Promised Land ( Final Fantasy VII ) The Promised Land in the world of " Final Fantasy VII " is a quasi - mythical location believed to hold infinite amounts of Mako deposits . The Promised Land is part of the Cetra legend . The Cetra were a race who traveled the Planet , healing and cultivating it , and at the end of their journey would find the Promised Land , a land of supreme happiness . Shinra Electric Power Company , having found a way to harness Lifestream ' s power by condensing it into Mako energy , became attracted to the Cetra legend . A land of such fertility , to Shinra , meant a land full of Mako energy , where President Shinra envisioned to build a new city , the Neo Midgar . To find the mythical Promised Land , Shinra needed a Cetra . Story . Shinra ' s head scientist , Professor Gast Faremis , led Shinra ' s research on the Cetra . He discovered a live organism from a 2 , 000 - year - old geological structure and misidentified it as as a Cetra . Shinra took the body and began vigorous scientific experiments on it , but sometime later Professor Gast left Shinra . He went to Cosmo Canyon , the center of the study of Planet and the Lifestream , and spoke to the local elders , all knowledgeable to the legend of the Promised Land . Gast had started thinking he had made a terrible mistake . Shinra had discovered Ifalna , a true Cetra , and the race ' s last survivor , whom Gast helped escape Shinra when he left the company . Ifalna told him what he had found was no Cetra , but an extra - terrestrial being . Gast and Ifalna went into hiding and stayed in Icicle Inn where they had a daughter , Aeris . Jenova Project continued under Professor Hojo , but they were unable to produce a specimen with the powers of the Cetra who could lead them to the Promised Land . Hojo tracked Gast down and killed him taking Ifalna and Aeris hostage , delighted to discover Gast had unwittingly provided Shinra with another test subject , to use them to find the Promised Land . Ifalna refused to cooperate and their efforts were fruitless . Years later Ifalna escaped with Aeris , but passed away soon after , and Aeris was adopted by Elmyra Gainsborough , a woman living in the Midgar Slums . At this time Shinra was at war with Wutai and the Neo Midgar plans were put on hold and they stopped pursuing Aeris though they knew of her whereabouts . After many years , AVALANCHE is terrorizing Midgar after the city has been completed . President Shinra decides to restart the Neo Midgar project and abducts Aeris to use her powers to find the Promised Land , but Sephiroth resurfaces and Jenova goes missing from the Shinra Headquarters . The night President Shinra is murdered , Sephiroth appears at the headquarters and is said to have spoken of the Promised Land , saying Shinra should never get it . The company ' s new president , Rufus Shinra , under the false suspicion that Sephiroth is a Cetra , suspects he is heading for the Promised Land with Jenova , and sets out to hunt him out . At the Temple of the Ancients Aeris tells Tseng the Promised Land is not what Shinra imagines it to be , and when the party suspects Sephiroth is traveling the world looking for the Promised Land to find the best location to summon the Meteor , Aeris says Sephiroth can never find it . Sephiroth appears and claims he has already done so and later elaborates the Promised Land awaits across the snowy fields . Shinra and Cloud ' s party find Sephiroth at the North Crater , a place where the Planet ' s Spirit Energy concentrates , and a place full of crystallized Materia . Rufus is awed at the findings saying the place really is the Promised Land , to which Professor Hojo retorts the Promised Land is a legend and does not exist . Their joy is short - lived as Sephiroth summons the Meteor which unleashes the Weapons and Shinra is forced to flee . This marks the end of Shinra ' s search for the Promised Land , as their efforts are spent trying to prevent the Meteor ' s collision and fighting the Weapons until the company ' s collapse in the wake of the Raid on Midgar . After the Meteorfall the world stops using Mako energy and Neo Midgar is never built . The True Nature of the Promised Land . At first Aeris claims she doesn ' t know what the Promised Land is , and whether it even exists . However , she appears to have come to a conclusion after the party ' s visit to Cosmo Canyon where she spoke with the elders . It appears the Cetra ' s Promised Land isn ' t a physical location , but what the Cetra called the act of returning to the Planet at the life ' s end . Joining the Lifestream and becoming one with the Planet was viewed as a state of supreme happiness . After defeating Sephiroth in North Crater Cloud has also made up his mind of the Promised Land ' s nature ; after having seen a vision of Aeris in the Lifestream , he tells Tifa he finally understands and that he can meet " her " in the Promised Land . It is also speculated the Promised Land means something different to each person . Described as a land of happiness means each person would have their own interpretation of its location . As told from Aerith ' s perspective in " Hoshi wo Meguru Otome " , Sephiroth ' s Promised Land is the North Crater because he could become a god there , while the Cetra who worshiped the Planet saw the Lifestream as the Promised Land . Thus , the Promised Land may not be a specific location , but a state of mind to find " eternal happiness " wherever possible . Musical themes . A music piece in " " is titled " The Promised Land " , and plays during the film ' s opening narration , and near the end of the film when Aerith calls down healing rain , reinforcing the interpretation that the Promised Land is the Lifestream .