The popular video game series Persona, which has become one of the most recognizable franchises in role playing games worldwide, is drenched in esoteric and occult metaphysics. Its stories involve a rebellion against a false deity that embodies the worst flaws and passions of humanity [...]

Comic books have traditionally been loaded with esoteric and occult symbolism, being a faithful reflection of the counterculture where they gained special importance as a means of transmitting alternative ideas to the prevailing materialist worldview. Their influence, moreover, has been growing over time [...]

The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is famous for its particular use of Christian, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, and psychoanalytic terminology and symbolism, many times twisting their original meaning to fit its narrative. Less well known, however, is the philosophical and religious origin of its central dilemma: the problem of the One and the Many.

Gnosticism is a worldview highly represented in modern Western society. Its metaphysical basis, although often mistakenly classified as dualistic, is based on impersonal Monism. It is also characterized by its doctrine of gradual emanations, its conception of matter as intrinsically evil, its esoteric elitism, and the belief that knowledge is the only thing that can save us from this prison world in which we live, ruled by a tyrannical secondary deity.

Buddhism is a complex worldview composed of different traditions that have evolved along different paths. From the extinction of Nirvana pursued by Theravada monks, to the awakening of our inner Buddha-Nature pursued by Mahayana and Vajrayana practitioners, the goal of the different traditions, as well as the numerous means developed to achieve them, vary.

The Buddhist mystical paths offer a wide variety of methods to achieve liberation. They involve both gradual and sudden approaches to enlightenment. The techniques employed include ways to improve concentration (Samatha) and Insight (Mindfulness), invocations (Pure Land), techniques to break the rational mind and force a “breakthrough” (Zen), as well as Tantric and Yogic practices, including identifying oneself with a chosen deity.

Transhumanism is a modern worldview with increasing prevalence both in popular culture and in high places. Despite selling itself as the fruit of pure Reason, Scientism and Atheism, it nevertheless has a strong metaphysical background based on impersonal Monism, as well as traditionally religious aspirations such as the "Self-Deification" of mankind and achieving immortality.

Stoicism is an ancient worldview that has recently become popular as a solution to the hard times in which we find ourselves. In addition to providing guidance for creating hard men, Stoicism is first and foremost a metaphysical philosophy characterized by its pantheistic Monism, its Materialism, and its notion of a dual Universe, as well as by its cyclic cosmology and the primacy it gives to the notion of the Logos, or the Rational Principle of the Universe.

The interactive world of video games has experienced an enormous boom in its level of symbolism and the presence of metaphysical elements in its narratives. While inspiration from ancient myths was common from the beginning, nowadays the technology allows for more complex narratives that many times are full of repeating esoteric and mystical concepts.[...]

The Ouroboros, the snake that bites its own tail, is one of the most ancient symbols in existence, present in a multitude of ancient civilizations. Beyond its widely known meaning related to temporal cycles and the renewal of life, it also represents a concrete vision of Ultimate Reality: the Absolute.

Popular media is nowadays saturated with different layers of symbols that convey ancient metaphysical ideas. Whatever the medium in question, the same doctrines are repeated over and over again, showing a clearly intentional pattern. Among these tenets, the most insistent is that of an impersonal Monad as Ultimate Reality (the Absolute).

One of the most paradigmatic cases in modern popular culture where metaphysics plays an important role, although it is not always recognized, is in Marvel and DC comics. In both of them, curiously enough, we can find the same doctrines, which at the same time derive mostly from the same mystical and esoteric traditions.[...]