Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Staff of Ra & Rey

"I apologize for any grammar, spelling errors or lack of coherency, I don't have time for meta's because real life"


If you think parallelism and callbacks for TFA are contained just within and from the OT & PT, that would be wrong. JJ hid easter eggs from many things in TFA including, The Seven Samurai, and Shane but most notably there are parallels with Raiders of the Lost Ark… Others have noticed these call backs but have not drawn much meaning from them.  I try will explore mythology and symbols to maybe find a deeper meaning into the mystery box that is Rey.


"Director J.J. Abrams has decided to cram so many hidden nods and references in The Force Awakens, that it has become a virtual game for some.  And the Raiders of the Lost Ark nod is definitely one that is bound to be missed." see;

There are other more meaningful parallels with Indiana Jones for Rey in particular

Indy & Rey


"We have even seen relics of a forgotten past in The Force Awakens: Vader’s mask and the Skywalker lightsaber.
There is also the character Sarco Plank. He is described in the official Databack as “a scavenger and trader who scours frontier worlds for riches.” Sarco even had a run-in with Luke between episodes 4 and 5 in the junior novel The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure. Sarco used Luke in order to gain entrance into a Jedi temple on the planet Devaron in order to plunder it."



The Head Piece for the Staff of Ra



"The Headpiece to the Staff of Ra was a much sought-after medallion which was originally designed as a means to reveal the location of the Ark of the Covenant. The headpiece was designed to be placed atop the Staff of Ra and used in the Map Room at Tanis to reveal the location of the Well of the Souls, the resting place of the Ark."

We have been told and it has been speculated that Rey’s staff may contain an easter egg, many believe that it is made of of light sabers, maybe Obi Wan’s lost saber & Maul’s broken Saber from their Duel on Naboo in TPM. But what if it does not contain any sabers but instead is a key to something like the head of the staff in Raiders or a lost piece of something like BB8 had a piece of the map at the beginning of TFA. The head piece for the staff of Ra from Raiders, holds many similarities to 3 different sigils or logs within Star Wars, Namely, The Jedi Crest, The Resistance & The Rebel Alliance.


The Jedi Crest


Sabine & the Mandalorian Star Bird






What does this symbol mean in myth?

The meaning of the Phoenix in Greek Mythology

"In Greek mythology, a phoenix or phenix (Greek: φοῖνιξ phoinix; Latin: phoenix, phœnix, fenix) is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again."

The meaning of the Phoenix/Bennu/or Ben Ben   Bird in Egyptian Mythology

"The Bennu is an ancient Egyptian deity linked with the sun, creation, and rebirth. It may have been the inspiration for the phoenix in Greek mythology.
According to Egyptian mythology, the Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. It was said to be the baof Ra and enabled the creative actions of Atum.[1] It was said to have flown over the waters of Nun that existed before creation, landing on a rock and issuing a call that determined the nature of creation. It was also a symbol of rebirth and was therefore associated with Osiris.[2]
Some of the titles of the Bennu bird were "He Who Came Into Being by Himself",[1] and "Lord of Jubilees"; the latter epithet referred to the belief that the Bennu periodically renewed itself like the sun.[2] Its name is related to the Egyptian verb wbn, meaning "to rise in brilliance" or "to shine"



Ultimately this Phoenix symbol is about rebirth, regeneration and the solar mythos.

Where does that leave us? With nothing but pure speculation, I think there could a couple scenarios


Scenario 1.
All these call backs mean nothing and JJ is just showing the love for his Mentor Stephen Spielberg, Harrison and George

Scenario 2
A parallel with Rey whomever left her on Jakku & Poe & BB8.

Rey and the staff where left because as it has been hinted the staff has a meaning that we do not know yet. Rey and the staff where accidentally hidden and the staff is a key to something in the Jedi Temple mirroring Raiders where the staff showed the location of the hidden Ark of the covenant.







Scenario 3

It is all purely symbolic

Rey as the new Ark and symbol of regeneration & rebirth. The picture is Rey standing in front of an Arc… or she herself is the symbol of Rebirth, (as is the phoenix /bennu bird symbol) as she stands in front of the Ark, drinking water,

Catholic doctrine believe that Mary is the Ark of the convent or feminine energy of rebirth, Noah’s ark carried life, the Hebrew Ark, carried the life or Shekinah glory as feminine aspect of god, The Ark is a representation of rebirth and the womb of life.


Rey exiting the destroyer







And you know I can't leave Obi Wan out of this, because it was Obi that carried the new convenant Luke to Tatooine




Scenario 4.

Rey herself is the chosen one or child of the force, who like the Bennu bird, rebirths itself and a given period of time.


That is all I could come up with and I would love to here everyone's brainstorming and thoughts

I remember thinking I heard Indiana Jones music when the MF skated across the snow to almost fall off the cliff - a very Indiana Jones scene.

RotLA is one of my all time favorites and in fact, I love it way more than I ever did Star Wars (which I got bored with around the time I hit puberty, but I've never lost my love for Indy)

I've always thought that there was a parallel between Poe having to leave BB-8 behind for safety and his "I'll come back for you. It'll be alright!" speech and what happened when Rey was left behind. Maybe even the reason why she responded so strongly to BB-8's first calls of distress and defends him against all comers. I'd get really excited if that turned out to be the case and when it's finally shown what happened, that the scene parallels it exactly. At the very least, it tells you a lot both about Poe and Rey, that they're both kind people because that they treat a small droid the same way you'd look out for a pet or a small child.

And in my dream of dreams, we'd have a scene like this when the Knights of Ren (both groups creepy relic hunters and invented by Lawrence Kasdan) show up for the first time

Star Wars :The Force Awakens Score - That Girl with the Staff (John Williams)



Another Easter egg? The title?