Seeing

This article is about the Na'vi philosophy and greeting. You may be looking for the song by Leona Lewis.

“

Neytiri: Sky people cannot learn, you do not see. Jake: Well, then, teach me how to see! Neytiri: No one can teach you to see.

”

Neytiri greets her father, Eytukan.

Seeing, or to see, is a philosophical concept in Na'vi culture and the basis for the common Na'vi mantra, "I see you" (oel ngati kameie).

"I see you" means many things in Na'vi culture such as: I see into you, I understand you, I love you, I respect you, or I see you physically in front of me.

Philosophy

The Na'vi perception of space, time, and the unity of all things results in the concept of "seeing" - an idea human visitors to Pandora find hard to grasp. To "see" is to remind oneself to let go of past experiences, particularly negative ones, and perceive new stimuli, as if encountering them for the first time. The Na'vi believe that when one learns to "see", pain and suffering are easier to bear, answers to burning questions reveal themselves, and fate guides the seer to fulfill their destiny.

Na'vi do not believe that someone can be taught to see by another person. Jake Sully learns to see through his immersion into the Pandoran jungle and learning to accept and love the ways of the Na'vi.

As a Greeting

When Na'vi encounter or greet one another, they gesture with their hand from their forehead, extending one hand down toward the other. They marry this gesture with the phrase "oel ngati kameie" (I see you). To the Na'vi, this not only represents the literal meaning of seeing the person in front of them, but also a spiritual kind of seeing. They are recognizing, seeing into, and understanding each other on a profound level. When one Na'vi asks another to "See me", they are asking the other individual to set aside any preconceived notions they may have.

Linguistics

The Na'vi have two versions of the verb see:

• tse'a, which pertains to physical vision.
• kame, which means to see in a spiritual sense.

Thusly, oel ngati tse'a and oel ngati kame have two different meanings, even if they have the same direct translation of "I see you". Oel ngati kameie, with the infix <ei> inserted into kame, denotes a specifically positive feeling from the speaker, whereas oel ngati kame with no infix is considered neutral.

Sources

• The World of Avatar: A Visual Exploration
• Avatar (film)
• Horen Lì'fyayä LeNa'vi - Na'vi Grammar