Avatar...

William and I went to see Avatar, and we both left teary-eyed and very misty. Seeing it in 3D was indeed like entering a new world, but at the same time, it all seemed so familiar to me. This was the world of my dreams as a child. I longed to live in a place like that, and my first tales were of an imaginary lion - Apolleon. I began writing about him when I was about 8 or so, and had a complete book of stories as well as a short opera about him. We lived in a gorgeous jungle-like world together with otherworldly creatures and I was part lion myself. "Sheena Queen of the Jungle" was about as close as I ever saw to what I had dreamed of, but it paled so much to what I had imagined.

What floored me was the concept of the Na’vi people: world-wide matriarchal cultures were merged to create this special tribe who understood the Mother Goddess. Cameron based their words on the Maori language of New Zealand. The idea that their tails connected like electricity to other species, plants - that killed me. To our ancestors, life and land have always been deeply connected.

One idea that I really loved was the fact that the Humans were actually the evil Aliens. Their directive is that which people fear so much should UFOs actually come here: to destroy the earth and all its inhabitants in order to get something out of it - but isn't that what we do to ourselves?

I have read that people have been feeling depression after seeing it, that something tugs them so deeply from seeing this movie - I believe it is because it is the forgotten Truth in our hearts, in our primal brain - the lost connection we once had! People want to live there, because they KNOW they were there once. It makes you KNOW how the way of the modern world is wrong, and that it the very truth we must all look for...

I wrote about this in The Book of Annwyn, its conclusion that I return to often: "Thus, here we are, our modern sense of knowledge completely disconnected from the people we once were. Imagine what it was like to have only the facts of Nature all around you. Watch a thunderstorm with new eyes, where no weatherman exists to explain its coming, or its meaning. Imagine the Moon’s consistently changing shape, the heat of the Sun’s rays, the mists of clouds causing the tops of mountains to disappear, and the falling of snow and hail. Here is the essence of Myth, the awe of the Unknown, where recognizing each tiny change in climate, watching the habits of an animal’s migration - all held a key in Understanding. Our instincts were fine-tuned, and our lives were held in the balance of the seasons... The ability to create art, a skill so misunderstood in this day and age of Art-openings and tiresome criticism, was viewed as simply magical. Music and singing, in its earliest form, was also mystical, and it’s creation had the ability to calm the murderous beast. Some still find this Truth deep within their hearts: some art and music touches a place before memory could be given dialogue..."