Final Fantasy X Symbols & Glyphs

Yevon Script is one of three alphabetic writing systems in Spira, the fictional world of Final Fantasy X. Its look is loosely based on the real-world ancient Siddham Script, an archaic written form of Sanskrit still used for holy books in both Hinduism and Buddhism. This is a clue that Final Fantasy X's fictional Church of Yevon, the theocracy that rules most of Spira, is loosely based on some archaic form of Buddhism (or Hinduism, or both).

Here's the Yevon Script and transliteration, from the Ultimania Omega guide.



As you see, it's actually transliterating the English alphabet. In addition, a few of these glyphs have special, additional meanings. Let's call these double-duty signs elemental glyphs, although a few aren't elements:

A (left) and Z (right) represent Yevon and Sin: the alpha and omega of the Yevon religion. They appear all over the game, sometimes paired, as on the final screen.

Kanji signs on the chart above identify seven other "fundamental elements/forces of the world of Spira," most of which are associated with a particular aeon:

T is annotated with the Kanji for Nothing (無, mu). This is the sacred glyph for Valefor the aeon and Besaid, the first temple on Lady Yuna's pilgrimage. Emptiness, mu, is a powerful Zen Buddhist concept expressing "no self," a total negation of the self, selflessness in every sense, an innocence and purity of soul which the Summoner must achieve to succeed in her pilgrimage. Buddhist nothingness may also be associated with air (?) which makes sense for Valefor. (Notice her main attack is non-elemental, and causes inaction. Mu is all about negation in a neutral sense.)

N is annotated with the Kanji for Flame (炎, honoo). This corresponds to Kilika/Ifrit. (The Kanji puzzled me for a while: it's not fire, but rather, a more emphatic word for "flame, blaze" which uses the elemental fire-kanji doubled.) Sandy of the Magus Sisters also has a flame glyph on her summoning symbol (see below).

F is annotated with the Kanji for Thunder (雷, kaminari). This corresponds to Djose/Ixion. Mindy of the Magus Sisters also has a lightning glyph on her summoning symbol.

L is annotated with the Kanji for Ice (氷, Koori). This corresponds to Macalania/Shiva. Nobody shares an elemental glyph with Shiva!

I is annotated with the Kanji for Light (光, hikari). This corresponds to Bahamut/Bevelle.

B is annotated with the Kanji for Darkness (闇, yami). This corresponds to Baaj/Anima.

W is annotated with the Kanji symbol for Water (水, mizu). Cindy's summoning symbol has a W-glyph in the center. More importantly, this is one of the four elements on Seymour's black magic wheels o' doom in his final battle. (His Mortiphasm wheels are also marked with the lightning, ice and flame glyphs.)

At the bottom right of the chart are Yevon Glyphs which are marked with the Kanji for the "Four Winds," i.e. directions: East, West, South, North. These appear on the mandala activated by Glyph Spheres in the Cloister of Trials (left) and the directional platforms in the Via Purifico, in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, and on Mt. Gagazet.

Note: I've used Photoshop to brighten dark areas, adjust contrast and bring out details almost hidden during play-through.

Besaid, End of Cloister of Trials:



In Besaid's Cloister of Trials, all the temple names are spelled out in white glowing letters along the walls, including one wall which lists all the temples in order leading to the word "Sin." Over the lift at the end of the Trial, one sees this red glyph, which is "Mu", nothingness. Also notice the two banners hanging on the wall, alternating the signs for Yevon and Sin. Besaid's Cloister of Trials symbolically maps out the summoner's journey: Yevon versus Sin, the pilgrimage path, and "no-self" as the means to achieve the journey.

The floor of the lift leading down to the Chamber of the Fayth has a Valefor's summoning symbol/mandala, by the way. I'll cover those later.

Kilika Cloister of Trials



As if to punctuate Tidus' observation, a "Sin" glyph glows on the floor of the lift down into Kilika's Cloister. There's a "Yevon" glyph on the back wall, but it's only visible for a moment and hard to see without brightening in Photoshop. I can't find a "flame" glyph anywhere.

Djose Cloister of Trials

Djose's Cloister of Trials forces you to piece together the symbol of Yevon on the floor. Above, the glyph is the "thunder" glyph, leading to the room in which you must prove your wit by crossing over an abyss bridged by pure lightning.

Macalania Temple

All I've found are Glyph Sphere and Destruction Sphere mandalas. Concept art shows that Shiva's fayth statue may have the "ice" glyph beside her name written on a plaque beneath the statue (with Yevon glyphs on both sides).

Bevelle Chamber of the Fayth

Bahamut's Chamber of the Fayth, surprisingly, does not have his "Light" symbol in the back. Instead, we've come full circle: we're back to "Nothing / No-Self." Other glyphs are here, too: the "Six Symbols" found on the vestments of Yevon officials, and the "Yevon Cross" and "Sin Cross" (see below). I haven't figured out their meaning.

 
Yojimbo's Chamber of the Fayth



When Yuna prays to Yojimbo's fayth statue, we get a glimpse of the ribbons binding it (left), which say "SEAL" in Yevon script. For a split second, Yojimbo's mandala/summoning symbol flashes out (right). I'm guessing that glyph which I've marked in red is Yojimbo's elemental sign. Unfortunately we don't know what the element is -- earth, or perhaps poison?

Baaj Antechamber

You may not recognize the elemental glyph at the center of the mandala, but I bet you recognize the mandala, that two-lobed geometric shape. It appears whenever you open one of the special treasure chests hidden in the various Cloisters of Trials. That's a clue that you have to find all those chests in order to pass through this barrier, which seals off Anima's Chamber of the Fayth.

The elemental glyph which I've highlighted in red is the sign for Darkness, Yami. (To left and right are Light, Hikari; I can't make out what the glyphs above and below are).

Zanarkand, Hall of the Final Summoning

Poor Auron. Remember the flashback in the Hall of the Final Summoning, where Braska and Jecht go to get the Final Aeon, leaving Auron railing against the futility of the pilgrimage? As he sinks to his knees in despair, the camera tilts back to show the symbol of Yevon looming over him. It's like the Eye of Sauron-- no, Auron, there's no escape!

In Baaj Temple's antechamber, there's a puzzle that shows off these symbols nicely. Each pattern lights up once we've used the Destruction Sphere in the corresponding temple to open a hidden treasure chest. (Each special chest flashes Anima's mandala when opened.)

Valefor's Summoning Symbol
This symbol also appears on the floor of the lift at the end of Besaid's Cloister of Trials (where Wakka finds Tidus).

Shiva's Summoning Symbol
We don't see Shiva's symbol during her summons, but this has to be her symbol: notice the snowflake.

Ifrit's Summoning Symbol
Ifrit's summoning symbol appears on the ground, and he bursts through it.

Ixion's Summoning Symbol
Ixion's symbol has lightning and the shape of his horn in it.

Bahamut's Summoning Symbol

Bahamut flies down through his symbol during his summons. In fact, he's so badass he flies down through three mandalas. And when the moving platform in Bevelle's Cloister of Trials materializes, it flashes this mandala.



Which means the last one must be....

Zaon's Summoning Symbol?

This symbol is unlocked after you retrieve the hidden treasure from the Zanarkand Cloister of Trials. I would call this the "Yunalesca Sigil," but she's not actually an aeon. So I suppose this is the old summoning symbol for her Final Aeon, Lord Zaon. Is it just me, or does it vaguely resemble the window treatment Sorceress Edea wore on her shoulders?



What About Yojimbo and the Magus Sisters?

I haven't found a good screencap of Yojimbo's mandala / summoning symbol, although we caught a glimpse of it above, and there's a black & white copy of it on the FF Wikia.


Above: Cindy (water glyph in center)
Below left: Mindy (thunder glyph in center)
Below right: Sandy (fire glyph in center)

UPDATE! SUMMONING GLYPHS FOUND!
Here are black & White mandala patterns for all Summons.

Yojimbo's has the characteristic "antlers" of a medieval samurai helmet. Bahamut's additional 3 glyphs that he flies through during his summons animations is in the "glyphs" panel at lower right, along with Glyph Sphere and Destruction Sphere mandalas from the Cloisters of Trials.

As a westerner, I couldn't help seeing correspondences between the Church of Yevon and Catholicism, with its organized church hierarchy, concepts of sin and atonement, inviolable scripture, pilgrimages and reverence of saints (High Summoners). But I wasn't blind to the Buddhist elements in this game, from the pilgrimage to the mandala patterns to Yuna's ultimate weapon, Nirvana. Studying the glyphs and mandalas helped me appreciate this layer of the world of Spira more fully.

The Siddham Sanskrit script is used in Japan mostly by the Shingon School of Buddhism, which draws heavily on early, esoteric Hindu traditions. Aha! There's something I've studied.

One key concept of these traditions is that deities (devas) manifest their thoughts or spiritual energy in our world on several different "wavelengths", so to speak, analogous to the way matter behaves both a wave and a particle. The "wavelengths" are: Sound, Form, Symbol.

Sound: In some Hindu traditions, not only does the "word of God" bring the universe into being, but also, the 25 syllables of the Sanskrit alphabet are the building blocks of the universe. Just as we can name anything by rearranging letters, God can name anything into existence by rearranging sounds.

That's what lies behind a Mantra, a ritually repeated sound or chant (like the Hymn of the Fayth). A string of syllables, or even one syllable, can manifest a deity, or manifest esoteric concepts/spiritual powers such as elements. Accordingly, Shingon Buddhism considers the letters of the Siddham alphabet to be "seed-syllables", sound-particles which express and manifest the essence of deities. The "A/ah" sound is a central point of meditation for Shingon Buddhists, and the "ah" sound in the Yevon script doubles as the glyph for Yevon itself.

Early literate cultures were stunned by the power of writing, which captured fleeting sound in a visible, permanent form. For them, letters were more than signs; they were visible embodiments of sounds which preserved their meaning and essence. In a ritual context, sound-syllables and the letters embodying them can express manifesting/creative force. Hence hieroglyphs -- "sacred signs" -- Siddham script, runes. The sign is the sound.

Form: The second "wavelength" through which deity can manifest is an anthropomorphic representation like a statue or avatar. It's not the deity, any more than a physical body is a total human being, but it's a living form that humans can apprehend. Note that the form physically expresses the essence, the meaning of the divine power, just as the aeons in FFX don't represent the fayth's temporal body (what they looked like in life), but rather, their dreams: the inner fires, passions, or temperament of the soul.

In some Hindu and Buddhist practices, one can invoke deity through a physical representation, a statue. It's not idol worship, but rather, a focused visible expression, just as a mantra is a focused vocal expression, of the deity's power. Sometimes, the deity's mantra or seed-syllable is ritually written on a piece of parchment that is carefully tucked inside the heart of the statue. (Right, Ifrit's fayth statue: what it looks like without the glass dome on top.)

Symbol: The third "wavelength" through which deity can manifest is a mandala (Buddhist tradition) or yantra (Hindu tradition), a geometric pattern which distills the essence of the deity into an abstract visual representation. "Yantra" is sometimes translated "machine" or "instrument." Like mantras, lenses of sound, yantras are visible foci that can direct spiritual energy toward a purpose. (Like, say, summoning?) Shingon Buddhism employs mandalas as instruments of ritual, too. Buddhist and Hindu Mandalas/yantras often have the "seed-syllable" for the associated deity inscribed at the center, and other "seed-syllables" may also be added around the perimeter of the mandala.



The mandala/yantra balances the anthropomorphic representation: one is utterly abstract, the other utterly concrete, but they both express the meaning of the deity. Vibrating sound, visual symbol, physical embodiment: these are simply three different ways in which immanent, divine energy can "precipitate" into a form we perceive.

I notice the mandala is also used in the Shingon Buddhism initiation ritual to help the initiate connect with a specific tutelary deity, after which the initiate receives a rod/staff. The ceremonies differ in other ways, but I can't help thinking of Yuna's summoner trials.

Now, I'm not an expert in esoteric Hinduism or Shingon Buddhism, so I may be misunderstanding some of this. But I think, based on the way glyphs and mandalas are used in Final Fantasy X, that there's a certain Shingon Buddhism underpinning to the world of Spira, just as FFX draws on other elements of medieval Japanese culture more than most Final Fantasy games.

The use of glyphs and symbols in Final Fantasy X reminds me of the way J.R.R. Tolkien created multiple Elvish languages, complete with etymological histories, to make personal names and geographic names sound more authentic. You're probably not aware of the Elvish languages behind the names, but they make Middle-earth feel more real.

Final Fantasy XII (with its zodiac pantheon) and XIII have revived the basic idea of FFX's glyphs/mandalas for summons. There were also a few "eye candy" examples of mandalas prior to Final Fantasy X (the Diabolos summons in VIII, e.g.). Nonetheless, I think Final Fantasy X demonstrates the most successful and meaningful example of integrating game mechanics (summons) into the cultural context of the world.