Occult and paranormal references in Lain
Serial experiments Lain references a LOT of occult stuff within the show. here, I try to point out some more instances of the obvious and not so obvious ones from both the east and the west
The Kune Kune
We see some long and slender figures pass by Lain in episode 2
A modern rendtion of the Kune-Kune
The Kune-Kune is a Japanese spirit that traces its origins back to internet legends on japanese message boards. They're described as tall slender white beings, frail and thin. Often, they're claimed to be seen in rice paddy fields.
It is said to have originated from a story (probably a fiction) posted on a ghost story posting site in 2000. The story was modified by another person, and in 2003 it was posted on 2ch's "occult board" after clearly stating that this story was a work of fiction. However, in the process of handing it down on the internet, the disclaimer that the story was a work of fiction fell out, and only the ghost story part went on its own. In the same year, it became a hot topic on the "Folklore and Mythology Board", and both the "Occult Board" and the "Folklore and Mythology Board" created threads dedicated to "Kunekune".
Eventually, various stories of experiences began to be written, and the variation of stories increased. After that, the topic of "Kune Kune" developed in 2ch spread to external like-minded sites, and it will be developed in the form of voice, image, video, etc. Furthermore, not only on the Internet, but also occult writers, publications, including magazines, began to pick it up.
We see similar looking spirits in Layer 2, when Lain exits her classroom.
The Egregore
The Egregore is an ancient hebrew being, an entity or angel that arises from the thoughts and feelings of individuals. Egregore's are first mentioned in the book of Enoch, and are characterized by the symbol of an "eye in the sky".
Tulpa's are a theosophist reinterpretation of the buddhist concept of a sprul-pa, the earthly body a boddhisattva manifests in order to teach the way of enlightenment to those who have not yet reached that stage of their lives.
While I do not subscribe to the "lain manifested herself " theory, I do think that as a neural hivemind she is conceptually an egregore. If we take the concept of Eiri having synthetically created Lain from the Wired, perhaps this quote by Alexandra David-Neel on Tulpa's has some merit:
"Once the tulpa is endowed with enough vitality to be capable of playing the part of a real being, it tends to free itself from its maker's control"
Teke-Teke
Although only alluded, the Teke-teke is an urban legend from japanese internet message boards about the ghost of a girl cut into two after she jumped in front of a moving train. Train stations do occasionally have the reputation of being haunted in Japan.
Seance room
In Layer 5, Lain is seen wearing distinctively European clothing she talks to the ghost-like projections of her parents. This is probably a reference to the concept of a Seance , where a medium would often establish communication with a spirit.
Astral Projection
Lain astrally projects her body from her desktop throughout the real world via the PSI chip
Astral projection is the idea that we possess two bodies, a physical one bound to the material world and an astral one bound o the astral plane. With the help of certain techniques, one could sufficiently "project" their astral body and travel the world while remaining in the physical form.
We see Lain do this in Layer 4, where she stays anchored to her computer but astrally projects herself to help the kid stuck in the phantoma videogame
PSI and ESP
While Psi is only briefly mentioned in layer 6, it is a very heavily referenced one in the show. Psi is basically short form for "psionics" a proposed field of science in fiction novels that studied the effects of parapsychology, including abilities such as precognition and extrasensory perception (ESP)
Black cube of Saturn
A gnostic black cube? Wtf were you guys smoking ?
Honestly, this one may be a bit much even for me but knowing the background of the show I would not really put it past them. The black cube of Saturn basically talks about the worship of the symbol of the "black cube", apparently an ancient symbol that represents the earth and also represents the Gnostic argument of the "false reality of the material world". I mean there is literally a black cube with a brain inside in layer 6, not sure wtf this is supposed to mean. Read the rest of that wackjob stuff here. It has some weird tie-ins to simulation theory and AI, Weird how we call AI a "black box", eh?
The DoppelGanger
.jpg)
The DoppelGanger or Evil Twin is a very common myth deriving a long history of even more ancient myths. It's basically a carbon copy of yourself roaming the wearth, only more evil. Dostoevsky's famous novel The Double narrates the story of a mild-mannered anti-social government clerk and his dominant assertive doppelganger. Sound familiar?
Living dolls
Dolls have a centuries long history in japan, from ancient motifs such as the Hina doll to more modern renditions such as the Licca chan doll. Additionally, dolls in Japan are said to possess spirits and personalities, a byproduct of the country's longstanding animist tradition. We see this briefly referenced by the Knight's member's persona in Layer 5
Spirit Possession and Human sacrifice
The history of ancient religion closely follows the ritual performance of masks, spiritual possession and human sacrifice. Often , a tribe's shaman, upon donning said mask, suddenly became possessed by an ancestral god or animistic spirit and acted out as a medium for said entity. Promptly afterwards, the mask wearer was ritually sacrificed to appease the tribe's social bonds after which the shaman attains godlike status as a deity, a practice outlined and explained in detail by the French Anthropologist Rene Girard.
The plot of the show follows similar lines, where the synthetic human Lain iwakura is a conduit ("spirit medium") for the larger network consciousness of the Wired itself, who appears to possess said body in episodes 2 and 7. The contradictory nature of the Knight's worship of Lain's godhood and her sacrificial status may be a reference to this ancient mode of thinking.