Lifestream



The Lifestream, also known as Spirit Energy, is an ethereal substance that streams beneath the surface of the planet of Gaia in Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. When within the Planet, it is shown as many separate bands of green-white fluid flowing as a whole. In several places, such as Mt. Nibel and Mideel, Mako Springs shoot out of the ground, creating a local spectacle.

The concept of Lifestream was one of the earliest ideas envisioned for Final Fantasy VII, as it was already in place in Hironobu Sakaguchi's first story draft, which was drastically different from the final story eventually completed mainly by Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima.

Nature


The Lifestream is green or blue effervescent and luminescent liquid substance that exists on the inside of the Planet. In liquid form it is mainly stagnant, and forms pools of Mako. When active, Lifestream appears in waves or threads and can erupt through the ground. Earthquakes may reveal large deposits of pure Lifestream. The exact structure of the inside of the Planet is unknown, as it appears in places like Cave of the Gi that aside from the Lifestream, the Planet also holds within itself magma.

In places where the Lifestream is close to the surface it may rarely erupt from fountains that become known as Mako Springs, and coalesce into Materia. Areas abundant in this type of energy are known as being especially verdant. Coming into direct contact with pure Lifestream is hazardous for living beings, however, as one's mind can collapse in a phenomenon known as Mako poisoning.

The Cetra were a race of people who had a special affinity with the Lifestream and were able to control it to an extent, and thus became the ones to cultivate the life on the Planet. The Cetra called being in communion with the Lifestream as "talking to the Planet". Lifestream is referred to many times as the life of the Planet itself, and it may be sentient in that an entity known as Minerva appears to represent the will of the Lifestream.

The Essence and Afterlife
The Lifestream contains the essence of the Planet and the memories, emotions, and knowledge of all who have lived on it. Portions of the Lifestream are believed to be used to create new life on the Planet, and the energy of a person returns to the Planet when they die, bringing with it the emotions, memories, and knowledge they obtained during life. Depictions of how this happens vary within the Compilation: in Final Fantasy VII the dead remain on the physical plane, and the existence of cemeteries in places like Gongaga further suggests the bodies do not simply vanish when the soul returns to the Planet; however, in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- the dead disappear by dispersing into light, although it is implied they were "called" by a spirit already in the Lifestream. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children entities constructed of Lifestream disperse into threads of it upon death, and this matter flows into the sky rather than directly returning to the inside of the Planet. Lifestream acts as an afterlife for the conscious spirits of the Planet's inhabitants. Certain souls remain sentient after having returned to the Planet, and gain control of the Lifestream, becoming able to affect the physical plane from within it, and even able to communicate with those still living.

The novella Hoshi wo Meguru Otome expands on the purpose of the Lifestream, equating it to an afterlife with a concept of Heaven and Hell. Those who led good lives join with the Lifestream and their minds fragment and join the collective, while the sinful remain intact and must exist with the knowledge they cannot find absolution because of their actions. Aerith Gainsborough helps many of these people, including Dyne and Jessie, find peace, and allows them to approach atonement.

As the Planet's Immune System
Spirit Energy is the Planet's immune system, flowing to and healing scars. If the Planet is in danger of being destroyed, it summons the Omega to destroy the remaining life on the Planet so it returns to the Lifestream, and takes the Lifestream itself, launching into the cosmos to find a new planet on which life can exist. The life energy of a planet returning to the cosmos upon the planet's destruction is also a concept in Final Fantasy IX.

Mako and Materia
The Shinra Electric Power Company devised a way to refine the Lifestream into an electricity supplier, erecting Mako Reactors around the world to extract the Spirit Energy from under the Planet's crust. Shinra called this energy source "Mako".

Shinra discovered that injecting humans with pure Mako enhances their abilities, and created an elite warrior class called SOLDIER using Mako-enhanced humans injected with Jenova cells. However, over-exposure to Mako can cause Mako poisoning.

Because the Lifestream is the source of life to the Planet, depleting the energy this way causes the area surrounding Mako Reactors to wither. This is most evidenced at Midgar, where the Midgar Wasteland is barren of life. The air and water in Midgar are polluted, although it may be the pollution of the reactors themselves and not a result of the Lifestream being drained. When Mako energy is condensed, Materia is produced. Materia allows the holder to access the Lifestream's knowledge and power and channel it, manifesting as "magic". Most of the time, Materia is artificially produced by forcibly condensing Mako, but at a few places, such as Mt. Nibel, natural Mako springs create natural Materia. It is never established in any of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII entries if there is a difference between artificial and natural Materia besides their production.

Meteor and Holy
The White Materia is used in a last-ditch attempt to cleanse the world of anything threatening it with the ultimate protective magic, Holy. Some believe that even humans and animals are liable to be destroyed by Holy if they are judged a danger to the Planet. Opposing the White Materia is the Black Materia, which can summon the ultimate destructive magic, Meteor, to critically wound or even destroy the Planet.

During Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth recovers the Black Materia and calls Meteor, his plan to wound the Planet so deep the Lifestream would gather to heal it. Sephiroth plans to place himself at the center of the gathering and absorb the spiritual energy and become a god. Cloud Strife and his allies kill Sephiroth before Meteor falls, and Holy emerges to fight it off. The Meteor's gravity so close to the Planet causes Holy's energy to be too unfocused, and Aeris calls upon the Lifestream to push Meteor back, giving Holy enough time to gather its full power and destroy Meteor.

The ultimate fate of the White and Black Materia is unknown. The White Materia was last seen in the lake under the Forgotten City, while the Black Materia was last seen in Sephiroth's hands in the Northern Crater before it collapsed. If either Materia exists after the events of Final Fantasy VII, it is unknown if they still have any power.

Negative Lifestream
When the Lifestream burst from the Planet, Sephiroth's spirit in it remained, and Jenova's remnants spread over the Planet, infecting many people with the fatal disease Geostigma. Two years later, in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the Remnants of Sephiroth plan a second Jenova reunion using children inflicted with Geostigma.

It is hinted that the Remnants are made up of the "negative Lifestream" tainted with Jenova's cells, and they can summon Shadow Creepers from this dark Lifestream. Kadaj acquires Jenova's head and Sephiroth is reborn, explaining that, when those infected with Geostigma die, their tainted spirit energy will return to the Lifestream, and Sephiroth will use his influence over Jenova to take control of the Lifestream itself. Sephiroth summons the negative Lifestream over Midgar during his battle with Cloud, but once he is defeated, it fades. It is unknown what happened to the negative Lifestream afterwards, though Case of the Lifestream - White mentions that Aerith would heal the spirits that make it up, presumably causing it to diminish, if not outright disappear.

In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- the Omega Reports state that a naturally occurring deposit of similar Lifestream (termed "terra corrupt") was found in Lucrecia's Cave. How such deposits are created is not stated, but it is mentioned as being "stagnant", and implied in Maiden Who Travels the Planet and Case of the Lifestream Black that certain emotions in a spirit prevent it from flowing properly. This Lifestream forms a being known as Chaos.

Origin
The Lifestream is an iteration of the ancient Hellenic philosophical concept of the Absolute or the World-Soul, an infinite wellspring of spiritual energy. All human beings possess a fragment of it which returns upon death. The description of the Lifestream's afterlife is also consistent with Neo-Platonic belief. This concept of the Absolute would, over a millennium later, become part of Jewish Kabbalist belief, which factors heavily into the game.

The Lifestream is similar to Japan's native religion, Shinto, which purports that all things have souls. All living things contribute to the overall soul of the Planet after they depart and "return to the Lifestream". The Planet breeds new life from this soul in a process similar to reincarnation.

Trivia

 * When Cloud Strife comes into his cameo in Final Fantasy Tactics, he says he remembers a "great current," possibly the Lifestream. It can be speculated that Cloud was whisked away for a while from the Lifestream into Ivalice by a trans-dimensional portal.
 * The Lifestream is the basis of "the Gaia Theory" in the film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. In the film, Doctor Sid speculates all living beings hold a spiritual presence inside themselves, and when they die the spirit energy returns to a collective whole within the planet that is then used to birth new life.
 * The Lifestream is an early part of the trend to use a supernatural substance to explain magic and other phenomena. Other instances in the franchise include Mist, pyreflies, aether, Phantoma and chaos.