The Film Aquaman and The Book of Revelation (blog post)

[00:00:00] Welcome to Dose of Depth Podcast. I'm your host, Deborah Lukovich, and I invite you

[00:00:10] to explore what's beneath the surface of all sorts of things including your own life.

[00:00:15] Through conversation, stories, and education, you'll see what you couldn't see before.

[00:00:21] Find new meaning in all events, and even discover a new sense of purpose out there

[00:00:26] in the world.

[00:00:27] Let's get started.

[00:00:32] In this episode, I read a blog post I wrote back in 2020 and then updated again in about

[00:00:38] a year ago, 2023. It's about my experience of a film, and as I've shared with you, films

[00:00:46] are one way that my unconscious speaks to me pretty directly. So you'll be entertained

[00:00:53] and especially if you're exploring your relationship with religion, you might also gain some

[00:00:59] new insights for yourself. I also do mention several resources that I will in the description

[00:01:07] box put a link to the blog post, and you can find links to the various resources as well.

[00:01:14] So let's get started.

[00:01:16] The hidden meaning of the film Aquaman.

[00:01:20] What? This is the book of Revelation I whispered out loud during one of the six viewings

[00:01:26] of the film Aquaman. A little context. During this phase of my midlife journey, I have been

[00:01:33] re-exploring my childhood religion of Christianity after having rejected it twice already. The irony

[00:01:41] of being in a soulmate relationship with a fundamentalist Christian at the time was

[00:01:46] not lost on me. I appreciated CG Jung's suggestion that, quote, we must read the Bible or

[00:01:53] we shall not understand psychology." So I jumped into the world of looking at Christianity

[00:02:00] through the lens of depth psychology. I ate up books written by Dr. Ann Belford Yulanoff,

[00:02:07] Jungian analyst and professor of psychiatry and religion. One of my favorites of hers

[00:02:13] is titled, Picture in God. I agreed with her that the symbols of traditional religion

[00:02:18] are not effectively allowing money to live fully in connection with God. And what I mean

[00:02:24] by God also is spirituality, nature, the quantum realm, the field of infinite possibilities,

[00:02:32] whatever it means to you. What is left is a disembodied experience of faith based on words.

[00:02:39] I got even more excited after reading Women and Redemption, a theological history by American

[00:02:45] feminist scholar and Catholic theologian Rosemary Radford-Ruther. Her work reveals the strong

[00:02:51] feminine that is present in the Bible and traces the lack of consensus that existed at the

[00:02:58] very start of the creation of Christian doctrine. In the end my decision not to get back on board

[00:03:05] with Christianity was driven by exhaustion at the thought of having to wait for Christianity

[00:03:10] to transcend patriarchy. But the fight to save the soul of Christianity continues. Check out

[00:03:18] Megan Chance. She is a feminist who's on a journey to reclaim feminism for Christianity. I

[00:03:24] love her and I interviewed her in my podcast. I'll share that link too. Sign up for her podcast,

[00:03:30] faith and feminism. My unexpected response to a blockbuster film. What? This is the book of

[00:03:39] Revelation. I had just finished reading a book titled Beginner's Guide to Revelation, A Youngian

[00:03:45] Interpretation by Robin Robertson, Clinical Psychologist and Author of Multiple Books on Young

[00:03:52] Ian Psychology. The timing of my reading of this book and the release of the 2018 blockbuster

[00:03:58] film Aquaman was uncanny. The superhero film is based on the DC Comics character Aquaman,

[00:04:05] who represents the promise of reconciliation between the seven underwater kingdoms of Atlantis

[00:04:11] and the surface world. Young Aquaman named Arthur by his mother is born of the love between

[00:04:17] Atlanta, Queen of Atlantis who fled an arranged marriage, and Tom, a lighthouse keeper.

[00:04:24] I made the connection with the biblical story during the third viewing of the film,

[00:04:28] specifically the image of Aquaman, gold and trident in hand, riding atop the beast which rose

[00:04:34] from the trench kingdom. The character, played by Willem DeFoe, quietly proclaims,

[00:04:40] the king is risen. I cried for some reason. I figured out that I identified with Arthur as an

[00:04:48] underdog and his wounds becoming the source of his power. The tears reflected a new awareness

[00:04:54] I was coming into relationship with my own wounds and that this would bring a new sense of meaning

[00:04:59] to my life. This prompted me to return to a previous dream. In the dream, an alien in the form of

[00:05:07] water, like in that movie The Abyss, took me down to the basement to a closet where I peered into

[00:05:14] a hole in the floor that contained fire. I could not face it and ran up the steps.

[00:05:19] The basement in my childhood home had always been a fearful place. I decided to let my imagination

[00:05:26] drop me back into the dream to that closet and this is what I saw and also what I drew.

[00:05:33] In my imagination, I opened the doors. I saw the hole in the floor and it filled with black and red

[00:05:40] flames and lava like in that movie Amityville horror. I was afraid in my drawing I wrote the word

[00:05:48] secret and then power below that and then fear of on the very top of the page. When I step back

[00:05:55] from my drawing, the energy shifted inside me from negative to a more positive sense of power.

[00:06:01] I began to wonder what is the secret power that lives in my shadow? I came to see this image as

[00:06:08] assurance that something new was brewing inside me that was looking for a way out, something fiery and strong.

[00:06:16] From personal to collective, a significant similarity between the biblical book of revelation and

[00:06:23] Aquaman is the seven fallen kingdoms in the film and the seven churches in the biblical story.

[00:06:30] In the film Atlantis which once was an advanced kingdom falls into the sea because of its

[00:06:35] king's unquenchable thirst for more power. The people became fragmented into seven distinct nations

[00:06:42] each evolving or devolving into separate looking and acting races. The trench were one of the

[00:06:47] original Atlantean kingdoms that could be seen to represent a regression towards pure,

[00:06:52] insatiable primal instincts. I wondered about the role of the trench creatures as the guardians

[00:06:58] of the hidden kingdom. The place where the golden trident was hidden after Atlantis crumbled

[00:07:03] and sank to the bottom of the ocean due to its hubris. It would be necessary to bring light to the

[00:07:09] shadow in order to find the treasure, the golden trident that could tame the beast, the instincts.

[00:07:16] One of the most powerful scenes is Aquaman and his female counterpart Mira representing

[00:07:21] the partnership of feminine and masculine willingly diving into the water with nothing but flares.

[00:07:27] They swim to the deepest part of the ocean surrounded by trench creatures who want to devour them.

[00:07:34] They must then go through a portal not knowing if they'll survive. Once through the portal,

[00:07:38] they arrive at the hidden sea, a time of prehistoric creatures seemingly living peacefully.

[00:07:45] The golden trident is now in the lost world. It is the only thing that will unite the

[00:07:50] fragmented kingdoms of Atlantis and the trident is guarded by the trench beast.

[00:07:57] Only a true king can acquire the trident, a king of pure motive. It turns out that overcoming

[00:08:03] the beast required humility, not strength. Aquaman kneels in total surrender, quote,

[00:08:10] I am not worthy, I am a bastard son, a mangrove, a half-breed, I am here because I love my family."

[00:08:19] The beast could be seen to represent Satan manifesting a shame guilt, doubt about one's

[00:08:24] worthiness after all the foundation of division is an inherent lack of self-worth. Jesus, of course,

[00:08:31] was born to a woman pure in spirit, married to a carpenter man in a muddy manger.

[00:08:37] Jesus was born as a result of God's love. Aquaman was born of the love between two people from

[00:08:43] different worlds. Atlantis was once part of the surface world but its greed was the cause of its

[00:08:49] demise. It's sinking to the bottom of the ocean and once a unified people became separated and

[00:08:54] divided and unable to communicate with each other. I don't know about you, but this is bringing

[00:09:00] about all these days. Healing and reconciliation of feminine and masculine

[00:09:06] A significant part of Robertson's interpretation of the book of Revelation has to do with reconciliation

[00:09:11] between many types of opposites and ultimately between the feminine and masculine.

[00:09:18] Arthur was born to Tom Curry, a lighthouse keeper, and Atlanta, queen of Atlantis.

[00:09:24] Arthur's father is a humble landweller who finds Atlanta unsure. She had escaped in a ranged

[00:09:30] marriage. The product of their love is Arthur, who was seen by his queen mother as the potential

[00:09:35] for reconciliation between the sea and the land. Arthur's wound is a feminine wound because his

[00:09:41] mother must leave him but he maintains a sense of relatedness with his father. Without his mother,

[00:09:47] Arthur relies mostly on his wounded masculine which manifests as aggression. His mother is a warrior

[00:09:54] and his father cares for a lighthouse. She sees him as being able to facilitate the healing between

[00:10:00] the sea and the land because he is a product of both. Eventually, Arthur has no choice but to go

[00:10:06] back to the depths after his half-brother arm attacks the surface. This is the ultimate climax

[00:10:12] of violent division. He now must explore the other part of who he is but has denied the sea,

[00:10:19] his unconscious and the place of his wounded feminine and wounded masculine. It is the character

[00:10:26] Mira who is an insider and pledged as wife to arm who bravely challenges convention.

[00:10:33] She partners with Arthur guiding him on the journey with both her masculine and feminine.

[00:10:39] I would suggest that Arthur goes on two separate journeys. The first journey is facing the beast

[00:10:44] in the trench where he faces his own demons, his shadow but instead of killing the beast he kneels

[00:10:50] in humility. After coming into relationship with his wounded self, his wounded child,

[00:10:56] he is ready for the physical battle, his heroine's journey to reconcile the land and sea.

[00:11:03] Examples of balanced feminine, masculine and women. The main women characters in Aquaman,

[00:11:09] Queen Atlanta and Princess Mira both play the role of disruptor, brave challenges of

[00:11:16] conventions striving towards the highest principle of love. Megan Chance is one of those women.

[00:11:23] The queen is punished for her rebellion, sacrifice to the trench and assume dead but she survives

[00:11:29] and is redeemed. She is the wise woman who stands for unification and love. The beast can also be

[00:11:35] seen to reflect the return of the feminine, a dark feminine that can only be tamed by taking her

[00:11:41] rightful place as partner of the masculine. As Queen Atlanta watches her second born son eventually

[00:11:49] being taken away she tells him quote, your father misled you the sea and the land are one

[00:11:57] and what she means is patriarchy and patriarico religion have misled you. These two women prepare Aquaman

[00:12:04] to face the beast and secure the trident, both women embody a balance of the feminine and masculine.

[00:12:11] They are able to focus on justice and be merciful to judge the situation by facts and call on

[00:12:18] in interknowing. When Aquaman is transformed as a result of securing the trident his clothing

[00:12:24] transforms as well into a combination of intense greed and gold and the trident is made of gold.

[00:12:30] Mira is also dressed in green with a gold crown on her head. My experience of the two of them felt

[00:12:37] newmenous and caused me to recall something I read in youngs, mostly autobiographical book called

[00:12:42] Memories Dreams Reflections. During the time young was considering a connection between religion

[00:12:49] and psychology he received a spontaneous image of Christ in his imagination.

[00:12:54] Quote, I saw that his body was made of greenish gold. He connected this to the goal of alchemy

[00:13:02] to reconcile spirit and matter. For me Aquaman and Mira as partners brought to life

[00:13:08] youngs experience for myself. Christ is the union of feminine and masculine, the union of spirit,

[00:13:16] heaven and matter, earth. Unified the fragmented kingdoms that were once Atlantis with the

[00:13:23] surface world. Around this time I experienced my own spontaneous image that of Christ in Mary merging.

[00:13:30] Why am sharing this now? First, I'm amused by my own experiences of film and I hope you're entertained.

[00:13:37] Second, I think this film reflects a potential climax of the damage that has been done to women

[00:13:43] and men, both literally and psychologically by patriarchy which is a system of domination

[00:13:49] and which has informed every part of our lives including religious belief. And the film also

[00:13:55] reflects the key to evolving beyond this world which is reconciliation between perceived opposites,

[00:14:02] both inner and outer. Out of all the chaos of today has emerged increased consciousness for many

[00:14:09] and violent resistance from others. Those for which a heightened sense of empathy and compassion

[00:14:15] have erupted are now responsible for holding that space especially for those who have been overtaken

[00:14:21] by fear. Am I crazy? What do you think? Have you ever been intrigued with a particular film's

[00:14:27] impact on you? You just couldn't stop thinking about it but your friends couldn't understand

[00:14:34] and you didn't know what to do with it. I love working with film images for myself and with my clients.

[00:14:40] They're not the different than working with dreams. If you liked my post please comment and share

[00:14:45] it with others and to receive notifications of new blog posts subscribe to my email list at

[00:14:51] debralookovic.com. I hope you enjoyed my reading of this blog post and you'll check out some

[00:14:58] of the links and wonder about your own experience with film. Until next time.

[00:15:07] I'm your host Debra Lookavitch and you are listening to DOS of Depth Podcast. To get updates on new

[00:15:14] episodes, my writing and how I teach my clients to get to know that deeper part of themselves

[00:15:19] go to debralookavitch.com. Oh and if you're not ready for a coach learn what my clients know in

[00:15:25] my book. Your soul is talking, are you listening? Five steps to uncovering your hidden purpose.

[00:15:31] You can check it out on my website or get it on Amazon.