1. Introduction: Teenage Urban Esotericism

Persona (1996-Ongoing) is currently one of the most recognizable and famous role-playing video game franchises worldwide. Originally a spin-off from Atlus´ parent Shin Megami Tensei brand¹The title, formerly Revelations, means “True Goddess Metempsychosis“, thus emphasizing the concept of reincarnation.

The series is loosely based on the Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani., it has now surpassed its progenitor in popularity²As of November 2022, the series has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and generated over $350 million in revenue.
[“Top Brand Licensing Agents 2023”. License Global. April 4, 2023, p. 3. Registering required]., spawning numerous adaptations, such as anime series, films, novelizations, mangas, stage plays, radio dramas and musical concerts.

One of the main characteristics of Persona, as well as of its parent franchise, is that its stories take place in a contemporary urban setting, far removed from the fantasy or futuristic worlds of most modern role-playing games.

This allows it to address topics of current relevance, such as the influence of technological advances (e.g., mobile phones and social networks) on human behaviour, also delving deep into other complex sociological, psychological, philosophical and theological themes.

Persona´s storytelling, in addition, is characterized by how the occult and the monotony of the daily life of a group of Japanese students intertwine, with the main characters discovering that paranormal forces and entities with different agendas hide behind everyday reality.

The protagonist, a silent character who represents the player, is forced to begin a path of self-discovery and spiritual self-development, represented by the Major Arcana of the Tarot. His quest culminates with his awakening and transcendence, a key aspect for the group of protagonists to dethrone the hidden spiritual oppressors that limit human growth.

Strongly based on Jungian psychoanalysis, the protagonists use Personas in their fight against “the other side” and its human minions, the former being mythologized representations of each character’s true Self. They are obtained after facing their particular inner demons and integrating them into the totality of their conscious personality.

The world of Persona shows that behind the mundane lies a colorful spiritual reality densely populated by entities from all imaginable mythological/religious pantheons (Perennialism) that are, however, creations of mankind´s Collective Unconscious (psychological reductionism).

Starting from a melting pot of disparate metaphysical ideas and concepts, Persona masterfully crafts coherent and impactful stories within a predominantly Gnostic background.

Nowadays, mainstream productions can hardly reach such levels of depth without alienating the majority of their consumers. Persona, however, can claim to be one of the few who does, being one of the main transmitters of esoteric concepts for young adults today.

2. Game Mechanics with Symbolic and Metaphysical Significance

a. Summoning Personas by Facing Oneself and Killing the Ego

a1. Gnostic Elitism and Contempt for the Masses

Persona does not hold back when it comes to classifying people according to their potential to achieve spiritual awakening.

Its general worldview is that we live in a world largely populated by masses of sleeping people (in Persona 3 literally symbolized as “undead” ones sleeping inside a coffin), sprinkled with a handful of individuals capable of actualizing their true potential.

Among the latter, obviously, we find the cast of protagonists, who oppose those who have succumbed to the influences of the other side or who manipulate the spirit world selfishly in order to obtain material gains.

Among this group of young protagonists, however, only the main character who represents the player is capable of achieving absolute transcendence during the game.

This approach, together with the interactivity and immersion allowed by video games, makes the players feel that they are in the middle of an initiation process in which the secrets of the Universe as well as the method to achieve self-transcendence are being taught to them, at the same time avoiding the spiritual pitfalls that led the main antagonists to their eventual downfall.

The above-mentioned way of classifying people is reminiscent of the classic Gnostic scheme speaking of:

• Hylics: material beings, unable to achieve liberation (general non-playable characters [NPC´s]).
  
• Psychics: who are able to self-liberate with effort (secondary playable characters and other members of the cast).
  
• Pneumatics or Spiritual beings: destined to free themselves and to attain the highest levels of existence (the character representing the player).

b. The Wild Card of the Fool Destined to Become Whole

Reflecting the above, since Persona 3, the character representing the player has a unique ability. Unlike the rest of the main characters, who can only summon the one Persona related to their archetypical personality, the protagonist is capable of summoning all existing spiritual entities. He has the Wild Card ability.

This, in turn, indicates that the player is destined to include them all in himself, to encompass the totality of the “spiritual fragments” of creation inside his person, transcending any particularity and becoming the Absolute (see below).

The fact that this character is a silent one with no defined personality, capable of representing any type of player, reinforces this concept.

As players, we begin our adventure being represented by the first Major Arcana, the Fool. After literally signing a contract with our spiritual guide, whom we meet after our partial awakening at the beginning of the game, and who reminds us that everything that happens to us in our journey will be our responsibility, the process of individuation and self-deification does not conclude until we reach the last Arcana, the World.

This last card represents the Absolute. After attaining the state of being symbolized by it, all existence is implied to be included within ourselves. The microcosm and the macrocosm become one. The player discovers, in a simulated but historically faithful way following major traditional esoteric worldviews, the meaning of life.

At this point, Persona games conclude with the main character performing a miracle that saves the day and brings the story to an end, leaving mankind in a better position to follow in his footsteps in the future.

c. Deity Fusion: Gotta Catch ´Em All!

Personas are archetypical manifestations of the concepts symbolized by each Major Arcana, ordered in a hierarchical way. This reminds us of the Great Chain of Being.

The players can fuse various deities to obtain “better” ones of a higher level, retracing step by step each link of the chain until they can evoke the greatest one of them all, different in every game, representing the ultimate version of their true Self (e.g., Messiah in Persona3, Satanael in Persona 5).

The game rewards “collecting” all deities, eventually being able to summon them all (this mechanic being the precursor of Pokémon´s one). This seemingly irrelevant little game mechanic makes, curiously enough, a lot of sense in a game that believes in the highest reality as the Absolute, the All, which includes and transcends each minor god in its All-potentiality.

These gods, in turn, behave as impersonal energies, having been created by the human Collective Unconscious to fulfill certain functions. Instead of being complete individuals, they are fragments of the All, which can be fused and used as ingredients of a spiritual recipe that ends when the highest deity is finally evoked.

d. Daemon Negotiation

In addition to fusing demons, in some Persona games you can also negotiate and try to convince them to join your party (or, more accurately, to become part of the protagonist’s mind).

The game refers to all types of spiritual entities as demons, including the angels, when in reality the concept it is using is that of Daemon, a general Greek term that designates any spiritual entity or power (harmful ones: Cacodaemon; beneficial ones: Agathodaemon).

e. Bringing Together All the Fragments: The Social Life of a Spiritual Chameleon

The fact that the main character (the Fool) is seen as a future receptacle of the whole of existence also has its consequences in the social relationships that he maintains, through the player’s decisions, with those characters that represent the rest of the Major Arcana. Since Persona 3, this is reflected in the game mechanic known as “Social Links”.

If the player wants to maximize his compatibility with each Social Link/Arcana, he will have to respond accordingly to what each one needs or wants to hear. He who is going to embody the All, as could not be otherwise, has to be everything to everyone. That is, he cannot be himself (seen as a limitation of the common ego) but a spiritual chameleon that adapts his personality according to the needs of the other “fragment” in front of him.

The concept of individuals as personifications of concepts or partial spiritual realities instead of particularized unique totalities (e.g., like the Christian notion of a person) is predominant not just in Persona, but in most Japanese media (e.g., Neon Genesis Evangelion). [Click HERE for a further discussion on the presuppositions and consequences of these incompatible views].

This game mechanic allows us to delve deeper into the meaning of each Major Arcana from a human perspective, which in turn unlocks the possibility of evoking more powerful deities under the sign of the metaphysical principles they represent.

3. Setting and Themes

a. Urban Occultism

What makes Persona unique and especially interesting is that it can be defined as an urban supernatural fantasy based on real mystical and esoteric schools. 

This franchise contains so many references and influences derived from occult and metaphysical traditions that it is impossible to name them all. The most represented, however, would be: Jungian psychoanalysis and Gnosticism (as previously mentioned), Hermeticism (e.g., Alchemy, Theurgy), Kabbalah and Western esotericism (Tarot).

In addition, all mythological pantheons find representation here (e.g., Greek, Nordic, Hindu, Mesopotamian). All deities, however, are just symbolic representations of the same doctrines taught by the worldviews just mentioned, such as: the unity of opposites, solar deities who partake in a cycle of death and rebirth, reptilian creatures that represent primordial Chaos, mother-like figures representing fertility and the feminine, and personifications of Destiny.

b. A Jungian Hero’s Quest

The protagonists must confront their Jungian Shadow, the repressed aspects of their personality found in the unconscious layers of their mind, and incorporate them into their conscious personality. This confrontation marks their initial awakening in the quest towards self-transcendence. The main antagonists, on the other hand, are those who have succumbed to their Shadow, which possesses them and wreaks havoc on society through their actions.

During the game, each character continues to develop psychologically until they reach a point where the personal conflict that defines their character’s arc is resolved. At this moment, their Personas evolve and transform into their final version, representing the character’s true ultimate Self.

Such a process of integrating the opposite aspects of the personality, Jung believed, is analogous to the internal work of the alchemists³What Jung did and Persona follows, however, is to reduce the spiritual realities found in traditions such as Alchemy into symbols of mere psychological realities.

In his autobiography, however, it is implied that he believed them to be more than that, which obviously could not be acknowledged in the academic writings of the time without putting at risk his professional career.. This work (Magnum Opus), in turn, was characterized by three sequential stages:

• Nigredo (blackness): the dissolving of the superficial personality (ego) of the adept. It is analogous to the “dark night of the soul” in other traditions, the first step always being a difficult one symbolized by dissolution and death.
  
• Albedo (whiteness): the purification stage, which allows the cleaned vessel to attain internal illumination. This step is called catharsis in any other tradition which follows a regime of spiritual exercises.⁴Sometimes the stage of Cititrinitas (yellowness) is mentioned as an intermediate step between Albedo and Rubedo, symbolizing the attainment of the previously mentioned illumination prior to the re-integration taking place in the next stage.
  
• Rubedo (redness): the final stage of re-integration of the Self (in a spiritual sense) into a whole that contains all opposites in their purified form and transcends its parts. The adept has finished the work and is now able to return to the world, becoming a catalyst of change.
  
  This stage is represented by a multitude of symbols, including: the Ouroboros, the Hieros Gamos (Sacred Marriage) of the Red King and White Queen, the Rebis, the Philosopher´s Stone and the Azoth.
  
  

c. Dreams and Archetypes

Dreams, for Jung, constituted one of the main windows to the archetypal world that symbolized this program of self-development, giving us clues about our situation in our ongoing process of individuation. These archetypes are analogous to the deities depicted in Persona, since both are seen as emanations of the human Collective Unconscious.

The increasing intromission of the archetypical world (the psychic, cognitive or dream world as it is variously referred to) into the normal lives of important characters capable of making a difference in the world (for better or for worse), is one of the main aspects of this franchise. It is especially notorious in the case of the main character representing the player, who has access to the Velvet Room.

c1. The Velvet Room: The Threshold Between Dream and Reality

A recurring location that appears in all the games is the Velvet Room⁵The Velvet Room is apparently based on the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks. Persona shares with Mark Frost and David Lynch´s franchise its general vision of reality., a place between our conscious world and the unconscious archetypal one, described as the non-material world of dreams. Created by Philemon (see below), this space changes shape depending on the psyche of its current host, implying the increased inter-subjectivity reigning in such a plane of existence.

Its inhabitants, however, are always the enigmatic Igor (the Wise Old Man archetype of Jungian psychoanalysis) and an attendant who represents his energetic aspect. Said attendant takes the opposite gender to that of the protagonist in games that allow the player to select it, indicating that he/she also represents the protagonist´s psychic sexual counterpart (Anima/Animus).

Igor and his attendant both constitute a duality (elder/young; knowledge/power) in the style of other traditions of the “One” (e.g., Shiva/Shakti in Hinduism, Yab-Yum in Tibetan Buddhism).

Both beings, after the previously mentioned contract has been signed, help the player character in perfecting his soul and in unlocking new archetypal powers. They are the psychopomps or spiritual guides of the Fool on his path to becoming the World, understanding the Tarot as an hermetic “manual” of self-transcendence (book of Thoth).

d. Horizontal Integration: Complementary Dualism

Attaining psychic androgyny, a symbol of totality, was both in Alchemy (Rebis) and for Jung (Anima/Animus dichotomy) one of the main objectives to achieve in our path of self-elevation.

We could define this aspect of the work as the integration of the horizontal aspects of being, the masculine/feminine dichotomy, a symbol of the hermetic Principle of Polarity and its derived corollary: the Principle of Gender.

“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.” ⁶The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 32.

“Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.” ⁷Ibid., p. 39.

― The Kybalion (1908)⁸The Kybalion, however, is not a real original hermetic work, but a modern neo-hermetic example of Western Esotericism, syncretic in its nature. For the few surviving texts of real early Greco-Egyptian Hermeticism, see the Corpus Hermeticum, including the Poimandres.

One of the main differences between the Kybalion and the traditional Hermetica is the former´s anti-theological stance, which is in stark contrast to the latter´s heavy emphasis on theology.

The Kybalion is focused on the practitioner’s path of self-deification through “mental transmutation”, while the Hermetica aims at unification with the divine, which it reveres. In short, the Kybalion is an ultimately atheistic “spiritual but not religious” modification of the predominantly theistic Monism of early Hermeticism.. Three Initiates.

e. Vertical Integration: Assimilating the Shadow

The vertical aspects, on the other hand, would be represented by the integration of the Shadow, those parts of ourselves that are not morally acceptable to our conscious personality.

This represents the internal (microcosmic) version of the hermetic Principle of Correspondence:

“As above, so below; as below, so above. […] This principle embodies the truth that there is always a correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of being and life.” ⁹Ibid., p. 28. 

― The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates

Altogether, by integrating the vertical and horizontal aspects of our being we would obtain the cross, in the center of which is the Self, which although not explicitly mentioned by Jung is understood as transcending death. The correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm, of transcendence with immanence, is thus realized.

In short, the process of individuation was, according to Jung, analogous to the work of the alchemists to immortalize themselves, as well as the path of the Gnostics to free their pre-existing soul (the Spark of Divinity inside us) from the influence of the rulers of this world (the Archons; alchemical planets [understood as spiritual influences]) and their sovereign, the Demiurge.

4. The Source of both Gods and Mankind: Persona´s View on Ultimate Reality

We have discussed how, in Persona, the gods are created by the human Collective Unconscious. Who created mankind, then? What is Persona´s vision of Ultimate Reality?

This question is typically answered with greater detail in Persona´s parent franchise, Shin Megami Tensei. However, due to the Hermeticism prevailing in Persona and the narratives of some of its most popular games, we have enough data to affirm that Persona, like its parent franchise, adheres to a version of impersonal Monism: Panentheism.

First of all, the first and most important “hermetic” principle, as Western esotericism understood it, is the principle of Mentalism:

“The ALL is Mind; the Universe is Mental.”¹⁰The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 26. 

― The Kybalion. Three Initiates

This Panpsychism, in turn, meaning that all life is a thought of the Universal Mind, an Ocean of Being containing all possibility of existence that does not interact personally with its creatures. It is the Absolute, the Monad. Once emanated, these beings, given that they are also part of Universal Consciousness, are thus capable of thinking further existences into being.¹¹This fractal image of creation, however, is orphaned of a God who cares, as in all impersonal Monism.

The Collective Unconscious, then, behaves like a consensus mind formed by the totality of its individual members, capable of thinking into existence different “gods” due to an internal need.

In Persona´s Universe, the two primordial gods emanated this way are Philemon and Nyarlathotep¹²Nyarlathotep is based on the character of the same name from H. P. Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu mythos, evoking the concept of a primal evil that cannot be understood. Philemon, on the other hand, is the spiritual mentor that C.G. Jung explained seeing in dreams in his autobiography, representing superior knowledge and guidance., the representatives of the positive and negative traits of humanity, respectively.

In other words, from the One derives the Two, complementary opposites that, paradoxically, cannot exist independently from each other (like the Yin-Yang of Taoism).¹³This is completely opposite to the theology of the Christian Trinity, for example, where no Person (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is defined by its enmity (dialectic) with another, all three sharing equal co-primacy by being one God and one in will.

[Click HERE for an in-depth discussion of the far-reaching implications derived from this theological difference.]

In Persona 2: Innocent Sin, both complementaries reveal that they have always been involved in a proxy contest over whether mankind can embrace its contradictory tendencies and find a higher purpose before destroying itself.¹⁴ペルソナワールドガイダンス [Persona World Guidance](2001; in Japanese). SoftBank Creative.¹⁵Farokhmanesh, Megan (2016). “The Persona Series, Explained”. Polygon.

In other words, good and evil are enacting a “good cop, bad cop” dialectic, everything else being born from this tension. The objective of both being to confirm if humanity can integrate within itself the opposites that both poles represent in a balance that does not end in self-defeat¹⁶Which implies that “evil” is not truly evil, just a necessary harsher teacher, also part of the One. God, instead of having one Son, had twins instead (Complementary Dualism; see image 17).. This union, in turn, symbolizes a return to the One from which they derive.

In panentheistic systems, this is equivalent to awakening to the fact that we were always the One to begin with.

THE INCREASINGLY GNOSTIC WORDLVIEW OF PERSONA [Click Here]

Although Gnosticism has always been present in Persona due to its great importance in its parent franchise, it seems that its prevalence has grown more explicit over time.

The clearest exponent is Persona 5 (2016), where we discover that the Gnostic Demiurge himself is the God of our world (Yaldabaoth, the tyrant God of Control who prevents human spiritual evolution).

The game follows the basic premise that an incarnation of the trickster archetype is necessary to force a global reset when the Law that should provide order to our lives has become corrupted.

The player, through the protagonist who represents him, must manifest his true Self as the primordial devil Satanael¹⁷For Satanael´s origins in Judaism, see: Orlov, Andrei (2011). Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology. SUNY Press., who destroys the false god of Light and Order (associated with YHVH in the main Shin Megami Tensei games) on Christmas Eve, thus restoring balance.¹⁸The date on which Catholic and Protestant (and some Orthodox) Christians celebrate the Incarnation of God.

The concept of Complementary Dualism so central to conceptions of the Divine as the Absolute is thus explicitly shown in the clearest way possible, second only to the definition of Satanael as the “second son of God” and the source of free will, implying that only through dialectics and opposition can we be free.

a. The Collective Unconscious and the Global Shadow of Death

Many of the main antagonists of Persona are just representations of death. Many times, this death is identified with the primordial Chaos before any particular being existed, the cradle of all possibility of existence.

For example, according to the official Persona Club P3 book¹⁹ペルソナ倶楽部P3 [Persona Club P3] (2006, in Japanese). Enterbrain, pp. 4–11., the Collective Unconscious was birthed by primitive life on Earth as a means to contain the spiritual essence of the Night (Nyx; Greek maternal goddess symbolizing a return to the womb and, thus, death).

In the human mind, both the life and the death instincts coexist, the latter being described as fragments of the mind of Nyx (the Shadows). This implies that if Nihilism and wishing for death become predominant in the human Collective Unconscious, the night will be evoked, manifesting the will to return everything to the original void.

Ultimately, the narratives of Persona are a representation of the fight against the worst tendencies in the minds of the masses, capable of bringing into existence their particular consensus reality and prone to being manipulated by external powers.

THE AXIOM: ULTIMATE REALITY IN SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI [Click Here]

Shin Megami Tensei games are darker than Persona ones. They are also more explicitly based on Gnosticism, showing a greater contempt for the God of the Old Testament (YHVH).

Its vision of Ultimate Reality is called the Axiom (also the Great Reason or Great Will, names focusing on its good and bad aspects, respectively). Everything comes from it and returns to it, once the cycle of transmigrations (Samsara) eventually ends.

In this fictional multiverse²¹The Axiom is the origin of the Multiverse, but at the same time, as in all panentheistic views, it transcends it., YHVH wrongly believes himself to be the One True God, thus becoming a representation not of the God of Christianity but of the Gnostic Demiurge. He is nothing more than an avatar or aspect of the Axiom, not always aligned with His Will.

He is also the higher exponent of the Law faction (an Order/Chaos dialectic substituting a Good/Evil one), with Lucifer [1] being his necessary counterpart representing Chaos. Both are part of the Axiom, the true source of all existence. A predominance of any one of them over the other is implied to be an inferior solution compared to their balance or integration, as could not be otherwise in worldviews that believe in the Absolute.

YHVH, in his ignorance, demands to be revered as the highest deity. Mankind, born from the Axiom, is nevertheless capable of breaking the chains imposed by its overlord and create its own beliefs, thus choosing its destiny and emancipating itself from YHVH.

The Axiom, representing the archetypal absent deity, can nevertheless periodically send a Messiah to guide humanity in times of great tribulation.

b. Consensus Reality: Be Careful With What You Wish For

Humanity’s reality-creating power, actualized through the Collective Unconscious, is exemplified differently in the various games in the franchise:

• Persona 2 focuses on the effect of rumors on the fabric of reality.

• Persona 3, as mentioned before, discusses how depression and the internal darkness of society as a whole can summon Death itself.

• Persona 4 focuses on how the media distorts our perception of reality and the Other through mental manipulation.

• Persona 5 shows how the desire of the masses to free themselves from the responsibility of free will leads the Collective Unconscious to the creation of the Demiurge, the God of Control.

The central theme in all the games, however, is the same:

The intrinsic divinity of our human mind, capable of rewriting reality, with our common personality (ego) being no more than a mere mask (Persona) of the One True God, the Universal Mind.

DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA AND THE REVELATION OF THE METHOD [Click Here]

Digital Devil Saga (DDS) is another spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series.

The latter, despite being a cult classic, did not enjoy the popularity of franchises like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. The original intention of DDS, therefore, was to become a mainstream version of its parent franchise, reaching a greater number of players by embracing a more conventional and explicit narrative that explains with greater detail the metaphysical background behind the game’s story.

Because of that, Digital Devil Saga serves as a good introduction to the Shin Megami Tensei brand as a whole, making it evident that the worldview and ideas being promoted are always the same.²²This time, however, using mostly Hindu concepts and symbolism (Advaita Vedanta and Tantra) in order to convey the doctrines of Panentheism (the One)/Non-Dualism.

Notes

1. The title, formerly Revelations, meaning “True Goddess Metempsychosis”, emphasizing the concept of reincarnation. The series is loosely based on the Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani.
2. As of November 2022, the series has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and generated over $350 million in revenue. Top Brand Licensing Agents 2023. License Global. April 4, 2023, p. 3. Registering required.
3. What Jung did and Persona follows, however, is to reduce the spiritual realities found in traditions such as Alchemy into symbols of mere psychological realities.
   
   In his autobiography, however, it is implied that he believed them to be more than that, which obviously could not be acknowledged in the academic writings of the time without putting at risk his professional career.
4. Sometimes the intermediate stage of Cititrinitas (yellowness) is mentioned as an intermediate step between Albedo and Rubedo, symbolizing the attainment of the previously mentioned illumination prior to the re-integration taking place in the next stage.
5. The Velvet Room is apparently based on the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks. Persona shares with Mark Frost´s and David Lynch´s franchise its general vision of reality.
6. The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 32.
7. Ibid., p. 39.
8. The Kybalion, however, is not a real original hermetic work, but a modern neo-hermetic example of Western Esotericism, syncretic in its nature. For the few surviving texts of real early Greco-Egyptian Hermeticism, see the Corpus Hermeticum, including the Poimandres.
   
   One of the main differences between the Kybalion and the traditional Hermetica is the former´s anti-theological stance, which is in stark contrast to the latter´s heavy emphasis on theology.
   
   The Kybalion is focused on the practitioner’s path of self-deification through “mental transmutation”, while the Hermetica aims at unification with the divine, which it reveres. In short, the Kybalion is an ultimately atheistic “spiritual but not religious” modification of the predominantly theistic Monism of early Hermeticism.
9. The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 28.
10. Ibid., p. 26.
11. This fractal image of creation, however, is orphaned of a God who cares, as in all impersonal Monism.
12. Nyarlathotep is based on the character of the same name from H. P. Lovecraft´s Cthulhu mythos, evoking the concept of a primal evil that cannot be understood. Philemon, on the other hand, is the spiritual mentor that C.G. Jung explained seeing in dreams in his autobiography, representing superior knowledge and guidance.
13. This is completely opposite to the theology of the Christian Trinity, for example, where no Person (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is defined by its enmity (dialectic) with another, all three sharing equal co-primacy by being one God and one in will.
    
    [Click HERE for an in-depth discussion of the far-reaching implications derived from this theological difference].
14. ペルソナワールドガイダンス [Persona World Guidance](2001; in Japanese). SoftBank Creative.
15. Farokhmanesh, Megan (2016). “The Persona Series, Explained”. Polygon.
16. Which implies that evil is not truly evil, just a necessary harsh teacher (complementary dualism).
17. ペルソナ倶楽部 P3 [Persona Club P3] (2006, in Japanese). Enterbrain, pp. 4–11.
18. The Axiom is the origin of the multiverse, but at the same time, as in all panentheistic views, it transcends it.
19. This time, however, using mostly Hindu concepts and symbolism (Advaita Vedanta and Tantra) in order to convey the doctrines of Panentheism (the One) / Non-Dualism.
20. For Satanael´s origins in Judaism, see: Orlov, Andrei (2011). Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology. SUNY Press.
21. The date on which Catholic and Protestant (and some Orthodox) Christians celebrate the Incarnation of God.

Discussed in this Article

Disclaimer: the following recommendations may contain affiliate links, which means that we may receive a small commission, at NO additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through them. By doing so, you will be supporting us and allowing this website to remain ad-free.

1. Persona 3 Reload. Atlus.
2. Persona 5 Royal. Atlus.
3. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Atlus.
4. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse. Atlus.
5. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. Atlus.

Recommended Reading

1. Man and His Symbols. Jung, C.G.
2. The Gnostic Religion. Jonas, Hans. 
3. God, History, and Dialectic. Volume I. Joseph P. Farrell.
4. Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. Jung, C.G.
5. Mysterium Coniunctionis: An Inquiry into the Separation and Synthesis of Psychic Opposites. Jung, C.G.
   
   
   
   

• 1
  The title, formerly Revelations, means “True Goddess Metempsychosis“, thus emphasizing the concept of reincarnation.
  
  The series is loosely based on the Digital Devil Story novels by Aya Nishitani.
• 2
  As of November 2022, the series has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and generated over $350 million in revenue.
  [“Top Brand Licensing Agents 2023”. License Global. April 4, 2023, p. 3. Registering required].
• 3
  What Jung did and Persona follows, however, is to reduce the spiritual realities found in traditions such as Alchemy into symbols of mere psychological realities.
  
  In his autobiography, however, it is implied that he believed them to be more than that, which obviously could not be acknowledged in the academic writings of the time without putting at risk his professional career.
• 4
  Sometimes the stage of Cititrinitas (yellowness) is mentioned as an intermediate step between Albedo and Rubedo, symbolizing the attainment of the previously mentioned illumination prior to the re-integration taking place in the next stage.
• 5
  The Velvet Room is apparently based on the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks. Persona shares with Mark Frost and David Lynch´s franchise its general vision of reality.
• 6
  The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 32.
• 7
  Ibid., p. 39.
• 8
  The Kybalion, however, is not a real original hermetic work, but a modern neo-hermetic example of Western Esotericism, syncretic in its nature. For the few surviving texts of real early Greco-Egyptian Hermeticism, see the Corpus Hermeticum, including the Poimandres.
  
  One of the main differences between the Kybalion and the traditional Hermetica is the former´s anti-theological stance, which is in stark contrast to the latter´s heavy emphasis on theology.
  
  The Kybalion is focused on the practitioner’s path of self-deification through “mental transmutation”, while the Hermetica aims at unification with the divine, which it reveres. In short, the Kybalion is an ultimately atheistic “spiritual but not religious” modification of the predominantly theistic Monism of early Hermeticism.
• 9
  Ibid., p. 28.
• 10
  The Kybalion (1908). Three Initiates, p. 26.
• 11
  This fractal image of creation, however, is orphaned of a God who cares, as in all impersonal Monism.
• 12
  Nyarlathotep is based on the character of the same name from H. P. Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu mythos, evoking the concept of a primal evil that cannot be understood. Philemon, on the other hand, is the spiritual mentor that C.G. Jung explained seeing in dreams in his autobiography, representing superior knowledge and guidance.
• 13
  This is completely opposite to the theology of the Christian Trinity, for example, where no Person (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is defined by its enmity (dialectic) with another, all three sharing equal co-primacy by being one God and one in will.
  
  [Click HERE for an in-depth discussion of the far-reaching implications derived from this theological difference.]
• 14
  ペルソナワールドガイダンス [Persona World Guidance](2001; in Japanese). SoftBank Creative.
• 15
  Farokhmanesh, Megan (2016). “The Persona Series, Explained”. Polygon.
• 16
  Which implies that “evil” is not truly evil, just a necessary harsher teacher, also part of the One. God, instead of having one Son, had twins instead (Complementary Dualism; see image 17).
• 17
  For Satanael´s origins in Judaism, see: Orlov, Andrei (2011). Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology. SUNY Press.
• 18
  The date on which Catholic and Protestant (and some Orthodox) Christians celebrate the Incarnation of God.
• 19
  ペルソナ倶楽部P3 [Persona Club P3] (2006, in Japanese). Enterbrain, pp. 4–11.
• 20
  DeVore, Nicholas (1947). Encyclopedia Of Astrology. Philosophical Library, p. 355.
• 21
  The Axiom is the origin of the Multiverse, but at the same time, as in all panentheistic views, it transcends it.
• 22
  This time, however, using mostly Hindu concepts and symbolism (Advaita Vedanta and Tantra) in order to convey the doctrines of Panentheism (the One)/Non-Dualism.