The two Bayonetta video games (a third will be released this fall) are exemplary testimony both to mankind’s desire to re-spiritualize his life in this world, and his confused attempts at doing so. Both games in the series are a menagerie of religious systems mixed together into one story.
Bayonetta herself, the protagonist in the games, is the result of a union of opposites (a Lumen Sage (light) and an Umbra witch (dark)) who becomes greater than either of her progenitors (this is a key part of alchemy).
Combining alchemy and Kaballah, there appears a golem, made by Sages and Witches together, which, true to the lore about such creatures, was made for defensive purposes but later became destructive:
https://bayonetta.fandom.com/wiki/Golem
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/golem/
The theology and cosmology of the games resemble those of Hinduism. In Bayonetta, because of an imbalance of light and darkness, the First Armageddon occurs, and the universe splits into a trinity of realities – light/Paradiso, dark/Inferno, and earth/ Chaos. Each has its own ruling deity: Jubelius in Paradiso, Queen Sheba in Inferno, and Aesir in Chaos.
This parallels the trinity of gods in Hinduism – Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector and sustainer, and Shiva the destroyer – and the sense of balance necessary between them to uphold the cosmos.
https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat55/sub354/item1353.html
Extending the theme of balance, in Bayonetta, Aesir created the ‘Eyes of the World’ to preserve balance in the world of Chaos amongst the humans. To the Lumen Sages was given the Right Eye (blue); to the Umbra Witches, the Left Eye (red).
https://bayonetta.fandom.com/wiki/Eyes_of_the_World
https://bayonetta.fandom.com/wiki/Eyes_of_the_World?file=Eyesoftheworld.png
In this aspect, the games introduce elements from Egyptian mythology – the Eye of Ra and the Eye of Horus, although the characteristics are reversed from Bayonetta’s world. In Egyptian lore, the Eye of Ra is the right eye, symbolizing power, destruction, and violence (red), while the Eye of Horus is the left eye, symbolizing healing and protection (blue).
https://symbolsage.com/eye-of-ra-symbolism/
https://symbolsage.com/eye-of-horus-symbolic-meanings/
Along with these others, Neoplatonism is also present. Jubelius, the ruling deity of Paradiso, resembles the Neoplatonist Monad, from whom the powerful beings called Cardinal Virtues emanate, along with the rest of Paradiso and its inhabitants:
https://bayonetta.fandom.com/wiki/Jubileus_the_Creator
https://bayonetta.fandom.com/wiki/Angel_of_Paradiso
https://iep.utm.edu/god-west/#SH2a
Sadly, all this religious pluralism ends in a bad place – in the not-so-unusual RPG rut of theomachy, war against God – as seen both in the rebellion of humanity against their divine ruler Aesir and in the victory of the Witches over the Sages.
With just a little bit more searching, though, it is possible to see how many of these elements are fulfilled/clarified in the Orthodox Church.
For ensample, there is a true Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – Who creates the cosmos and everything in it, and the logoi/words of God the Son lie within all creation. There are three realms – Heaven, hell, and the earth. There are angels, demons, witches, and saints.
There is even the right eye/left eye dualism in the eyes of Christ, shown most famously in the icon of the Lord from St Catherine’s Monastery on Mt Sinai (Christ Pantokrator), which dates to about the 6th century:
(Holy image via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine%27s_Monastery#Icons)
https://www.sinaimonastery.com/index.php/en/
In this icon, the right eye of the Lord is the eye of mercy; His left eye, the eye of justice/severity, which is opposite of the Egyptian mythology, but the designers of the Bayonetta games follow the Christic pattern.
https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/mercy-on-the-right-rigor-on-the-left/
Because of modern skepticism, mankind has been set adrift spiritually. The jumble of religious traditions in games like Bayonetta are proof of it. But the ark of the Orthodox Church still sails upon the sea of life, safely carrying the souls of the faithful to the shores of Paradise. And there is no lack of room within the ark-Church for those who wish to make the journey to that sweet land.
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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to the Union!
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