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Gift of the goddess

Genesis speaks of the gift of the goddess.

Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess
We seek it thus, and take to the sky

LOVELESS, Act 1

The gift of the goddess (女神の贈り物, megami no okurimono?) is a term used in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. It is frequently mentioned in the poem, LOVELESS. The poem calls it "the bringer of life," but offers no further explanation. Because the final chapter of LOVELESS is missing, nobody knows what happened to the world after receiving the gift of the goddess, although there are various interpretations and theories.

Near the end of the game, Genesis Rhapsodos begins to try and reenact the epic poem in his attempt to receive the gift. After abandoning his plans to have Dr. Hollander create a cure for his degradation, he begins to hunt for the gift of the goddess, as he believes it will cure him.

Originally, he theorized that cells found in Sephiroth's body, known as S Cells, is the gift of the goddess, and pursues Zack Fair and Cloud Strife, whom Professor Hojo injected with the cells.

You don't understand the beauty of these words. How tragic... I'm not surprised. Even I didn't understand all of it. The greatest mystery behind the gift of the goddess... "The water's surface." And the answer I have arrived at, is the lifestream.

Genesis

Later, he claims he has found the gift of the goddess: a large tree growing in the Banora Underground, with the Goddess Materia on its perch. The materia absorbs the surrounding lifestream and gives it to Genesis. Zack also theorizes that the Banora White is the gift of the goddess, and this is mentioned in the Study Group mail as well:

The 'gift of the goddess,' the source of life, is said to bring immortality. The most widely accepted theory equates the gift of the goddess to the Banora White. There is, however, another theory which advocates that it is the planet, not any human, that becomes immortal. This suggests two other interpretations of the gift. One is an all-consuming destruction, the other is an all-healing salvation.

Thoughts on "the gift of the goddess" mail from the Study Group
Goddess Materia

The Goddess Materia.

Crisis Core Complete Guide[1] reveals that when Genesis learns he will not be able to cure his degradation with Hollander, he starts to work towards the reenactment of LOVELESS to gain the gift of the goddess. Genesis is trying to reenact the fourth chapter of LOVELESS when he faces Zack in the Banora Underground; the scene being the duel between friends with himself as "the hero", Zack as "the prisoner", the goddess statue as "the goddess", and the Red Materia as "the gift of the goddess".

Genesis does receive his "gift of the goddess" in the end. He comes to terms with not being "the hero" from LOVELESS, and after the lifestream he had gained from the Goddess Materia leaves his body, his degradation is gone. The Crisis Core Complete Guide further reveals it was the accepting of the role of "the prisoner" that Genesis received the gift of the goddess, and therefore, it would be his "SOLDIER pride", the impetus for his shift of values, which was the gift of the goddess to Genesis. SOLDIER pride is a concept that symbolizes Angeal Hewley's will, so in a way it was Zack, who had inherited Angeal's will, who was the gift of the goddess for Genesis.

Etymology[]

A goddess is a female deity with supernatural powers. Goddesses most often have feminine characteristics, but they may be represented with characteristics of both masculinity and femininity or with characteristics that do not conform to any binary gender. In some traditions, such as the Classical Greek and Roman, it was common for personifications of abstract concepts like Victory to default to feminine representations, which may or may not be treated as a goddess in its own right. While goddesses may be associated with any variety of phenomena, including war, destruction, or death, they tend to be associated with the roles and characteristics their cultures of origin assign to femininity, which may include creation, mercy, sexuality and/or sex work, or motherhood.

Citations[]

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