Ares: “Since the beginning of time, it’s been warriors who have shaped the world!”

Eli: “That’s about to change.”

—Seeds of Faith, #Xena Warrior Princess

This week I want to tackle the subject of Eli & the Elijians, the followers of his message.

He died a martyr for preaching peace, slain by Ares so that the cause of peace would live on after his death. I think it’s a relevant story to our times, especially for anyone looking to change the world in a real & lasting way, & why it moves me to write about it.

To me, it’s not just something they came up with for season 5. I maintain it was there from the beginning: literally, the pilot. For that reason, I think it’s an integral part of any future Xena/Eve story. But I don’t think this is something I can fully argue in a few posts.

So I’m not going to go into great detail litigating this issue here. My main goal is to provide my rationale for using the Elijian storyline as a focus for my story, & explain why I think it should continue. My goal is to create what I think a canon Xena story should be, and not to prosetylize on behalf of any specific religion that Elijianism is seen to represent. According to the writer of the above ep, Seeds of Faith, Eli is inspired by both Christ & Ghandi, but shouldn’t be read literally as one or the either. I think the Elijian cult has a number of ingredients to it which I will briefly outline, & I’ve taken the stated sources used on the show & expanded on them as a way of giving a more thorough picture of the cult in my story. 

Since my story is set after Motherhood, over 25 years after Eli’s death that’s plenty of time for rituals to develop, & indeed, we see Eve take part in one at her initiation: baptism. There’s also time for growth of dogma, for legends about Eli to arise, & misconceptions & schisms in the faith. We see the beginnings of that, too, on the show.

Mostly, though, I want to address any skepticism fans might have about the dramatic potential of the cult of Eli & its impact on an action show like #Xena. His teachings sound like a wonderful ideal, but maybe not entertaining to watch.

Myself, I’m fascinated by the growth of religions, & the pacifist approach as a subject of drama, so I feel perfectly suited to tackle this difficult subject in what I hope will be an entertaining way. This week I’ll be discussing the show’s sources for Eli’s story, how Eli’s teachings mesh with the ethos of #Xena, where Eli’s name came from, Eve’s real-life model, St. Paul & how he’s viewed today, how pacifism works, & why Elijians like green! I’ll end the week with a music video of what I consider to be the perfect Elijian anthem.