2018 - Yesod - Annihilation

Lena: The mutations were subtle at first; more extreme as we got closer to the lighthouse. Corruptions of form. Duplicates of form.

Lomax: Duplicates?

Lena: [She looks at the tattoo on her arm & lifts her arm up] Echoes.

Lomax: Is it possible these were hallucinations?

Lena: I wondered that myself... but they were shared among all of us. It was dreamlike.

Lomax: Nightmarish?

Lena: Not always. Sometimes it was beautiful.

Annihilation, Alex Garland

• TITLE: Yesod, Foundation
• NUMBER: 9
• COLOUR: Purple
• DEITIES: Lunar - Diana, Selene, Artemis, Hekate
• ALCHEMICAL METAL/ORE: Silver, Silver Ore
• GOD NAME: Shaddai El Chai ''The Almighty Living Creature of God''
• MAGICAL IMAGE: A Beautiful Naked Man
• MAGICAL VISION: The Vision of the Machinery of the Universe
• OTHER TITLES: Kol (All), The Treasure House of Images 
• ARCHANGEL: Gabriel
• ORDER OF ANGELS: Kerubim [Living Creatures of God]
• VIRTUE: Independence
• VICE: Idleness
• MUNDANE CHAKRA: Luna, Levanah
• CORRESPONDENCE IN MICROCOSM: Genitals
• IMPORTANT ASSOCIATIONS: The Astral Plane, The Etheric Double/Astral Body
• IMPORTANT PATH SYMBOLISM: Qesheth, the Path of the Rainbow joining Tiphereth and Yesod 
• SYMBOLS: Perfume, Sandals

PURPLE

As discussed in the Unifying Colour Theory - purple within the colour grading of movies during this period refers to the indigo/purple palette - it also includes iridescence or ''shimmer'' - this iridescence is seen in silver ore as well.

FOUNDATION

In this image we see the alien proto wormhole meteor striking the foundation of the Lighthouse, and the ruins left afterwards.

MOON GODDESSES

Yesod is associated with the Moon Goddesses and Dion Fortune particularly mentions Selene, Diana and Hekate.  Our protagonist's name in Annihilation ''Lena'' means light (moonlight/sunlight) relating her to Selene while Dr Ventress is clearly Hekate. 

SELENE

HEKATE

CHASTITY AND BEAUTIFUL NAKED MEN

KANE

DANIEL

SOBEK

Chastity and Faithfulness are key components of Yesod as it is associated with the genitals.  As the Moon Goddesses enter the Shimmer the appearance of the beautiful strong man and ''Gabriel'' occurs when Lena cheats on her husband with Daniel (who is spoken with by Gabriel in the bible) and her guilt about this infidelity hangs over Lena throughout the rest of the movie.  Sobek the Crocodile God of Nile Fertility and the military, their first encounter within the Shimmer, symbolises an assault on the chastity of our Moon Goddesses preceded by the scene where Lena is making love to Daniel.

QESHETH

The Luna companions are walking the path of Qesheth [the path of the bow], a very important path within Golden Dawn Tradition linking the Sefiroth of Tifereth and Yesod with Samekh/Sagittarius  and replete with rainbow and arrow symbolism, the arrow signifying Artemis - another Moon Goddess related to Diana.

If you watch the film you will see the continuous interplay between yellow and purple as the rainbow - identifying the nature of this path.

ARTEMIS AND THE ALMIGHTY LIVING CREATURES

Although Artemis rules over all wildlife, both the bear and deer are particularly sacred to her.  Young girls played she-bears in honour of Artemis and in preparation for motherhood and you can break down the word Artemis - art being close to ark the word for bear, and temis being close to temnis which means sanctuary.  The appearance of these bizarre beautiful mutants are also related to the almighty living creature(s) of God - the God name and the order of Angels of Yesod.

GENITALS

 HEKATE

Dr Ventress as Hekate, seen here in her final scene, through the entrance-way, within the underworld, erupting with necromancy.  Hekate presides over childbirth and it is fitting that she transforms into the divine womb from which the doppelganger appears.

VISION OF THE MACHINERY OF THE UNIVERSE

The Vision of the Machinery of the Universe occurs whenever we see the machinery of life i.e. most frequently DNA and cells doubling, and at the end in the fractal portal that births doppelgangers.  

SILVER AND ALCHEMY

The creation of the etheric double or astral body of Lena is related to the purification of the silver metal from its ore.  We have seen this relation to alchemical processes several times in our Unifying Colour Theory - this is worth relating to God is a Woman, also released in 2018 and also a homage to Moon Goddesses with a focus on the extraction of silver.   The silvery trees seen on the approach to the tower are also reflective of successfully growing silver crystals.

THE ETHERIC DOUBLE AND THE ASTRAL BODY

Ultimately Annihilation is about moon goddesses following the rainbow path and encountering, refracted or warped etheric doubles and astral bodies.  We see hints of the doubling occuring during the plant-human outlines and the fragmentation and alienation towards their own selves which then foreshadow Lena's meeting (and replacement) with her own doppelganger in the foundations of the Lighthouse**.  The creation of the double is the success of this alchemical operation and, as ever, the devil is in the details.

It's not like us... it's unlike us. I don't know what it wants, or if it wants, but it'll grow until it encompasses everything. Our bodies and our minds will be fragmented into their smallest parts until not one part remains... Annihilation.

Dr Ventress, Annihilation, Alex Garland 

*Its worth noting that Ready Player One another 2018 movie has Artemis as a protagonist as well, and is another take on the concept of the Astral Plane and the Etheric Double, but in this case they are represented by Virtual Reality and the Digital Avatar.
**A classic image of the astral body replicated in the final scenes of the Lighthouse.