I enjoy your psychoanalysis on Chrono Trigger and I’m enjoying this series on ‘Zelda.’ I hope you have the resolve to continue making more content like this. Subscribed and anticipating!
Rebecca im so happy i found you not only are you a beautiful lady who creates beautiful music you also are wisdom herself how wonderful keep going never stop doing what you love ^^ keep making great insightful videos and lovely music, love it and by extension you
I’ve always felt the exact same way about this series. It’s difficult trying to explain this sort of thing because it’s like oh it’s just a video game rant but it’s so much more. I am so lucky and grateful I found this channel thank you so much. I finally feel validated.
what a fantastic series, all 5 parts elevated the zelda franchise to new heights for me hoping for more, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and interpretations
Thanks! That made my night! :D If you liked those, I also have a series which examines the Final Fantasy series in a similar fashion. It's a bit dusty, but I think I covered some interesting topics.
This was an amazing video full of depth and occulted yet spiritually defined knowledge that I never really noticed being portrayed in the Zelda series until now... Definitely gonna have to watch the first 4 parts lol~ I enjoyed this thoroughly, was almost meditative watching this 💜🙏💜
Thank you for presenting a very interesting view of a video game and its characters .Usually non gamers see games as silly or a waste of time. Excellent work 👍👍
So, uh, I hadn't watched this series before because I was a bit intimidated by the video size. But, these were some of the fastest, smoothest 34 minutes of my life! Not only you have a lot to say, you present it in such a way that it becomes clear that you put a lot of research, effort, and love, into it. It also helps that your enthusiasm is very easy to follow. Great work, Rebecca! I hope you keep going at it!
An excellent and very honest video; your authenticity shines through your words Link being challenged by symbols of the psyche in order to further his road down integration makes me think about the quality of our everyday interactions: how many of us truly act in service of not just our selves, but in aiding those around us in meaningful ways? Facilitating some else's journey without overly compromising and keeping our boundaries sounds like a wonderful idea to me
I just wanted to say me and my bf loved this video and your series, so thank you for your insights. He said of you, 'If Luna Lovegood was Jordan Peterson' haha! We think highly of both btw.
@@RebeccaETripp lol that was me, glad you liked it XD. Thanks for putting so much quality, positivity, work and talent into your music and analysis videos, they're fantastic.
Yay, I love this series! (I don't know why, but calling Papaya by her full name instead of just "Paya" was so cute to me!) (Also "[Malon] isn't just a cute polygon in a purple skirt" was great hahaha) (And that was the most elegant "ur mom" comment ever. Ok, I should stop commenting. :p)
@@RebeccaETripp it's great lol I'm very sleepy, so I had to rewind quite a bit (why did I choose to watch this before going to bed?). Nevertheless your analysis of Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening are awesome, I'd never be able to make the connections you make. :) Your analysis of Ganon is great, as well. To summarize, I enjoyed the whole video. It was pretty metal. ;p I especially loved the conclusions you reached. I might be a bit biased, since I come from a quite similar angle politically, but it resonated a lot with my thoughts. Thanks a lot for the awesome content! 😁
Oh man I’ve been rewatching these all week and now you’ve provided us with another amazing episode! So interesting thinking about the ying and yang of Link’s character embracing divine masculinity and femininity. Great work as always! 😊👍🏻
Nice I watched your other 4 zelda videos 2-3 times each I was watching your channel a little before the first one came out. I really look forward to vids like this. I watched the zelda ones the most since it's my favorite game, and I related to what you were saying a lot and found different things each time I listened. Great work keep it up :)
Hmmm...this is extraordinary and very interesting to watch. It's funny though, because when I played a few Zelda games as I kid, I didn't realize the masculine egos and their meanings, as well as the feminine archetypes. You should be working for Nintendo, it's absolutely amazing to watch the things you do Rebecca 😌👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This is a very interesting analysis after having gone through Jordan Peterson's psychology courses. I'll need to think about this for some time. Thank you for this!
It's one of the reasons the world of Hyrule, and Shintoism in general, has been subconsciously of interest since a young age. We recognize deeper roots that traces itself back to older cultures who lived in balance with nature and what we understand as esoteric principles (which clearly if you have seen my works are woven into my life path as an artist) If you ever want to have an elaborate discussion on the matters, I am open to connect and collab (podcast like?) on something we can release publicly. There is so much that can be deconstructed, as well as appreciated as both our journeys are fertile with the experience to dig deep into what speaks to the soul
I have had a few over the years, but as a polymathic artist that works with a lot of medium & topics - I lately have been trying to sort of just let go of defining it all & just try to just aim to share the experience of deeper discussions. It may not get you popular, but the engagement I always try to make worthwhile as it serves as great learning tool in this collective quest we embark individually. Plus, I have explored dozens of artworks from illustrative to sculptural inspired by the series & traversed some crazy Hyrulian worlds in lucid dream journeys. Plus the benefit of being mentally sharp in having ease & communicative access to my experience in both the Esoteric and the Zelda series that has cultivated my own personal ponders. As someone proposed in the freewill nature, I couldn't help but through the idea around in real world given the timely nature to bring it into areas I share passions with.
@@RebeccaETripp ah, I thought as much, that it was a BotW thrme. Still not got round to buying that Switch. Might I also suggest and request the idea of you having a crack at remixing the Legend of Hyrule music from Ocarina of Time? You know the one, when the Great Deku Tree explains how the goddesses created the world? It's one of my favourite pieces from the series, and I think you'd do an ace job with it
Great analysis, Rebecca, I love the series - it feels very homely, and as if you're taking on the role of the guiding anima. If you have not, I would highly recommend finding an authentic plant medicine practitioner with whose help you can trace these themes in visionary states of mind; but your insight suggests you already have done something like this. You might be interested in the Saptamatrikas, a group of seven female goddesses worshiped for spiritual and worldly cultivation in various tantric sects. The wild form of Ganondorf reminds me strongly of Varaha, the half-boar half-man god, who gives the power to defeat blind egotism by granting insight and restraint. Also, the Sri Vidya cult, in which the Goddess is first worshiped as Bala in her juvenile form before progressing to the Panchadashi/Shodashi stage in which she gives ultimate liberation. Her main title is Sri Lalitha Tripurasundari, the beauty of the three worlds. I hope you continue!
2:25 Micro vs. Macro: it is reminiscent of The Blessed Mother, that statue; and indeed, also of the feelings she inspires. 3:26 Like that Doors reference. 20:50 That is very insightful. And I do suppose: it would account for a fictional hero like Captain America having such broad appeal; even beyond the frame of the country. He doesn't wield a gun. At least not traditionally--and I think it almost in poor taste, frankly, whenever writers or artists fashion him with one! His shield (a perfect circle, no less) is the manifestation of both his defensive and offensive self. He is not meant to symbolize an aggressor; he is balanced. 27:39 to 28:09 That is a good summary. *nodding* 15:43 "In other words: when consciousness remains too separate from unconsciousness, things get unpleasant." *penetrating gaze* And THAT, I believe, is the most profound wisdom of this essay. To quote Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."
I would love to hear about your interpretation on the 7 sages from legend of zelda. Perhaps they represent the 7 heavenly virtues and their respective dungeon represents a deadly sin
I have thought about this very thing a lot! ^_^ And, of course, there are sages that come in other groups, numbers, etc. In my 4th episode, I go into it a little more. I also elaborated on the meanings a lot in my audio drama!
Hey, little faerie... Do you know about the game "Arise"? I don't know if you play games or not.. Well...from outside, that's just a platform game, but... Behind forms, in essence, the spirit and music are such an area for the soul... Sometimes...Somewhere...
23:31 I have never seen you before, untill today, the owner of this channel, this is the first time. tell me would you like play on nintendo 3ds sometimes? give your 3ds code. :)
26:05 So basically, Ganon is an enneagram type 8 who has massively disintegrated to a 5. He has the detachment of the 5 in the context of the 8’s desire for personal triumph.
@@RebeccaETripp Got it. Great video as always. One request, could you do a video focusing on the Guardians of BOTW and the Hyrulean soldiers of ALTTP, who are conceptually very similar? They were both part of Hyrule's military and were supposed to protect it, but both ended up being turned by Ganon against their country and helping him take it over/destroy it. They both patrol an area, moving methodically and periodically stopping to look both ways; when they see Link, they immediately charge at him. For me, personally, they're some of my favorite enemies in the series.
@@erikabutler6893 that's a very interesting idea! It could be seen as a part of a greater pattern of Ganon "corrupting" and controlling other beings. It seems to me that he tends to possess and/or manipulate whichever beings lend him the most power and access in a given title.
Why not end the cycle in a positive synthesis? Link befriends and reforms Ganon and harmonizes the Trinity with Zelda? It completes the unified glory of the triforce (trinity) and acts a prototype of what is true, beautiful, and good. In doing so, it becomes a metastory of the bible taken to its logical godlike conclusion: redemption of all realities. The New (Hyrule) Kingdom so to speak. Just some old man's ramblings. Thank you for your video Becca.
It's a beautiful idea for sure. I think another way of looking at it might be that the universe is shifting between periods of balance and unbalance (and also the internal, mental equivalent). Defeating Ganon or Majora or whatever isn't so much about violence or suppression as it is about integration. It's about allowing oneself to absorb and acknowledge ones negative traits properly by casting light upon them (the light arrows, a "penetrating", illuminating force can be seen as an example of this, metaphorically). So I kind of see defeating the evil/unbalance and finding harmony with Ganon as being sort of related. He's not destroyed so much as being reintegrated into the "system", but this is represented by a battle, since Zelda is a facsimile of old school myth cycles. The "golden age" is one of peace and harmony because it's relatively stable (balanced), and since you can't really ever "delete" the proverbial devil, that means that said devil still exists in some kind of stable, less destructive state. In terms of psychology, recovery and inner peace generally necessitate equanimity. We need to make peace with our inner demons if we want them to stop harming us. Now, sometimes this can feel like a battle, but it's our resistance to the peace that prolongs strife. The inner "darkness" must be allowed to exist, but cannot be allowed to maneuver unchecked. Sorry, that was rambling! When I'm viewing the series literally and less metaphorically, I feel happy about the idea of a redemption for Ganon. The metaphor could still remain intact, but it naturally would be a little bit different. It would mean that Ganon is representative of a slightly less malignant situation then he was previously, since, in this context, the less your enemies fight you, the less disintegrated they are.
@@RebeccaETripp Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply. I can't help but see the cyclical nature of of these cycles of Golden Age and Dark Age is a non-transcendent form; it's cyclical nature is illusory unless it is constructive toward a greater teleological purpose. With regards to the Zelda series, it produces infinite retellings of the same conflict between the Link-like/Zelda-like and the Ganon-like, but without a ultimate synthesis/closure. After so many cycles, it begins to feel nihilistic as that water has been treaded seemingly ad infinitum. One could say, "you've played Zelda 1 on the NES you've played them all", however this isn't the case for the less cynically minded as each new iteration of this conflict is progressing toward a greater synthesis. Materialistically, this synthesis can't be typically reached through product as a typical resolution would be "unprofitable" for the franchise due to undue risk; familiar conflict breeds sales and sales make shareholders happy and consumers content. The lessons of the games can be imparted on the players, but what new wisdom can emerge can emerge from a system constrained by its own philosophies? In other words, what is beyond the simple dialectics of Good & Evil, Ying & Yang, and Feminine & Masculine. How do we get there and what would it look like? What is beyond a Golden Age? Hence my interest in your essay: it speaks to perhaps a higher form of art that not only the franchise could take, but in a meta-narrative as well. What would a Zelda story look like if Link, Zelda, and Ganon worked together both on a story/narrative level and on a philosophical/spiritual level? What new challenges would this Trinity/Triforce tackle once it has transcended. In the Link Between Worlds, we've seen a type of "multiverse" emerge which could lend to this model of constructive cycles; where this Trinity attempts to reconcile the conflicts of other similar realities. Is it possible to find a universal truth that you could use a prototype to break the cycle not just in say a Zelda universe, but in other stories and perhaps in our own reality? I know this is kinda heady and out there and I appreciate your patience. Playing Zelda games throughout my life since I was a child had me thinking a lot about it. It's a powerful form of art and strangely I've applied some of it's philosophies to my own life as I imagine you have; a type of vicarious mono-mythologizing in which our spirits embody the avatars of the games we play (The Player - Player Character relationship / mind-body dualism). These things become somewhat sacred overtime to one's own canon and history, much like if a certain Zelda story were to be made that was off in continuity would be considered sacrilege; it would cease to be a Zelda story and be something else through its innate rejection of essence. So I'm glad that there are others that have spend the similar time analyzing the series through the same philosophical and spiritual lens as you have. It makes me feel not alone on this journey. Again thanks for helping me make sense of things. I really appreciate the work you put in and look forward to your future videos. Your music is sublime.
@@alexpetrovich85 I didn't see this reply until now! I'm so sorry! I think you are absolutely correct about all of this. Particularly this part "it is constructive toward a greater teleological purpose". We could say that the cycle is reminiscent of Samsara, or maybe a gnostic situation. Perhaps the ultimate resolution arrives when the triforce bearers achieve peace with one other, their respective kingdoms, and themselves; perhaps they must achieve unity. After all, it was literally the splitting of the "light force" which set this conflict in motion. On a side note, something about this is currently in my audio drama. ^^ I really appreciated this: "a type of vicarious mono-mythologizing in which our spirits embody the avatars of the games we play". I relate to that! Well, I related to everything you've said here. Thanks for your refined insights. Also, thanks for saying my music is sublime! ^_^
Great Stuff! I feel like video games have been taking the place of fables, keeping alive the archtypes, offering metaphorical lessons for integration of the self, anima/animus, etc. Not to say video games are pushing storytelling away, we began losing our stories and oral tradition long ago, especially Europeans/North Americans. (Check out Minnestoa Men's Conference chennel if you are curious about the kinds of stories I'm talking about). I learn so much when I play games with a metaphorical interpretation,its great! Recommend any reading on this kind of stuff? Thanks!
Thanks a lot! I tend to agree. Video games are probably the modern storytelling platform with the most potential in this regard. I'm not sure what reading to recommend, honestly! ^^
@@RebeccaETripp It was just a little joke on the overpresence of goddesses in the Zelda lore. The male gods are usually lower on the hierarchy and guardians of something (as opposed to the Golden Goddesses, Hylia and the Goddess of Time who are much bigger deals). And then there is the Fierce Deity.
@@Ninjaananas That's intentional, though. The goddess is the "macro". Mothers are the "macro". Macro ≠ more powerful, though. That's why the goddesses depend on Link keep things in balance. Also, another way of looking at it is that the golden goddesses are not really gendered. They're just essence, substance and life. Life is the combination of essence and substance, yang and yin, etc.
@@Ninjaananas I saw this a bit late, sorry! Firstly, I don't truly think it matters that much, since we can still examine them separately of their actual "genders" and determine for ourselves what their "roles" are (which could represent a wide variety of things). Secondly, I can't really speak for the devs. Lastly, when it comes to creation stories, who created whom/what and in what order is sort of a chicken and egg thing. Maybe the goddesses created everything -- then again, maybe they only became "goddesses" as opposed to formless concepts after the world was formed and subsequently split into realms, archetypes, etc. That said, my guess is that the devs simply wanted to be different. When OoT came out and the triumvirate was officially named/referred to specifically as "goddesses", the Legend of Zelda series was considerably more female inclusive than a lot of the other fantasy games around. I think they might have went out of their way to have many, many female and/or feminine participants of different types. In spite of all that, I don't technically disagree that the games seem to emphasize "female" godliness per se. For one thing, even if the triumvirate is in actuality formless, if the Hylian people still refer to them as female, it makes no difference. In the context of my own video/analysis, I think this makes a certain amount of sense, since the hero is a definitively masculine archetype and we're seeing the adventure through his eyes. In this context, the world itself would be "feminine", since divine femininity represents "the other" as well as the thing he needs to awaken within himself in order to be complete. The "whole" Hyrule exists when these things have successfully awakened one another. We don't really see it from Zelda's perspective, but if we did, perhaps it would be a very different tale. Another way of looking at this could be that the three goddess are a kind of anima force inside of Link and the player. When people think of gods, they tend to think "upwards" on the totem pole, when perhaps they should be thinking "inwards" on the totem pole. Does that make sense?
