Eywa , also known as the All-Mother  or Great Mother , is the guiding force of life and deity of Pandora  and the Na'vi . The Na'vi believe that Eywa acts to keep the ecosystem of Pandora in perfect equilibrium and that all things return to Eywa upon their death. The Na'vi all share certain key values even across clans, including their belief in a globally distributed consciousness of Pandora known to them as Eywa. It is also believed that all creatures have two forms: a body, and a spiritual counterpart or soul (_vitra_). At the end of one's life, the Na'vi believe that the souls of the dead return to Pandora's consciousness before being reborn as living matter in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth. In this way, the Na'vi believe that all energy is temporary and only borrowed by each living creature and that one day, it will return to Eywa. The Na'vi view all living things as a single connected system to be respected and cared for. However, they revere certain trees and plants as especially sacred - as places where Eywa herself is believed to reside, such as the Tree of Souls. Animals, including the Na'vi, have free will and are not, strictly speaking, a part of Eywa - in the same sense that a child is not a part of their mother but does owe life to her. In times of great need, Na'vi clan members gather at the Tree of Souls and all unanimously connect their queues to the tree; through this, they all experience a simultaneous connection to each other, a condition of profound emotional power. According to the tsahìk, this connection enables clan members to better "see" each other and amplifies any message they have to Eywa. This is the strongest statement of purpose the Na'vi can make, and is vital to important processes such as the consciousness transfer. The Na'vi also pray at sites like the Tree of Voices and upload their memories and consciousness to Eywa prior to any great act. These sites also allow the Na'vi to access the Pandoran neural network and the wealth of memories, information, and consciousnesses along with it, and even commune with deceased friends and family. Some Na'vi frequently upload information to the network, such as their hopes, dreams, and memories, while others only do so occasionally. The Tree of Voices' strong connection to Eywa ensures that all pledges or vows made there are eternally binding. Similar human deities: Eywa has been compared to a number of mythological figures and deities, such as Gaia (Gaea), Mother Earth, Mother Nature, the Triple Goddess, or God by those trying to explain the relationship between Eywa and the Na'vi. The Gaia hypothesis follows on that the entire biosphere acts like a single organism or at least a complex system (soft Gaia), or that the Earth is consciously manipulating the biosphere in order to make conditions more favorable to life (hard Gaia). Other comparable figures and entities include: • Jörð in Norse mythology, the personification of the Earth, similar to the Native Americans' religious views of the planet being one living entity. • Her title 'All-Mother' resembles that of the Norse god-king Odin, the All-Father. • More poetically, Eywa's embodiment as plant life may be a reference to Yggdrasil, The Tree of Life, a holy embodiment in Norse mythology. Yggdrasil is a tree, said to be the root of all life, sent to keep the natural order of life on Earth. It balances the three worlds: the god's world, man's world and the underworld. • The Maori earth goddess, Papatuanuku, who is believed to be the living embodiment of the earth and gave birth to all living creatures, including people. Maori also have strong, spiritual ties to the land, similar to the Na'vi. • The theological concept of universal selfhood, of a unified "flow of the universe" and natural world is present in Buddhist and Taoist philosophy.

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11%

Reality Factor

140yrs

BCI Forecast

86%

Neuroptimism

9%

Neurafictionality