The Path of Sephirot (Sephiroth, Sefirot) -- him from FF7 again?? Trivia from: Nutz Trivia: The word Sephiroth had deeper history and color than just being the name of Cloud Strife's foe in FF7. "Sefirot" actually came from Hebrew concept that the spiritual world consisted of ten spheres, the sefirot/sephiroth. (Sefirot is a term related to the Hebrew word Sappir, loosely translated as 'sapphire' and interpreted as the radiance of God.) Each of the sefirot represented a different force or aspect of God, such as love, power, or understanding. These aspects were said to have emanated, or unfolded from God, and as the sefirot embodied all aspects of creation, generation, and decay, they represented the universe itself unfolding. The ten sephirot were arranged in a rigid hierarchy, and each lower sephirah grew out of the one immediately above; that is, the second ranking sephirah grew out of the first, the third out of the second, etc.Thus the first sephirah had all the powers of the sephirot under him; the second had its own power plus all the powers of the succeeding eight, and so on. According to the philosophy of Cabbala (jewish scripts), these ten hypotatized spheres are the attributes or emantations by means of of which the Infinite enters into relation with the finite. This ten-path was the very road the Wave Existence trudged to enter the Xenogears world. The Zohar Trivia from: Nutz, with corrections from Josh Trivia: The Zohar is more than just a yellow block floating here and there in Xenogears. In fact, Zohar is the Bible of the Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah (Cabala, Cabbala), which meant "Book of Splendor". This 13th century manuscripts was written by the Spanish mystic named "Moses Ben Shem-Tob De Leon". The Zohar, which encompasses the details of Sefirot and jewish religion, was written in Aramaic, and it reflects the originality of a mind earnestly probing the mysteries of creation, the relation of God to the world, and the destiny of man. To you who finished Xenogears -- aren't these topics familiar? It sure is obvious that the author of Xenogears' story is highly influenced by the Jewish scripts and Metaphysics. Skeptics, however, still question the authenticity of the Zohar, as the author has not shown the original scripts which he claims to have been found in some mystic cave. After years of investigation, the Zohar has been finally proven to be a fake through intensive literary analysis. Aramaic words that did not exist in the 2nd century CE (the alleged time of writing) were used in the Zohar. Regardless of doubt, the Zohar still is one of the basis of some parts of Judaism. However, according to Josh, the Zohar only plays little role in the religion, sitting on an inferior seat after the Torah and Talmud. Origin of character & area names -- doesn't Yggdrasil sound familiar? Trivia from: Nutz, and additional info from site viewers: Dark Fenrir, Deranged Laine, Lejya, Bo Stine, The Impure, Matthias Lambrecht, Josh and with corrections from Ben Mattiuz, and Makuro NOTE: Thanks to all the people who sent in their corrections and additions. If you find anything wrong with the stuff written here, feel free to write to me! Trivia: A. The elements: The names of the elements probably came from the names of the different orders of Angels, according to Metaphysical claims. My thanks to Wuffy for this section. DOMINIA - from the angelic order called DOMINIONS / DOMINATIONS. They regulate angelic duties. Through them is manifested the Majesty of God. They hold an orb or scepter as an emblem of authority. KELVENA - from CHERUBIM (ker-oo-bim). The guardians of the fixed stars, keepers of celestial records, bestowers of knowledge. TOLONE - from THRONES. They bring God's justice to us. They are sometimes called wheels and in the Jewish Cabbala, Chariots or the Merkabah. SERAPHITA - from SERAPHIM, the highest angelic order, the six winged ones, surround the throne of God, singing ceaselessly, Holy, Holy, Holy. They are angels of love, light and fire. B. The Gears WELTALL - German for Space (cosmological space) VIERGE - French for Virgin BRIGANDIER - Military rank in the Swiss army, also known as "Brigadier". Came from the word "brigand", which in english means a pirate or thief. (fitting!!) WYVERN - Also known as Wivern, a two-winged dragon with a barbed tail. HEIMDAL - From Norse Mythology. Heimdal is the son of Odin and the guardian of the Rainbow. He is also a great teacher STIER - German word for Bull, also one of the twelve signs of the zodiac SEIBZEHN - German for number 17 (Achtzehn, in turn, means 18) CRESCENS - English word, crescent - a shape usually pertaining to the moon VENDETTA - English word, meaning "blood-feud", usually of blood-related matters FENRIR - From Norse mythology, Fenrir was the wolf who swallowed Odin whole in the Battle of Ragnarok C. MISC NAMES ELEHAYM - in Hebrew, means "life". Van Houten's a brand of chocolate too (haha). Also, Bo Stine told us that Van Houten is the Last name of one of the members of the Manson Family (Charles, not Marilyn). Thanks for the info, Bo! HYUGA - a Japanese battleship sunk in WW2 TOWER OF BABEL - from the Christian Bible. The story says that once, all man's nations were united and then thought of making a tower so high it could reach God. However, God thwarted their efforts by making each nation speak a different language, thus miscommunication arose and the tower came tumbling down. In history however , the Tower of Babel is the name of a famous babylonian Ziggurat ( a pyramid like structure used for rituals). The tower of Babel in the Bible is located in the Torah, or Pentateuch. The first 5 books of the Bible, supposedly written by Moses were originally in the Jewish tradition. Genesis -- in which the story is told, is one of the first 5 books. WONG FEI FONG - is obviously a spoof of Wong Fei Hong, a legendary martial artist during the early 1900s in China. Fei, a very used name in China, means "fly" (verb) while Wong is also a common Chinese surname, literally " yellow", and Hong is a kind of large bird . HYUGA - a Japanese battleship sunk in WW2 GRAHF - if spelled without the 'h' it's the German word for the title "Count" YGGDRASIL - in Nordic mythology, means "the Tree of Life". This name was also used in Capcom's RPG, Breath of Fire 3. (Well, just to let you know) SHEVAT - from the word "Shebat", meaning the 11th month of the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to the period from mid January to mid February KISLEV - from the same word, meaning the 9th month of the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to the period from mid November to mid December NISAN - from the same word, meaning the 1st month of the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to the period from mid March to mid April. It is also called "Abib", which sounds like "Aveh". AVEH - Aveh is a long form of Av, which is another month in the Hebrew calendar THAMES - The Thames is actually the name of a war between the U.S. and Great Britian it was called the battle of the Thame which is pronounced as "TIM". This war's name came from the river where the war was waged. Thames is one of the longest rivers in England (the other is Severn), and the most important. The Thames came from the latin word "Tamesis", meaning river. It also refers to the name of the 4th month of the Hebrew calendar, "Tammus" which corresponds to the period from mid June to mid July SOLARIS - French for the sun. For a city that resides in the sky and sees over the happenings of the world, it's quite appropriate. DEUS - From the french word "Dieu" or "Deus", meaning "God" Also a god introduced by means of a crane in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome. MERKAVA - means "chariot" in Hebrew. In Kabbalah, many mystics have had visions of a flaming chariot. That brand of mystic is labelled as a follower of Merakava Mysticism, or Mysticism of the chariot. On the Merkava in Xenogears, there was a little symbol, consisting of 10 different circles. Those 10 circles were arranged in the pattern of the 10 Sefirot. METATRON - The highest (and most powerful) sphere in the Sephiroth. Metatron is actually the leader of all the angels. Supposedly, he is Elohim, one of the first people in the Bible, who, instead of dying, was taken into heaven and transformed into an angel. GAME CREATORS - The game's Staff/ Technical Trivia Trivia from: Nutz Trivia: TETSUYA TAKAHASHI - Scenario Writer MASATO KATO - Script and Lyrics of "Small of Two Pieces" KIYOSHI YOSHIL - Main Programming YASUNORI MITSUDA - Music Composition, Arrangement and the Xenogears OST KUNIHIKO TANAKA - Character Design and Sketches JUNYA ISHIGAKI - Mecha/ Gear Designs KAORI TANAKA - Original Storyline Ideas JOANNE HOGG - Vocals for "Small of Two Pieces" and "Stars of Tears" (English) TESUO MIZUNO, TOMOYUKI TAKECHI, HIRONOBU SAKAGUCHI - Executive Producers HIROMICHI TANAKA - Producer TETSUYA TAKAHASHI - Director

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