirot, is one of the most well-known concepts from Kabbalah to make its way into popular culture. As mentioned previously, the tree has been used as rule-of-cool symbolism in anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Fullmetal Alchemist, two pieces of media that likely are significant influences on Genshin (If you doubt that HYV loves NGE, play some Honkai). The sefirot are also depicted on the floor of the Schicksal HQ map in Honkai Impact 3rd, for some reason.
The sefirot and their organization and interactions with each other can be found depicted in many ways, such as the tree format that is the most popular, or a spiraling nested scheme that is really cool, or even very stylized, like the work of Robert Fludd.
Sefirot
Sefirot comes from the root word in Hebrew meaning “to count,” but you can also find it translated as “sphere” in some texts. The term originated in a book on Jewish mysticism called the Sefer Yetzirah, or “Book of Formation/Creation.” which describes the combination of the “sefirot of nothingness” and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet as the foundation of reality (remember the hypostasis codenames?).
The Sefer HaBahir (lit. the book of brightness, 13th century France) introduces the idea that the sefirot are emanations of the divine. Interestingly, this book refers to the sefirot as ma’amarot (sayings), which builds on an important concept in classical Jewish philosophy – the idea that God spoke the world into existence. [We’ll get back to the Sefer Yetzirah and the role of language in creating the world in a subsequent part of this theory].
Historically, Kabbalah might have taken this rough concept from a very different school of thought: Pythagoreans or neo-Platonists. Briefly, the connection between the Pythagoreans and the Kabbalistic sefirot is that both groups considered the world as being made of numbers. This ties back into Genshin worldbuilding because of how much Platonism is related to Gnosticism. Something else to keep in mind is that Pythagoreans (who had a cool history that connected Egypt and Greece to the magic of ✨math✨ but also hey Genshin lore hello Deshret) were known to use lyres as their instrument of choice while making mathematical studies of music. More sus Venti lore for the collection? This is also interesting to consider in the context of Nahida, who is deeply connected to the Irminsul, and has animations that are reminiscent of computers.
Later in the 13th century, the Kabbalist Isaac the Blind would 'canonize' the list of sefirot (there’s still some variation to this day) and organize them into a sequence that would become the basis for the famous Tree of Life structure. His writings described the sefirot as attributes of the divine and their role in the creation of the world. In his model, the sefirot originated from lights that emerged from a primordial soup of potential, and these sefirot/lights would then ‘flow’ and emanate into each other. His student, Azriel of Gerona, expanded on this with a neo-Platonic lens and introduced the concept of the Ein Sof, the infinite nothingness that cannot be comprehended and is the origin of everything. In this model, being flows from an infinite resource of potential, which the divine can utilize through the framework of the sefirot, eventually creating the world [4]. In simple terms, the Ein Sof, which contains everything, emits a primordial light that then differentiates into the sefirot. In our Genshin analogy, this primordial light would be like extremely pure elemental energy that differentiates into elements, like light passing through a prism.
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, an important figure in the development of Kabbalah, described the process of the sefirot differentiating with the analogy of light shining through a stained glass window:
Imagine a ray of sunlight shining through a stained-glass window of ten different colors. The sunlight possesses no color at all but appears to change hue as it passes through the window. The light has not essentially changed though it seems so to the viewer. Just so with the sephirot. The light that clothes itself in the vessels of the sephirot is the essence, like the ray of sunlight. That essence does not change color at all, neither judgment nor compassion, neither right nor left. Yet by emanating through the sephirot -- the variegated stained glass -- judgment or compassion prevails. (Pardes Rimmonim by Moses Cordovero, translated in Essential Kabbalah by Daniel Matt)
Cordovero considered the sefirot to be completely independent of each other, but the later Lurianic school of Kabbalah (we’ll get into them more in later parts) considered the sefirot to be constantly dynamically interacting with each other and also assigned them personas.
Sefirot and the Genshin Elemental System
Achievement grinders amongst us may recall the descriptions of the namecards you get upon completing the Elemental Specialist achievement series:
Achievement: Colors of the Rainbow: Light can refract into countless colors, but people stop at seven because they're too lazy to count. Perhaps the elements are like that, too.
Achievement: Seven Lights: Anyone can play a tune that belongs just to them, and like the dew under grass, can reflect the seven lights of heaven.
Another example of the elements being compared to light is the Latin text found on the magic circles on the door of Mona’s future house in Mondstadt and generated by the hypostases during their missile attacks. The text reads:
Ex culmine lucis in magno elementorum, which translates to "From the peak of light, to greatness of the elements."
It’s interesting to see this text appearing in association with the hypostases since they are described as “life forms which have completely abandoned their former appearance and biological structure, making them able to reach the highest level of elemental purity. They are ultra-compact structures with a high mass, and are the highest forms of elemental structures.” The hypostasis code names are also all Hebrew letters, as mentioned earlier.
Mona’s astrolabe during the Unreconciled Stars event features a similar text:
Ex culmine locis in magno elementorum; Lux se effundat in mentes dei, which translates to "From the peak of light, to the greatness of the elements; May light pour out, into the minds of god."
The Abyss Lector catalysts contain a text that mirrors these two examples:
Ex culmine lucis in mango obscuritas. Lux se effundat in mentes abysso, or “From the peak of light, to the greatness of darkness. May light pour out into the minds of the abyss.”
The Genshin elements are also described as flowing. For example, a loading screen tip specifically describes the Ley Lines as “A mysterious network that links the whole world together, within which flow the elements.” The Silver Twig description states: "All knowledge, memory, and experience flow through this giant tree, just like a stream flows into a river, the river joins a sea, the sea turns into clouds, and the clouds rain onto the ground — just like life itself."
The 10 (sometimes 11) sefirot are:
Keter: Crown (this one is even more symbolic that the rest, is described as “the most hidden of all hidden things" in the Zohar, represent things that are above the mind’s comprehension and the very beginning of the process of turning potential into reality)
Chokhmah: Wisdom
Binah: Understanding/Reasoning
(Da’at: Knowledge, as a fusion of Chokhmah and Binah)
Chesed: Loving Kindness or Mercy
Gevurah: Strength/Severity, (sometimes Din, Judgement, or Pachad, Fear)
Tiferet: Beauty/Harmony, is associated with balance of the Tree of Life
Netzach: Eternity/Endurance
Hod: Splendor/Glory
Yesod: Foundation (as in, foundation of reality)
Malkhut: Kingdom/Sovereignty
You’ve probably noticed by now that while we are claiming that the concept of the sefirot applies to the elemental system in Genshin, there are 10 sefirot and only 7 elements (for now). Fortunately for us, the Kabbalists love metaphors and categories. In addition to the sefirot representing the procedure used to ‘emanate’ and create the world, there are other methods of interpretation that further subdivide and rank the sefirot. For example, one metaphorical interpretation of the Tree of Life assigns each of the sefirot to a part of the human body.
In the Chassidist Kabbalist tradition of interpreting the tree, the 10 sefirot are divided into two categories: Intellect (Keter, Binah, Chokhmah) and Emotions (they’re actually more like character traits), which contains the remaining seven. These categories are meant to parallel how the soul is also divided into the intellect and emotional components. The first three sefirot are also referred to as the “three mothers,” because they are the source of the lower seven [5].
Having a group of seven sefirot is very convenient for comparing their traits to the elements and their ideals, but what about the role of the higher three in Genshin worldbuilding? This next section requires a bit more conjecture than some other comparisons here.
The source of all elemental energy in Teyvat, whatever that actually is, could be compared to Keter (crown), the most hidden and incomprehensible of the sefirot. (Big stretch, but think of the crowns over the Irminsul trees in domains.)
Next, we have the Ley Lines, which contain dreams and memories (these are basically the same in Teyvat, see Dream Solvent description), and these can be compared to Binah (understanding/reasoning) and Chokhmah (wisdom). During the Sumeru Archon Quest, Rukkhadevata says that dreams are the source of the wisdom she upheld as her ideal. Memories play an important role in discerning the truth of the world, as the traveler has now found themselves to be the only person to remember certain people/events, and has been told to trust their memories rather than what they can see.
Comparison of the 'Lower' Sefirot to the Genshin Elements and Their Ideals
Chesed (loving-kindness); Cryo (unknown, theorized to be love)
The Cryo Archon’s ideal is theorized to be love, as it’s the only characteristic mentioned in relation to her in the Travail trailer. Wanderer’s voiceline about her directly mentions love and describes her as being kind and benevolent, while Childe describes her as extremely gentle. These are the characteristics of Chesed, which represents the trait of completely selfless love: the all forgiving, all giving love of a god towards their creations. When it comes to the Cryo element itself, two things are worth mentioning: one is the way that all of Snezhnaya is perpetually covered in snow, as if this were the (ironic) physical expression of the Tsaritsa’s love blanketing them. The second is the promise of a world-encompassing snowstorm that will envelop everything as the Fatui advance on their war against Celestia. Although it’s hard to find one absolute constant in Vision granting stories, it’s notable that most Cryo users got their Vision at a moment when they had to selflessly be there for others (Diona, Chongyun, Mika), or after a decisive moment where they put aside their personal comfort for an ideal that would result in benefit for others (Kaeya, Eula, Layla).
Gevurah (Severity); Hydro (Justice)
Gevurah is associated with divine judgment, the kind that punishes humanity and causes world-altering catastrophes like the flood or the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The Hydro Archon organizing her nation around a Court that attempts to judge both deities and humans parallels this. In a more positive sense, Gevurah is also related to moral judgment that allows one to tell good from evil Likewise, Hydro in-game is often associated with purity and separation of clean and unclean matter. When it comes to Hydro Vision wielders, one common characteristic is that they all live by a personal ethical code, and their commitment to it is what granted them their Vision.
Tiferet (Beauty/Harmony); Anemo (Freedom)
Tiferet balances the other sefirot on the tree and has direct connections to almost all of them (except for Malkut). Similarly, Anemo can facilitate many elemental reactions via its Swirl reaction. In our opinion, something almost all the Anemo characters share is that their moment of receiving a Vision coincides with a moment of balance and harmony with themselves or their environment. See Jean and Kazuha’s Vision stories and the cutscene where Scaramouche/Wanderer gets his Vision. As an aside, comparing harmony to Anemo is funny because Venti is a bard and harmony is also a musical term: in music theory, harmony is the way we analyze the interactions between different voices that can be heard at the same time.
Netzach (Eternity); Electro (Eternity)
The quality of “Eternity” in Netzach is related to victory against enemies, referring to eternity as being the most powerful combatant remaining among defeated adversaries. Likewise, in Genshin the story of the Electro Archon features many battles during the Archon War where Ei and Makoto ended up victorious. As for Electro users tend to have their Vision granted at a moment when their ambition “defeated” the obstacles of reality, as was the case with Fischl, Kuki and Lisa. Cyno’s Vision story makes sense when you compare it to the illumination of Buddha during meditation, and how this was victory over the temptation of the demon Mara.
Hod (Glory); Pyro (War)
Natlan and its Pyro Archon are possibly the most mysterious of all the regions, so we can only speculate. We know that the Pyro Archon is called the God of War, and that the Pyro Gemstone mentions battles, pilgrimages and truth. The sefira of Hod, translated as Glory or Splendor, is linked to being able to connect with God and therefore also associated with prophecy (as in the way a human can carry a message from God). In the Travail trailer, the Pyro Archon tells the traveler that “the rules of war are woven in the womb.” It's also theorized Natlan will be based on Mexica culture (where sacrifice of both enemies and self sacrifice was a way to connect with the gods) and via Iansan's name, the Caribbean diaspora version of Yoruba religion (where many rites involve the gods making themselves present in the material world).
Yesod (Foundation); Dendro (Wisdom)
Back when we started to think about this theory during version 2.8, we decided on Yesod largely via process of elimination. One piece of our rationale was that in the Jewish tradition, each of the lower seven sefirot are used to represent a primary personality trait of seven archetypal figures in the Torah. The person related to Yesod is Joseph, who is well known for his prophetic dreams, and because of the events of the Golden Apple Archipelago, we decided that was close enough. However, the 3.x version confirmed that a) Irminsul did actually exist, b) Dendro as an element has a deep relationship with the tree, with the Dendro Archon acting as its avatar, c) the ideal of wisdom as both Dendro Archons interpreted it has a lot to do with dreams, and d) Irminsul and the Ley Lines act as the foundation for how reality is perceived in Teyvat. Yesod is also associated with biological life, as it represents the reproductive organs in the human body scheme of the sefirot.
Malkut (Kingship); Geo (Contracts)
Malkut is associated with the connection between the spiritual "above" of the Tree of Life and the concepts it contains, and the "below" of the material world, where these concepts manifest into material reality. For this reason, Malkut is associated with the earth [6]. In many Geo item descriptions, like the Geo Hypostasis drop or Albedo's elemental skill, the motif of geo trying to reach the sky is a constant. From a religious POV, the relationship between the divine and humans living in the material world has also been one of "covenants," or "pacts", in a similar way to how the Geo Archon is the God of Contracts. Furthermore, contracts are the basis to have a working state (government), and a kingdom is one of the first forms of a state. Malkut also being related to earth and everything material parallels how Geo is an element that works in making constructs. Geo Vision users are likewise involved in making or maintaining structures, like the Knights of Favonius is for Noelle, or the tradition of alchemy is to Albedo, as well as opera to Yunjin and in a way, even the Oni identity for Itto.
The Origin of Evil and Why Irminsul is Upside Down
Along with Kabbalah's very detailed explanation of how the world and all its positive attributes was created, there is also an explanation of how evil came to be. The analogy used in this explanation is vessels being filled with a liquid, which refers to the primordial light from Ein Sof described earlier, also referred to as "Limitless Light." After filling the vessel, the liquid then overflows into more vessels beneath the original. The higher vessels have the purest form of this liquid, and the more it’s poured "down", the more diluted it is. When the upper "vessels” of the higher sefirot were filled everything was fine, but when the vessel of Judgement (Gevurah) was being filled, the power of the Limitless Light overflowed and the vessel broke. In other words, Judgement or Severity got out of control, and this caused a catastrophe. Eventually creation continued, but (at least in the dominant, Lurianic Kabbalah tradition, as there are many interpretations) the vessel of Judgement remained broken [7].
One could compare this perpetual dysfunction of Gevurah to the mismanagement of Teyvat by the Heavenly Principles. The Heavenly Principles, who seem to be in charge of keeping the "good" of life in Teyvat separate from the dangers of the "evil" abyss, don't seem to be in control enough to keep their efforts from destroying the lives of innocents or even entire civilizations.
Even though the Judgement of God is severe, Kabbalists still consider it part of divine nature, and therefore inherently good. So what does this imbalance in Gevurah have to do with the origin of evil?
After the vessel that contained the overflowing Judgement broke, the shards of the broken vessel fell beyond the "space" of creation, into the void left behind during the creation of the world. These "shards'' are also referred to as "husks" (Qlippoth, lit. husks or shells) and become the origin of evil in the form of demonic beings [8]. Sounds familiar? We actually have an enemy with this name in-game; the "shadowy husks" (the CN name for these enemies literally translates to "empty shell"). In Kabbalah, the "husks" and the demons born from them form a "dark" mirror to the Tree of Life (it's sometimes called Tree of Death in Western esotericism, but it's not a term original to Jewish Kabbalah).
However, unlike the very well defined 10 sefirot of the Tree of Life, Kabbalists don't seem to agree about the identities of the Qlippoth that form the "left hand side", or as it is called in Hebrew, the Sitra Achra. Some names for these demons are consistent, such as Lilith, Samael, and Asmodeus, who make a sort of "mother, father, son" trio. As for the rest, and also the many other demons that were born from them, scholars generally agree that Kabbalists blended traditions from nearby cultures depending on where they lived, leading to Arabic, Spanish and Germanic legends mixing into the Jewish tradition [9]. There's a strong possibility Hoyoverse did something similar and filled in the missing names with the names of the demons of the Ars Goetia.
Theory/speculation time: The demons of the Sitra Achra are none other than the Archons that rule the modern Teyvat, including both the ones defeated during the Archon War and the current Archons that rule the nations.
Besides the concept of the mirrored Tree and associated demons, another piece of evidence is the similarities between the role of the Gnoses (and the power they give the Archons) and the nature of the Qlippoth. When the shards of the broken vessel of Gevurah fell into the void, they still retained some "sparks" of the Divine Light, like embers that jump out of a fire. But just like embers, these sparks couldn't sustain themselves when separated from the Limitless Light inside the void. That's why the demon-like Qlippoth have to prey on the living beings of the material world who are more directly descended from the divine, so they can "steal" some of their life energy [10].
The Archons in Genshin require a similar system. In the Flower of Paradise Lost artifact lore, the Goddess of Flowers explained to Deshret and Rukkhadevata that when the Seelie race was disgraced, they lost their connection to Heaven and, literally, their power of "enlightenment". After that, the Archon War was started with the promise of each winning god being granted a Gnosis that would give them exceptional power. Both Nahida and Venti have described the Gnoses as being a very advanced tool that concentrates elemental energy: it channels it, but it doesn't create it. Archons have inherent powers related to their nature, but when it comes to controlling elemental energy, they aren't creators but channelers of it, just at a much bigger proportion than humans who have Visions.
So now we have our explanation as to why the Irminsul is upside down. Or rather, it's the residents of Teyvat who are standing on the opposite side: the Teyvat we know today is the Teyvat of the Sitra Achra, ruled by demons.
However, this doesn't mean Teyvat is condemned. Just as Traveler has slowly been setting the chaos of elemental energy back into order (by, for example, returning the elemental Oculi to the Statue of the Seven, among many other things), so too is there a concept in Kabbalah describing the importance of righting the wrongs of the universe so that the sefirot are stable and creation is in harmony with the divine. This is called Tikkun Olam, or the repairing of the world. Stay tuned for part 2 where we go into wayyyyy more detail about what this means for the Traveler's journey through Teyvat!
In Genshin Impact, machines and automatons matter. They are everywhere you go, from small devices and gadgets to hulking, imposing mountains of metal created for the purpose of war. I wanted to know what happens when we look at these machines and their many forms through the lens of the uncanny, in hopes of better understanding their narrative purpose and to extrapolate more meaning from currently existing lore. It turns out, machines tell us a lot about what’s going on in the story, from smaller stories like Karkata, Ben Ben, and Tamimi’s relationship to humans, to the larger story of the twins landing in this strange world. This theory will deal with the larger story by applying the uncanny to the Akasha, Irminsul, and the Loom of Fate.
SPOILERS: Caribert (and all Sumeru Archon Quests preceding it, basically), Inversion of Genesis, Aranyaka (Aranara world quest), Alhaitham’s Story Quest (like two screenshots), two of Faruzan’s hangout endings, and two out of context screenshots from 3.5’s Windblume.
DISCLAIMER:
A part 0 to this can be found here, which was produced along the way to writing this theory. It is not absolutely necessary to understand the points in this post, but might be of interest if you liked the psychoanalysis bits and want to take a closer look at the meaning and significance of dreams.
All external sources will be listed at the bottom! If digital, they are linked. If print, the title and author are given.
The Uncanny 101
To be clear, this theory won’t be overly reliant on the psychoanalytic perspective of the uncanny, but I think Freud is a good place to start in order to get to where we need to go. If you’ll indulge me for a moment…
In his essay Das Unheimliche (1919) [The Uncanny], Freud articulates the psychoanalytic significance of the uncanny by first examining its linguistic meaning and then by applying it to literature. In order to fully understand the uncanny (unheimlich), Freud argues that we must first understand heimlich. Let’s start with heimlich’s first meaning.
Heimlich’s most common meaning denotes familiarity, “belonging to the home,” homely, tame, and intimate. The literal translation of heimlich to English is also “of the home/house.” Seems simple enough. It is something pleasant and familiar.
But, heimlich also has a second meaning that complicates this. Heimlich in this second context is “concealed, kept from sight, so that others do not get to know about it, withheld from others.” Secret. Private:
“To do something heimlich, i.e. behind someone’s back; to steal away heimlich; heimlich meetings and appointments; to look on with heimlich pleasure at someone’s discomfiture….to behave heimlich, as though there was something to conceal; heimlich love, love-affair, sin; heimlich places (which good manners oblige us to conceal)” (Freud, 3).
The reason this difference in meaning is interesting to us is because unheimlich has one use and meaning, and that is strange, unsettling, eerie:
“‘Unheimlich’ is the name for everything that ought to have remained . . . hidden and secret and has become visible,” (Freud, 4).
In other words, unheimlich means the opposite of the first definition for heimlich, but it is synonymous with the second meaning. In this way, what is heimlich is also unheimlich. What is familiar is also strange. What is of the home is also outside of the home. But how can that be?
Dainsleif: My memories are quite foggy, but my subconscious and instincts both assert that something once happened here.
Central to psychoanalysis is the notion that both traumatic and non-traumatic memories or thoughts we experience throughout life, but especially as children, are forgotten and repressed in the unconscious, censored from the ego's perception. Freud thought that even if we cannot immediately recall these things, they do not simply disappear from the psyche.
The process of repression, which relegates these formerly conscious or “preconscious” thoughts to the unconscious, is a process that makes something that was once familiar to us, in this case the thought or belief, feel strange and unfamiliar upon its resurfacing. This, Freud argued, is the true nature of the uncanny. It is why uncanny feelings are characterized by dread - because the object or story or phenomenon reminds us of something we once knew intimately, but that has become unfamiliar through repression and distortion.
Alhaitham: However, these memories aren’t truly lost, but merely sealed away. They can be restored with the appropriate stimulus.
The uncanny, then, is characterized by a return of the repressed, a recursion or repetition if you will. The most important takeaway here is that the boundary between the uncanny and the familiar, the unheimlich and heimlich, would seem impermeable on the surface but is in fact fluid and changeable.
An example might help here. Let’s take a line from A Drunkard’s Tale, an in-game fictional book (credits to Tuna for this example, which I would not have thought to analyze with the uncanny without having read their observation thread on Caribert):
“What you humans call wine, we wolves call the Abyss.”
There is a quoted sentence in Freud’s essay that has a very similar structure to this one, printed here:
“We call it unheimlich; you call it heimlich” (Freud 3)
Or, to more closely mirror the structure of the quote from A Drunkard’s Tale:
“You call it heimlich; we call it unheimlich.”
So, let’s break it up and analyze them in parts.
“What you humans call wine/You call it heimlich.” Wine is a “known” thing, it is a product from an ordered world with rules. We know how it’s made and some of us know the pleasure of drinking it. It “belongs to the home,” the “home” being an abstraction of all that is familiar.
“We wolves call the Abyss/we call it unheimlich.” Recall that unheimlich is something strange and unfamiliar, a feeling of dread, but that it is synonymous with the second meaning of heimlich. The Abyss is beyond this world, it is everything that exists outside of “Teyvat.” So how can the Abyss even be compared to wine? Maybe because there isn’t as big of a difference between them as we would initially think. The quote is asking the question: how can the Abyss be something beyond this world/outside of it (unheimlich) when it’s right here in your very human/Teyvat things (heimlich)?
Or, if you’ve ever experienced the sensation of déjà vu, that’s also an uncanny feeling. Speaking of déjà vu…
Recursion, Repetition, Samsara
“We think we are creating the system for our own purposes. We believe we are making it in our own image... But the computer is not really like us. It is a projection of a very slim part of ourselves: that portion devoted to logic, order, rule, and clarity.” -Ellen Ullman, Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents
One of the many machines we became acquainted with in the Sumeru Archon Quest was the Akasha, which was advertised as an access point to knowledge from Irminsul, but in reality was a dream-harvesting machine unevenly distributing “bundles of human wisdom” to the terminal-wearing Sumeru populace in exchange for their dreamless sleep.
We know how the story goes. Nahida leads us to the truth of the samsara by having us make associations ourselves - a process that takes inspiration from Freud’s method for dream interpretation, free association (more on that here). To deliver the answer to us without making these connections ourselves would “blow our minds,” permanently confusing our sense of reality and dream. Basically, she has us do the opposite of repression - we take information from our strange environment, associate it with things we are familiar with, and arrive at the answers on our own. This exercise helps us understand the hidden truth of the Akasha, a secret hidden by the Akademiya’s sages.
To take our understanding a step further and connect it to another angle of the uncanny, I want to turn our attention back to the first meaning of heimlich, specifically how it describes things “belonging to the home.” Another English word for this would be domestic, things pertaining to the house and running the household. Familiar things. All other things, outside of the house, the wilderness, the foreign, would be unheimlich. As we’ve established earlier, the line between these two categories is changeable. Things previously regarded as domestic, belonging to the home, can become unfamiliar with time.
There is a lot we can do with this, but let’s focus on the Akasha first. Aranaga actually takes a very similar approach when explaining its function in Agnihotra Sutra:
Aranaga: Here, Aranaga's remembrance, is this flower. Cannot blow him away, the Ad Oblivione; cannot destroy him, the device that takes away dreams.
Traveler: The thing that takes away dreams...?
Aranaga: The living memory of nature, dream. Man-made dead thing, mechanism. Taking away living memory, grinding and crushing to extract its juice, like a grinder, for dominion and domestication... Don't like this, Aranara.
Paimon: Eh... Why?
Aranaga: Because the garden of freedom, the source of power, dreams and memories, not only for Aranara, but also for Nara. But Nara don't know. Not good action... extraction, grinding.
Aranaga: Memories and dreams are gone, reason for action is gone, strength is also gone.
Domestication is the process by which things “outside of the home” are brought “inside.” In human history, we can observe this process through the domestication of crops, livestock animals, dogs, and the list goes on. What was once wild and outside the realm of human control is tamed and cultivated within the boundaries of the city center. Domestication has a greater purpose: to extend civilization’s power and control over what is “outside” by controlling its reproduction.
It’s an apt description for the Akasha under the control of the previous sages - it was a Dream Domestication Machine, bringing a “source of power” within the Akademiya’s control to populate the Akasha’s records with knowledge, and eventually to attempt to create their own mechanical God, in hopes of bringing a sliver of divinity within human control. In essence, the sages made the strange into the familiar. Domestication, then, is the inversion of repression and the uncanny.
We can see this in the Akasha’s predictive capabilities as well. Given enough information, the Akasha can use behavioral logic to predict (though not dictate) the movements of a person, but only to a certain point. Its ideal subject was someone like Cyno before the Archon Quest - a “decisive and principled person,” someone who prefers to operate alone, independent of other people and their behavioral logic which can muddy and change our own. Cyno’s behavior was once predictable and familiar to the Akasha’s algorithms, but by changing his behavior he became unreadable, unfamiliar, and strange, if temporarily.
“A Flower Not Of This World”
Considering the Akasha was made by the Dendro archon, whose origins lie in Irminsul, as well as the copious foreshadowing in Act II’s samsara for the resolution of Inversion of Genesis, it is not outlandish to view the Akasha as an analog to Irminsul. Though they may not function exactly the same way, we can already observe that Irminsul behaves more like a machine than something biological, what with Nahida functioning as a sort of system administrator to it (with limited privileges, it would seem…), system permissions, virus vulnerability, the Dendro element being responsible for the Akasha’s existence in the first place…you get the picture.
So what is the purpose of this machine? And what are the rules?
While the intimate details of Irminsul are still murky, including who all can control it and who made it, we do know a few important things about it:
It contains memories of everything that has happened in Teyvat. It collects memories and occurrences through the Ley Line network, which stretches all over Teyvat and records information as it happens. It also seems to acquire the memories of those who pass away - it is repeatedly stated that everyone “returns to Sarva” when they pass.
It can alter memories of the past when edits are made to its database. We have two known instances of this so far, both of which are deletions: the removal of the memory of Rukkhadevata, and the removal of the identities “Kabukimono” and “Balladeer.”
The Traveler is not affected by edits to Irminsul because they are not of this world. This is part of the secret truth hidden by Irminsul’s records - it contains no records of “descenders,” because to do so would be to admit that the sky is fake.
Deleted memories are not lost forever if necessary precautions are taken. While non-fiction books, quest dialogue, domain descriptions, and other items are altered by Irminsul edits, fiction is outside of its reach. Nahida understood this intimately, and so she hid the true history of the Wanderer in a fairy tale story, which was her own unique form of distortion independent of Irminsul’s distortion. This allowed her to freely associate the elements of the fairy tale back to the truth, just like what we did in Act II to arrive at the truth of the samsara, and just like what Freud had his patients do to interpret their dreams. Through this, she resurfaced her memory of the truth.
Returning to the idea of the uncanny and the familiar, what happens when we think of Teyvat as the “home,” and everything considered separate from it (like descenders, the abyss, or forbidden knowledge) is the uncanny, outside of the world? The utility of Irminsul becomes more clear: it delineates the boundaries of “Teyvat” so as to maintain a closed system of memory production in its inhabitants.
Another way to look at Irminsul, then, is as a Memory Domestication Machine. This analogy requires stretching the definition of domestication as not only involving something under human control, as Irminsul is certainly serving a higher power than that, but it still functions the same way.
It’s important that we understand the rules of this machine and familiarize ourselves with its boundaries - only then can we understand its limitations and exploit them:
Alhaitham: You may find it hard to believe, but for those people, everything the Akasha transmits to them is nothing short of absolute truth.
Alhaitham: Imagine if you've been using a device like the Akasha since the day you were born. And this device has always supported you during times of need...
Alhaitham: After all that time, what do you think you'd become?
Paimon: Uh... A fool? A machine?
Alhaitham: A slave to orders. And that's why rules are so important. In addition, those who understand the rules can delineate boundaries, and identify gray areas.
Paimon: Hmm... but why would you need to identify the gray areas?
Alhaitham: You could say that those kinds of ambiguous zones can be very interesting. One might even say they're advantageous in the right hands…
Il Dottore: And now, it seems they can no longer hold back their sheer adoration..
Under the dominion of the Akasha, the line between human and machine was blurred. The same can be said for Irminsul – even alterations to its records produce the same fate with different recollected details, further calling into question the notion of free will under Teyvat’s laws. In our world, humans administer the Turing test to machines in order to measure their ability to imitate a human, but the Akasha and Irminsul turn this idea on its head.
If free will is an illusion, then one perspective might posit that human lives in Teyvat are no better than programs running to completion. It’s part of the irony that the remnants of Khaenri’ah’s technology are humanoid automatons (“Machines of war built in man’s image”). Whether or not that perspective is correct is for you to decide.
Alhaitham: One way to stabilize a collective consciousness is to remove the test subjects’ humanity altogether.
(look, I’m not saying Irminsul is a machine with an Overmind using it to create a collective unconscious, but that is also what I am saying).
Although it can change how the past is remembered, Irminsul has to abide by fate. Now, considering the Akasha had predictive capabilities and is an analog to Irminsul, we might be tempted to ascribe predictive capabilities to Irminsul as well. It’s not outside of the realm of possibility. But, I think what is more likely at this stage is that Irminsul and the Ley Lines are just parts of a greater system of machines, and one of those machines has dominion over fate.
One last piece of information we gained from the Sumeru Archon Quest’s conclusion was that the Traveler’s sibling is recorded in Irminsul: the Wanderer states that “[the sibling] only came to this world because the heavens responded to the summoning,” that Khaenri’ah was their first destination upon arriving sometime before the Cataclysm, and after which they traveled the Seven nations before their fate became “deliberately obfuscated” by “someone.” Now, they are running the Abyss Order under mysterious circumstances.
At the end of Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises, Nahida told us this:
Nahida: There's only one possible explanation: [they] belong to this world.”
But Nahida’s wording here is very important. It makes me think of Sucrose’s philosophizing about the prophecy Collei found in this year's Windblume:
Sucrose: I was thinking about the flower that is "not of this world." It could mean a human-cultivated variety that doesn't occur in nature... But that's basically claiming that it doesn't come from this world in the first place, when actually it's just a variant of an existing breed.
Sucrose: So the initial question is: Can the flower's origins be traced back to a natural organism? If so, it cannot be correctly described as "not of this world."
Sucrose: But then... supposing we identified something outside of that category, whose job would it be to decide whether it belongs in this world or not? Then the question becomes: Do "of this world" and "from this world" mean the same thing... or is it deeper than that?
The heimlich and unheimlich are divided by a permeable, fluid boundary. While there is absolutely still room for more plot twists with the Abyss Sibling’s origin, for now I think the additional information we have about their arrival to Teyvat simultaneously contradicts and supports Nahida’s initial hypothesis. The Abyss Sibling may indeed not be from Teyvat, just like the Traveler, but that does not preclude them from being brought into the boundaries of Teyvat through an unknown method of tampering with Irminsul, so that they now belong to Teyvat and are “of this world.” I mean to suggest that the Abyss Sibling was domesticated into Irminsul’s memory, and therefore into the boundary that delineates Teyvat. How exactly, by who, and for what exact purpose is currently unclear. But if I were to guess….
The Uncanny and the Abyss
Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss…a wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension…and the one who controls the Abyss can control everything!
So like…we need to talk about Caribert.
In Chlothar’s despair at having failed to recover Caribert’s consciousness with a secret alchemical potion, the Abyss called out to him and opened a strange domain near Sumeru’s entrance to the Chasm. Once there, he and the Abyss Sibling discover a mysterious hanging crystal which whispers about a power the bowing Hilichurls (and Chlothar) covet. This power, which Chlothar understands as the Abyss, does resurface Caribert’s consciousness, but it comes with a price – Chlothar’s obsession with the crystal steers his attention away from his son, who in childlike wonder gazed upon his maskless reflection in a hand mirror only to discover the horror of reality: this is not a fairytale world, he has really become a Hilichurl, his home has been obliterated, and there is no going back to life as he once knew it.
So, he rejects his fate and removes his mask one final time, unleashing a dark power Chlothar recognizes as the Abyss. Though the player passes out at this moment, Chlothar later says something cryptic regarding his son who has now vanished from sight:
Chlothar: You saw it too, didn't you? Unmistakable... The power inside Caribert and the power of the one you call a "Sinner," it was one and the same...
Chlothar: I am positive now... it's the power of the Abyss, isn't it?
Chlothar: At long last, I have seen it with my own eyes...
Traveler: I didn't see clearly...
Traveler: What happened to Caribert?
Chlothar: That is no business of yours!
Chlothar: A sinner... Yes, salvation for a sinner can only come from a sinner...
Chlothar: Caribert did not deserve his fate, but now... It's wonderful — he will be able to weave his own destiny anew.
Chlothar: Born into abject sorrow, he shall now become... "The Loom of Fate."
There is a LOT in this dialogue to unpack. First, let’s talk about what happened to Caribert. Though we do not see it ourselves, Chlothar says “salvation for a sinner can only come from a sinner,” and that now Caribert can weave his own destiny anew. He also states that he has never seen the power of the Abyss before now, but I also wonder if he is saying he has never seen the Loom of Fate’s power with his own eyes before. To me, this suggests that Caribert fused with the Abyss, or even with the Loom of Fate itself (assuming these two are separate things to begin with).
Then, Chlothar says more strange things about the Abyss Sibling:
Chlothar: ...Sinister? ...Dangerous?
Chlothar: I never imagined that you, of all people, would deny the Abyss... How ridiculous!
Chlothar: We once believed that you would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah.
Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension...
Chlothar: ...And the one who controls the Abyss can control everything!
Chlothar: We yearned for that future. We looked to you to take us there.
Chlothar: But what did you bring us instead?
Chlothar: O Prince... of Khaenri'ah?
Remember how in Inversion of Genesis, Wanderer told us that the only reason that the sibling was able to come to Teyvat was because “the heavens responded to the summoning?”, and the Traveler immediately suspected that Khaenri’ah had to do with the sibling’s appearance in Irminsul’s records?
“To us, you were the Abyss.” The Twins are external to the laws of Teyvat, making them unknown, strange, and unfamiliar to this world. Chlothar’s dialogue suggests to me that Khaenri’ah has been seeking a power from beyond for a long time now. My speculation is that Khaenri’ah has known for a while about this “Loom of Fate,” but could never prove its existence. The Loom of Fate is likely what materializes fate into reality, if it does not also dictate fate, and it seems to be located in the Abyss itself. A loom is a wooden machine of sorts, used to hold thread or yarn taut as the user weaves them into cloth or tapestries. This is the machine I suspect Irminsul is working with as a system. Whether the Loom of Fate is a “Fate Domesticating Machine” is unknowable for now, but surely we can conclude that the Loom of Fate Operation is a fate domesticating mission.
One final, somewhat tangential remark I’d like to make is about the name of the Hilichurl curse, the “curse of the wilderness.” This again gestures toward the idea of a home place and a wild place, what belongs to the home and what is outside of it. Something tells me from the last quest with Dainsleif in the Chasm that Hilichurls do not go to Sarva when they die, they disintegrate into the dark mud of forbidden knowledge. The curse casts them “outside” of the cycle of life and death, outside of the memory production system, and outside of fate. Though they are still from this world, in a sense they no longer belong to it either.
A Companion Machine Manifesto?
Faruzan: As for me…I want to stay with Tamimi for a bit longer. Just a bit.
I don’t want to get into it now since this post is already too long, but after all this it would be normal to wonder what to do about all these boundaries that are at the center of Genshin’s world structure and its conflict. We can’t just get rid of them all – King Deshret already tried that, and it didn’t work out so well for him. For now, when I think of the answer to this question, I can’t help but think of Karkata, Ben Ben, and Tamimi, and their unique relationships to humans.
To be honest, they are what originally got me thinking about domestication as a way of reading Genshin’s worldbuilding. As models that belong to lines of war machines and ruin guardians, their difference seems significant. And although their differences cannot be explained, they participate in mutualistic relationships with the humans around them, living together in what Donna Haraway calls a relationship of “significant otherness.” I don’t have the precise language for this yet, but when I think of all of these care-full relationships, I can’t help but feel hopeful that things can still change.
If you’ve made it this far, I truly from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for reading <3 Until next time!
External Sources/Further Reading
Das Unheimliche by Sigmund Freud, translated by Alix Strachey.
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott.
The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness by Donna Haraway.
“The Uncanny Familiar: Can We Ever Really Know a Cat?” by David Wood (this is amazing btw).
…Okay but the wild part is this is the second post I’ve made about the uncanny since this idea was born in September and I STILL HAVEN’T WRITTEN THE POST I WANT TO WRITE YET. When I get back from my thesis hiatus, we are talking about the ‘bots. And I mean ALL of them. And Dottore. And the Golden Slumber!!
Based on the books we found in Enkanomiya, we discovered there was a time when men lived in a sort of heavenly perfect state alongside their creator the Primordial One (and his shining shades).
But what if these humans got to a point where they weren't entirely satisfied? the only thing the primordial one had prohibited was 'temptation', but the Before Sun and Moon book says "the path to temptation had already been sealed" does this mean something bad was bound to happen? it was their fate?
well the next part of the book describes the year the "second thone" arrived and war was rekindled. I wonder if humans had anything to do with this? This is where the Prayers artifacts' lore comes in. These artifacts describe a time of great prosperity, the envoys of heaven (shades? seelie?) talked to the ppl and they got revelations from heaven directly, they promised a new and brighter age was coming.
If this was during the time of the Primordial One, what happened? Humans started to worry, as they do, will this be forever?
And so they decided to send a chosen chief priest, "into the deep places of the world" seeking hidden wisdom. What if they found all sorts of things in these deep places? What if these deep places they went to.. Were parts of the Abyss?
Now after the Sumeru archon quest we can assume what they looked for and what they found was Forbidden Knowledge
According to before sun and moon, the Primordial One used the shell he was born from to separate Teyvat from the universe... I wonder what would have happened if someone.. broke that shell?
According to different sources, one of them Enjou himself, both the gods and celestia came from beyond this world. What if humans "accidentally" opened a door through which the Abyss poured in? and with it the "second throne" and possibly gods and other elemental creatures?
What if this is the arrogation of mankind? Never just being content, always looking for more? When the people of Enkanomiya finally got their "sun", built by one of their own, and their dark days were over, the first thing that happened was greedy people taking control over it, time and time again humans had shown their ugly sides. So who's to say they weren't the ones who caused the fall of the Primordial One? And are now doomed to live in this cyclical world which is a product of their need of more wisdom, more control, more power.
this also connects to this broken triquetra found in domains, i always got the feeling it sort of represents the unbalanced/broken state of teyvat and the three realms...
(When we visit Enka for the three realms gateway offering, the masked priestess gives it a different name
Paimon: So that's why Tsuyuko called this the "Three Realms Gateway Offering."
Tsumi: "Three Realms Gateway Offering".. Not far off the mark, actually. But technically, I think it should be called the "Triangle Gateway Offering."
feels like the triangles represent these three realms)
Who knows, maybe there are even humans pulling the strings up there in Celestia, alongside whatever came with "the second throne". We shall see!
- end of this weird theory (that aged very well with the Sumeru archon quest!!)
(before we begin, I wanna point out that this works for their names in CN and JP as well since they have very similar meanings like light and void)
So, in ancient Greece, AETHER was the air breathed by the Gods and was embodied as an ancient deity of light. A fifth indestructible element, along with the four physical elements of the world fire, air, earth and water.
This element, aether, in its crystalline state can form celestial bodies, which can mean planets, stars, nebulas, etc.. And alchemists used to believe that this spiritually pure element had miraculous capabilities! (Albedo's object of research, right?)
(( side note, as I was trying to get those screenshots, I discovered that when the twins try to attack the unknown God, they don't use their swords anymore, they use a power that looks like light.. kind of opposite to Dainsleif's ))
for a time, a physicist named Huygens, theorized that light was a wave and -since all waves are basically energy patterns that move through a medium- Aether was basically the medium through which light travelled. (keep in mind lumine means to light up or illuminate)
He called this Luminiferous Aether, or light-bearing Aether. some time later Newton said 'that's bllshit, light is not a wave it's particles', and later another guy came and made an experiment and said 'no no, it IS actually waves' and so on and so on until a lot of physicists n failed experiments later Einstein dropped his latest hit - the Theory of Relativity. Basically, the conclusion was that Luminiferous Aether didn't exist, but Einstein came up wth the "new Aether" which was what we now know as the fabric of spacetime.
So yeah, I'm straying from the main point, which is that I don't actually have a point, but I found it very interesting that the choice of the twins' names (with similar equivalents in other languages) was after what was believed to basically be the fabric of space and time...
So could this mean that the twins cannot travel or fully function if not together? a sort of one entity that cannot use all their power when separated?
another very interesting bit that was discovered in the Enkanomiya books, is that the people there used these words to archive and categorize: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, ETHER, and VOID. these could also be a hint as to the actual nature of the twins, what do you all think?
