From darkness we were all born and so, to it, we shall all return
Have you ever seen an animation studio crush your soul into pieces and rebuild it again with just a short film?
Because that’s what and maps and plans did to me.
They are an animation studio based in Ireland http://www.andmapsandplans.com and they create stunning, if not breath-stopping, little pieces of art cinematography.
Humans have always been fascinated with death, but I have never seen anywhere, in no movie ever (except perhaps in the Netflix series The Sandman) where death is portrayed as a woman.
However, these guys go a step further. They give Death character traits similar to those of a patient and kind mother. And I wept and wept and wept at the reassurance, patience, love, nurture, and lightweight nature of Death.
It reminded me when I gave birth. I, a woman, a life bringer into this world, although tired to my very bones, found strength, patience, kindness, and enough love to soothe my infant.
There is a scene in the short film where the human refuses to let go of life, but Death, understanding and patient as it is, gives the human soul time to adapt, to mourn, and to accept the fact that death is inevitable for us all.
The short dialogue of a lifetime
“Mother?” The human soul, now transformed into a child, asked frightfully.
“Yes."—Replied soothingly, Death.
“I am born. Am I safe?”
“Of course you are. I have you.”
“Take me into your arms. I wish to see the sky and feel the weather on my skin.”
And so it does. Death, with its eternal patience, continues to show the troubled soul what he requests. It complies by understanding all of his desires, even when they exceed its permitted time. The child-soul asks for more and more and more on an endless loop until he is too exhausted to ask again.
And then, connected by the soul thread, which is shown as the umbilical cord, the soul finally falls asleep in the arms of Death and reaches his CODA.
A coda is a separate passage at the end of something, such as a book or a speech, that finishes it off. Much like it is in this short film, the concluding part is the soul’s acceptance of its inevitable fate.
The last scene is that of a fox staring at Death, who embraces, with the love of a mother, the troubled soul while he finally sleeps. The symbolism of the fox is widely known as the final acceptance “that their soul has moved on.”
And while we all came from the darkness of our mother’s womb, so to it we shall all return. Reborn again, with no memories, but with the ultimate soulful acceptance that we will all be granted a final place to rest, sleep, and feel finally safe in the soothing darkness of the womb, similar to that of death.
