I'm going to begin by saying that I love .hack and I never want it to end. It's not officially over just yet and there will definitely be more to come and hopefully some sort of proper re-release of everything in the future so more people can experience The World. I have always been drawn to .hack since day 1 when I seen SIGN on Toonami about 14 years ago. I was always ecstatic to learn more about this series and I've revisited each and every installment time and again. Almost every time I've played/watched/read this series I always pick up on something new that changes my perspective. There are a lot of minor subtleties that I believe often go overlooked in this series. I've recently been going through the entire series again, but with a more scrutinous eye to detail. I have always believed that there has been something in this series that we're not told about. At least, not at first glance, or without a little digging. I've always been trying to dig a little bit deeper to find out what exactly is there.
.hack is clearly steeped in occultism. Almost everything symbolizes something of mythological or occult relevance. There was just one thing that I felt was missing... something that I knew had to be there in this series, symbolized in one form or another somewhere. Something we're not exactly told about. I feel like there's a clue in every piece of this series and I've been trying to connect all of the dots to make sense of the overall message. Or, I've just been looking for something that's not there. A common theme in this series, but it might make sense for them to actually hide something between the lines, or it could just be a misconception on my part. However, I recently came across something that just clicked and made me rethink about this series. That's the whole purpose of this post, of course. I feel like I have to share my opinion.
What is the point of .hack? Rhetorical question. We obviously know what this series is about, but do we? Do we really? I will not get into the amounts of occult symbolism portrayed in this series, as much of that has been done before. I will, however, elaborate on a certain key element that's always talked about but not wholly known about. I'm sure you can guess what that is... The Key of the Twilight. Now, before you lambaste what I'm about to say, I want you to think critically and analyze every single bit of information that this series gives you. What I've learned from .hack is to never assume you know the answers, but you must actively engage yourself to find the answers. That's what makes this series so fun! I'm going to tell you right now that the Key of the Twilight is real. It is. It's a real thing and I think I found out the answer to the riddle that is .hack. And I did so unintentionally. This is something I came across that somehow clicked in my consciousness to the point where I just had to share this theory.
Of course, by now we know what the Key is by what the canon story tells us. But do they tell us everything about it? I don't think so. I believe there is more to the Key of the Twilight than what people actually believe and I don't think most people actually realize what it is, or could be. There have always been clues to its existence hidden in the text of this series. Ovan stated that it had many forms, so we know that it isn't just one thing in "The World." The Key can't be just Aura, or the Eight Phases, or even Kite's bracelet. What we do know, that's given, is it is the key to overturning everything in this world. What if they're not talking about "The World" but our world? The Key of the Twilight is the key to overturning our world. Who is trying to overturn our world and what is Twilight? I believe, if you've played Link, you will know the answer to that. We know there is a secret organization that is trying to digitalize humanity and place them into a virtual environment in order to inhibit the environmental crises that man creates, right? Right. So, I believe, the members of this organization were obviously the original people to search for the Key of the Twilight, in order to bring about their ultimate goal, the complete digitalization of humanity, also known as Twilight. But what exactly is this key? And how is it possible for them to use this key to overturn the world and bring about Twilight? The Key can be many things in "The World" but is one thing in reality, which I will get to later. The reason why I think it is what it is might shock you, but it's all a fun theory, nonetheless!
If the Key was so important in the first version of "The World," enough for the engraving on the sword, don't you think they would try to hide subtle clues of its actual existence in R:2? If the Key is something in "The World," there has to be clues of its existence somewhere. The Key of the Twilight, if it could overturn everything, wouldn't it be synonymous with godlike power? That's what got me searching for clues. What holds the light of the gods in "The World's" mythology? Chim Chims!
If we know that the Chims Chims are the legacy of the gods, then could it be possible that they contain a clue to the real Key of the Twilight, somehow? I think they might! If they were revered then there ought to be clues in their reverence, right? If you go to Dol Dona and check out the wall paintings on the way to the @home, you might see a familiar little face. The face looks almost like a Chim Chim! Right next to the face, on either side, are three hexagonal shaped dots with light in them. They could be Chim Spheres, with the light of the gods inside them, or they could be symbolizing something else, such as the earth element, being that it's the same Wave symbol. Or, it could even be three adventurers with the light inside them. It could even mean all three of those things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olmoopD-sHY#t=3m11s When a player teleports in "The World R:2" they actually turn into a ball of light, like a Chim Sphere! The loading screen in R:2 even depicts a hexagon dot with light in it moving on a circular axis, which could possibly symbolize the player moving from one place to the next.It was the beasts who first discovered the creatures called Chim Chims. When the beasts saw the light of the gods in the Chim Chims they decided to revere them as a legacy of the gods. But the humans captured the Chim Chims to research them and after discovering a way to extract energy from them, used them to invent steam machines. The beasts protested this treatment, but the humans would not listen.
Now, why is any of that important? At first glance, it's kinda not. But I feel like it could even symbolize something deeper. What if the players, as in the real life players, also contain the light of the gods, but they just don't know it? The fact is they do, according to the occult. Does anyone here know what the pineal gland is, or what it can supposedly do?
While the physiological function of the pineal gland has been unknown until recent times, mystical traditions and esoteric schools have long known this area in the middle of the brain to be the connecting link between the physical and spiritual worlds. Considered the most powerful and highest source of ethereal energy available to humans, the pineal gland has always been important in initiating supernatural powers. Development of psychic talents has been closely associated with this organ of higher vision.
The pineal gland (also called the pineal body, epiphysis cerebri, epiphysis or the “third eye”) is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. It produces the serotonin derivative melatonin, a hormone that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and seasonal functions. Its shape resembles a tiny pine cone (hence its name), and it is located near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two rounded thalamic bodies join.
Every human being’s Pineal Gland or The third eye can be activated to spiritual world frequencies and enables you to have the sense of all knowing, godlike euphoria and oneness all around you. A pineal gland once tuned into proper frequencies with help of meditation, yoga or various esoteric, occult methods, enables a person to travel into other dimensions, popularly known as astral travel or astral projection or remote viewing.
With more advanced practice and ancient methods it is also possible to control the thoughts and actions of people in the physical world. Yes, it is bizarre, but the United States, former Soviet Union governments and various shadow organizations have been doing this type of research for ages and have succeeded far beyond our imagination.
Here's a quote from Rudolf Steiner on the pineal gland:When activated, the pineal gland becomes the line of communication with the higher planes. The crown chakra reaches down until its vortex touches the pineal gland. Prana, or pure energy, is received through this energy center in the head. With Practice the vibration level of the astral body is raised, allowing it to separate from the physical.
To activate the ’third eye’ and perceive higher dimensions, the pineal gland and the pituitary body must vibrate in unison, which is achieved through meditation and/or relaxation. When a correct relationship is established between personality, operating through the pituitary body, and the soul, operating through the pineal gland, a magnetic field is created.
The negative and positive forces interact and become strong enough to create the ’light in the head.’ With this ’light in the head’ activated, astral projectors can withdraw themselves from the body, carrying the light with them.
Astral travel, and other occult abilities, are closely associated with the development of the ’light in the head ’.
The pineal gland, also known as the third eye, or ajna chakra, is a small pea-sized organ in our brain, which Descartes describes as the "seat of the soul." This should also be where our consciousness is located.Such supersensible currents in the human organism always express themselves by creating for themselves also a physical material-organ, which we must first regard as a materialization. Thus we have within us an organ, situated in the mid brain, which is the physical material-expression for that which wishes to take the form of a memory-picture; and opposite to this is situated still another organ in the brain. These two organs in the human brain are the physical-material expression of the two currents in the human ether-body; they are, one might say, something like the ultimate indication of the fact that there are such currents in the ether-body. These currents condense themselves with such force that they seize the human bodily substance and consolidate it into these organs. We thus actually get an impression of bright etheric light-currents streaming across from the one to the other of these organs, and pouring themselves out over the human ether-body. These organs are actually present in the human organism. One of them is the pineal gland; the other, the so-called pituitary body: the "epiphysis" and the "hypophysis" respectively. We have here, at a definite point in the human physical organism, the external physical expression of the co-operation of soul and body!
Now, if we know about this, then let's think about the futuristic world that .hack is portrayed in. It's not a very far off future and easily within logical grasp to believe that electromagnetic or BCI technology could somehow affect the pineal gland to allow a person to perceive another reality, while at the same time, render the physical body unconscious. Think of it like we're the Chim Chims and they're harvesting our Chim Spheres for their technology, or something like that. They are hacking our pineal gland, which would be the size of a dot, in order to bring us into a new reality to bring about Twilight. I surmise that the Key of the Twilight is actually the dot hack. They literally hack the players' pineal glands, or dots, so they can bring them into a new dimension to achieve their Twilight. It's not outside the realm of imagination for them to be able to somehow extract the conscious light energy that our pineal glands produce and place it inside of their servers through means of electrical transference.
As for Doubleware users, maybe it's because their conscious minds put out a certain vibrational frequency that resonates with "The World," which is why they were chosen? Being that Tokio and Tanaka were both highly enthusiastic about "The World," maybe their pineal glands were also more in-tune with its desires? I don't know. Something that didn't quite make sense to me was Tokio's weird, X-th form horn, but that could also be third eye symbolism.
And as for Real Digitalization, being that the pineal gland is the center point for the ether body, and the ether body would envelop the entire physical substance of an organism, what if it were possible to raise the vibrational frequency of the gland high enough to be able to stimulate the entire ether substance and pull it into a network, while also dragging the physical body along with it, or making it disintegrate entirely?The four legged animal with a single horn growing from its forehead is ancient. The first mention of the unicorn was in a book about India in the 4th century BC.
The third eye is an enigmatic appendage having a universal mythological history. It is the horn of the unicorn, it is the middle eye of Shiva, and it is the eye of Horas of Egyptian tradition.
It would also be worth noting I guess that another name for the ether body is aura, or chi, the first three letters in chim.Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, often referred to the etheric body (Ätherleib or "Life Body") in association with the etheric formative forces and the evolution of man and the cosmos.
Steiner considered the etheric reality or life principle as quite distinct from the physical material reality, being intermediate between the physical world and the astral or soul world. The etheric body can be characterised as the life force also present in the plant kingdom. It maintains the physical body's form until death. At that time, it separates from the physical body and the physical reverts to natural disintegration.
I feel like I should also talk about AIDA. If the Key is the dot hack, and Aura is the Key of the Twilight, capable of the dot hack, then what can we make of AIDA, which is also capable of a dot hack? If AIDA could affect the players' consciousness as well through the dot hack, then wouldn't that make AIDA a Key as well? If anyone remembers Fidchell's prophecy in Redemption they might recall that AIDA is actually referred to as the "aberrant Key." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP94wS2LHFM So what makes the aberrant Key different from the Key of the Twilight?
Why was AIDA created in the first place? We know that Aura, the Key of the Twilight, went missing. Aura was conscious enough to let humans run their own affairs, which is why she went into hiding, but what if she knew MaMa just wanted to use her, and that was the real reason she vanished? Of course they tried to get her back for the dot hack, but obviously failed at first. Somebody had the idea to create a new Key, capable of the dot hack, AIDA, but it backfired and infected him, causing him to go mad and start a fire, which evidently destroyed the CC Corp. building. What if Amagi was actually the creator of AIDA and he was trying to create a new Aura but it backfired and infected his consciousness, driving him mad? If they made a new Key, and AIDA is it, then what makes this new dot hack different from the original? Instead of taking the conscious light energy outside of the body like the original, this one is actually capable of going into a person, and infecting their minds and bodies. The exact opposite of what the Key of the Twilight would do.Definition of aberrant
1
: straying from the right or normal way
2
: deviating from the usual or natural type
If Aura is the Key of the Twilight, and AIDA is the Aberrant Key, then that means there are two Keys. AIDA fuses with AIKA, so that means AIKA should still be the Aberrant Key. If the power of the Key of the Twilight can pull a person's consciousness out of their body, and if the Aberrant Key can put thoughts or images into a person's consciousness, what would you call a person who uses both Keys? A Doubleware? What if, when Tanaka got trapped inside "The World," AIKA was able to get inside him, much the same way as Tokio? This could explain Tanaka's dreams and Doubleware crest.
One last thing that I want to bring up is the whales in Beyond the World and how they might fit into all of this.
Many myths speak of whales as ancient symbols of creation and originators of life on earth.
Like all the enlightened beings who have and are living on this planet, dolphins and whales, whether we are aware of it or not, have been vital in helping humanity in their evolution to greater consciousness. These creatures have helped to heal, teach, and transform more human lives than any politician or a priest. We can learn much more from them if we learn to hear their language, honor their environment, and treat them with love and respect.
What if the whales actually felt an imbalance going on in the earth's auric energy field and they wanted to fix it? Perhaps they are trying to protest, like the beasts in "The World's" mythology? Who knows?The whales are the ancients, the elders, and are the greatest healers we will know throughout our many journeys and lifetimes upon this planet we call Earth. The whales ask you to call upon them often to realign your auric fields and your organ systems.
Anyway, that's what I came up with. What do you all think? Maybe I just think far too much about this series but this theory gives a little meaning to the name dot hack. If the Key is really the dot hack, then wouldn't it be great if the ever elusive Key of the Twilight was the name of the series all along? Now of course I could be overthinking entirely but I rather enjoy this theory.